The rumours of a Nokia Netbook have lit up the internet. Even though it would have been hard to deny, the opportunities for Nokia's software services would surely outweigh the cost of building a commodity consumer electronics device. Ewan explains why.
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Hi all. Iv been saying in forums i frequent for several years now that nokia should be making laptops.like most people iv got a windows xp laptop and have just recently got an acer aspire one netbook.everything from booting it up to turning it off in my opinion is a far better experience than my windows xp laptop.iv never used a psion or an n8xx but i know i for 1along with many other s60 users would jump at the chance of a nokia netbook so come on dont just talk about it nokia.build us 1!
With the current state of S60 (3rd and 5th) no doubt secure and safe internet tablets (even 10" screens with full qwerty) could be created. Imagine running an lightweight OS that takes signed (secure applications) for doing banking, and e-mailing and blocks insecure applications from tainting those. A slight retouch of S60 might be required? Still it supports touch, can handle office documents and support mobile internet in 3G, wifi and WiMax... Excellent media support and webbrowsing support, java is there...
That's what I call secure mobile banking. Now, where can I order my NX-01 and go where none have gone before?
P.S. I am shuddering for a reintroduction of UIQ, it might even occur with 'mice' abundant in netbooks. Though something Qt-ish seems a more likely candidate. I ever wondered why SonyEricsson slept through this... O wait they already make fat ugly umpc's and delightful laptops.
Or how about a client for an EEE or something?
Kelly Johnson retired before the stealth projects, I think they were Ben Rich.
Not a rumor. It will happen for sure. FOR SURE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! For 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% it is a reality.
Yes good catch on the CJ/Stealth, although I'll argue that the Sr71 was supremely stealthy for it's time, and he was still contributing to the F117 while Rich was the lead of the skunkworks
Ewan wrote:Yes good catch on the CJ/Stealth, although I'll argue that the Sr71 was supremely stealthy for it's time, and he was still contributing to the F117 while Rich was the lead of the skunkworks
THe SR-71 was not stealth as it did not need to be. It was simply faster than any other aircraft in the sky and most bullets on the ground. The pilots had to wear space suits and wait for the skin of the plane to cool down after their missions just so they could exit. If you ever heard an SR-71 go super sonic or take off, you would know that you were looking at something special.
Yes, that fine china blend woke my grey cells.
Symbian is opensource to be. No doubt, a replacement OS for my netbook will arrive in due time! To be installed next to XP and Ubuntu!
May the force be with us!
sapporobaby wrote:THe SR-71 was not stealth as it did not need to be. It was simply faster than any other aircraft in the sky and most bullets on the ground. The pilots had to wear space suits and wait for the skin of the plane to cool down after their missions just so they could exit. If you ever heard an SR-71 go super sonic or take off, you would know that you were looking at something special.
Ahem, lifted from Ben Rich's Biography:
In effect the Blackbird became the first stealth aeroplane, it's radar cross section was significantly lower than the numbers the B1B was able to achieve 25 years later... with the incredibly small radar cross section of a single engine Piper Cub .
I would just add that the Psion Series 7 (Netbook) also had touch screen capability.
Perhaps that tech could be incorporated into phones 😉
Ewan wrote:Ahem, lifted from Ben Rich's Biography:In effect the Blackbird became the first stealth aeroplane, it's radar cross section was significantly lower than the numbers the B1B was able to achieve 25 years later... with the incredibly small radar cross section of a single engine Piper Cub .
Ewan,
You are 100% (did not use as many 0's as a previous poster) however I was more so talking about the 71 from the context of actually seeing one up close and personal. Truly a thing of beauty.
If you want to see a Nokia SR71 up close and touch one, go to Duxford, they have a wierd rough skin.
I saw one take off in the 80s, complete with leaking fuel haze etc.
If they were to release a netbook, I would think they'll use maemo, as it is already scalable enough to place onto the larger screen.
It's not going to be a laptop, this whole thing seemed to begin with a few comments from Mobile-Review. He mentioned the word 'netbook' but also sliding form factor 'with diamond shaped keys'.
IMO, they should either make a better N8xx (ie faster, cheaper and slightly larger,which gives it more space for a bigger battery) or a bigger N97/5800.
The netbook market shows that people want a device that's smaller than a laptop but bigger than a smartphone - with all the same features (including 3G). [Insert Folio reference here].
It also shows that they're willing to move away from Windows if it's easy enough to use (S60 is well known). So, either a 7" N8xx-like device running Ubuntu Mobile (N8xx shows Nokia have the skills to deliver good hardware with Linux integration) or a 5" S60 Touch device (slightly lower resolution compared to N8xx but much more advanced in terms of application support and usability - and hopefully easier for Nokia to develop if it has exactly the same electronics - this could be part of the 'lots of form factors for different markets' theme).
I have just added my own thoughts to this article (and its an area I want explore in more detail in the future).
I think this is really about the convergence between mobile phones and PC's which will be a dominant discourse at the high end in the next 5 years or so.
Is this related to the Nokia Sparrow stories i've seen about. Story and (proposed) pic here:
That's a separate story, but in the same space (potentially). I would imagine Nokia have quite a number of things going on looking at this space. Could rnage from next thing on from N97 to Maemo based super MID etc etc.
I'm dubious tbh. I suspect any early versions would be flakey, given it's a more or less new OS starting off.
And it's going to take a long time before it does all the things I will need it to do. Hell, even linux doesn't fully do all the things XP does for me.
I can't help but wonder how good the batterylife will be though. Given the expirence they have in optimising for batterylife, it could well be very impressive.
If Nokia is going to do a Netbook, because of the convergence between PC's and smartpones, it is most likely that it will use Qt as it's main platform. Consider the advantages
1) Qt already runs on top Windows, Mac and Linux, which means that you can have proper PC applications on the converged device
2) Qt already runs on top of Linux smartphones and will very soon run on top of Symbian OS too. This means that you can have proper smartphone apps too on the converged device.
3) The underlying OS will likely be a version of Linux, because there are right now more Linux/Qt apps than SymbianOS/Qt apps.
There are also a couple of disadvantages to the concept:
4) This converged device will be a major threat to Microsoft, because the converged device will seriously diminish their Desktop PC monopoly. Microsoft wont take that lightly.
5) This converged device will also be a major threat to Intel, if the converged device will use an ARM processor, because it will diminish Intel's desktop processor business.
I can't see Nokia taking on both Microsoft and Intel at the same time, and even a direct Nokia versus Microsoft battle isn't something I believe Nokia can reasonably win at this moment. For Nokia to start making Netbooks is therefore I think too much of a declaration of war to the Desktop PC camp, and isn't something I expect them to do.
If Nokia was so scared of Microsoft they would have been using Windows Mobile for years.
And why should Nokia be any more afraid of Microsoft than Assus or Acer for example, or any of the other companies that have traditionally been Microsoft OEMs but have now started selling Linux OS machines?
I've been calling for Nokia to use the Maemo platform on a mini-laptop for a long time now:
http://tabletschool.blogspot.com/2008/10/future-of-nokia-maemo-and-internet.html
Maemo as it stands is too close to Nokia's existing Symbian phone business to be of any commercial advantage to the company. But if they used it to make something different like a mini-laptop then maemo and symbian would complement each other instead of cannibalising each other.
While Maemo is kicking around, it's again for a small pocketable device with limited functionality (go on, argue with me)
I own an EEE PC and a Nokia N810, and they're pretty much the same thing in terms of what they can do. The N810 is a bit slower, but that's because it's got a slower processor inside it and less free RAM. If you upgrade the hardware used by Maemo, the speed difference disappears.
The only practical difference between Nokia's Maemo devices and Asus's Linux laptops is the physical size, but what you actually see on the screen is identical. The lowest-end EEE PC, the 701, even has the same screen resolution as the Nokia N810.
In fact I can show you how Maemo might look on a laptop, because it can actually be run on a laptop:
Check this out: usable247 .com
If Nokia is going to be successful in the netbook market, they cannot allow themselves to become just another netbook player. They need to differentiate themselves. Successful differentiation is not created out of thin air; instead it grows naturally out of your current market position and the assets you own. Hence no matter which OS Nokia goes for, it needs to be tightly integrated with and leverage on the current S60 base.
If netbook users are allowed to seamlessly move from S60 phone to netbook and back again, then you have a compelling differentiator which the other players cannot easily replicate. If data and applications stored in the S60 and the netbook can seamlessly be used through the UIs of both devices, it would make it even more compelling. Obsolete and clumsy paradigms such as 'synching' must be well behind us; if not entirely dead and buried.
To achieve this, running Symbian in both devices would be almost a pre-requisite. There is nothing stopping Nokia from taking S60, adding in old (but legendary) ideas from EIKON, S90 etc, leveraging on their dominant position in the phone market, and offering a true netbook to the market, a netbook which is not just a shrunk down notebook, but, like Rafe said, the ultimate converged device.
xerxes wrote:If Nokia was so scared of Microsoft they would have been using Windows Mobile for years.
Secondly, the converged PC-smartphone device could very well be one of those tech thingies that nerds love and the average consumer hates. Not much point in wasting a lot of money on something that doesn't even exists yet.
And why should Nokia be any more afraid of Microsoft than Assus or Acer for example, or any of the other companies that have traditionally been Microsoft OEMs but have now started selling Linux OS machines?
In the past I used "I'd want that as much as I'd want Symbian as my desktop OS." as a way of ridiculing obsolete or misapplied technology. I'm alarmed and amused to see people who think it is a viable option.
svdwal wrote:It isn't about being scared, it is about making money. Picking a direct fight with Microsoft is going to cost lost of money. That money belongs to Nokia's shareholders, and Nokia picking a direct fight with Microsoft will result in their stock plummeting.Secondly, the converged PC-smartphone device could very well be one of those tech thingies that nerds love and the average consumer hates. Not much point in wasting a lot of money on something that doesn't even exists yet.
Asus and Acer are not in the OS business, and the majority of OS'es they sell are some version of Windows. They are primarily device makers and they have never expressed a desire to do software or OS'es. Nokia is different. They are in the OS business with Symbian, and they have expressed a desire to become more of a software and services business.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with all your points.
Why should picking a direct fight with Microsoft cause Nokia's share price to plummet? It hasn't done Apple any harm!
Bringing any new product to market costs a lot of money. At least in this case Nokia would be joining an expanding market rather than trying to pioneer a new segment.
Asus and Acer, and just about every other netbook maker ARE in the OS business. They entered the arena when they released their first netbooks running their own Linux variants rather than Windows XP. Nokia would not be attacking Microsoft any more than could be said of any Linux netbook manufacturer.
I would agree with you if we were discussing Nokia attempting to sell a downloadable OS for use on existing laptops but if Nokia were to release a netbook (and I don't think they will by the way) they would be seeking to make money on the device sales in the same ways as other manufacturers. Their potential advantageswould be the opportunity to gain some exposure for, and incremental revenue from, their Ovi services, and their ability to add deep integration with Nokia S40/S60 devices similar to the way the Celio Redfly works with Windows Mobile.
I don't think anyone has mentioned a converged PC-smartphone. That concept wouldn't fly because the required form factors are too different. If Nokia were to release a netbook it would need to be comparable to Asus/Acer/Toshiba/Dell... netbooks in form factor because that is what the market has accepted and is the segment that is exploding in revenue terms. It could be integrated with a separate Nokia phone (or possibly via Bluetooth standards with other manufacturer's phones too) but it should not seek to replace the phone. Any phone that needs to be carried in a backpack is going to fail in the market and any netbook that fits into a pocket is going to be next to useless - which is why the Nokia tablets (and umicro PCs) have not been excepted outside techy circles and the netbooks have.
Nokia could seek to use phone integration as differentiation for its netbook so long as the device was not marketed with phone integration as the primary purpose. It would need to be a fully fledged netbook that could also talk to your phone.