Nokia's N810 Internet Tablet finally makes it to the US, and it'll cost you $480. For once, Nokia's eschewing of the term "phone" turns out to make sense: The only connection option you get with the N810 are WiFi and Bluetooth.
For the price, though, it's a capable little box. You get GPS (and preloaded maps, although you can sign up with Wayfarer in December for $130 a year), up to 10GB memory (2GB internal and up to 8GB more via memory card), a slide out keyboard for some real typing, music and VoIP (via Skype or the Gizmo Project).
The Linux box enters a strange world. The old gap between full sized notebook and dumb phone is filling up. From the Eee PC through the stillborn Foleo, to super-capable cellphones like the iPhone and Nokia's own N95. The trouble is, with something as portable as the N810, you really, really expect it to have a ubiquitous network connection. Conclusion? Nice, if you have Everywhere Muni-Fi. Otherwise, buy this.
Press release [Nokia]
