Some people are doing some extraordinary stuff with their new internet tablets. Now that the N810 units getting into developer hands (after countless problems with LetsTalk - Did they really ask you for your Social Security Number?) the excitement is growing.

• Richard G. of WOM World (and others)made a Tetris-like Facebook app. You can play it in your browser.
• Maemo Wordpy skyrocketed in functionality. Jonathan Greene writes all about it.
  
• Jenn at Pocketables benchmarked the Internet Tablets' browser.
• Kate Alhola hacked USB OnTheGo on the N810 and has the best write-up on the subject to date.
• Dr. Ari Jaaksi notified the community of a very nice Maemo Technology Overview
• Here's a favorite hack of mine: Using a Nokia N95 as both a Bluetooth modem AND Bluetooth GPS on the N800.
• Tim Samoff found himself with a SPARE N810 - and he's giving it away.

Finally: INdT is hosting the Bossaconference '08 in Brazil. It's a gathering of developers in open conversation about Linux device development. I will be there, delivering a lecture on community involvement in open-source applications. I have a bunch of feedback already (thank you very much to #maemo IRC folks) but ask my readers this question:

What do you feel developers or users doing WRONG when developing/releasing/giving feedback on open source applications?

Let me introduce Victor Brilon, Sr. Product Manager, Home Networking Solutions, Convergence Products. Wow - that's one long job title. In short, he's responsible for the features of the Internet Tablets related to Home Networking. This puts him right in the thick of things in the Internet Tablet world at Nokia. Since I don't have a picture of him, the photo above shows a typical scene at the Nokia booth at CES. Yes - they were packed.

In the course of my normal news research for this blog, I stumbled across this article. Apparently, there's a £30 million universal internet access plan in the works for school children.

Excerpt 1:

The mobile companies set the tone with major announcements to provide mobile devices and platforms for learners. Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia has teamed up with Sanako, a compatriot education software house, to provide N810 internet tablets to the schools market.

This quote is priceless:

"Handhelds have had a position in education for years," he said. "But restrictions such as costs, technical and input issues have held them back. The N810 can solve this because it's got a large screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, plus stylus and fingernail input and the same browsing experience as you have on your laptop or desktop."

Just last week, I was in conversations with a couple developer friends about how difficult it is to get the N810. Unless purchased from Amazon, it seems all distributors (and even the Nokia developer device program) are hard to get. I joke that Amazon is bribing wholesalers to get a bigger share. Seeing the above news, however, makes it all easier to swallow. I hope all those missing N810 tablets are headed to students who could not afford computers.

Congratulations, Nokia, on making a big move to send the tablets to the education sector. Bravo!

I haven't posted a new poll for a few weeks now, but the results are in. The question:

Do you use Linux on devices other than on the Internet Tablet? The answers:
Yes, for workstations and laptops 247 (70%) Yes, for servers and network appliances 182 (52%) Yes, for other embedded devices 117 (33%) No 68 (19%)
There are a LOT more workstation Linux users here than I thought! Overall, 81% of respondents said that they use Linux on some other form of machine. Neat!

Next poll: One of my stops at CES was at RealNetworks. I am sure we've all tried the Rhapsody client (link goes to press release) for access to the entire Rhapsody library on the Nokia Internet Tablets. If you haven't tried it: Go ahead. The tablets include a trial of the software with full access to their online library.

I didn't get to talk directly with the product rep who deals with the N800/N810 but his associate passed along my question: Can we use Rhapsody for offline playback on the Internet Tablets? He replied to me and, while he loves his own personal N800, there is no offline playback available. RealNetworks has partnerships with others for devices that allow both streaming AND offline playback (see the Haier ibiza) so the business model is not foreign to them.

To get this to work on the Internet Tablets means a DRM module would have to be put on to the tablet. What I (and I am sure RealNetworks) want to know: Would you subscribe to Rhapsody if it allowed offline playback on the Internet Tablet?

Answers:

• Yes. Having both online and offline media libraries are worth $12.99/mo.
• Yes. I am already a Rhapsody subscriber anyway and this would be good.
• No. I don't want to pay for a subscription music library.
• No. I don't use my tablet for music.
• No. I am morally opposed to DRM in any kind.

As usual, the poll is located in the right bar of TabletBlog.com. Let me know your thoughts and I'll pass them along to RealNetworks!

I am still transcribing the half-hour interview with Victor Brilon of Nokia. In the meantime, people are still asking these questions and I still do not have answers. I do not have answers to the reader questions below (in bold.) Anyone want to chime in with more?

1. WiMAX Internet Tablet: When and how much?
2. OS2008 Blogger Client: Can we have one? (I was wrong in a previous article, thinking one existed. I wouldn't mind one.)
   
3. Desktop Client Software: Can we have some sort of desktop media management and bookmark management software?
4. Sprint, XOHM, Clearwire, and WiMAX carriers. This one will always be "No Comment" from Nokia. They have a WiMAX roadmap but can't talk about the carriers' roadmaps.
5. What does Nokia think about the Mylo 2? Heh - they can't answer this one either.
6. What's Nokia's response to the infrastructure problems during the OS2008 release? I asked that of another friend at Nokia and the response was more emoted than verbalized. Suffice to say a lesson was learned. I hope eventually some public comment comes out of this.
7. What's up with the N810's GPS lock-on time? When I had an N810 in my hands, I noticed that the first few times the GPS was used were terrible. Over time, it got better. Maybe it learns? I don't know.
   
8. Any plans on haptic feedback on upcoming models? I hadn't considered this myself. I should've asked.
9. What was going on in that WeBot demo? I am trying to find out that whole set-up and how it worked.

Again - the stuff in bold are the questions I have heard to which I DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWERS. The text afterward is my commentary on it. I am posting this here to acknowledge that I know the questions, am interested in finding the answers, and am trying to hunt down the right people.

p.s. Apparently Apple announced their new "supermodel" laptop. By "supermodel," I mean "slower than average, does less than average, anorexic, and overpriced but DAMN - you wouldn't mind playing with it for a while anyway."

I'm holding back on purpose. I am trying make sure all my ducks are in a row between PR information, tech specs, press releases, and actual on-site discussion before I post my big CES follow-ups.

If you're starving for content, I've been posting a few things over there on ultramobilegeek. Expect the Nokia interview up this week as well as some more on that cute little thing called WeBot.

In case you missed it, I had a brief hands-on video with the Sony Mylo com2 on UltraMobileGeek.com. The mylo (Intentional lowercase portmanteau for "My Life Online") spec sheet sounds familiar.

• 800x480 touchscreen
• Sliding backlit keyboard
• Linux based core
• Widget interface with quick links to Facebook and YouTube
• WiFi, and Skype, but not a phone

The mylo is going after the 13-18 market. It is more durable than the N810 and thicker. There will be no "open" Linux access to it and no development kit (as per Sony's reps on site.)

Even so ... I want to put this one through the paces. I want to see what they did right and wrong on it and give my comparative experience with other devices. I am glad to see the original mylo plans in the trash and was impressed with how far they have come. In a battle between the Nokia N810 and the mylo COM2, it's a race to see if a device with an expensive development and marketing budget can battle a device with hundreds of third party apps and an SDK.

I grilled Victor Brilon for a good half hour about the tablets, history, and roadmap. I voice recorded it bu will post a transcript later. Stay tuned!

Vegas!

Registration and settling in done. Updating from a solo dinner at the hotel. Lot of stuff on flickr and one new Qik.

I love how convergence devices and Linux allow me to pack extra light for the show. Clockwise from the top:

• Nokia N95-3 which will be providing my mobile broadband access, live photo stream, and occasional Qik video.
  
• Nokia N800 (or N810 if I find I can borrow one) which will be providing my live microblogging and hold my show maps and quick notes.
• Asus EeePC running Ubuntu off an 8GB SDHC card which will allow me to post more text-heavy entries. There are four SD cards going along: 2x4GB, 2x8GB
• GoldX cable kit. Always handy to keep around.
• Canon Powershot S5-IS to provide high resolution photos and video for uploading from the hotel room or after the show.
• Inside circle clockwise from top: APC USB battery for emergency charging of the N800 or N95
• SanDisk SD/Mini/Micro card reader
• TrendNet bluetooth dongle
• Kensington USB power tip for Nokia devices
• Retractable USB to Mini-USB cable
• Spare batteries
  

The bag has 3.6 pounds of stuff and the camera (worn around the neck) is another 1.3 pounds. For the sake of comparison: the sleek (and smaller model) 15" MacBook Pro is 5.4 pounds all by itself.

Notably absent in my CES gadget bag are: Hard drives, Windows, or Mac OS X devices. Indeed, I will be generating content entirely with Linux and with my N95.

Here's how to follow the coverage:

• TabletBlog.com will have all my Nokia Internet Tablet coverage, Nokia interviews, accessories and technologies of interest to that crowd. Also all my Web 2.0 features will be in there.
• UltraMobileGeek.com will have UMPCs, tablet PCs, embedded Linux devices, green energy devices (a new interest of mine) and the fantastic "everything else I find interesting" category.
• My YouTube Channel will host all videos except a few I may try to stream live with Qik. The Qik videos will appear live and then remain there for future viewing.
• My Flickr Photostream will automatically upload EVERY photo I take with the N95-3. I hope I don't live to regret that one.
• If all of that looks intimidating to you, just watch my Jaiku channel which aggregates all of the above (except Flickr and Qik) and includes my text microblogging too.

I have to go clean my car, get an oil change, finish packing ... See you there!