26 May 2005

Nokia Unveils Linux Handheld

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet has been designed to provide easy broadband access to the Internet over Wi-Fi.

The 770 Internet Tablet is also Nokia's first Linux handheld, and the company is launching a Linux development platform dubbed "maemo" specifically for its new category of handhelds. The 770 uses the ARM port of GNU Linux Debian 2.6 and runs Texas Instruments 1710 processor.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet features a high-resolution (800x480) widescreen display with zoom and on-screen keyboard. Aside from Wi-Fi, the device can also connect to the Internet utilising Bluetooth wireless technology via a compatible mobile phone.
 
The device runs on Linux based Nokia Internet Tablet 2005 software edition which includes widely deployed desktop Linux and Open Source technologies. The maemo development platform (www.maemo.org) will provide Open Source developers and innovation houses with the tools and opportunities to collaborate with Nokia on future devices and OS releases in the Internet Tablet category, Nokia said. 
 
"Linux is a logical choice for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet as Linux and the Open Source development platform provide us with fast and efficient solutions to build products for this new, Nokia product category. This is the first step in creating an Open Source product for broadband and Internet services. We will be launching regularly updates of the software. The next software release planned for the first half of next year will support more presence based functionalities such as VoIP and Instant Messaging", explained Janne Jormalainen, Vice President of Convergence Products, Multimedia, Nokia.
 
The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet also includes an Internet Radio, RSS News reader, Image viewer and Media players for selected types of media.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is planned to start shipping in the third quarter of 2005 in selected countries in the Americas and Europe.