Nokia N900 Hardware

Processors

The Nokia N900 is powered by a the OMAP 3430 ARM Cortex A8 which is a System-on-a-chip made by Texas Instruments designed in a 65-nanometer CMOS process. The OMAP 3430 is constituted of three microprocessors; the Cortex A8 running at 600 MHz used to run the OS and applications, the PowerVR SGX 530 GPU made by Imagination Technologies which supports OpenGL ES 2.0 and is capable of up to 14 MPolys/s and a TMS320C64x, the digital signal processors, running at 430 MHz used to run the image processing (camera), audio processing (telephony) and data transmission. The TMS320 C64x main purpose is to offload the Cortex A8 from having to process audio and video signal. The system has 256 MB of dedicated high end RAM (Mobile DDR) paired with access to 768 MB virtual memory managed by the OS.

Screen and input

The Nokia N900 has a 3.5 inch resistive touchscreen with a resolution of 800 × 480 pixel (WVGA, 267 ppi) capable of displaying up to 16.7 million colors. The LCD is transreflective to permit usability over a wide range of luminosity (from daylight to dark). Haptic feedback is provided to touchscreen input by applying a small vibration or a sound; this feature can be turned on/off at user discretion. A stylus is provided to allow more precise touch input and access to smaller user interface elements. A 3-axis accelerometer allows the orientation of the screen to change between portrait and landscape mode in certain applications (such as the phone), or it can be used as user input in games and applications such as Bounce Evolution. While the dashboard or desktop is active, rotating the device from landscape to portrait mode activates the phone application (a feature that can also be disabled at user discretion). Developers may add support for portrait mode in their applications if desired. There is a proximity sensor which deactivates the display and touchscreen when the device is brought near the face during a call.

The slide-out 4-row keyboard and D-pad of the Nokia N810 have been replaced on the Nokia N900 with a slide-out 3-row backlit keyboard with arrow keys (as with previous Internet Tablets, an on-screen keyboard is also available). In addition to the English QWERTY layout, the slide out keyboard will be available in variants for Italian, French, German, Russian, Czech and Nordic (Finnish, Swedish). The Nokia N900 has an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness and activates the backlit keyboard. The OS comes with a word prediction software that can be configured to the user preferences (auto capitalization, word completion, auto spacing between words).

The device has an autonomous GPS with optional A-GPS functionality and comes pre-loaded with the Ovi Maps application. Ovi Maps provides typical mapping features such as alternate views (3D landmarks, satellite, and hybrid maps), address/places of interest searching, and route planning.

The 5 megapixel back camera has an autofocus feature, dual LED flash, 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio options, and 3X digital zoom. The focal length of this camera is 5.2mm, the aperture is f/2.8, and the focus range is 10 cm to infinity. It is capable of video recording at up to 848 × 480 pixels at 25 fps. The lens, while not in use, is protected by a sliding hatch. Opening the hatch launches the camera application. Although the 0.3 megapixel front camera is capable of video recording at up to 640 x 480 pixels and pre-production units could be used for video calls over IP using Google Talk, the retail version is delivered without any software enabling video calling or video chatting.

Buttons

When holding the device facing the screen; on the top, from left to right, rocking buttons (which function as volume up/down or zoom in/out depending on the context), power on/off and camera button. Pressing the power button brings up a menu to change the profile, activate offline mode (a.k.a "Airplane or Flight mode", which turns off all emitted signals), Lock Device (either "Secure" with key code, or simple lock), and an option to end the current task.
As the Nokia N900 has fewer hardware buttons, it makes use of the touchscreen to display on-screen buttons, for example, to accept, reject and end a call.

Audio and output

The N900 has a microphone and stereo speakers located on each side of the device. There is a 3.5mm four-contact TRRS connector which simultaneously provides stereo audio output and either microphone input or video output. PAL and NTSC TV out is possible using a Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (usually included upon purchase).

There is a High-Speed USB 2.0 USB Micro-B connector provided for data synchronization, mass storage mode (client) and battery charging. Unlike previous versions of Nokia's Internet Tablet, the Nokia N900 lacks support for USB On-The-Go (the ability to act as a USB host) at a hardware level.
The built-in Bluetooth v2.1 supports wireless earpieces and headphones through the HSP profile. The Nokia N900 supports hardware capable of stereo audio output with the A2DP profile. Built-in car hands-free kits are also supported with the HFP profile. File transfer is supported (FTP) along with the OPP profile for sending/receiving objects. It is possible to remote control the device with the AVRCP profile. The DUN profile which permits access to the Internet from a laptop by dialing up on a mobile phone wirelessly (tethering), the HID profile which provides support for devices such as Bluetooth keyboards and PAN profile for networking using Bluetooth are unsupported but can be enabled.

The Bluetooth set also functions as a FM Receiver, allowing one to listen to the FM radio. The N900 also has a 88.1 - 107.9 MHz FM transmitter which can, for example, play music through a separate radio. The Nokia N900 has Wi-Fi b/g connectivity with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 (AES/TKIP) security protocols.

The Nokia N900 can synchronize with Microsoft Outlook through ActiveSync and various other e-mail and calendar clients through SyncML over bluetooth or the micro-USB.

The device also features a infrared port that can be used to turn the Nokia N900 into a remote controller using third-party software.

Battery and SIM

Battery life for the device may change with time due to ongoing development and attempts to optimize power management through firmware updates. In a press release Nokia stated they are aiming at "one day of full usage" or "Always online : Up to 2-4 days (TCP/IP connected)" and "Active online usage : Up to 1+ day". Early reports from users range from 12 hours (Wi-Fi on, web browsing, video and some GPS), to about 2 days online but not used continuously. The value appears to be highly dependent on the user's choice of background software, active desktop widgets, IM and email polling, as well as mobile network signal quality (especially 3G) and in some cases, software bugs. Nokia reported talk times are around 9 hours with GSM and 5 hours with 3G.

While previous Internet Tablets used larger batteries (1500 mAh compared with the N900's 1320 mAh), they are based on a less efficient microprocessor. Typical battery time for the Nokia N810 is around 4 hours of continuous full usage, display and Wi-Fi on (figures are much higher with sporadic usage, even with Wi-Fi on). The OMAP3 of the Nokia N900 is more efficient at reducing its power consumption giving a longer usage time despite a smaller battery.
The SIM card is located under the battery which can be accessed by removing the back panel of the Nokia N900. The microSD(HC) card socket is also located under the back cover (but not under the battery). No tool is necessary to remove the back panel.

Storage

The Nokia N900 has 32 GB eMMC and 256 MB NAND non-removable storage. Additional storage is available via a hot swappable microSDHC card socket, which is certified to support up to 16 GB of additional storage. The microSDHC card can be formatted with a supported file system such as ext2, ext3, FAT16 and FAT32.

The 32 GB eMMC is split into 3 partitions:
2GB as ext3 mounted to /home
768MiB as swap
the remainder as VFAT mounted to /home/user/MyDocs with about 25GB of free space.

The 256 MB NAND is formatted as UBIFS and contains the bootloader, kernel and root directory "/" with about 100MB of free space.
Programs larger than 500KB including dependencies should be stored in /opt which is symlinked to /home/opt and therefore located on the 2GB ext3 partition. The VFAT partition is also available for storage but needs to be used carefully as it is unmounted and exported if a usb cable is connected to the device.

Included items

The Nokia N900 comes with documentation, a battery (BL-5J 1320 mAh), a charger (AC-10), a stereo headset (WH-205), a video-out cable (CA-75U), a charger adaptor (CA-146C) and a cleaning cloth.

There is a promotion at the USA Nokia Shop giving those who order the device a free bluetooth mobile phone headset (BH-703), although there were additional delays due to the headset having limited functionality with the N900. The end date for this promotion is unknown.

In addition to the promotion above, the Spain Nokia Shop also gives a additional Nokia Extra Power DC-11 accessory. The end date for this promotion is also unknown.