Nokia's N810 internet tablet hits store shelves

Folks, we're going to level with you: Nokia's N810 internet table -- the magnetizing, multi-faceted gadget so many of you cats have been waiting for -- is officially on store shelves. According to the Finnish company's reps, the WiFi equipped handheld is now available for your general consumption at such luminous retailers as Best Buy Mobile, CompUSA, Micro Center, and Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago. If you'll recall, the Linux-based, touchscreen portable runs atop a 400MHz CPU, has 2GB of RAM flash memory (upgradable to 10GB), a built-in GPS receiver, a Mozilla-based browser, and a slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard. The silver dream machine is available right now for the suggested retail price of $479.

Update: As our eagle-eyed readers have noticed, the N810 has a 400MHz processor, not 400GHz -- as much as we wish it were the other way around.

[Via PhysOrg]

[bfrederick1 @ Nov 19th 2007 6:03PM]

Wow... 400Ghz. That's.... Impressive.

[andi @ Nov 19th 2007 8:45PM]

and let's not forget the 2 gigs of RAM... upgradable to 10 too...

[sr @ Nov 20th 2007 2:13AM]

^^^ Most people didn't get yours even though it is just as valid. Storage memory is not RAM.

[DENgerous @ Nov 24th 2007 4:16PM]

Oh yeah Nokia did Intel ;)

[Rob Lewis @ Nov 19th 2007 6:08PM]

you guys might want to review the tech specs on that post... 400ghz? lol...

[Stuart Satterthwaite @ Nov 19th 2007 6:04PM]

Are there desktops out there that can take 10 GB of RAM? I think you mean memory?

[Sergio @ Nov 19th 2007 6:05PM]

Nokia SUPERCOMPUTERS!!! 400ghz and 10 GB of RAM? I'll take two please...

[spass @ Nov 19th 2007 6:14PM]

Get a dozen, wait until 2010 and still sell them for a profit.

[Pop @ Nov 19th 2007 6:06PM]

400Ghz CPU ... holy sheep!! ... better change that to Mghz :)

[Kookr @ Nov 19th 2007 6:05PM]

Kinda pricey for a small step in cpu bump, gps, and keyboard over the n800.

[kyle @ Nov 19th 2007 6:40PM]

not even a cpu bump. it's the same processor, but underclocked in the n800. the new firmware restores the cpu to full speed.

[Texrat @ Nov 21st 2007 7:00PM]

Built-in gps and keyboard aren't exactly cheap. Plus, the N800 price has naturally fallen as devices do, but you can't expect a newly-launched product (even a sibling) to enjoy that. Finally, the quoted price is list, and discounts of up to $75 USD have already been reported.

Come guys. Consumer Devices 101.

[Stuart Satterthwaite @ Nov 19th 2007 6:06PM]

Yeah especially for a measly $479. I'll take 10 and re-sell for 5 grand a piece

[Sam @ Nov 19th 2007 6:12PM]

Wow I'd get an Eee Over the old Nokia Tablet but this thing is a 400GHz monster...

[J-Man @ Nov 19th 2007 6:15PM]

Technology sucks when you can't get it right!!!

"The Nokia N810 provides a premier, portable internet experience with its large color display, touchpad screen, slide-out keyboard, 400 MHz processor, Mozilla-based browser and up to 10GB of memory (an optional 8GB memory card combined with 2GB internal memory)."

http://www.nseries.com/nseries/v3/media/sections/products/tech_specs/en-R1/tech_specs_n810_en_R1.html
Memory

* DDR RAM 128MB
* Flash 256MB

Storage

* Up to 2GB internal memory
* Support for compatible miniSD and microSD memory cards (with extender). Supports cards up to 8GB. (SD cards over 2GB must be SDHC compatible.)

[JohnMatthews @ Nov 24th 2007 5:55PM]

Ditto, apparently lots of people have to comment before things get corrected: it's not 2-10GB of RAM.

[Noah @ Nov 19th 2007 6:17PM]

1.21 Gigawatts!!!

[Jon47 @ Nov 19th 2007 6:16PM]

Congratulations, first7 commenters - you all realized the same typo. C'mon guys, it wasn't terribly clever the first time and each followup comment that critiqued the same aspect was quadratically stupider.

Why not comment on how the rows of the qwerty keyboard are not staggered. If I'm going to drop $500 on this thing I'd like to believe there was at least some UI design that went into it.

[Sergio @ Nov 19th 2007 6:38PM]

Congratulations for calling us on it. Personally I commented on it when there were no other comments (much like the other six I'm sure) but came in second as that's how long it took me to check my email and confirm the comment. Had I seen a comment already addressing it I would have never typed it.

[SFO Kevin @ Nov 19th 2007 6:16PM]

This would be a sweet machine if they allowed you to hack it to a Linux advanced screen or load Windows XP on it like the Asus EEE

[SFO Kevin @ Nov 19th 2007 6:21PM]

And why does the price keep rising with each new version of this thing?....

[ethana2 @ Nov 19th 2007 10:11PM]

Dude, putting WinXP on it would be a step backwards. Don't do it. BSD or OpenSolaris, maybe, but not Windows.

[lassi @ Nov 20th 2007 10:50AM]

what you mean with linux advanced screen?

the thing runs linux and is quite open, couple of alternative gui's are in existence as well(not that usable at the moment i think though).

[Invisiblemoose @ Nov 19th 2007 6:26PM]

It would be a fun little device for $199. This pricetag is even less justified than the Eee's...

[James @ Nov 19th 2007 6:30PM]

That's about what the N800 is going for (Bought mine for $218 shipped from buy.com last week).

[Smacksmackums @ Nov 19th 2007 6:27PM]

How is this better than the EEE PC?

[Rollins @ Nov 19th 2007 6:36PM]

Well, it's a lot smaller, has built-in GPS, and serves an entirely different purpose.

[Sean D. @ Nov 19th 2007 6:41PM]

The main reason for me that it's better than the Eee is that it'll fit in my pocket.

It also has a built-in GPS, a slate form-factor, and a touch screen. And it comes with a car mount kit, for using the thing as a GPS in-car.

With all that in mind, I'm not sure it's worth almost $500. It looks like now's a great time to pick up an n800.

[Mark @ Nov 19th 2007 6:51PM]

Holy cow, if this could run Windows XP I'd be all over it.

[ethana2 @ Nov 19th 2007 10:16PM]

When you're using an OS that doesn't waste every resource you throw at it, you find that you don't need as many resources. Also, if you haven't caught onto this already, the more power you pack into a mobile device in general, the more it costs, and the quicker it goes through battery charges.

I'm glad they didn't design it for windows. It's about time somebody thinks of designing it for a /purpose/ instead of favor with some monopolistic corporation.

[totesen @ Nov 20th 2007 9:49PM]

the Eee pc shas 512mb or 1gb Ram and 4 or 8gb hard drive in flash its 10 inches. but the n800 and n810 are UMPC(Ultra Portable PC) with 128 up to 256mb Ram and a 16gb hard drive(n800) and 10gb(n810)

[Marcos @ Nov 19th 2007 6:38PM]

This is an interesting device. For the hackers out there, having Linux in there is awesome. For the other 99.9% of the population (but not necesarily the readers of this blog), the browser, email functionality and media player is more than enough. I think for the vast majority of users, the iPod touch is a better purchase:

+ smaller
+ multitouch
+ really good mobile browser
+ great media player
+ dead-easy desktop integration/sync
- only web based email
- lower resolution screen
+ probably better battery life - not sure though.
- no bluetooth
- no potential for voice communication.
- no GPS
- no physical keyboard.

[Mark @ Nov 19th 2007 6:52PM]

The problem with that is that its a separate device to carry when a good cell phone/smart phone could do most of the above.

[John @ Nov 19th 2007 6:54PM]

no physical keypad is a downside for me. I like typing on actual button/keys.

[thethirdmoose @ Nov 19th 2007 6:59PM]

"Really good mobile browser"
Ok, then, call me when it can play flash, will you?

[roflercopterer @ Nov 19th 2007 7:05PM]

you can't be serious? You're comparing the ipod touch to this? fanboy alert

[Rollins @ Nov 19th 2007 7:07PM]

They're barely in the same category. I own an iPod Touch and like it, but the Nokia has infinitely more capabilities, especially until the Touch gets its SDK.

[Richard @ Nov 20th 2007 4:00AM]

+ smaller - yep, bet your GF loves everything being small too.
+ multitouch - Nothing like having to use a low res screen to compensate for the multitouch function
+ really good mobile browser - run just about any browser you want on the N810.
+ great media player - Yep nothing like transcoding every video file (xvid,mkv,divx) you download to MP4 when the N810 can "just play it".
+ dead-easy desktop integration/sync - Yep try sshing into the thing from another country.
+ probably better battery life, wrong again, N810 has a bigger battery.

[Steelwurm @ Nov 19th 2007 6:47PM]

But is it able to play WMV or Quicktime for videos?

[Rollins @ Nov 19th 2007 7:06PM]

It can play WMV out of the box.

Not quite sure about QT. It can play H.263 and H.264 encoded movies, according to Nokia's site. I guess that probably means it could play those in a .MOV wrapper?

[Dale Sundstrom @ Nov 19th 2007 6:58PM]

Looks wonderful, but why-oh-why no stereo Bluetooth A2DP profile?

[kyle @ Nov 20th 2007 2:57AM]

third party media player apps have this. the included media player is a bundle of suck, and you will want to replace it anyways.

[Dale Sundstrom @ Nov 20th 2007 2:57PM]

Thanks for the reply. I see now that stereo bluetooth hacks can be added, but they use lots of CPU and battery.

I also found good news in a thread explaining this at http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8435&highlight=a2dp it says that A2DP stereo blutooth is in the process of being added to the N810's OS2008, and that the current rough implementation can be turned on just by editing a configuration file.

[orrgroup @ Nov 19th 2007 7:50PM]

It is suppose to play full shockwave 9 flash files.

[dmessenger @ Nov 19th 2007 10:06PM]

Until Nokia puts a 3G radio in this Internet Tablet, I say big deal. WiFi is not ubiquitous.

[Naranek @ Nov 20th 2007 12:35AM]

You don't need a 3G radio because you can use the internet through your phone using bluetooth if there are no wireless networks available.

[Texrat @ Nov 21st 2007 7:00PM]

No, but bluetooth phones are!

[Eli Paldiel @ Nov 20th 2007 8:31AM]

One word for this overpriced brick. IPHONE. Nuf said.

[shawn @ Nov 20th 2007 10:08AM]

The N810 has a higher-resolution screen. Tactile keyboard. Expandable memory. GPS. Fully open OS capable of running SSH or any other application you care to load. The OS your home PC is running doesn't matter. You can use the browser of your choice. It runs flash. You can play nearly any media format you like (but not, ironically, Apple's.)

The only real thing the iPhone (or iPod Touch) has that is superior is the CPU. 600MHz vs 400MHz.

In pretty much any other way that matters, the N810 has the edge.

Better yet, when you whip one of these puppies out of your pocket, no one is going to accuse you of being an iClone.

[Faustus @ Nov 20th 2007 10:24AM]

"Better yet, when you whip one of these puppies out of your pocket, no one is going to accuse you of being an iClone."

That's right . . . because they won't even notice the N810. It blends in with smartphones real well.

I played with the N810 at a store here in NYC yesterday. Great concept, but *slow* and cumbersome GUI. Flash is a non-issue with this device -- once you see how jittery YouTube is on it, you'll get the picture. As well, its media playback capabilities harken to 2002. Oh well. There's always iPhone 2.