Nokia's Maemo-Based Tablet Makes An AppearanceNokia's Maemo-Based Tablet Makes An Appearance

Nokia World, the number one mobile phone company's annual conference, is but several weeks away. As anticipation builds for the keynote and news, one possibility has leaked early. The N900/Rover tablet has been spotted, and it runs Maemo 5.Pictures of the N900 can be seen here. It bears some resemblance to its predecessors (N800, N810) in that it has a large-ish screen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and bigger-than-a-smartphone proportions. The N-series tablets from Nokia have run a version of mobile Linux called Maemo. This new device runs the latest variant of Maemo, which is a step above previous generations of the platform with respect to usability and the experience.

Not much else is know about the N900, but reports suggest it will have support for HSPA data networks in addition to Wi-Fi. Perhaps we'll learn more during the keynote at Nokia World.

Nokia has lost marketshare in recent months to competitors Apple, Google and RIM. It misfired with the N97 -- a supposed iPhone killer -- and has yet to really put together a solid defense against the mobile market's newcomers.

That's what makes Nokia World 2009 so important. The company moved its annual confab up by a full three months, to September 2 and 3 (it is normally held in late November/early December). Given all that we've learned about the ongoing development of Symbian, S60, and devices such as the N900, Nokia needs to make some big announcements ahead of the last few months of 2009.

The problem is, there's barely any chatter or excitement about what's being announced by Nokia. I've heard only scattered reports. One suggested that Nokia will introduce S60 6th Edition at this year's Nokia World. A Nokia employee, however, told me that attendees shouldn't expect to get any hands-on with devices or services.

Nokia may still announce a new phone and or mobile platform, but this suggests to me that it isn't ready enough to be used by conference attendees even as a "pre-production" model. Given the long lead time Nokia generally plans for its devices, this indicates that any new hardware announced at the show may not be ready until well into 2010.

Others indicate that a new XpressMusic phone will be announced, that a miniature version of the N97 will be made available, that Nokia is going to start using a new naming scheme for its handsets, etc.

Whatever combination of this turns out to be true, I hope there's something bigger lurking behind it all that hasn't been spotted yet.

Maemo 5 and the N900 are important, but Nokia needs to get its head in the smartphone game. I am pulling for a new mobile operating platform to be debuted. Here's to hoping.