Nokia has been around since the time you first heard of mobile phones. Its near monopoly in the initial days and unshakable reputation has made it a brand name of gigantic proportions. It seemed like nothing could ever push it away from the scene. But that was only until now. This season if there is anything that is ruling the markets, its ‘Android’. The Linux based mobile OS from Google has stolen the show. While its enjoying the spotlight, people from Nokia are grunting curses in an undertone. They have publicly refused to ever manufacture handsets featuring Android. But how long could the two remain separated? Does the desire and anxiety of millions to see them join hands mean nothing? Well, as we found out, it does mean a lot.
All hail Open Source
Guys, gone are the days when huge corporations dictated the terms. This is the age of open source coding and the real power lies in the hands of communities of developers. One such coder has brought along the inevitable wedding of Nokia and Android. Unbelievable? well, this video might help you believe it. Here you can see a Nokia N900 running Android 2.3 a.k.a Gingerbread.
Hacking is Fun
Thanks to Alexey Roslyakov, an open source coder who also goes by the name DrunkDebugger (LOL, these geeks!). Alexey managed to port one of the newest versions of Android onto the N900 which Nokia likes to call a portable computer. As seen in the video its a pretty stable port. Though one cannot make calls or send SMS using this set up, the keyboard, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the sound seems to be functioning well. Who would have thought tinkering with ones phone can get him such fame.
Maemo
Similar porting has also been done on Nokia’s internet tablets(NITs) like the N800 and N810. This is possible because of the software platform – Maemo. Maemo is an open source operating system for high-end Nokia devices which is highly modifiable. A community of over 19,000 members is continuously working to develop new features and applications for this new OS. Apparently, a wee bit of tinkering can also allow other OS to be ported onto it.
Even though this isn’t an official collaboration between Nokia and Google, and the two don’t seem to be joining hands in the near future. For all of us who wanted to know what the Android would feel like on a Nokia device, here is the opportunity.
wow
now thats sumthing great….
hats off…
its high time nokia looked to some things seriously b4 everybody else eats the pie…
Yes! But Nokia is very arrogant to even talk about partnering with Android and Google.
I never liked Nokia phones, I think Motorola has much better phones than Nokia. And now after the Android release there are lot many smartphone manufacturers out there. You are right, the only thing that can save them now is Android. Nice article, thanks for sharing.
If one cannot make calls or send SMS, of what use is such a phone? Especially when it is a higher end one like the N900. In any case the Nokia website says it has:
· a Linux-based operating system
· Maemo browser powered by Mozilla technolo
· Maemo media player
The Nokia N900 released on November 11, 2009 is the first Maemo device to include phone functionality. The default operating system, Maemo 5, provides an X-terminal interface for interacting with the core operating system.
However, hats off to Alexey Roslyakov. May his tribe increase.
Yes, agree with you.
But the Android porting on a N900 is just to show case how easily Nokia phones could be manufactured with Android OS running on it.
I think nokia just enter on android market to stay in competition but i think nokia was doing really great with numia and he really create its own and unique place in market. They should create there own new much better os than android and then launch. Whatever as they jump in android all the best to them.