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Interesting device shipping today from Nokia, the 770 ($359.99). A device rather dubiously called an “internet tablet” that’s actually more of an uber-web-enabled PDA. Most notable about it is the custom Debian-based distribution that’s completely open source as it runs GTK rather than Trolltech’s ebmedded QT. I tend to prefer my apps look clean and professional than something playskool designed.

Some impressive stats as well. Featuring the afore-mentioned Debian-based distribution called Maemo, which includes kernel 2.6 and X.org/Scratchbox WM. Hardware specs are: 800×480 screen, 220 MHz TI OMAP ARM processor (with DSP), 64M of RAM, 128M of flash, USB slave port, 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth, and an RS-MMC slot. It sports a battery life of 3 hours with continous Wi-Fi usage. Not a fantastic amount of time I’ll admit, but how many people are going to have the need to sit and browse the internet or keep a Wi-Fi connection going on a PDA for 3 hours straight? Not many. Withtout the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth in use the battery would last considerably longer. Either way it’s not much of a problem considering it accepts common Nokia phone batteries so it would only cost another $30 to keep a fully-charged spare handy. 6 hours of continuous PDA usage ought to be enough to get anyone through the day. If you need more you’re not the target audience and should probably be looking into picking up a laptop.

Another incredibly smart move on Nokia’s part was sending the units to developers before the media so the 770 would have a wealth of new apps and ports by launch today. Check out the impressive lineup of launch apps here.