The N900. Phone or Tablet?

Question

I'm just wondering how the information on-line about the N900 has shaped your View of this device? do you regard it as  the next phone up from the n97? or an internet tablet like its predecessors?
if you're planning on getting one, what will be its primary use? phone or tablet?
Nexu 5

Answer 1

The phone app crashing is a good point, but frankly every phone these days (including s40) will work along these methods.
Within the N900, the phone functionality (calls and messages) is handled by a new project called ofono. This is a "phone abstraction" layer. It has a driver that is specific to Nokia's phone technology and a standard interface that applications can tie into. Think of it like the network stack on a PC.. all applications can connect to the internet via any compatible network card. If you change the network card, the apps work in exactly the same way. Ofono does this, but for phone tech.
apps communicate with ofono via "dbus" If this system crashes, the entire device will more or less stop working.. so we're covered there.. If the phone application dies (as in crashes and stops running) it will be restarted so that's covered too.. The two main problems are: 
the phone application crashes and doesn't die.. this means it won't response to signals from dbus and ofono.. so you mightn't get call notifications.. and the other is ofono stops working and doesn't process incoming call info.
In both cases, outgoing calls wouldn't work either.. 
I wouldn't imagine it is bomb proof yet, but the chances of a crash going undetected are remarkably slim..
My main point is I think you'd be naive to think that the process of handling calls and the like isn't very similar across all phones.. The risk here is the maturity of the software..
 I've had phones reboot when calls come in.. and lock solid when calls and messages arrive.. Nokia and others.. With a smart phone, the kernel is MUCH more robust against such crashes and it won't take the entire device out.
The N900 is, in simple terms, a linux computer with a very basic 3G Nokia phone attached via an interface.. That, from my perspective, is a very good design approach..