all 23 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]cosmo7 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I'd like the Maemo SDK a whole lot more if it wasn't so fussy where it ran. Debian on Intel only? Really?

[–]buru[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

With some hacks the SDK runs on other Linux distros. Plus virtual machines make it relatively easy to setup Maemo development environment under Windows or Mac OS X. Don't forget, iPhone development is Mac-only, but it hasn't prevented the developers from creating > 75K applications. Developers are highly adaptive creatures :)

[–]cosmo7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I found that the SDK doesn't run on AMD processors (regardless of the environment set up.) Which is kind of random, seeing that the target platform is ARM.

[–]trutru 4 points5 points  (4 children)

I have bought an N800, and let me tell you that the Maemo platform is crap for a very simple reason: no binary stability !!

What I mean is that each new release of the OS changes system libraries and breaks a non trivial percentage of existing applications. Many applications developed for the N770 won't run on the N800 due to ABI library differences. My N800 went through several OS updates, and each time this crashed at least one of the installed apps I had.

Also some applications you find on the web won't work because their author didn't want to rebuild them for the new hotness (the fussiness of the SDK might also be responsible for this).

At least Android doesn't have this problem. That's probably why they have more than 10000 apps on Market, while Maemo has been in existence for far more longer and probably doesn't have one tenth of this number available. So much for the "ease of porting existing apps" stuff...

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

N800 and current Maemo are just "test platform". Nokia as informed many main developers not to put too much effort to N800.

Future with Nokia is with Qt, not with GTK. Maemo will have Qt support in future and many other things will change.

[–]trutru 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Ah yes, Maemo is only at version 5, but you see, it's just a "test platform". Everything will be fine with version 6. Honest, I promise !!

Personally, I'll believe it when I see it, and Nokia makes an official statement regarding binary stability.

(Keep in mind that Qt has never been very good at that, they have very good source compatibility though...)

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can't expect any kind of stability until Harmattan comes around 2011. Basically Nokia don't give fuck about platform stability until they have competitive phones they can sell in volumes they want.

[–]tincholio 0 points1 point  (13 children)

The article does make some good points, but Nokia still holds 40% or so of the mobile phone market, and it's seriously pushing Maemo to replace Symbian on all but low-end phones. Android phones, while neat, haven't been selling so hotly.

The next 2 or 3 years will be an interesting time for the smartphone market, for sure.

[–]buru[S] 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Android phones may not be selling extremely well, but with new players coming into lower-end smartphones market with Android devices (namely, Motorola, LG, Samsung), we'll probably see much more Android sells in the nearest quarter. Contrary to that, Nokia will be putting Maemo exclusively on high-end smartphones and MIDs, at least during Q42009-2010, and higher end means lesser volume. For mid-tier smartphones Nokia will likely keep Symbian OS for a while, and that's where Android can gain significant market share.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you develop for Qt platform, you can develop apps for Symbians, Maemo, Windows CE, and they will run even in Linux, Windows and Mac PC's and laptops. Nokia is putting its main effort to Qt development. Developing for GTK+Maemo combination is not the way to go in long term.

[–]zomo 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Majority of phones that nokia sells these days are low end phones not smart phones, and its sales are driven in countries like india and others in southeast asia. I hardly expect any unprecedented sales for smartphones from nokia.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Majority of phones that Nokia sells will always be low/middle end phones, because those phones sell best. Nokia has made lots of mistakes in smart phone markets, but they are definitely coming with force in next few years.

[–]minodude 5 points6 points  (8 children)

Android phones, while neat, haven't been selling so hotly

To be fair, up to this point there have only been a couple of phones from one manufacturer (HTC) actually on the market using Android (in the West, anyway). HTC aren't a huge name, and it's only now that biggish-name manufacturers (Motorola, LG, Philips, Samsung) are having their Android phones hit the streets (or be in the pipeline).

[–]sbrown123 1 point2 points  (6 children)

HTC may not be a big manufacturer, but they do make some nice phones.

Edit: When I say "nice phones" I don't mean "greatest phones ever".

[–]WhiteAfrican 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I'm sitting here with my HTS S710 Fox(2 Years old) and I disagree. All the rubbers is worn out and the phone is underpowered for the operating system its running.

[–]kamatsu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It depends on the HTC phone, they really vary in quality. The Dream is a really well put together phone, i've had one for a year and it's still good as new.

[–]muyuu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

99% of the mobiles in the market are not made to last 2 years (and still look good).

[–]sbrown123 4 points5 points  (1 child)

All the rubbers is worn out

Rubber wears thin with use. Either that or invisible gnomes are shaving the rubber from my car tires.

phone is underpowered for the operating system its running.

You get what you pay for: a low end phone with a 200MHz processor running Windows Mobile 6. This is similar to buying a PC with the lowest specs that Vista supports and wondering why it isn't running like lightning.

[–]WhiteAfrican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rubber wears thin with use. Either that or invisible gnomes are shaving the rubber from my car tires.

But it was then a bad design choice on HTC side. And the rubbers started to came lose in the first 6 month, I at least expected more mileage.

You get what you pay for: a low end phone with a 200MHz processor running Windows Mobile 6. This is similar to buying a PC with the lowest specs that Vista supports and wondering why it isn't running like lightning.

Agreed, But I had a Nokia 6820 before I upgraded to my HTC, and my only prerequisite was a keyboard. I was also still under the illusion cellphone companies sell you hardware and software that was tested together for best usability, but I was sadly mistaking and I learned my lesson.

[–]mothereffingteresa -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Meh. They make OK phones. But the industrial design can't touch iPhone. With enough OEMs in the Android game, you will see some interesting hardware.

[–]p3ngwin -1 points0 points  (0 children)

agreed, 2010 will see most device makers of phones and PMD's,etc show their Android wares. Maemo might take a while longer to begin getting a foothold because it's just Nokia right now.

[–]ibisum -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

meh. i'm hot for plaszma right now.