GPE Calendar released for Nokia 770’s Maemo platform. Download it here. Read about it here.
Engadget pays attention to the shipping deadline moving to January 2006 now. From their write-up it sounds like Nokia is super-secretive about its plans on 770, and allowed for multiple delays, although it’s worth noting that Nokia missed just one deadline - Q3 2005. The rest was unsubstantiated rumors, to which Nokia got somehow committed? Why don’t we have another unsubstantiated headline “Nokia delays 770 to [tomorrow’s date]” and then another complaint “Nokia missed that too, that’s a 6th deadlines miss”.
Overall, however, it seems that they’re trying to avoid the N-Gage launch disaster.
Frequently you’re at a place, like hotel or work, where the wireless Internet is not present, but the wired hookup is there. Can you use your laptop as a wireless router and get Nokia 770 to connect to it, and access the Web? Here’s a simple trick that allows one to do that, coming from an apparently new blog on Nokia 770.
Going to NokiaUSA.com/770 and clicking Buy! now generates the following message:
Dear Nokia Customer,
Current orders for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet are not expected to be fulfilled before December 2005. Orders are filled in the order received. Your credit card will not be charged until your product is available for shipment. We will also send you a Shipment Notification email at that time so you can track your order.
Nokia USA is officially sold out. They never officially supported the November 10th date, it was always a rumor, there was a small shipment of units in the United States, available on Web site for less than an hour some time this week, and currently they are sold out.
Normal restocking time for Nokia store is 2-4 weeks, but seeing how this is a new model, they might restock sooner, so check the Web site.
Ben says Nokia on the phone confirmed they’re sold out in the United States. How come?
Looks like Nokia is havind hard time with high demand for 770. TechSauna quotes an e-mail from Nokia asking to wait just a bit more:
We have received your order and are processing accordingly.
However due to unprecedented demand for the product, the delivery will be slightly delayed.
Estimated time of delivery is end of November 2005.
Marc Maurer released a new and improved AbiWord package for N770.
In LinuxJournal Doc Searls discusses the “very cool” Nokia 770. He’s been playing with the pre-release version, and asks readers for their opinions. Overall, he seems impressed:
Getting onto a Wi-Fi signal is simple. My 9-year old, who isn’t a computer whiz (yet… he’s more of a book reader/outdoor type), figured it out in about 20 seconds. Memory is small and solid-state. No hard drive, though there’s a USB hookup (requiring external power for the drive). You can hook up a keyboard too. Or use a bluetooth keyboard. Bluetooth also bridges the unit to the cell system through a bluetooth-equipped cell phone. I have one of those, which I haven’t tried yet. Right now I’m listening to WUNC radio over the 770. I’ve also been listening to Radio Paradise and WNYC-FM. All sound terrific through powered speakers or headphones. In fact, the 770 has become my designated Internet Radio. Nice to finally have one. (It has its own speaker too, by the way.)
One thing he reports on is Nokia USA selling 770 next week. Does that mean another mini-slip of the shipping date for the US of A?