14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia's newly unveiled Maemo-powered Nokia N900 Internet Tablet has recently been rumored not to allow for carriers to make their own customizations on the handset's user interface, and Nokia steps up now to say that things are actually the other way around. Mobile phone operators around the world will have the opportunity to change the Maemo UI to fit their needs, although we should say that users might not be attracted to the idea too much.
“It would be absolutely incorrect to assume that we will not offer operators the ability to tailor future Maemo devices to suit their needs,” is what an article on Nokia Conversations states. This puts an end to the rumors, which, by the way, were reportedly based on something that people from Nokia said, and might also suggest that the company has in mind a future carrier deal.
“As we have said over the past couple of weeks, our plan with Maemo is to focus on the consumer experience – integrating applications and services from Nokia, our broad community of developers and publishers and, of course, from our operator customers. While we have not announced immediate plans to offer an operator variant for the N900, there are many customization points for operators on the N900,” the article reads.
Indeed, no plans on launching the N900 through a specific carrier have been unveiled, yet there are chances that an announcement will surface sooner rather than later. And, if such a version of the Maemo device emerges, it should be quite interesting to see what does carrier customization mean when it comes to the user experience of those who will purchase the device. As many users have already complained, some limitations will certainly surface, and they will probably affect both the UI and the updating process of the device.
The article on Nokia Conversations speaks a lot of Symbian, yet the only aspect that is of interest to the news story is that “Symbian has been specifically developed to support operator customization, which enables operators to highlight their brand identity and services to their customers.” If Nokia plans on approaching N900's platform the same way, it means that the above quote will soon tend to apply to Maemo as well.