How to make Maemo OS better

First off, I would like to thank the people at WOMWorld (a Nokia™ sponsored resource site) for posting my blog entry about the Nokia N900. Thanks alot guys, much appreciated!!

My post yesterday about Nokia N900’s Maemo OS apparently caused a particularly old topic about the N900; “Is Nokia N900 mainstream or not?” Apparently my observation about the new OS’ initial learning curve, as well as my GF finding the N900 “too techie” for her tastes, sparked that topic once more. Well for the most part, I would have to agree… the Nokia N900 is definitely not for everybody. It’s definitely aimed for those who love and are into technology; namely guys like me.

Now considering that’s the case, wouldn’t it be nice if the Nokia N900 would be a universally accepted phone? Not just for hardcore tech-junkies and geeks, but for everyone. The Maemo has alot of potential only IF it is developed right. Considering that the N900 has just been released a few months ago, I’m still optimistic that Nokia will consider updating N900’s Maemo OS to make it much more better, streamlined and more importantly; user-friendly.

Without further ado, here are my Top 3 suggestions:

• The “X” button
• Remember in my recent post about the Maemo OS where I presented you this?
  Isn’t it quite confusing where to find the simple “exit” button? Hell even my GF got confused the first time she tried it and took her awhile to understand how the menu works. Now this is where the “X” button comes in. Here’s my sample mock-up:
   
  Adding the “X” button, atleast solves some of the nagging quirks of the N900 namely; whenever you click anywhere outside the app icons, you wont exit the screen and with the inclusion of the “X” button, its easier to find how to get out of menus. Less stylish? Maybe. User-friendly? Absolutely.
• Add “Portrait View” function
• Need I say more? Not only does this make sense, its really a must. It’s been on most of Nokia Symbian-powered smartphones, why can’t the Maemo do the same?
• Add Flash 10 support, and ability to update Flash
• If the Nokia N900 is marketed to be a netbook replacement, then it better act like one. I’m glad that the Maemo supports Flash, but it doesn’t go beyond that. Considering most web-content nowadays are switching over to Adobe 10, it would only be a matter of time before most sites won’t be rendered properly in N900’s web browser.

I know this is a long-shot, but I do believe in the potential of Maemo, as well as Nokia N900. I hope Nokia sees this as well and puts more effort into the OS.