Having owned many Nokia phones through the years I was pretty happy when Nokia announced the 770 Internet Tablet. I thought its about time Nokia is getting into the converged device field, but wait this device does not have a phone? Thats right no phone! I found that a little strange since the Nokia brand is synonymous with cellular phones. Well that is ok I can always pair it with my cell phone via Bluetooth to surf the internet or sync with my laptop. Wrong again! Sure I can pair the unit with my phone to browse the internet but this device lacks basic PIM functionality. There is no phonebook, calendar, or to do list. In essence it is not a PDA at all. In order to really appreciate what the 770 is you have to look at it for what it does and does well!
The Nokia 770 uses Linux as the operating system (Kernel 2.6). You navigate using a stylus or the buttons on the side. A nice feature also is that you can use the onscreen menu key on the left side to bring up a list of your programs (it's like the start button on your Windows Mobile Device.)
So What Does it Do?
Web browsing
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One of the most enjoyable uses for this device is the web browsing experience. The Nokia 770 uses the Opera 8 mobile browser, which supports JavaScript, plug-ins and Flash content. What I really liked about this device is that you can zoom in and out; you can also choose Optimized View to have pages sized to fit the screen.
Email
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The Nokia 770's email client includes support for attachments, folders, POP3, and IMAP4 accounts. I was able to set up my corporate email using IMAP and my POP Mobility Today account with ease. You also can set up scheduling so that the 770 automatically sends and receives mail at designated intervals. Of course the speed at which you receive your mail is based on your connection method but I found that the speeds were great via WiFi and very respectable when paired to my Bluetooth phone on the T-Mobile EDGE network...
RSS
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Another great feature is that it supports RSS news feeds. The home screen devotes nearly half of its screen to new posts. So if you’re news junkie like I am this is great. At a glance you can see what is going on. You can also configure the device to get updates on a regular schedule or just tap the Refresh button at the bottom of the News box. One aspect of the new reader I did not like was that adding new feeds is something of a pain, you have to copy links from the browser, then paste them into an Add Feed field in the News Reader. You can also enter the feed URL manually.
Internet Radio
The Nokia 770 also has an Internet radio selector on the home screen which is nice. It comes loaded with a link to only one station though. I was not a big fan of Internet radio but after using this feature on the 770 I am rethinking my position on this. The audio player on the 770 is basic and onscreen controls are very easy to use and it does have support for play lists. However is does not support WMA files and you cannot listen to music purchased from most online stores. Not a show stopper for me since I prefer the iPod for music and movies. With that being said, the 770 can play MPEG-1, MPEG-4, AVI, and Real Video movies.
Device Layout and Controls
The top if the device contains the power button, zoom key, and full screen controls.
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The front left side has the speaker, scroll key, escape key, menu key, and home key.
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The bottom of the device sports the charger connection, Mini USB port, and s.5-mm audio out port which is stereo.
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