maemo.org and Nokia 770 turn seven
Via: @timsamoff
Editor: Andrew Flegg
On May 25, 2005, Nokia announced Maemo, the Nokia 770 and maemo.org went live. Ferenc Szekely highlighted the go-live of the community on the community's mailing list. At the time of the launch, GSMArena wrote: Today Nokia announced the new Linux based Internet Tablet product category, the first device in this category is Nokia 770. The tablet has no phone functions, but it's a very powerful accessory. It can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and it's optimized for internet browsing and email communication. The Nokia 770 features impressive wide touchscreen with resolution 800x480 pixels, the resolution is enough to see most of the web sites without a horizontal scroll bar. Additional application for Nokia 770 include Internet Radio, RSS News reader, Image viewer and Media players.
It's been a rollercoaster ride for the past seven years. As November 2005 approached, your editor was repeatedly hitting F5 on store.nokia.com to order the 770 as soon as it was available. Each device, from the 770 through the N800, N810, N900 and now N950 & N9 have offered something more than the previous one; though usually at the expense of another feature, which was bound to be a "deal-breaker" for someone.
Unfortunately, Nokia's change in direction has meant we're approaching the end of that journey. Rumours abound that Nokia will continue the Maemo spirit with Linux on a range of new low-end Qt-based phones. Nokia's brief encounter with Intel has re-energised Moblin as MeeGo and now Tizen. It would be easy to be maudlin looking back at the promise, and hope and the current situation. However, let's take time to look back on the successes of the last seven years, rather than bemoan the future in store.