Nokia lifts curtain on Linux-based device

Nokia has given yet more indication that it is to reduce its reliance on Symbian with an announcement that it is to introduce more high end devices on the Linux-based Maemo platform.

The Nokia N900 follows up from Nokia’s previous generation of internet tablets such as the N810, and uses the Maemo 5 software, which allows users to have dozens of application windows open and running simultaneously.

The N900 improves on Nokia’s previous tablet devices by actually giving it cellular connectivity and phone features. However, the device still boasts a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard, supported by an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, up to 1GB of application memory and OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration, a five megapixel camera and Carl Zeiss optics, with 32GB of storage, which is expandable up to 48GB via a microSD card.

“With Linux software, Mozilla-based browser technology and now also with cellular connectivity, the Nokia N900 delivers a powerful mobile experience,” said Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president, markets, at  Nokia. “The Nokia N900 shows where we are going with Maemo and we’ll continue to work with the community to push the software forward. What we have with Maemo is something that is fusing the power of the computer, the internet and the mobile phone, and it is great to see that it is evolving in exciting ways.”

Nokia is embracing other operating systems in a bid to diversify its portfolio. The company is getting pretty tight with Microsoft, earlier this week announcing its first laptop product, the Booklet 3G, which runs Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

When telecoms.com recently quizzed Nokia on its commitment to Symbian, the company would only say that it “remains strongly committed to its current open OS software strategy for smartphones, which is based on the world leading Symbian software.”

The Nokia N900 will be available from October with an estimated retail price of €500 excluding sales taxes and subsidies.