The MeeGo project announced today that it saw HTML5 as the future of mobile application development and would be “working hard” to help developers transition from MeeGo development to Tizen development.

As stated by Imad Sousou on the MeeGo blog:

By now, you may have read that The Linux Foundation, with the support of several other companies, announced a new project, Tizen, to build a new operating system for devices. This new project is first and foremost open source, and based on Linux. So it begs the question: why not just evolve MeeGo? We believe the future belongs to HTML5-based applications, outside of a relatively small percentage of apps, and we are firmly convinced that our investment needs to shift toward HTML5. Shifting to HTML5 doesn’t just mean slapping a web runtime on an existing Linux, even one aimed at mobile, as MeeGo has been. Emphasizing HTML5 means that APIs not visible to HTML5 programmers need not be as rigid, and can evolve with platform technology and can vary by market segment.

Granted, this is a judgment on our part on which reasonable people could disagree, but that’s the conclusion I came to.

Intel also welcomed the change, encouraging MeeGo developers to develop in HTML5 for cross-platform compatibility between MeeGo and Tizen. It also affirmed its commitment to its App-Up application store, stating that it would be distributing Tizen applications.

And yes, MeeGo continues for our devices in market. MeeGo is a great choice for emerging markets and we’ve seen amazing devices already like the ASUS EeePC x101. AppUp continues to support MeeGo and we encourage MeeGo developers to continue to build and submit apps for our netbook devices in market. We also encourage MeeGo developers to consider a common development framework of HTML5 to bridge development between MeeGo and Tizen devices. And on the netbook side the MeeGo neetbook apps in the Intel AppUp center will be compatible and will run unchanged with Tizen netbook. So for those developers who invested in MeeGo for netbooks your apps will continue on Tizen netbooks.

As for application development for Tizen, the Intel AppUp developer program is a key destination for developers with the developer enabling programs you know from us, including; application labs, accelerator funding, developer challenges, and community engagement, to help drive development and app innovation for the Tizen™ platform. Intel’s strategy has always been to provide choice when it comes to operating systems. To this end, we work closely with partners such as Microsoft and Google on Windows and Android respectively. Tizen is just one more example of Intel’s contribution to open source, in an effort to help satisfy customer demands.

The LiMo Foundation also release a statement about Tizen.

Tizen combines the best open source technologies from LiMo and the Linux Foundation and adds a robust and flexible standards-based HTML5 and WAC web development environment within which device-independent applications can be produced efficiently for unconstrained cross-platform deployment. This approach leverages the robustness and flexibility of HTML5 which is rapidly emerging as a preferred application environment for mobile applications and the broad carrier support of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC). Tizen additionally carries a state-of-the-art reference user interface enabling the creation of highly attractive and innovative user experience that can be further customized by operators and manufacturers.

What role for Qt?

The future of Qt in relation to Tizen is uncertain. It was not mentioned in any of today’s press releases. The Tizen website does make reference to a native development, but does not provide any further details. Instead HTML 5 is promoted as the development environment of choice and in an elastic piece of thinking is given as the reason for the need to evolve MeeGo.

However, Qt is a key component in many MeeGo related projects (e.g. part of the reference design for the GENIVI alliance for IVI devices) and, as noted above, Intel have indicated that there will be backwards compatibility with existing MeeGo netbook applications.

It seems likely that politics has a role to play here. Qt came into the MeeGo project from Nokia. Despite recent moves towards open governance, is still very much associated with Nokia. Intel were unhappy that Nokia switched to Windows Phone and  the member of LiMo (including Samsung) may prefer to avoid mentioning or relying on what is perceived to be a competitor's asset. 

In our opinion the likely scenario is that Qt will continue to play a major role in Tizen projects, but it will not be promoted as part of the core primary developer environment. Qt may be included as part of the default offering or it may be left to integrators to provide a version of Tizen with Qt. A possible example of how this might work in practise comes from Nomovok, who today released a press statement indicating that they would provide a version of Tizen integrated with Qt as part of their Steelrat system.

David Gilson and Rafe Blandford, for All About MeeGo, 28^th September 2011.

Ilari Nurmi, Vice President of Marketing, Nokia, said:

"Since we announced the Nokia N9 in June this year, the feedback that it has gotten from discerning and avid smartphone users across the world has been nothing short of fantastic. With the innovations in industrial design, user interface, and the Qt developer experience, the Nokia N9 sets the bar for how natural technology can feel, and represents the first in a number of products from Nokia that will be brought to life in similar fashion."

The N9 comes with a number of third party applications pre-installed. These include Angry Birds and WiFi Hotspot (from JoikuSoft). The device supports a range of third party services including Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Skype, Picassa and Flickr. More applications and services are available via the Ovi Store.

Janne Heikkinen, Nokia’s Product Planning Director, says that N9 device owners can expect to receive a number of software updates in the future. They will be based on feedback from early adopters and operators. In common with other Nokia devices, the timing and content of software updates will be "communicated closer to the download start".

The changes to Nokia's software strategy in February do leave the N9 as something of an orphan device - it is inevitable that the N9 will be haunted by the spectre of its status as Nokia's first and only MeeGo Harmattan device.  

However, today is the day for its supporters to celebrate they key milestone of commercial shipment. Moreover, whatever its surrounding context, the N9 still a very capable device and contains some remarkable innovations. Potential owners will need to decide whether the context outweighs the benefits of owning this singular device.

To start with, I'm loving the cheeky nature of the name. For a long time Foursquare has been txtspked down to 4sq (or maybe that should be twttrspk?), so for an application with the primary goal of doing your check-in and status update as quickly as possible, going with the abbreviated portmanteau of 4squick is a brilliant name. Not only does it feel familiar, but it also gets the unique selling point of the app over.

I'm sure they've read the Foursquare brand feature guidelines.

So, how fast is 4squick compared to the official client? First up, with neither app running in the background of my E7 and no existing GPS signal showing on the status bar (e.g. from Nokia Maps running), how long does it take to perform a check-in at a location in the Foursquare database? The official Foursquare app takes 41.2 seconds and 4squick takes 31.1 seconds to go from opening the app to confirmation that I have checked in. So almost 25% quicker.

There is less of a difference when both apps are running in the background and simply need to refresh the list of places and decide where you are. The variance was maybe a second or two, and neither application was always in the lead, so I'm going to call this a draw with a lot of dependance on the interent connectivity and GPS signal around you.

But 4squick is also quick because of the UI. There is much less screen furniture on display, the target areas for buttons like refresh, share with a social network, and the list of places nearby, are larger and friendlier. This makes it a much easier application to use when walking along, as your arm and phone bounce up and down and you try to hit a hot-spot on the touchscreen.

The other addition to 4squick over the official application is the ability to add pictures to your check-ins. Powered by Foursquare's own picture sharing system, this is likely a temporary advantage as you'd expect the official app to have it integrated at some point (as it is on Android and iOS). When that update will arrive I'm not sure, but 4squick do need to tweak their image system as well. You can add pictures already taken by your phone, but you can't specifically start up a camera instance and take a photo from inside the application. When I went to take a picture, 4squick closed itself (perhaps by Symbian freeing up some memory) so I needed to start the check-in process again.

This isn't a huge issue for me, as I rarely add photos to check-ins, but it could be an important consideration for some. This quirk aside, I'm enjoying 4squick, even if it's miles away from the Symbian style guide with its brash white look, rounded corners and defaulting to Arial font (which is nice, but just wrong on a Symbian device - thankfully you can toggle back to the Nokia default). What I need is here, from a list of places nearby and where my friends have checked in, to the public tips at each location and the leaderboard of my friends centred around my current position (which sits around #25-#35, if you're interested).

But above all of this, the reason I'm probably going to be using 4squick rather than the official client (or the update option inside Gravity) is that it fits the new icon design of Symbian Anna and makes my phone look even smarter thanks to the 'squircle' ion. And it's purple. Shallow, yes, but sometimes presentation is about fitting in, and 4squick does that very well.

-- Ewan Spence, Sept 2011.

In essence, the application provides large on screen controls to make it easier to use when driving. There are three key use cases: navigation, music and calling. The navigation element is based on the Drive module of Nokia Maps, the music element is based on the Music application (sharing the same music library) and the calling elements are based on the Phone and Contacts applications.

Having a dedicated application for in-car usage make sense, but the real benefits come when it is combined with integration into the car's hardware. This is what the application's support for MirrorLink is all about. The MirrorLink technology enables the replication of the screen of the phone to a head unit and will also connect the phone to the car's audio system. The head unit, which is generally made up of a dashboard mounted touchscreen and associated buttons, can send input to the phone. In addition, the phone can also use the car sensors (e.g. GPS and microphones), to augment its own built in sensors. 

A Nokia 701 being plugged into an Alpine head unit via the microUSB port.
Once upgraded to Symbian Belle, all Symbian^3 devices (Nokia N8, C7, E7, E6, X7, C6-01 etc.) will be able to use the application. 

In practice, this means that key phone functionality and applications appear to be fully integrated into the car's own systems, going a long way beyond what is possible with current Bluetooth-based systems. The phone holds the data and is doing most of the hard work, but there should be no need to actually interact with the phone directly. Rather, everything can be controlled from the head unit's touchscreen and associated controls.

MirrorLink is an open standard (and trademark) of the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC). The intention is that MirrorLink head units will work with any phone that supports the standard (i.e. akin to Bluetooth or USB). Nokia is just the first phone manufacturer to implement MirrorLink support. Other members of the CCC (HTC, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola Mobility) are likely to follow in due course. We are likely to see further developments at the Car Connectivity Consortium Summit, which takes place at the end of the month in Chicago.

MirrorLink was previously known as Terminal Mode, a technology that was initially developed in Nokia Research and Development labs. We've previously written about the technology here and here.

Nokia Car Mode application demoed

This video, from Nokia, shows Nokia Car Mode being used with Alpine's ICS-X8 App Link Station. The phone is plugged into the Alpine head unit, which automatically starts the Nokia Car Mode application.

Alpine ICS-X8 App Link Station

The first commercial MirrorLink head units to be announced is Alpine's ICS-X8 App Link Station. It was also announced today at the IAA event and has been developed under a strategic partnership agreement between Alpine and Nokia.

The Alpine ICS-X8 is a head unit that can be retrofitted to supported cars to add MirrorLink and Bluetooth hands-free phone functionality. It has a high resolution seven inch touchscreen. Other features include a built in Bluetooth module, echo cancellation and microphone gain adjustment (allowing sound quality to be tweaked for virtually any car interior) and the ability for the software to be updated via a USB connection. 

As part of the ICS-X8 package, Alpine provides sound equipment that reflects the company's heritage in this area:

The ICS-X8 continues Alpine’s legacy of high sound quality, featuring a 50W x 4 amplifier, three high voltage pre-amp outputs, 9-band Parametric EQ, digital time correction, and digital crossover. To tackle the lossy nature of compressed digital music, Alpine’s exclusive MediaXpander™ technology ensures richer music playback more true to the original recording. These sound quality features are available as well for Nokia Music playback.

The ICS-X8 will be available in November through authorised Alpine dealers.

Nokia remains the biggest contributor to Qt and as such maintain the lion's share of influence over the project. This is because the governance of Qt will be driven by those contributing to the project. 

However, people in Nokia working on Qt will start working on Qt as an upstream project and will be using the same infrastructure as everyone else. Moreover around 15% of the initial Maintainers (owners of a component of the Project code) do not work for Nokia. One of the longer term goals of the Qt Project will be to increase the number of non-Nokia Maintainers.

Nokia is set to continue to make significant investments in Qt. Nokia have said they will be using Qt to help connect the next billion users. This will see Nokia focus its future Qt work on the next generation of Series 40 devices. Qt also remains the developer environment of choice for Symbian and MeeGo Harmattan and is being used in Nokia's work on Terminal Mode (connecting phones to cars). 

As the Qt Blog notes the key goal is transparency and equal access to all, which will increase the speed of development and the adoption of Qt:

The Qt governance, roadmap and releases will be driven openly by the Qt Project – open to all the stakeholders willing to contribute. It will have an open governance model based on equal access to all discussions and tools, an open contribution process and meritocratic assignment of roles. We want Qt to excel by all measurements as a transparent, merit-based and participative open source community project. We believe this is the key to speeding up development and increasing the adoption of Qt.

Nokia continues to be the main contributor to the project, embracing Qt for its strategy to reach the next billion of mobile web users. As always, other parties continue to be invited to join the project, working on current releases and defining the future of Qt.

The Qt Blog also notes the widening of the scope of Qt:

In addition to handsets, we see that the use of Qt on desktop continues and increased use of Qt in various embedded segments. Automotive infotainment systems and a wide range of consumer electronics devices are good examples of segments where Qt apps also can evolve. Qt is used by many automotive suppliers and manufacturers in alliances/consortium such as Genivi and MirrorLink. Qt, on embedded Linux and RTOS like QNX, is bringing the Web, Qt apps and new UI possibilities to multiple companies creating a wide range of solutions including consumer electronics.

More information on the Qt Project is available in this Qt Blog post and this Qt Labs Blog post. More information on the Qt Project Governance model is available on this wiki page.

The pricing being charged by the flagship store is roughly in line with other pre-orders (e.g. UK online retailer Mobile Fun has pre-orders at £519.95. Early pre-orders typically have a small price premium; we expect the cost of the device to fall slightly once it becomes generally available.

Nokia's Helsinki flagship store is located at 46 Alexander Street. The shop has a small demo area where you can find information on the MeeGo Harmattan device and use a demo model.

Full details about each project can be found here.

Here is a summary:

1. Sudokumaster
   Qt Quick game.
    
2. Compass v1.1
   Magnetometer, Maps and Navigation API use.
    
3. Qoat of the Hill v1.1
   Worms clone utilising the Qt GameEnabler framework.
    
4. Guitar Tuner v1.3
   Qt Quick example demonstrating Qt audio.
    
5. Qt Bubble Level v1.3
   Qt Quick example of accelerometer use.
    
6. Moto Trial Racer v1.1
   Motorcycle game integrating QML with Box2D physics engine
   
   
7. Match'em Poker v1.1
   An iOS game ported to Qt GameEnabler
    
8. AirSwype v1.1
   Another example of accelerometer use.
    
9. Qt Quick Playground v1.4
   A QML application to demonstrate the features of Qt Quick.
    
10. QML RSS Reader v1.1
    Demonstrating RSS feed resources on the Internet.
     
11. Solitaire Qt v1.7
    A cross-platform Qt C++ example.
     
12. Qt GameEnabler v1.1
    A collection of interfaces that enable game engine development in Qt.
     
13. QuickHit v1.2
    A Qt example showing how to use Qt Quick and Qt plug-ins to create multi-level games.
     
14. DJ Turntable v1.3
    Demonstration of integrating Qt Quick with the Qt audio interface.
    

The blog post at Nokia Developers also shows a case study video of Qt development on the N9. It tells how Chinese social network, Kaixin, used Qt to develop a its N9 mobile client.

David Gilson for All About MeeGo, 10th September 2011.

The Nokia N9 has captured the attention of the technology press and blogosphere more than any other recent Nokia device. This is the first phone built on the MeeGo operating system (well, 'MeeGo Harmattan'). However, the device faces an uncertain future with Nokia firmly stating it will not return to MeeGo for future devices. There is even no clear message about which international markets in which the device will be released. There are many unanswered questions. We at All About MeeGo have done out best to compile the information you need by putting together a definitive frequently asked questions article about the Nokia N9.

The information presented below is a collaborative effort between All About MeeGo, Asri Al Baker, and Nokia Malaysia's Glen Cha. The FAQ began back when we canvased the @AllAboutMeeGo followers for questions about the N9 prior to recording episodes nine and ten of the All About MeeGo Insight Podcast. Subsequently, Asri wrote for us about his time with the N9 at the Nokia-organised Kuala Lumpur blogger meet. As part of his involvement there, Asri was able to invite his Twitter followers to send him questions about the N9, and pass them along to Nokia Malaysia. Asri has kindly contributed those questions and answers to All About MeeGo for publication here.

Below you will find both unique questions, and summaries of common questions. For some questions, we have been able to provide more feedback from more than one source. Each answer is prefixed to let you know who provided the information.

As a 'Thank You' to everyone who contributed questions, we have credited each question with a link to the Twitter profile of the corresponding contributors. All About MeeGo would also like to thank Asri Al Baker for his time and contributions.

Contents

1. Availability

   1. Will there be any subsidized price with local telecoms operators?
   2. What is the expected price?
   3. Is the N9 locked?
   4. Will the N9 have a global release?

2. Support

   1. Will the N9 be upgraded to Meego 1.3 and 1.4?
   2. Why does Nokia sell something that has no future support from Nokia?
   3. Is it true that Nokia N9 is the last MeeGo phone from Nokia?
   4. Will Nokia continue to support the MeeGo OS?

3. Hardware

   1. What is the N9's Battery life like?
   2. Is USB OTG is supported?
   3. Will it be possible to install MeeGo Harmattan on the N900?
   4. Does the browser support hardware accelerated CSS transitions, animations and 3D transforms?
   5. Single or dual core CPU on the N9?
   6. Why was OMAP 3630 was chosen as the platform instead of OMAP 4430 in N9?
   7. Why not full HD 1080i?
   8. Why is there no HDMI-Out?
   9. Will the N9's curved screen be easily broken, compared to other Nokia models?
   10. Which version of Bluetooth is supported on the N9?

4. Software

   1. Who came up with SwipeUI?
   2. Does one handed usage and SwipeUI go together?
   3. Ease of text entry?
   4. App support, who will build apps for the N9?
   5. I am interested to know whether the N9 calendar can sync multiple calendars with Google or CalDAV sources
   6. How about installing apps from third party?
   7. Are many mainstream developers on board?
   8. What improvements are planned for the Facebook and twitter clients?
   9. Where is the terminal?
   10. How does the browser perform and does it have text reflow?
   11. Does the N9 browser support Flash?
   12. How are notifications managed in event view?
   13. Can Music Unlimited subscriptions be transferred to the N9?
   14. Is it easy to get root access?
   15. Are there extra repositories (e.g. extras, testing, devel, Ovi, ...)?
   16. Will the default mediaplayer support OGG/Vorbis and FLAC?
       

5. Miscellaneous

   1. Is N9 better than N8?
   2. Is a Banana Yellow version in the cards?

Availability

1. Will there be any subsidized price with local telecoms operators?

   • From: kamuscasio
      
   • [Nokia] We are talking to local telecom operators and will make the announcement in due course.
      

2. What is the expected price?

   • From: amirgbone
      
   • [AAM] The Nokia N9 has been seen available for pre-order with a retail price of £519.95 at Mobile Fun.
   • [Nokia] The local RRP will be communicated once the Nokia N9 is available through our retail channels. The Nokia N9 is expected to a be available in Malaysia toward the end of Q3.
      

3. Is the N9 locked?

   • From: kastor_holm
      
   • [AAM] The Nokia N9 will be available unlocked, directly from Nokia (where they are still operating an online store) and it is likely to be available from other commercial outlets.
      

4. Will the N9 have a global release?

   • From: hewbass, sts1976, jer006, bhaskarav
      
   • [AAM] Currently, there has been no word of the N9 being sold in western markets. However, the list of countries on the Nokia N9 availability page only correspond to the countries in which Nokia’s online stores are still operating. Nokia have made a statement indicating that the N9 will not be launched in the USA or the UK. However, while the lack of an official launch does mean it is unlikely to be ranged by operators in the given country, it does not mean the device will not be available through third party retailers.
   • [AAM] As a case in point, the Nokia N9 has been made available for pre-order through UK retailer Mobile Fun at £519.95 (UK Pounds)
   • [Asri] In Malaysia, Nokia N9 will be sold to the public through Nokia’s distribution channels and Nokia Malaysia is also in negotiation with some telecom operators to bundle it with their plans.
   • [Nokia] Each market has its own plan to launch certain models so we will let our colleagues from each office make their announcement in due course.
   • [AAM] Nokia has announced that the N9 will be ranged by Australian networks [Source] (2nd September 2011).
   • [AAM] Nokia Mexico announced that the N9 will be coming soon [Source] (9th September 2011).

Support

1. Will the N9 be upgraded to Meego 1.3 and 1.4?

   • From: belon1986
      
   • [Nokia] We will make the announcement in due course.

2. Why does Nokia sell something that has no future support from Nokia?

   • From: gjoe
      
   • [Nokia] The Nokia N9 is not just a MeeGo-based product; it is the latest Nokia smart phone. We believe people will be attracted to the amazing user experience that blends seamlessly with the hardware. Anyone who buys the Nokia N9 will have a great experience, and will also receive all the product support they require while using their product, including software updates, maintenance and standard care and support services.

3. Is it true that Nokia N9 is the last MeeGo phone from Nokia?

   • From: amigaluv
      
   • [AAM] Stephen Elop has stated that there will be “no returning to MeeGo”, according to Finnish Newspaper, Helsinging Sanomat [Source]. The N9 is likely to be the last MeeGo device, but elements of the technology, both software and hardware, will be used in other devices.
     
   • [Nokia] Our Meego platform will continue to provide Nokia with a platform to research and develop disruptive technology. What form and shape those technologies will take in the future is not something that we are able to talk about at this present moment.

4. Will Nokia continue to support the MeeGo OS?

   • From: iwakama, lhahne, ajay230ps, kamalzack
      
   • [AAM] Nokia will provide full support for the N9, as it does for all its other products. Given that Nokia has stated it will not be returning to MeeGo for future products, it is likely that major software updates may be limited. Despite this we would expect there to be two or three major firmware updates. The N9 may have a usual than longer support /sales period as it likely to thedive used for Nokia's research and future concept projects relating to MeeGo.
     
   • [Asri] Nokia N9 will receive continuous support from Nokia. Firmware updates will be made available for the device’s lifetime. At the same time, Nokia positioned MeeGo as the future disruptive technology, which can mean anything.
   • [Nokia] Anyone who buys the Nokia N9 will will receive all the product support they require while using their product, including software updates, maintenance and standard care and support services plus a pipeline to great apps which are developed on  Qt.

Hardware

1. What is the N9's Battery life like?

   • From: arifyusof
      
   • [Nokia] The talk time on GSM is estimated to be 11hours and on WCDMA, 7 hours.

2. Is USB OTG is supported?

   • From: htarhini
      
   • [AAM] The N9 does not support USB On The Go.
   • [Asri] At the moment, USB OTG is not supported but when plugged into PC, Mass Storage mode is available as one of the options.

3. Will it be possible to install MeeGo Harmattan on the N900?

   • From: rosskendall
      
   • [AAM] According to the MeeGo Wiki “MeeGo-Harmattan will not be released as a Nokia product for the N900” [Source]

4. Does the browser support hardware accelerated CSS transitions, animations and 3D transforms

   • From: itpastorn
      
   • [AAM] There is no definite information available, but we do not believe hardware acceleration is supported in the browser. Limited CSS 3 support is available.
   • [AAM] HTML5 tests on the N9's browser shows it to be very capable [Source]. Additionally, QtWebKit supports accelerated compositing [Source]. This shows that hardware acceleration is certainly possible, but there is still no definitive information available as to whether the N9's browser is hardware accelerated. Thanks to Noam_rosenthal for the references (2nd September 2011).

5. Single or dual core CPU on the N9?

   • From: itpastorn
      
   • [AAM] The N9 has a single core ARM Cortex A8 OMAP 3630 1GHz PowerVR SGX530 CPU

6. Why was OMAP 3630 was chosen as the platform instead of OMAP 4430 in N9?

   • From: yogi_77
      
   • [AAM] The OMAP 3630 processor is in the same family as the N900's OMAP 3430 (600Mhz), this reduced the amout on hardware / SoC integration work that was required for the N9 and this reduced the overall cost of development. Nokia also feels that the processor is adequate to meet the likely usage scenarios of the N9.
   • [Nokia] We believe the Nokia N9 delivers a fast user experience. In addition, it is able to deliver the best experience in the areas of performance, features and power consumption for the most common use cases that Nokia N9's targeted consumers would use frequently.

7. Why not full HD 1080i?

   • From: amirgbone
      
   • [Nokia] We believe the total package we have put together for N9 will be appealing to consumers who appreciate design and new technology.

8. Why is there no HDMI-Out?

   • From: lunaticpsyche
      
   • [Nokia] You can connect to your TV or home stereo system through USB mass storage mode or via the 3.5 mm A/V jack which supports TV-OUT.

9. Will the N9's curved screen be easily broken, compared to other Nokia models?

   • From: belon1986
      
   • [Nokia] The screen is made of very durable materials and we believe it would be as durable as other Nokia models, as we take pride in the quality of our products.

10. Which version of Bluetooth is supported on the N9?

    • From: wallbergsop
       
    • [AAM] According to developer.nokia.com the N9 has Bluetooth 2.1 with +EDR (thanks to @ajay230ps)

Software

1. Who came up with  SwipeUI?

   • From: jaymontano
      
   • [Nokia] The design and R&D team who worked on the Nokia N9 operated within the design philosophy of incorporating natural human movements into the Nokia N9 user interface – which is the SWIPE motion. It also helps that this interaction is unique in the Nokia N9 and is not available on other devices currently in the market.

2. Does one handed usage and SwipeUI go together?

   • From: Laxman289
      
   • [AAM] As discussed in episode 11 of the AAM Insight Podcast, SwipeUI perfectly fits one handed usage as it (almost) elminates the need to pinch with two things. Instead, it relies on gestures that can be performed with just a thumb.

3. Ease of text entry?

   • From: arifyusof
      
   • [Nokia] Nokia N9 supports both portrait and landscape virtual QWERTY keypad.

4. App support, who will build apps for the N9?

   • From: gosharpshooter
      
   • [Nokia] As it is powdered by Qt, we expect to see developers to port their Qt-based applications from Symbian OS to Nokia N9.

5. I am interested to know whether the N9 calendar can sync multiple calendars with Google or CalDAV sources

   • From: hewbass
      
   • [AAM] The N9 can subscribe to third party CalDAV sources (in addition to a Google account). At the time of writing, we don't know how many sources can be subscribed to at once. For an example of the accounts page, see this video.
   • [Asri] Multiple calendars are supported. Via Google Account, Mail for Exchange, as well as CalDAV. I have seen the Nokia N9 showing multiple CalDAV Google Calendars.

6. How about installing apps from third party?

   • From: kastor_holm
      
   • [AAM] The underlying software packaging system of MeeGo Harmattan uses Debian packages (rather than the RPM format which is the standard for MeeGo). This means that installing third party applications should be supported.
   • [Asri] Nokia N9 is powered by an Open Source OS called MeeGo Harmattan. Users can install any compatible software on it. The software can be installed by clicking on the .deb files through a file manager or via a terminal command (dpkg -i *deb) - if you know what you are doing! Nokia N9 will also include Nokia’s Ovi Store which provides the opportunity for more third party apps.

7. Are many mainstream developers on board?

   • From: Smartfonefan
      
   • [AAM] The Harmattan developer community is still small. This is reflected in that fact that Nokia have included applications for mainstream social media and networking services in the initial N9 firmware.
   • [Asri] Too early to say anything. But Nokia has been very consistent with the message that the Nokia N9 supports Qt. Applications developed using Qt can be installed on the Nokia N9. Moreover, Nokia is also giving out Nokia N950 DevKit to select developers to encourage them developing apps for N9.

8. What improvements are planned for the Facebook and Twitter clients?

   • From: Sheridan01
      
   • [Nokia] We are constantly looking at how to improve the current features of the preloaded Facebook and Twitter client. We will announce accordingly in due course.

9. Where is the terminal?

   • From: wallbergsop, vegetando
      
   • [AAM] Out of the box, the N9 does not have a terminal application, unlike its sister model the N950. However, it can be easily be added via a simple application install process.

10. How does the browser perform and does it have text reflow?

    • From: stephenquin58
       
    • [Asri] The web browser is powered by WebKit2. Other that missing the Flash support, I can say the web browser on MeeGo Harmattan blows other mobile browsers out of the water easily. The one that I tested is not final yet. Text reflow is still missing. Hopefully it will be implemented in the final firmware.

11. Does the N9 browser support Flash?

    • From: chilko, talakem
       
    • [AAM] MeeGo Harmattan does not support Flash. It does however support HTML5. Therefore, sites like YouTube will be loaded in their HTML5 variants and videos will be streamed to the N9’s internal video player.
    • [Nokia] Currently, there is no plan to support Flash in the browser, but Nokia browser comes with latest Webkit2 engine and have excellent HTML5 support for web applications.

12. How are notifications managed in event view?

    • From: engige
       
    • [AAM] The event view has three, horizontally separated, lists. One for social networks (and possibly RSS feeds), one for phone notifications and another calendar events. Important (e.g. phone) notifications are pinned to the top of the list. Details of how items are separated need to be confirmed.

13. Can Music Unlimited subscriptions be transferred to the N9?

    • From: skahk
       
    • [Nokia] The Ovi music Unlimited subscription service is available through the purchase of an OMU device and neither the subscription nor the downloaded tracks or albums can be transferred to the Nokia N9.

14. Is it easy to get root access?

    • From: vegetando
       
    • [AAM] Yes.

15. Are there extra repositories (e.g. extras, testing, devel, Ovi, ...)?

    • From: vegetando
       
    • [AAM] Yes extra repositories will be available for the N9, as was the case with the N900. It is also possible to add third party repositories (this can be done via a link in the browser).

16. Will the default mediaplayer support OGG/Vorbis and FLAC?

    • From: itpastorn
       
    • [AAM] FLAC is supported, but OGG is not supported out of the box (but it should be possible to add a third party codec). 
    • [Asri] I have tested mkv, avi, and mp4 (via YouTube), and they worked perfectly.

Miscellaneous

1. Is N9 better than N8?

   • From: berisman
      
   • [AAM] That depends on you!
   • [Nokia] We believe both N8 and N9 are appealing to different segments of consumers. For consumers who are looking for best-in-class imaging in a mobile phone, we believe N8 will meet their needs. For consumers who are looking for simplicity and appreciate the all-screen design of the Nokia N9, that is the best phone to meet their needs.

2. Is a Banana Yellow version in the cards? That'd complete N9's CMYK lineup.

   • From: russ_lei
      
   • [Nokia] That is a good idea, we will take that into consideration!

By David Gilson, Rafe Blandford, and Asri Al Baker for All About MeeGo, 11th August 2011

Edited by David Gilson

For the photo samples, Bill says he used the default camera settings, which are: Scene (Automatic), Flash (Automatic), White Balance (Automatic), Light Sensitivity (Automatic), Aspect ratio (16:9), and Resolution (High).

Click on the previews to see the full size version:

In addition to these superlative images, Bill also compiled a minute long video from his pre-production Nokia N9. The video is composed of 30 video clips he captured at 720p wide screen resolution. Again, he states he hasn't retouched them, but just used Adobe Premier Pro CS4 to stitch them together and add music.

Here's the video for your viewing pleasure!

Nokia N9 - Video Example from Bill Perry on Vimeo.

Let us know what you think to the N9's imaging quality in the comments!

David Gilson for All About MeeGo, 24th August 2011.

Source: The Handheld Blog, MobilePerry

This podcast was recorded on the 9th of August 2011.

We'd like to apologise for the audio quality in this show. We were hampered with low quality Skype connections, but soldiered on to bring you an in depth interview with one of the few people in the world who has had hands-on time with both the Nokia N9 and N950, Nokia first and only MeeGo phones.

In this podcast we discuss:

• SwipeUI on the N9
• The N9 developer scene
• Comparing SwipeUI to current mobile user interfaces
• Which device would you chose?

You can find Asri Al Baker via the following links:

• Twitter
• i-Symbian
• Sweet Mobile Apps
• Blog

Please let us know what you thought about the podcast in the comments below!

Left: The application launcher. Right: The settings screen

The N9's SwipeUI has a distinctive and original style, with icons and fonts appearing to have very soft curves, getting away from the harsh pin-sharp fonts seen elsewhere. Also, did you know that swiping upward from any application reveals a quick launch bar? It has icons for the phone, SMS, browser, and camera.

Left: Receiving a phone call. Right: The quick launch bar

PIM functions look well catered for with a split-screen calendar view and a contacts application with options to import, export, and merge.

Left: Split-screen calendar. Right: Contact options

You can see and read about the full line up of N9 screen shots in part one and part two of the story over at Nokia Conversations.

David Gilson for All About MeeGo, 15th August 2011

Nokia has indicated, in a number of statements, that the N9 will not be launched in the UK. By this, the company means there are currently no plans to make the device available through operators. While Nokia can seek to encourage to an operator to range a device by offering discounts and co-marketing campaigns, the final decision on whether to range any device rests with the operator.

However, as the announcement from Mobile Fun shows, this does not preclude the device being made available SIM-free. The same situation is applicable in every market in which Nokia operates and applies to all Nokia devices.

The importance of operators varies from market to market; in some market the operator dominate phone sales (e.g. USA), in others direct to consumer sales are more important (India). A general rule of thumb is that the influence of operators decreases from West to East, but there are exceptions to this.

Pre-orders for the Nokia N9 at Mobile Fun

Pre-orders for the Nokia N9 at Expansys

The announcement was made via Mobile Fun's news letter, which had the following to say about the device:

We've got a price for the upcoming SIM Free Nokia N9 - £519.95 and to be honest you get quite a lot for your monies.  The N9 is the first Nokia handset to run MeeGo software making it pretty different from previous Nokia handsets.  It also has a 3.9" capacitive AMOLED touchscreen (try saying that really fast) so your screen quality is pretty impressive and the clarity will be perfect.  The camera is 8MP and also has HD recording and the camera is actually the fastest on any smartphone - so you haven't got any excuses for not taking pictures when using the N9.  What I really like about the N9 though is it's curved design because personally I think it makes it look a lot more stylish and really compliments the fact that the handset doesn't have a home or a back button - just the touchscreen in all it's glory :)  We don't have a release date for the handset yet but when we do I'll let you know

In light of this news we have updated our N9 FAQ. If you see the N9 available through any other retailers, please let us know in the comments.

David Gilson and Rafe Blandford for All About MeeGo, 12th August 2011

In another contribution from Asri Al Baker of i-symbian fame, we have a special un-boxing report of the Nokia N950, the Harmattan developer device. The N950 runs MeeGo Harmattan with SwipeUI like the N9, but has an angled slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It is offered only to developers and is not for sale to the public. In this report, Asri gives us his first impressions of the device, along with photos and video footage of the device in action.

Thanks to shared design language, the N950 looks almost identical to the E7. The most obvious difference is the ends of the E7 keyboard which curve upward, whereas the N950 keyboard is completely flat.

Some installation files provided on the N950's mass storage drive

Below are a series of videos demonstrating the N950. Enjoy!

Unboxing

First Impression

Nokia N950 vs Nokia E7

Device photos

Specifications

A brief specification for the N950 was released by Nokia at Nokia Developer website, and was also published by David Gilson.

Nokia N950 phone hardware specification

Nokia N950 phone uses the same hardware components as the Nokia N9 with the following exceptions:

• N950 is physically larger and is made out of aluminum, whereas N9 has a polycarbonate unibody.
   
• N950 has a physical slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The N9 is a touchscreen only device.
   
• N950 has a 4” TFT LCD display whereas N9 has 3.9” AMOLED display. Display resolution is same on both devices (854x480). Due to the use of different display technologies, developers should avoid one pixel width fonts and graphical objects with lines one pixel wide. Also avoid the extensive use of bright colors, especially white, when developing for OLED displays as this increases the power consumption (typical for OLED displays).
   
• N950 has a different physical camera module than N9. Both camera modules have very similar image quality (Carl Zeiss branding in N9) and both modules support 8 megapixel image mode.
   
• In the N950, the front facing camera is in top right corner. On N9 it is in the bottom right corner. The actual camera module is same.
   
• N950 does not have support for NFC.
   
• N9 has slightly more sensitive magnetometer and ambient light sensor.
   
• N950 has a 1320mAh battery, the N9 has a 1450mAh battery

Nokia N950 device software Beta notes

General:

• The Nokia N950 phone software is in beta stage and does not represent the final quality or feature set which will be available when Nokia N9 is commercially available.
   
• If the device becomes unresponsive you can to perform a hardware reset. Press the power key on top of the device and keep it pressed down for 8 or more seconds.
   
• Certain types of use may drain the battery faster than normal.
   
• Across the UI there are still logical ID’s shown in some languages,  icons may not be finalized and animations with opening windows are missing.
   
• Over-the-Air updates may not be available for the next software version.
   
• Gallery application may sometimes display ‘no items’.
   
• Help ('Info button') is disabled from this release.
   
• There are many applications and services which are not available in this beta release.
   
• Performance of all use cases has not been optimized yet.
   
• An echo may be heard during some voice calls. This can be eliminated by turning speakerphone on and off during the call.
   
• Chinese input method is not supported in this beta release.

Connectivity:

• The device may not always see all available WLAN’s (use manual refresh).
   
• WLAN data transfer may stall off and on with WPA2/AES encryption.
   
• Bluetooth may not work when the device is connected to WLAN Authentication and Privacty Infrastructure (WAPI) access point (AP).
   
• The browser is unstable, and has known rendering issues with sites. The look and feel of the browser is not finalized yet.
   
• Using SB and transferring large amounts of data slows down device and may long before content shows up in e.g. music player or video player.

Development:

• USB needs to be in SDK (from Settings->Accessories->USB) before connecting to SDK via USB (or use Always ask mode and then selecting SDK mode when connecting with USB).

Asri al-Baker, For AllAboutMeeGo.Com, August 6th 2011.

Edited by David Gilson.

For something as unique as the Nokia N9, it was a golden opportunity for these bloggers because we are among the first in Malaysia (other than Nokia employees) to get the chance to play with the Nokia N9. The Nokia N9 has already been written about at great length by others. So, instead of repeating what you (probably) already know, I want to share my first-hand experiences that made me think the N9 is something special.

Thank You

This podcast recorded on the 23rd of June 2011.

In this podcast we cover:

• The elephant in the room... apps and ecosystem. Does the N9 have a platform? What about Qt?
     
• Phone versus app phone? The case for the Nokia N9 as a stand alone device.
     
• Could Nokia have gone with MeeGo instead of Windows Phone? 
     

You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out what we think, but we'll have editorials on this subject in the future too.