Nokia Tablet

Looks vaguely interesting, if puzzling, at a reasonable pricepoint ($350 quoted at the Register). I’m not sure how open it would be but seems cute if you had a really big house and family and weren’t wired up already at all…

…and then it hit me where I had seen a remarkably similar device literally half a decade ago. It’s the return of the bloody Audrey thing, sorry, “Internet Appliance” released by 3Com in October 2000, killed in 2001. Quite the shocker, hardware incidentally invented at my alma mater, Razorfish… brrr, sorry, flashbacks. This device basically is aiming at a third position in the modern family home - below the (one maybe two) internet connected PC and maybe above the (one each) mobile phone. Very puzzling. I think it will prove a very useful and fun geek toy but, prediction here, will die a fairly slow death at retail. If it was $100, that might change everything.

Oh, and the Hildon UI… hmmm. I did some work quite a few years ago based on Hildon and thought it was pretty ropey then. Today it looks like a) not much has changed and b) everyone else has, for the better. Not good. It is skinnable quite easily so there is hope, but the bare spec I thought was rough round the edges, and I’ve not seen anything to persuade me otherwise.

But what do I know… *cough* PSP *cough* doomed *cough*

Disclaimer: the views on Bunker do not represent the views of Neuromantics Ltd, who love Nokia very very much.