Nokia N9 Broadcast: Packs MeeGo, 8 Megapixel Cameras, and Swiping

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted something really worthwhile on this blog. Then again, it’s been a long time since there’s been any precious Nokia news. And so, after a four-month hiatus, it’s time again to look at one of Nokia’s latest phones: the oft-rumored N9.

When we last left Nokia, the company had announced that it would be going the way of the Windows Phone, in what was perhaps one of the biggest deals between two of the largest tech companies out there. Nokia’s two last platforms Symbian and MeeGo were going to be jettisoned, in the hope that touching to Windows would give Nokia the flexibility to innovate both software and hardware. Symbian had, more or less, happen to a dying platform, and MeeGo wasn’t living up to its prospect as a savior for the company:

Months later, Oistämö still resist holding back tears. “MeeGo had been the communal hope of the company,” he says, “and we’d come to the extinction that the monarch had no clothes. It’s not a nice thing.”

But the release of the N9 proves that maybe, just maybe, MeeGo isn’t entirely done for.

Let’s create with the specs. Nokia isn’t pulling any punches here with the N9 (which honestly looks like an iPod Nano mixed with an N8), a candy bar that sports a 3.9-inch AMOLED display, 8 megapixel camera (featuring Carl Zeiss optics), HD video footage, Gorilla glass, and NFC carry. It runs MeeGo 1.2. It also looks (granted, this is from the promo video) smooth as hell, with a border that looks, for once, slightly ahead of the curve.

Gone are the Home buttons (hardware or software) of the past. Nokia’s touting the simplicity of the N9 over the whole thing, in that all it takes is just an easy swipe. Swipe to scroll, swipe to move during your home screens, and even swipe to reduce your applications. And talking of the home screens, you’ve got three of them here: your request launcher, your multitask view (similar to the N900′s), and finally, your announcement page which shows missed calls and social media updates.

Everything about the N9 looks imposing too imposing, maybe. What’s Nokia’s doing here? They’ve cast aside MeeGo for Windows Phone, but put the spotlight back with a hell of a device. I don’t quite get it. But I have to hand it to Nokia: the first release applicant of MeeGo (1.1) looked nothing like this. I’m astonished that it got this far.

Unluckily, there’s no talk about price or ease of use (yet), other than the generic “The Nokia N9 is scheduled to be in stores later this year, with availability and local pricing to be announced earlier to the sales start.”