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Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXXVI: Nokia N900 rip shows no trademark fear

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 29th 2009 @ 5:23AM

It's pretty typical for serial KIRFers to make minor changes to the names of the brands they're ripping -- take Sany Ericssan, for example -- but we've never really known why. "Go big or go home" is the KIRF mantra we prefer to live by, and if you're going to gank a phone's design, by golly, do it with gusto. Give it 110 percent. In your heart, after all, that NOKLA's really a Nokia -- it's what you feel deep inside that really matters, and no well-staffed, well-funded Finnish legal team can tell you otherwise. That's why we've got to hand it to this particular model, simply called "Copy Nokia N900" in a painfully honest, accurate admission of its true raison d'être. Strangely, though, they've missed a few basic points: the Copy Nokia N900 trades the genuine article's landscape QWERTY slider for a dual slide configuration in the same vein as the N85 and N95, for example, and Maemo 5 has gone missing -- instead, you're treated to a frighteningly accurate S60 5th Edition knockoff. If you can tolerate the dismal VGA cam, GPRS data, and QVGA screen, you'll be pleased to discover that the phone features an analog (yes, analog) TV tuner and an accelerometer with "support" for flick control, which you can watch in action on video after the break -- looks super fun and usable, doesn't it?

Continue reading Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXXVI: Nokia N900 rip shows no trademark fear

Video: Nokia N900 put through its paces... in Italian

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 9:04PM

We're sure to see a whole lot more of the Nokia N900 as Nokia World gets underway this week, but in the meantime we're super into this video walkthrough posted up by Kiamanokia.it -- and not just because the Italian narration makes using the N900 seem absolutely delightful. Nope, we're much more into the extremely-responsive interface, the rotary-zoom gesture in the browser, and the overall slickness of Maemo 5. We'll withhold judgment until we spend some time with an actual production N900, but things are looking promising -- head after the break to check the video for yourselves.

[Via The Nokia Blog]

Continue reading Video: Nokia N900 put through its paces... in Italian

Nokia N900 puts on makeup, does hair for leaked press shot

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 24th 2009 @ 1:53PM

Normally, we'd take a look at something like this and say, "yeah, could be real, could be fake." Goodness knows there are enough mega-talented graphic designers in the world with the free time to craft this. Here's the thing, though: this phone / MID hybrid -- the latest in Nokia's Internet Tablet series -- has already been outed enough times so that we know this has to be a genuine press shot. If we had to guess, Espoo fashioned it in preparation for its Nokia World event in Germany early next month where the N900 will presumably be announced into officialdom; there's no sign on when or how the T-Mobile USA version will be unveiled, but we're getting pretty amped for it.

Update:Here's another N900 press shot, courtesy again of BeGeek, after the break.

[Thanks, Allen!]

Continue reading Nokia N900 puts on makeup, does hair for leaked press shot

Nokia's Maemo 5 RX-51 / N900 tablet gets exhaustively previewed

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 19th 2009 @ 3:04PM

Eldar Murtazin at mobile-review teased us with that shot of Nokia's RX-51 / N900 Maemo 5 tablet earlier today, and now he's back in force with a detailed preview. We're talking tons of hardware pictures and screenshots of what stands to be the standard-bearer for all Nokia devices going forward, and while we'd love to tell you all about how impressed we are with what we're seeing of Maemo 5 and how disappointed we are in the Rover's resistive touchscreen, we won't hold you back -- hit the read link and dive right in.

Nokia's Maemo 5 tablet shows up again, ready to play

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 19th 2009 @ 12:16PM

We're calling it: this N900 / Rover / whatever it's called is the best looking device yet in Nokia's Internet Tablet line, which is an encouraging thing to be able to say considering we haven't seen any ultra-polished PR shots yet. Granted, we might be influenced a little by the rumored HSPA support with voice, T-Mobile USA availability, and Maemo 5, but really, what's wrong with that?

Nokia RX-51 tablet captured in the wild

by Ross Miller posted Aug 8th 2009 @ 12:54PM

Not long at all after that mysterious Nokia RX-51 passed through the FCC comes shots from Indonesian message board Kaskus of the tablet-like device in the wild. The blurred box shot and the label behind the battery clearly say RX-51 prototype, and the design is unmistakably similar to the rumored press photo for the Maemo 5-powered Rover from back in May. We can't help but notice the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens and, more importantly, SIM card slot and an ear piece, which would be perfect for placing calls on, say, T-Mobile's network. Few more shots after the break, and hit up the read link for the gallery of photos.

[Via Mobile Bulgaria; thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continue reading Nokia RX-51 tablet captured in the wild

Nokia device passes FCC for T-Mobile USA, looks an awful lot like a new Internet Tablet to us

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 7th 2009 @ 5:24PM

Every week, random, seemingly anonymous Nokia handsets quietly pick up FCC approval. Most will never see the light of day on an American carrier, and the ones that do have usually already been announced so that by the time we figure out what the FCC filing refers to, it's uninteresting. Today, though, we noticed a Nokia RX-51 get certification, and we were immediately intrigued; standard Nokia phones have an "RM" designation, so "RX" has us thinking that this is no ordinary phone. Taking a peek at the SAR documentation reveals that it rolls deep with AWS 3G, just the kind that T-Mobile USA needs to do its thing. The final piece in this amazing puzzle has to be the ID placement doc, which shows the outline of a device far wider than your standard dumbphone. Where are we going with this? You might recall MobileCrunch's information from a while back suggesting that T-Mobile USA would be getting a Maemo 5-powered superphone codenamed "Rover" -- and, well, we're pretty sure this is it. Stay tuned -- things are about to get interesting.

Nokia N900 revealed in Nseries presentation? (Update: probably not)

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 7th 2009 @ 1:42PM

We're not sure how we missed this, but it seems the Nokia N900 (aka "Rover") was not only mentioned, but visually detailed in some candor during an Nseries presentation way back in October of last year. If you fast forward to about the three-minute mark in this video, Nokia's next-gen, Maemo 5-powered internet tablet is seen doing its thing, and it differs in a few key details from the last leak -- most noticeably, it's got a big d-pad on the left just like its predecessor and there's no sign of an earpiece for making calls over the rumored 3G radio. In fact, it really just looks like a whited-out N810, which makes us wonder whether this isn't purely conceptual, especially considering the age of the video. Either way, the N810's aging rapidly and the territory's rapidly being encroached on by MIDs of all shapes and sizes, so we imagine we'll see this get launched soon enough -- maybe on T-Mobile USA of all carriers, if the rumors pan out. Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, CanisMinor]

Update: We're being told that this was little more than a student-led art project -- and it's one hell of an art project, considering that it looks every bit as slick as Nokia's official marketing. Thanks, Ryan A.!

Gallery: Nokia N900

Continue reading Nokia N900 revealed in Nseries presentation? (Update: probably not)

Nokia next-gen "Rover" tablet unveiled?

by Paul Miller posted May 25th 2009 @ 6:05PM

After the spec rundown this morning of the long-rumored Maemo 5 tablet from Nokia, we've now got ourselves a potential name and image to pair with the wonderful promise of 3G and OMAP3. According to this shot obtained by Cellpassion, the next-generation Internet Tablet device is taking quite a bit of an N-series turn, with that 3.5-inch WVGA screen (instead of the 4-inch display on the N810), three-row QWERTY keyboard and other refinements making this look to be much more a smartphone than a tablet -- which is presumably exactly what Nokia is going for. Naturally, we can't vouch for the source, and there are enough oddities to the image -- which seems to be gleaned from a presentation slide of some sort -- to voice caution, but if this is truly the marriage of Maemo with handset we've always dreamed of, it's going to be a little difficult to rein in our enthusiasm.

Russia's RoverPC unleashes the G7

by Laura June posted Dec 2nd 2008 @ 3:40PM

We're not trying to be superficial or anything, but Russian company RoverPC's newest model, the 3G, quadband GSM, and WiFi-enabled G7 is kind of a looker -- somewhat in the vein of previous devices we've seen from the company. Spec-wise, it's carrying a 624MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, with mini USB and microSD slots, and a 3-megapixel camera, plus it's got GPS and an accelerometer (we love those). The Windows Mobile 6.1 handset is going to be available in Russia sometime this month, for about $616.

[Via Navigadge t]