Two OMAP 3430 Phones: Nokia N900 and Motorola Droid
by Brian Klug on June 10, 2010 9:29 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- N900
- Maemo
- Motorola Droid
- Droid
- MeeGo
- Android
- Mobile
Conversations
As I mentioned earlier, both SMS and IMs are consolidated in the 'conversation' application, similar to what we've seen on WebOS. There's threading support and emoticons inside, and remaining characters shown at the bottom.
Unfortunately, what's lacking is MMS - you'll have to find another application in the marketplace called fMMS to make that happen. As it ships though, you don't get any notice that you're missing MMSes - they just don't happen.
Otherwise, conversations works very well and is everything one would expect from a modern smartphone in the way of an SMS application.
Email Client and Account Types
Email accounts are configured through the account setup wizard, which supports the full suite of email protocols, including POP/IMAP and Microsoft Exchange. I had a heck of a time getting Google Sync working on the N900, however, and never succeeded in making it work fully. I consulted a bunch of different people online, and the consensus was that things had changed in the Exchange support Google was using and the Exchange client for Maemo, and that only contacts and calendars would sync to the N900 - email would continually fail and refuse to sync. While that's not the end of the world, it's one of those YMMV situations if you rely on Google Sync for push email and seamless contact and calendar synchronization across a bunch of platforms. I ended up using IMAP for my google apps email account, which works, but makes me feel like I'm living 2008 all over again.
The other push email option is Nokia Messaging, which functions as a consolidation point and enables you to check up to 10 email accounts at once - for free. Essentially, Nokia takes a RIM-like support by handling the power-hungry IMAP rest functions at their own datacenter, and pushes out notifications and emails to you as they arrive. I didn't test this, but understand that it's widely favored among Nokia diehards.
Other than that, the email client is straightforward. There's support for formatting messages in full HTML/Rich Text, and attachment viewing including PDFs, images, and office documents through the included and multiplatform Documents To Go suite.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
68 Comments
View All Comments
Zebo - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
with 750mhz processor convex keys and ditching the lame D pad making this the best smart phone for my use talking 5-6 hours a day plus on best network instead of T or TM.krazyfrog - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Dude, you chat like an eight year-old lol.CityBlue - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
The latest Maemo5 PR1.2 does bring a welcome improvement to battery life, in some cases as much as 50% improvement to standby time.The recently released Opera Mobile on the N900 is lightning fast - it would be interesting to see how that performs in your comparison tests, or the latest Fennec (Firefox Mobile 1.1). The stock MicroB browser is beginning to look a little long in the tooth what with all the Javascript run-time improvements in competing browsers, but it does still offer the most complete web experience on pretty much any mobile device.
Overall though, a very good and welcome review of Maemo5 which is much misunderstood by a world obsessed with Android and iPhone.
achipa - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Two small corrections:Nokia's next MeeGo device is still going to be ARM (MeeGo is a two-platform OS, ARM and Atom), if there is a Moorestown device far along in the pipelines, it's not Nokia's.
PR1.2 is very likely not the last update. Nokia has pledged to deliver QtMobility (the mobile device Qt APIs) in a future update, and there is an active Qt4.7 branch for Maemo5 which also suggests work is being done there.
The Solutor - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Not all the Droid/Milestone's keyboard are flat.http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5872/dsc00180.png
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/6551/dsc00176.p...
This is my milestone (bought in december).
So there's no need to wait droid 2 to get the raised keys.
Brian Klug - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Interesting... looks like they definitely identified that issue somewhere between finishing the CDMA 'Droid' design and the GSM Milestone. Cool stuff!-Brian
strikeback03 - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
I read that elsewhere as well. Would be nice if the verizon stores got the newer keyboard models out on display to tryBoyBawang - Sunday, June 13, 2010 - link
Sorry to break your heart dude but the ones with raised keyboard were the early builds. Motorola changed it to flat after reported sliding problems with the raised designstrikeback03 - Monday, June 14, 2010 - link
Actually one of my friends got a Moto Droid Thursday and I had a chance to play with it Friday, it did feel like they had improved the key feel slightly. IIRC the Droids on display had concave keys, this one was slightly convex.solipsism - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
I understand that's because they are in the same package is the reason why you need the BT to be on to get FM, but that can't be too common. After all, most smartphones seem to have WiFi and BT(+EDR) and FM all the same transceiver.For comparison, the iPhone 3GS uses a <a href="http://www.broadcom.com/products/Wireless-LAN/802.... BCM4325</ a>