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
Messaging and Skype
Messaging on the N900 is done in a very WebOS fashion - IMs and SMS alike are managed by the OS and aggregated into a central application called "conversations". I signed in with Google Talk and Skype, and the integration is seamless. But what's most impressive is how Skype and Google Talk handle calling. Maemo considers Google Talk and Skype VOIP and IM enabled accounts, and after they're added, you can make and receive calls over Skype, and do the same with Google Talk. Although we tested with PR 1.1, PR 1.2 further builds on this by enabling video calling for Skype (between PC and other skype video clients), and Google Talk (with the PC web client, or any other XMPP Jingle video client, including the N900, N810, and N800). There's also support for SIP video calls.
But the best part is that VOIP calls are treated just like a normal call. In fact, for a while, I was completely confused by Skype because I expected it to live by itself somewhere - similar to how it works on other platforms. But that's not how it works at all - enter your account details, set your availability status, and you're ready to call and be called over Skype. In Europe, where international calling can be expensive and sometimes confusing, this is a huge feature.
Though video calling on Android through Qik, and FaceTime on iPhone 4 has been received to much fanfare, Maemo has quietly had video call support since launch. With PR 1.1, video calling was admittedly a bit of a challenge - requiring calls to be made from the PC client of Google Talk to the N900, with the PC initiating the voice call. Or requiring Fring for Skype video calls to work (which I could never get working, sadly), but PR 1.2 now makes this a core part of the operating system in a way that really does work.
Phone Dialer
The dialer is virtually the only application that's portrait and landscape on the N900. It's admittedly very barebones. Launching it, you're first presented with a list of recently made and received calls, a shortcut to the contacts application, or the dial pad. The dial pad unfortunately doesn't have any smart dialing functions like HTC usually includes, it's just a plain ol' keypad - you can however just start typing a contact's name and see their contact card.
There's turning control for the N900 which launches the phone application whenever it's turned vertical - I never tried this - or you can force the phone to always be landscape/portrait from a setting.
Fortunately, there's landscape and portrait of both, and they do what they're supposed to do. In the call-in-progress screen, there's the usual options for mute, speaker, dial pad, and end. When you're in a skype call, there's a skype logo in the top left of the user's avatar.
When the call is over cellular, there's a picture of a phone - self explanatory. Otherwise the call screen is virtually identical for the entire gamut of call types - VOIP over 3G/2.5G or WiFi, and normal 2G/3G calling. The integration is truly flawless - there's no excuse that other platforms haven't fully integrated VoIP like this. On the other hand, carriers would throw a fit and likely never subsidize, carry, or support the phone (which might explain the N900's lack of adoption in the US), but we can dream, can't we?
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akse - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
I've got my N900 clocked to use 250Mhz idle and 805Mhz stress clocks and it fastens everything by huge amount. 600Mhz is sometimes a bit slow and if you up it a little bit, everything starts to get smoother..The custom kernel is using lower voltages but higher clocks than nokia stock kernel.. which is why 805mhz drains just about the same amount of power than 600mhz with stock kernel.
I just love the fact that you can do that kind of things on this phone..
One guy was asking how to backup sms messages.. well there wasn't any app for it so you could just run a command with sqlite in Xterm to search through the database for all sms's and forward the results with > to a text file :)
Exodite - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
That's a truly epic article, the in-depth look at both the hard- and software side of things is far and above what I'm used to reading regarding smartphone reviews. Many thanks for that!Looking forward to similar articles in the future.
medi01 - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Epic, right, and you don't care that Apple's device is visible where it has advantage but is not shown, where it doesn't. Like on contrast comparison images.Misterious.
Exodite - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
No, can't say I mind that at all really.Then again I'm not in the market for an iPhone anyway.
Brian Klug - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
I actually completely spaced on that one - I probably had a 3GS in my pocket when I took those photos.There's no conspiracy - I just thought that the Incredible's AMOLED display would make an interesting comparison with the Motorola Droid's LCD, and the N900's resistive layer would mix things up a bit.
The iPhone screen really shows its age in the numbers from the bench though. It leaks light pretty badly and obviously the lower PPI is... well... bad.
Cheers,
Brian
Rayb - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Nokia has been making devices that work without much hoopla for a long time. It is not for everyone but it beats the available iPhone in more useful ways than is possible.Helmore - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
The Adrena 200 is based on the AMD Z430 GPU. A Z340 does not even exist AFAIK.I know, I'm nitpicking here, but I just thought I had to mention it.
The Adreno 200 runs at a frequency of 133 MHz, giving it a theoretical performance of 133 MPixels/s of fill rate and 22 Million Triangle/s. The Adreno 205 is the same core but running at 200 MHz and is what will be used in the MSM7X30 and QSD8X50A (45 nm version of the current Snapdragon chip with some small tweaks). The SGX530 used in the Droid (OMAP3430) runs at around 100 MHz, which should give it a theoretical fill rate of 250 MPixels/s and a 7 million Triangles/s. On the OMAP3630 the SGX530 will run at 200 MHz AFAIK. That's all theoretical performance, as we all know they're only part of the story. Just take a look at the GTX480 and the Radeon 5870 and you'll know that theoretical performance doesn't get you very far.
fabarati - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
1) there was a mistake on the N900 hardware page: it's a 3.5 mm jack, not a 1.8 mm. You probably mixed it up with 1/8"2) The N900 can do Video calling over 3G, like most 3G phones in Europe have done since 2003. It works ok, but it's hella expensive, so no one does it more than once or twice.
Brian Klug - Friday, June 11, 2010 - link
Fixed! Thanks!-Brian
wobblysausage - Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - link
Lies! It cannot make a 3g video call.It can make a skype video call (or a google chat video call) over a 3g data connection but this is not the same thing. Not nearly.
I've had my N900 since November and this is the 1 thing I really miss.