Yesterday's announcement of the Nokia N900 powered by Maemo 5 is perhaps the most important happening in the smartphone world to date. First and foremost Maemo 5 represents a milestone for the idea of "freedom to choose" in the smartphone world, but the N900 itself also shows signs of Nokia's interest in backing multiple smartphone platforms.
At first sight that may sound strange, but Nokia's master plan moving forward is more or less to achieve OS independence for its end-user experience. The golden key to real success will be Nokia's Qt Software, which aims to provide a "Nokia Experience" across Symbian, Maemo and Windows devices and computers. Furthermore, Qt Software will likely also bring Nokia's devices closer to digital home equipment in the future.
With all that in mind, it becomes clear that Nokia's contribution and promotion of Maemo will likely make it a smartphone OS to be around for a long time. The way we see it, Maemo will eventually become an OS with high consumer credibility that connects the mobile and digital home worlds in the name of openness.
Two years ago, we wrote a fictional story about the Nokia N900, where we asked for Maemo as well as WiMAX. We simply wanted it to become a showcase for Clearwire's network, but it now looks like the Samsung Mondi will get that role. If you compare the Samsung Mondi and the Nokia N900, you'll quickly see why the N900 is superior to the Mondi on a conceptual level. The Mondi is a typical technology product, while the N900 provides visions and opportunities to those who join the Maemo community.
When comparing the Nokia N900 to Apple's iPhone, there are clearly many similarities. However, there's one big difference, at least up until recently: The iPhone exists to ensure that Apple's services and software will reach a portable audience also in the future, while the Nokia N900 will exist to pave the way for the LTE era. We seriously hope that Vodafone, Verizon Wireless and other carriers that are planning to roll out LTE early will embrace Maemo soon, as that would give 4G services a flying start.
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