History and availability
The Nokia N900 was announced on 17 September 2009 during a keynote presentation by Dr. Ari Jaaksi of Nokia. New supported features were announced for Maemo 5 such as cellular connectivity over 3G/HSPA, TI OMAP3 processor and high definition camera support. No news on backward compatibility for older Internet Tablets and no time frame was established.[7] The release of the pre-alpha Maemo 5 software development kit, in December 2008[8] targeted exclusively the OMAP3 architecture, revamped the user interface, included support for hardware graphics acceleration and other functionalities not found in Internet Tablets at the time such as cellular data connectivity and high definition camera support.
The first photo and specifications of the N900, codenamed Rover while being developed, came out in May 2009.[9][10] The release of FCC approval documents in August 2009 confirmed the device and provided the second codename RX-51.[11][12][13] The Nokia N900 was officially announced on 2 September 2009 at Nokia World 2009 in Germany. Nokia says it is step 4 of 5 in the line of Maemo devices which started in 2005 with the Nokia 770.[14]
The device was initially available in selected markets starting November 2009 (4 December in the UK)[15] with a retail price of €599 in Finland,[16] Germany,[17] Italy,[18] Netherlands[19] and Spain,[20] €649 in France,[21] 2499 zł in Poland,[22] 5995 kr [23] in Sweden and £499[24] in the United Kingdom, all prices including VAT but excluding subsidies. The retail price at launch was US$649 in the United States excluding sales taxes and subsidies.[1][25] It will be available in Canada through independent retailers for around C$800.[26][27] As of March 2010 the Nokia site in Australia lists the N900 on the homepage, hinting at launch some time in the near future.[28][29] Black was the only color available at launch. Initially, availability was extremely limited, leading to further delays. The statement from Nokia was that there was higher pre-order demand than expected.[30] The Nokia N900 launched in Hong Kong on 29 May, 2010, with added features to facilitate character handwriting input. Price at launch was 4998 HKD[31] It has already been released to Australia via Optus.
MORE CLICK HERE
