Having looked at what I consider the third generation internet tablet’s biggest hardware shortcomings its tine to look at where the software is lacking.
This actually amounts to less of an issue, as the very nature of software is that it can be fine-tuned, allowed to evolve or be replaced completely if necessary. That said some of the flaws which existed in earlier revisions of the OS still exist in the current Maemo release.
The biggest bug-bear remains email. The default client is dire and replacements offer only limited improvements. As new competition arrives on the market its unlikely that this situation will be acceptable to any of the target market. A full-featured client which looks less Soviet and supports niceties like HTML mail and Exchange Active syncis an absolute requirement for the new OS.
After email, multimedia handling is the next biggest issue – an iPhone, for example, manages music, video and photos brilliantly, in a slick, clean interface that draws users in and absolutely sells devices. And whilst Canola is good – very good actually – its also slow by comparison. Some optimisation and a little tidying of extensions should make for a class-leading media platform.
Next item to be addressed is video-calling. Why put the camera on unless you are going to make it easy to do video calling, by which I mean Skype. Give them money, resources, furry animals, in fact give them whatever it takes to get video calling into the Maemo Skype client. Once XP MIDS start arriving they will almost certainly have this ability.
The Internet Tablet needs a PIM. It needs to be a locker too – the Macs iCal for example or Palm’s own calendar app are both good examples of calendaring, contacts need to integrate with the email client, whilst Tasks should be handled as a mini-project ‘management tool, complete with hierarchy and timelines. It should also be possible to display tasks on the calendar on the appropriate days with reminder options. the calendar needs to support synchronisation – at least with the hugely popular Gmail calendar application.
Last change required is a really good Notes app, designed to handle free text notes handwritten on the screen: a little like Windows Journal on a smaller scale.
They say competition improves the breed – take heed Nokia, as competition is arriving in droves.
Filed under: Nokia Internet Tablet | Tagged: maemo 5, n810, Software, update
