First Glance: The Nokia N810 Linux Internet Tablet Doesn't Make Sense
I had an opportunity to play with the new Nokia N810 Internet Tablet for about five minutes last night, and came away confused. It seems pretty darn expensive for a machine with limited usefulness.
Context & Ripple Effects
The N810 closes a two-year arc for Nokia's tablet line: the original Nokia 770 arrived at the end of 2005, Engadget spent the summer asking whether an N800 successor was coming, and the device was spotted ahead of its press release before the official announcement on October 17 — a Linux tablet with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth tethering to a phone rather than its own cellular radio.
InformationWeek's five-minute hands-on lands two days after that announcement and voices the awkward question the launch invites: what is this device for, and why does it cost what it costs? The timing sharpens the point — Nokia began global shipments of the N95 8GB the same week, so the company is simultaneously selling a full smartphone and a pricier-feeling companion that depends on one.
First-order effects
- Buyers weighing the N810 must justify a dedicated tablet that pairs over Bluetooth to a handset for connectivity — a pitch that competes directly with Nokia's own just-shipping N95 8GB, which does more in one device.
- The early skepticism from a mainstream outlet like InformationWeek puts pressure on Nokia's launch messaging before reviews accumulate, forcing the company to defend the tablet's price against its own phone portfolio.
Second-order effects
- If reviewers keep framing the N810 as redundant next to S60 handsets, Nokia faces cannibalization math inside its own catalog — either the tablet finds a distinct niche or it dilutes demand for the Nseries phones that anchor the brand.
- Rival handheld makers watching the reception get a read on whether Wi-Fi-only Linux devices can sell at premium prices without a cellular radio or carrier subsidy behind them.
Third-order effects
- The N810 continues Nokia's experiment with a Linux tablet line running parallel to Symbian/S60 — a structure that tests whether open-Linux devices sold outside carrier channels can coexist with operator-subsidized smartphones, a question the whole industry is circling.
- Nokia's same-week demonstration of the S60 touch interface shows the company hedging across both platforms; if the tablet line keeps struggling for a story, the touch and Linux investments will increasingly be judged against each other inside one roadmap.
The trend: Nokia is iterating a carrier-free Linux tablet line alongside its Symbian smartphone business, probing whether always-paired companion devices can hold a premium price in a market its own handsets dominate.