Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet
In a complete departure for the Finnish cell phone giant, Nokia has announced the 770 Internet Tablet, which is not a phone. The 770 relies on WiFi and Bluetooth for internet connectivity and is designed to be used for web browsing and email. The attractive device runs on Debian Linux and is expected to cost about $350 making it a very attractive option to some of the larger Internet appliances that other companies are getting ready for the market. Nokia has put some thoughtful design into the 770, with joy pad controls and hardware buttons on the front of the unit for easy interaction by the owner. The display is 4.13", making it a little smaller than the Sony U screen, but it runs at 800x480 which is quite resolute. The 770 runs the Opera browser which is probably the best mobile browser available today, and will ship with an RSS feed reader which is a very smart move on Nokia's part. The screen is a touchscreen and interaction is via a virtual keyboard and handwriting recognition with the stylus. A very solid looking gadget that just might be very, very big.
(via MobileBurn)
Didn't Microsoft try to sell something like this? (I could of swore it had a code name like Mirra) I've tried Googling but with no luck.
It's interesting to me that Nokia would do anything not mobile phone related. Perhaps this is recognition of the impact Wi-Fi has had? It sounds like the device is priced right, but I am not sure this is going to appeal to anyone but gadget geeks.
Posted by: Frank McPherson | May 25, 2005 at 11:18 AM
Has anyone seen what makes this a tablet ? I see the stylus in the picture so I assume you can write on the screen, but I didn't see anything in the write-up's on it.
Posted by: buzzard | May 25, 2005 at 11:58 AM
Frank, I think you're right but I don't recall it ever coming to market.
Buzzard, I think Tablet refers to the form factor and not anything specific. The MobileBurn overview does say the HWR is included so it is in essence a Tablet.
Posted by: jk | May 25, 2005 at 12:19 PM
The Nokia 770 will have a stylus and sensitive screen. Check its page: http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,1522,,00.html?orig=/770
Posted by: Eduardo | June 01, 2005 at 09:56 AM