Gadgets and Gizmos

Nokia has introduced its first device in the new Internet Tablet category, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is a dedicated device optimized for Internet browsing and email communications in a pocketsize format. The Internet Tablet features an 800x480 widescreen display with zoom and on-screen keyboard, useful for viewing online content over Wi-Fi. Apart from Wi-Fi, the device can also connect to the Internet utilizing Bluetooth wireless technology via a compatible mobile phone.

The device runs on Linux-based Nokia Internet Tablet 2005 software edition, which includes desktop Linux and Open Source technologies. The maemo development platform 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.

Highlighted applications of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet include an Internet Radio, RSS News reader, Image viewer and Media players for selected types of media. As of now the company has said that the Internet Tablet is slated to start shipping in the third quarter of 2005 in selected countries in the Americas and Europe. There has been no mention of the pricing and its availability in other countries.

“We are very excited to introduce our first Nokia Internet Tablet device to the market. With the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet consumers can access broadband Internet services away from their desktop, for example in the backyard or at a caf within a Wi-Fi hotspot", said Janne Jormalainen, Vice President of Convergence Products, Multimedia, Nokia.

“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", said Jormalainen