Nokia will ship a firmware upgrade for existing and new 770 Internet tablet owners, it says. The “OS 2006” upgrade, expected this quarter, will bring better memory performance and a “refreshed look.” It will also feature VoIP capabilities, and a pre-installed Google Talk client with a full-screen “finger” keyboard.

Additionally, the OS 2006 firmware release will support standard SIP based VoIP clients for enterprise use, such as SIPPhone's Gizmo Project, aimed at enabling users to make and receive calls to/from public telephony networks.

The 770 tablet has stereo speakers and a 1/8th inch headphones jack, along with a small built-in microphone located on the bottom edge. The new release will have drivers to support audio input, potentially enabling a variety of audio applications in addition to VoIP. It may also support Bluetooth headsets, which would allow for less awkward use as a phone, given that the microphone and speakers are not placed conveniently for such use.

Speaking at the VON Europe conference in Stockholm today, Nokia's Ari Virtanen, VP of convergence products, told assembled media that Nokia expects Web access to “go mobile,” much as telephones have. The 770 met its 2005 shipment goals, Virtanen said, and the company hopes its deal with Google, which leaked last friday, will drive additional volume. VoIP capabilities have been the single most-requested consumer feature, according to Virtanen

Google's fledgling Google Talk chat and VoIP service is currently beta testing, but already has 50,000 registered users, according to Google's Jim Holden. Asked how Google plans to make money by bundling its free chat and voice client, Holden replied, “We put services out that we think users want to see. Then we watch how they use it. Our mission is to organize the information of the world and make it accessible. The 770 plays into the 'accessibility' part of the mission.”

Additional new features in the OS 2006 edition include:

• Pre-installed Google Talk
  • Free service lets users chat and speak
  • Interoperates with any Jabber-based chat client
• Enhanced text typing with full-screen finger keyboard
• Improved memory performance
• Refreshed look
• Improved home view desktop applets for fast access to Internet services, such as searching Google

Virtanen stated, “Since the launch of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, we have received a lot of positive feedback along with requests for both small and large improvements. It is a credit to the internal team, here at Nokia, that many of these wishes are addressed in today's upgrade.”

Deep Nishar, director of product management at Google, stated, “By extending the power of real time communications, Google Talk will provide users with easy access to one of today's most popular methods of communication. Because Nokia has made it even easier to access Google search, users will be able to get the information they need, when they need it, and regardless of where they are.”

The Nokia 770 became available in the U.S. early this year. Nokia has since published a single upgraded software image for the 770, in April.

Additionally, the open source Maemo community has created about 120 stable applications for the platform, including an instant messaging client based on GAIM. These are all available for download at no charge.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.