UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Youtube videos play at a brutal 1 or 2 frames per second. Yuck. What’s interesting, though, is that you get only occasional hiccups in the audio tracks. That means that videoblogs published to youtube may still be audible, even though you won’t want to watch them.

UPDATE 2: You can now create a Swap File for Virtual Memory as large as 128 MB. I think the 770 limit was 64MB.

Another Update: The list of running tasks along the left hand side no longer seems to re-order itself to put the currently running app at the top. This is a welcome change. Further, when you have multiple instances of the same app running, they become sub menus of the task list. NICE!

Update++: The built in stand is without question the biggest improvement. It has two positions and has a very very satisfying stickiness at each of its resting positions.

I wonder if the blue glow around the dpad is controllable by software….

Update += 5: The opera.ini file on the n800 is mostly identical to the version on the 770. However, all the cache settings are much higher on the n800.

– Though the SD slots were originally thought to be Mini SD, they are both full size SD. I’m sure the reason people thought otherwise was because the 800 comes with a MniiSD card and an SD adapter. This is no doubt to help make the 800 more compatible with phones.

– The external SD slot and the miniUSB port are covered by the built in stand. To access either of these areas, you need to open the stand.

– Both the internal and external ports work fine with 2GB SD cards.

– At first, I hated the fact that the N800 shipped with a cloth case rather than the sturdy slide case that came with my Nokia 770. NOW, though, I’m starting to get comfortable with the idea. Since I sometimes carry a digital camera in the same pocket as my Internet Tablet, the soft case helps protect both devices.

– As far as I can tell, the only application that uses the built in webcam is the video-conferencing app. I see no way to record video or photographs with the webcam. My phone camera is much more powerful than this webcam, but it still seems like an odd omission.

– On the Nokia 770, the button to tell the current application to go full screen is on the far left of the top edge of the device. On the N800, they moved it between the + and – zoom buttons. It makes zooming and full-screening tasks that require more consideration. Maybe my muscle-memory will adjust, but for now it feels really wierd.

– The About screen says that the OS is Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition (version 1.2006.47-20). The most recent upgrade for the 770 was 2006 edition, so that makes sense. The application manager calls the current rev “bora”. “scirocco” is Internet Tablet OS 2006’s framework. The other available distros “sardine” and “herring” are supposedly more advanced than “bora”.

– The theme on the 800 is pretty cool. I don’t know if it would work on the 770, but it seems to me to have all the same areas, etc.

– Google Reader is still unusable on the 800.

– The loudest setting on the 800 is much louder than the 770.

“Disconnect” on IRC (#maemo on freenode) bought a Nokia N800 this morning. Here are excerpts from his findings so far:

[12:24] Did anyone pick up an n800 yet?

[12:25] Disconnect is playing with it

[12:25] jtokash: i did, we’re trying to get an xterm running

[12:25] does it actually have dual mem slots?

[12:26] yes

[12:27] one in battery comp (mmc/sd) and one outside behind stand (same)

[12:27] 192M usable int storage

[12:31] omfg youtube works

[12:31] * Disconnect was not expecting that

[12:36] and youtube is way low framerate

[12:36] audio has some glitches

[12:42] Disconnect: try to open /dev/dsptask in a browser, does it show any files there?

[12:42] Disconnect: so we can do RAID1 over sd

[12:43] lol

[12:44] “some random v6 processor rev 2 (v61)”

[12:45] 320bogo

[12:45] no clock info in cpuinfo

[12:45] What’s the bogos on the 770?

[12:45] armv6 usually means vfp included

[12:46] and no more alignment problems

[12:46] and SIMD for ssvb 🙂

[12:46] yah vfp

[12:46] 125.76bogo on my 770 atm.

[12:46] So, potentially twice as fast.

[12:47] Disconnect: so, how did you get one?

[12:47] compusa

[12:47] Ah 🙂

[12:47] Disconnect: how much did it cost, btw?

[12:47] I guess you might be the first customer

[12:47] $400

[12:47] Hmm.

[12:47] same as reported

[12:48] gonna try to get kb working

[12:50] bt kb works out of the box

[12:50] 128M ram still

[12:50] Disconnect: there’s a “Bluetooth” applet in Control Panel, I believe?

[12:51] yah

[12:51] and a “hardware keyboard” one

[12:51] Cool

[12:51] * Disconnect is gonna try R&D mode

[12:51] Disconnect: 770 has 64mb

[12:51] ah

[12:52] does the included headset have a microphone on it?

[12:52] ok so 128 now

[12:52] and yah i think so. checking.

[12:52] looks like it

[12:52] nice

[12:52] and a clicker

[12:53] anyone want to try gchat audio/video?

Stefan Constantinescu found a flickr album of N800 photos. NICE.

Stefan’s Blog, with the photos arranged nicely.

The original flickr photo set.

ThoughtFix’s Take

Details from the back of the box:

– VGA (640×480) webcam

– Integrated Stand

– 4.13 inch screen (same as the 770)

– Stereo Speakers (770 has mono)

– Microphone has moved to the top.

– Audio jack and mini usb port have moved to the right side. (FANTASTIC!)

– Requires mobile phone (with bt) for cell connection.

– Wifi and BT

– It looks to me based on the flickr photos that the n800 comes with a sleeve. I’m not so sure that’s an improvement over the sliding shell. I like the shell because it attaches to your 770 even when you are using the device. Nothing to lose!

Since the screen sizes are the same, I grabbed a picture of the n800 and the 770 and scaled them until the screen sizes matched. That resulted in the following comparisons that should show the size differences. Basically, longer but not as tall. Too bad we can’t see exactly how thick the new one is, though some of the shots make it look basically as thick as the 770.

The n800 photo is sourced from the flickr set mentioned above. The 770 photo is from flickr, too.

If you haven’t been reading ThoughtFix’s regular updates on the new model, here are some links:

Two Mini SD Slots, Retractable Camera, Built iIn Stand – ThoughtFix relaying info found on ITT forums.

Most likely no cell or GPS. – ThoughtFix on the FCC docs.

Well, here are my wishes for the new Tablet:

– A version of the sliding cover that has a chicklet keyboard built in.

– A turbo button that makes the CPU care more about speed than battery life – would be useful occasionally.

– A more powerful processor in general.

– Same size and shape. Looks like I mostly got that wish. Hopefully, it won’t be thicker!

– Same price (or cheaper)

– Browser Compatibility with Google Video, YouTube.

– Browser Compatibility with Google Reader. Although ReaderMini.com is pretty damn close!

– Tilt Sensors (I’ve been a big fan of tilt tech since WarioWare Twisted!)

Update: Engadget’s comment area for this topic is interesting. The commenters are really hitting on the important question: Have the RAM and CPU increased? I hope so. If not, I’m not going to be able to justify buying the new version!