Tue, 03 Jan 2006

Nokia 770

The Nokia 770 is an internet tablet, with the software being based on a Linux platform. It supports 802.11b/g Wireless, Bluetooth and wired USB.
Thanks to Niall, I've been able to have a reasonably extensive play with one.

There's a standard 3.5mm stereo jack plug for audio out - this is good and means I can use headphones of my choice. I didn't check the output impedance, but I'll assume it's reasonable.
The screen is excellent. For the purposes of taking notes, it would be great if it were a little larger, but you can't have everything :-)
Where's the IrDA / Infra-Red. This device could be great as a multi-purpose programmable remote control.
The Sketch application doesn't appear to have a method of putting text into the picture. Please add this.
The system seems to drain battery overnight, even though it's turned off. I'm not sure why it's doing this. (It appears the problem is with battery calibration and the battery meter, rather than with it using power. Turning the unit off off for a few hours resulted in the 770 deciding it was half charged rather than low battery.)
I was unable to find a method of putting the system to sleep and waking it up rapidly. Powering it off and having to reboot it before use is suboptimal. (Further disussion with users suggests that they just let the screen turn off and that it will last several days this way.)
The MMC card appears to be a completely different form factor to the MMC cards I have for my 6230 and 9500. This meant I couldn't easily transfer data between them. Please, once you pick a standard - stick to it.
Despite the battery being the same model number as my 9500 battery, the mAh rating is different (1500mAh in the 770 Vs 1300mAh in the 9500) and the power input is different. Why can I not use all my spare Nokia phone chargers to charge the 770?
Being able to teach it my style of handwriting is good. But why can I not add multiple forms of script per letter. The letter 'f' is causing me particular problems because of the crossover between the way I write it and the 770's idea of how 't' is written. The ability to 'unteach' the 770 certain styles of letter scripting would solve this.
Why not full bluetooth support? Perhaps a future model could support VoIP and I could use it to make VoIP calls with my b/t headset.
I was unable (out of the box) to use b/t OBEX to transfer data from any of my laptop/6230/9500 to the 770. Apparently the OBEX server and client can be installed on the 770, but it's not there out of the box.

posted at: 17:57 | path: /technical | permanent link to this entry