(2005-06-17) Nokia770 Slate

The Nokia 770 $350 slate looks pretty interesting. Runs LinuxOS (GNOME). For their part, Nokia is positioning the 770 as a Thin Client, a terminal. It is not intended to be a storage device (Off-Line), even though it does share many aspects with new Multimedia players, such as its RS-MMC memory card slot. This is the reason that you will find no PIM type applications pre-installed on the system, like a Calendar or To-Do List app. Of course there are plenty of Open Source applications that can fill that void, but it seems clear that Nokia is very much trying not to position the 770 as a PDA, even though it does include an EMail client (along with Opera, an RSS reader, and other apps).

Jul'2006 update from Om Malik: Gizmo is working on it now!

Mar'2007 update from Om Malik. The company is betting that as more web services start to support the Platform, the devices will gain in popularity. The Finnish phone maker believes that tablets (TabletPC) are the next evolution of computing, and as web service matures, these Internet-centric devices will gain more traction... The Nokia N800 is a nifty looking device that is very capable when it comes to making VoIP phone calls - we use Gizmo client all the time. GoogleTalk hasn't exactly become our favorite, but like most we think Skype could actually make us use the device a lot more, especially for quick calls to other Skypers.

• Jun'2007 update from Steve O Hear - Skype seen on an N800.