The N9 has spent enough time running through the tech world now for opinions to have finally settled and the almost unanimous verdict is that Nokia has done something right. Although the Meego operating system has been described as a dead platform by more than on tech industry guru, it appears that both Nokia and Meego have managed to come together to create a fluid, interesting and overall useful device.
Made from just one piece of piece of polycarbonate, the Nokia N9 is tough, scratch resistant and more than a little unique in appearance. Being machined from such a tough, man-made compound the N9 comes in a variety of colors ranging from the extravagantly bright magenta and cyan models to a stark, matte-black.
The 3.9 AMOLED inch display itself is apparently Gorilla Glass. Once again this is an extremely sturdy and scratch-resistant material. If you’ve ever damaged a screen on a handset then you’ll recognize the value of this feature. The screen itself is also convex, adding a tactile element to the design, as well as once again strengthening the device against damage.
However, the N9 isn’t just all damage protection and bright colors. Once you get down to the Meego operating system there’s more pleasant surprizes ahead.
Meego on the Nokia N9
The Meego user interface (UI) has 3 main screens: Menu, multitasking and notifications. As far as actual layout goes they’re all very standard but it’s the way you move between them that’s interesting. A fantastic swipe system has been implemented that differentiates between a swipe that starts at the very edge of the screen and a normal swipe that begins further in.
Swiping from the outside of the screen effectively minimizes any application you are currently in and takes you straight to the multitasking view. This swipe can be done from any side of the screen and does not actually minimize or pause the program until it is fully off the screen. Even movies will continue to play, even though they are almost off the screen, until they’re safely sent in to the multitasking section where they remain paused, ready to be started again. Alternatively, once in in the multitasking view a long press allows the user to either shut down the app or program in question, or simply shut down everything running in the background.
We haven’t actually got our hands on an N9 yet so we’re unsure on how these two different kinds of swipe commands will work together and whether it may become annoying. We can’t go in to too much detail about the Meego operating system until we try it out for ourselves, but for the time being it seems to be straight-forward enough.
Hardware on the N9
As far as Hardware goes the N9 is generally what we expected from Nokia. A single-core 1GHz processor should handle things well but certainly won’t be turning any heads. The 1GB of RAM will definitely help with Meego’s focus on multitasking and the lack of any buttons on the front exhibits the N9’s focus on gesture control.
The 8MP camera is appreciated but somewhat standard for the coming generation of smartphones. However, we have noticed in the past that Nokia tends to have a higher quality of lenses in its mobile cameras than much of the competition.
The WhistleOut Opinion
This is definitely the most promising device we’ve seen from Nokia in a long time now. However, Meego’s time in the spotlight is set to be short-lived, as Stephen Elop (CEO of Nokia) has already decided to scrap the Meego OS and go for a focus on Windows Phone devices. We were originally fans of this decision, but after seeing the potential of Meego as a platform we’re now unsure as to the wisdom behind it.
One thing we are happy about, however, is that the N9 seems to have proven that Nokia still has what it takes to churn out a functional and elegant device that can contend with the fast-paced smartphone marketplace. Although the N9 has left us itching for more, we’re at least a bit more excited now when it comes to seeing what Nokia has in store for us as far as Windows Phone handsets go.
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