Fresh into the delivery trucks is the Nokia N96, a new mobile entertainment and Internet device.  According to the Nokia Press Release, the N96 offers the most personalized mobile Internet experience to date.  The lines have truly blurred between phone, entertainment device, and MID.  I just want to know when I can really shave with one of these things.  Here are a few specs that give this mobile powerhouse a little girth:

• Live TV with DVB-H Technology that is possible to record live and view later
• 5 megapixel camera
• Turn-by-turn GPS voice navigation
• 16GB memory slot that is capable of being upped to 2gGB with optional microSD slot.  This gives the N96 the ability to store 40 hours of video content.  Content can be transferred from your PC via USB 2.0
• N-Gage gaming on a 2.8" display
• Battery Life: 5-hour video, 4-hour TV, 14-hour music playback.  Talk time is up to 160/230 min (WCDMA/GSM).
• Expected US release: 4 quarter, 08 for estimated $895 with support for 3G.

Learn more about the N96 for the Americas via MobileTechReview.com.  Additional high-quality photos can be viewed here.

Remember Lynn and Olga of Tabletology? They posted some great pictures of the HP tc1100 Tablet PC traveling and in all kinds of interesting places. Well, when I saw ThoughtFix link to Prestwick of InternetTabletTalk’s request that users post some pictures of their Nokia Internet Tablets, it brought back a wave of nostalgia.

Check out the Nokia Internet Tablet photos here on the InternetTabletTalk forums.

And check out Lynn and Olga’s stuff on Tabletology.

CarryMobile.com sent me a case for the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet to review. I'm not that big of a case person, but it is a pretty nice one. It is also priced right at $28. In addition to looking at the CarryMobile.com case, I demo a case I'm using for my iPhone from CoZip.com.

Enjoy!

Interesting. Nokia is partnering with Microsoft to bring Silverlight to its S60 and S40 platforms and the Nokia Internet Tablets. Silverlight is the plug-in that allows users to run rich media web content regardless of the platform or browser they are using. According to this post on GigaOm, the next version of Windows Mobile (WinMo 7) will support Silverlight. We’re supposed to hear more on this later in the week from Microsoft at the Mix08 Conference.

Nokia is demonstrating an intriguing concept for mobile devices that can “morph” to be the shape you want or need them to be. Imagine taking the morphable material and turning your cell phone into a bracelet. Again, just a concept, the Morph is developed by the Nokia Research Center and the University of Cambridge (UK) and is on view from February 24 through May 12, 2008 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

If any GBM readers happen to check out the Morph at MoMA, let us know.

It has a product name that just rolls off the tongue, so this is obviously a winner. Nokia is finally releasing the digital pen they've been talking about for ages. The auto-translated press release indicates that it should go on sale in Japan on Dec 20th for 26000 Yen (about $230), which seems excessively high for a 1.3MB device with Bluetooth that requires special paper. Yes, this appears to be an Anoto device, so be prepared to buy special notebooks to be able to use it. It's biggest claim to fame is that it connects to Nokia phones. Might be nice if you have a Nokia phone, which I don't.

For my money, I'd prefer to get an EPOS digital pen and USB flash drive. At least I can use whatever paper I want, so it's a one time expense. Particularly when that one time expense is less than half the cost of the Nokia.

via MobileWhack, Gizmodo

Maybe this post should be titled, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Nokia’s Tablet OS2008. That’s what you get in Thoughtfix’s very detailed and illustrated review of the new OS for the Nokia Intenet Tablets. Not only does he walk you through the software, but also the install. Nice work.

Well, all the talk might be about Dell today, but Mr. FedEx delivered something nice and shiny to my office today - a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. Checkout the unboxing - more to come later as I get around to using it

Click To Play

At first blush, it may not seem like the clamshell style, 7" screen ASUS Eee PC and the slate/slider, 4.1" screen Nokia N810 are really competitive products. However, Thoughtfix is able to provide a pretty compelling comparison between the products and how they are really relate. Obviously both run Linux variants, which is currently a pretty strong differentiator - for good for for bad, depending on your viewpoint. I happen to be somewhat of a Linux weenie from days past, so this would be a fun way to dabble a toe back in that pool. Both are extremely portable, but the ASUS Eee still requires a bag. Not a biggie for me since I always have a bag with me anyway, but for some (particularly men) this could be a major factor.

You'll have to read the wrapup to find out which device Thoughtfix prefers and why, but I think that one quote will give you an idea of how they compare.

If we were to call the Asus Eee the "Toyota Yaris of Laptops, " we'd have to call the N810 the "Rolls Royce of Pocket Devices."

So, what do you really want out of your portable device? You can have what you want, just choose intelligently. Thoughtfix also provides a nice Buyer's Guide.

For me, I've always been a Rolls Royce girl.

Ars Technica offers up a pretty decent review of the Nokia N810. They are not entirely impressed with the keyboard, calling it "mushy", but, overall, seem impressed.

The N810's built-in keyboard also falls short of my expectations. The keys are very mushy and it's easy to hit multiple keys at once by accident. I was extremely frustrated with it at first, but after a day of typing I've gotten used to it and my accuracy has improved considerably. My current verdict on the keyboard is that it could be better, but it isn't bad once you get used to it.

I just ordered GBM's own Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, to do a review on, from Amazon. They have it available for $459.99. Being an owner of the N800, I'm looking forward to giving this new design a whirl. I wish it had SIM card support for seamless Internet without needing to Bluetooth-it to a phone.

Should be fun. Anyone picking one up for a loved one for Christmas?

If you aren't (wo)man enough to enter a video in Thoughtfix's contest to win a Nokia N810, then you can enter the new contest at Gizmodo. Even if you don't have the video equipment to wow Thoughtfix, you can certainly take a picture of yourself browsing Gizmodo, which is really all that is required for this new contest.

I would probably like the Nokia N810 a lot better if it had some form of 3G cellular support integrated. As one of the commenters on Thoughtfix's blog mentioned, I want full time connection everywhere. I'm frequently without a WiFi connection, and without some 3G connection I don't have my Internet "fix".

via Thoughtfix, who knows not everyone can win his contest, although apparently all five finalists every entry gets get a prize

I was out of the office yesterday, but sitting on my chair when I got in this morning was a new toy to sync up with my Tablet PC!!  The Nokia N95 from the Nokia Blogger Relations Program - see picture (taken from the N95's 5 megapixel camera - click the picture for the full sized version).  I'll report back as to what I think and how it works with my x61t and Vista Ultimate.

I can already tell you that I have Mail For Exchange up and running just fine getting push e-mail from our server!!

Haptikos is the name of a touch technology that Nokia is developing that looks like it might be getting closer to market time. With a haptic response that offers tactile feedback to the user, the S60 is slated as the first device that will feature the new technology as part of an onscreen digital keyboard. From what I’m reading it looks like you’ll be able to feel the same sort of feedback you get from a keyboard. I know Sierra is very interested in seeing this sort of thing come to be from Apple. Wonder who will get there first?

Via The Red Ferret Journal via Gizmodo

On the most recent MobileTech Roundup podcast, hosts James Kendrick, Kevin Tofel and Matt Miller wonder what happened to the slates. Well, they don’t just wonder what happened. Kendrick sort of declares them dead, at least as far as UMPCs are concerned. It is a shame really, that the move to add a keyboard to any Ultra-Mobile device out there has become such an overriding concern. Couple that with the lack of digitziers that can allow any reasonable attempt at Inking, and you have complete abandoment of a platform and confusion in the market.

And speaking of the market, The MobileTech Rounderuppers say the mythic market has spoken. I take slight issue with that position. What market? One never developed because there was no clear vision of what was being sold. And if there had of been, how can you sell a device that focuses on touch without giving consumers an opportunity to touch the devices, or at least creating commercials that show what that means. Intriguinly all of the critics who derided UMPCs for a lack of a keyboard swallowed Apple’s vision ot touch whole hog. Apple had a clear version of how to market their new device and make touch palpable to the consumer (and to the influencers.) They even cushioned the blow a bit by saying up front that it would take consumers time to adjust to the digital keyboard. No, the market never materialized due to both a lack of a coherent marketing strategy and a lack of a clear vision on how to sell UMPCs.

In my opinion, the move to add keyboards just shows that both Microsoft and the OEMs are scared out of their minds in the face of what Apple and Nokia have created (although Nokia has now curiously added a keyboard to the N810). An interesting side note about this that sort of proves the point. Check out this new Zune commerical that appears to show the Zune with a touch screen. It doesn’t have one to my knowledge but the suggestion is sure there. They really have absolutley no clue as to what they want these devices to be or how to bring them to market. They never did.

I find the results of this poll that Thoughtfix has been running to be very intriguing. He queried his readers as to what features they would like to see on a Nokia N810. Toping the voting in an almost neck and neck result were a SIM slot and full sized SD card slot. Connectivity and storage. Who’d a thunk that?

Om Malik is talking long view. So is Nokia. Om recently got to check out Nokia’s N810 Internet Tablet and spend some time with it. He’s impressed. But he’s more impressed with what he describes as Nokia’s long view. Apparently the N810 is the third in a series of devices Nokia is working on (the first being the N770, then the N800).

North American product releases tend to be driven by competitive urgency — ship now, lest someone else scoop us with theirs. But Nokia’s N810 launch is one step in a longer plan. My impression of Vanjoki’s presentation was that this long view is at the core of Nokia’s strategy. And it’s driven by two key assumptions: That the handset will be the world’s Internet platform, and that it will be open.

Well worth a read, especially if you’re interested in the big differences in the European and US markets and how that affect what the consumer sees in mobile devices these days. I find it fascinating that we are starting to track the success of new device releases almost as if they were new movie releases, with the numbers of the first few days after release becoming some sort of important standard. All that ever proves is which PR machine is more successful in creating hype beforehand.

Sometimes things can get down right spooky in the Tabletscape and Matt Faulkner and I spend this week’s GBM Podcast (that’s GBM Podcast #38 for those who are counting) talking about a number of developments, as well as a few tricks and a few treats. So, while you may be waiting to dish out your Halloween treats to your local ghosts and goblins, give GBM Podcast #38 a listen.

Are you waiting about news from Dell? Well, if you’re a Purdue student or educator maybe you got to take a sneak peak. Wonder what is going on in UMPC land? Chippy seems to be covering all the news on UMPC TV (and creating a fashion faux pas as well.) Well Asus’s R2E UMPC be a hit? Is Apple going to finally produce a Tablet PC? Who knows, but we sure love to speculate, especially with all the news that’s fit to touch bouncing around these days. We even talk a little football, just for fun.

Three of the most influential Nokia Internet Tablet bloggers got together to share their brief experiences with the new Nokia N810 Internet Tablet on a podcast. You have to love their slug line, which I’ve morphed a bit for the headline of this post. Reggi Suplido of InternetTabletTalk.com, Jonathon Greene of maemoapps.com and atmaspheric endeavors, and Daniel Gentleman (aka Thoughtfix) of Tabletblog.com share their views on the new device.

Worth a listen.

Thoughtfix is running a heck of a contest over on TabletBlog.com. He's giving away a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, with each submitted entry being a video.

Head over there, checkout the rules, and then get started on submitting your entry. Looks like fun.

Here is ThoughtFix announcing the giveaway: