Nokia Announces N810 Internet Tablet

The world’s largest mobile device maker, Nokia, has announced its N810 Internet Tablet, a followup on the company’s N800 Internet Tablet introduced last January. Te N810 is an incremental upgrade to the N800, but adds important features Nokia fans—and those who can’t quite bring themselves to buy an iPhone—might appreciate, like a bright WXGA screen, an integrated GPS unit with built-in maps, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to make email and messaging more practical.

"The Nokia N810 packs the power of a traditional computer into a pocket-sized format," said Nokia VP of convergence products and multimedia Ari Virtanen, in a statement. "Its open standard technology accelerates the convergence of multiple functionalities and services into a single device. Our new Nokia N810 offers users a true Web 2.0 experience in a compact, stylish, yet affordable package—it connects people to what matters to them."

In a nutshell, the N810 offers an 800 by 480-pixel WVGA display that Nokia claims is 20 percent brighter than the screen in the original N800. The N810 also packs an integrated GPS units and maps, offers 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR wireless networking. For storage, the unit accepts microSD and miniSD cards, and offers 2 GB of internal memory. The devices also sports a VGA-resolution front-facing camera, integrated stereo speakers, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The N810 does not support WiMAX wireless broadband, functionality Nokia has promised to being to its Internet Tablet line in 2008; however, the lack of WiMAX in the N810 isn’t too surprising at the moment, given the relative scarcity of WiMAX deployments. The phone offers four hours of battery life under "typical use" conditions, with up to two weeks of idle time and five days of active standby.

On the software front, the N810 offers a Mozilla-based Web browser with AJAX and Flash 9 support, an integrated media player supporting MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, Real Audio, and a host of other audio formats, along with 3GP, AVI, WMV, RealVideo, MPEG4, H.263, and H.264 video formats. The N810 comes pre-loaded with GPS maps and an extensive point-of-interest database, and Nokia will be offering premium GPS services, including Wayfinder voice-guided navigation. Of course, The N810 can also work as a Skype handset, and supports Gizmo video chat, and users can access email, and check in with Web-based services like GMail, YouTube, and Facebook.

Wondering what the N810 is not? A phone. As with previous models, the N810 does not offer traditional cell phone capabiliies, instead opting for the approach of a traditional PDA. Users can, of course, get voice capabilities using Skype nd VoIP services, but for traditional cell phone use, users will need a traditional cell phone.

The N810 is due to ship in November for $479. Industry watchers note the N810’s price is $100 more than the price for the previous N800, and more than Apple’s current $399 price for the 8 GB iPhone, which may make the N810 a tough sell, even to Nokia fans.

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