Nokia 770 Internet Tablet - First Thoughts

Michael Gartenberg | November 30, 2005, 03:03 PM

I had a surprise package waiting for me from Nokia last night, the long awaited 770 Internet tablet. Here's some first thoughts after getting it set up last night. First, this is no PDA. There's no app for contacts or calendar. This device is designed for Internet access from your living room and a home appliance (although it's certainly mobile enough to use on the road, about the size of a checkbook). Connectivity is via 80211 b/g as well as Bluetooth (for using with phones). So how well does it stack up?

A lot depends on your perspective. The 770 is a Linux based appliance and therefore it's been embraced rather well in the Linux community. Folks have ported all sorts of stuff over to the device already, from Doom to a version of GAIM. No doubt we'll see all sorts of interesting things coming from the enthusiast community.

But that's not the target audience. Nokia sees the 770 as a mainstream consumer device for casual Internet access within the home. Used for this purpose, it works very well but with some quirks. The Opera browser is fast and renders pages well on the small device. Streaming audio worked fine, both from a number of Internet sources as well as through Orb. Video was another story. Orb simply wouldn't stream video no matter what settings I tried. The email client is pretty basic and for POP3 access your only choice is to download the entire message and attachments (which for the most part, the 770 can't use) or email headers. It would have been much better if they allowed for just downloading the message text (or some part). There's a nice RSS reader but it works best for small content. Large posts scroll slowly there's noticeable lag. There's also no support for OPML so be prepared to re-enter your feeds one at a time (I imported a text file and then copied and pasted the two dozen or so feeds I wanted). Media playback is fine but since the device only supports the reduced MMC standard (which is also the format most Nokia phones use) you're topped out at about 512mb storage. There's no IM client installed but there is a version of GAIM available. In general, performance bogs down quickly if you tax the system in any way. This is a device for casual access, not a laptop replacement.

Overall, Nokia is on to something here. The form factor makes casual surfing a pleasure. If the email client were a little more robust, it would be a perfect little terminal for handling most Internet needs (adding in IM support as well). For now, it's mostly going to be a device that's best used by enthusiasts, who will revel in the Linux based platform and get it to do all sorts of geeky things going forward. For mainstream users, it's more of a toss up. The price is fairly cheap but there's no PIM functionality so it's not a PDA replacement. Nor given the current level of performance, is it the type of device you might take on the road instead of a laptop. The 700 seems best suited for the task it's designed for, casual Internet access from home when you don't want to bother with a PC. For most consumers, that's still a problem in search of a solution and a product in search of a market. Nokia's best hope for taking this mainstream is to embrace the enthusiasts in the short term, then work to smooth over some of the rougher edges of the device and then make the transition into a more mainstream market.