Nokia N810 – Can’t (iPod) touch this!

Forget everything I said about the iPod touch… credit card balance willing, this will be my next gadget purchase — the just-announced Nokia N810 Internet Tablet.

It’s everything the touch isn’t: Real tactile keys instead of virtual ones, additional connectivity via Bluetooth and GPS and, most importantly, unrestricted access to an active community of third-party developers.

Like it’s predecessors the N770 (which I own and use almost every day) and N800, this new tablet from Nokia is not a phone, but earns its N-Series moniker by fitting the definition of a “converged device”, which Nokia has identified as the world’s fastest growing category of consumer devices, with an estimated market of 250 million users in the next year.

With no out-of-the-box PIM syncing software the N810 isn’t really suitable as a PDA — then again, contrary to what I previously wrote, neither is the iPod touch. What this tablet is perfect for is the role of laptop stand-in – for those times you need a quick check of something on the web or need to take some notes but don’t want to haul around a full-sized testicle-frying or ovum-zapping notebook computer. If I seem like I’m pulling a complete about-face from my earlier dismissal of the N770, it’s mostly because issues with using an external keyboard kept it from true greatness.

As for Nokia’s newest tablet I’ll be putting in my order as soon as they go on sale next month, and nothing can change my mind about that — except maybe this…

UPDATE — August 7th, 2008: I’ve now had the opportunity to test-drive the N810; you can read my review right here.

The Newton 2.0

What do you get when you take 90% of the iPhone’s functionality and remove all traces of a meddlesome US wireless carrier? You get the brand-new iPod touch… And a lot of unhappy iPhone owners, I’ll bet!

Someone should seriously write a marketing book about this… Back in June when the iPhone was released, those privileged enough to live in the US and A and willing to spend two years under the lock and key of AT&T were cheered as they left Apple Stores across the nation with their new purchases in hand, while the rest of the world looked on like orphan refugee children pressed up against the fence of their internment camp while their conquerors paraded by.

So what does Apple do? Gut the phone, keep the WiFi and add the ability to buy music right on the device! Now the rest of the world can check out the now-famous tappity-flick-smudge interface right in their very own Apple Store, months before the actual iPhone goes on sale in their local market. I’m betting most of them won’t ultimately be interested in the iPhone, but they’ll be all over this thing. How could we not be after being inundated with so much iPhone hype?

I myself am in already possession of an internet tablet, a last-gen Nokia N770 that I haven’t even bothered to review here because it’s really only good for one thing — surfing on the toilet or in front of the TV. Hey, it’s more portable than a newspaper…

And would I trade in my tablet for a touch? In about two seconds!

For the touch has far outgrown a mere iPod yet still retains the functionality of a classic PDA. It really is a Newton for the 21st century. But this time it’s good.

Another Nokia Fanboy? Looks like!

(A recent photo opp with yours truly and his new toy…)

My new Nokia E61i is just starting its third battery cycle and I’ve already decided that it’s a keeper. Quite frankly I’m stunned by the breadth and scope of what I can do with it — it can run a frickin’ Gameboy emulator, for chrissakes!

My new handset is also my passport to a huge international community of users. Whereas here in North America it’s all BlackBerry this and iPhone that, Nokia owns the lion’s share of the market in Europe and Asia. To put this into perspective, Apple sold half a million iPhones in its first weekend of release, whereas Nokia moved almost a million smartphones worldwide each and every week in the first quarter of this year!

But despite the pressure of being a market leader Nokia is still willing to take chances with their advertising. I previously wrote about Symbian’s viral YouTube campaign for their Japanese products; now they’re running a cheeky website based on the premise of jealous computers. Here’s a sample video:

And you know what? They’re not so far off the mark… I’ve some other new Nokia toys in my stable of gadgets that I’ll be writing about in the very near future:

Stay tuned!