Leave it to the wonderful folks over at Engadget to post breaking news on a possible Nokia QWERTY-slider spotted in China.
Image by Engadget
The device previously speculated back in June as an unknown slider or a Nokia N98, now seems to have confirmation of it being a Nokia N9 running MeeGo.
Update: A friendly mole of ours ran this handset’s serial number through an internal Nokia system and has confirmed it as a Nokia prototype. He was also able to uncover an RM-680 product type classification (further distancing this from the RM-626 slider) and a 0595571 product code. Add those to the “Prototype Build B2” and “Property of Nokia” labeling inside the phone’s battery compartment, and you’ve got yourself a very strong candidate for the real deal here.
Update 2: A closer look at the display reveals that this is running something that bears a heavy resemblance to the MeeGo screens we’ve seen so far — and if you run the product code through Google, you see some Maemo 6-related bug tracking results, which of course has since become MeeGo. Good stuff, eh? Thanks, Sockatume!
Source: Nokia’s QWERTY-slidin’ N9 shows up in the wilds of China?
It would make a lot of sense that this device would be running MeeGo since Nokia themselves stated that the N8 would be the last N-series device to run Symbian.
Image by Engadget Nokia N9 Rear Disassembled
If this is a real prototype, users will have to choose between outstanding images (Nokia N8) and a hardware keyboard (Nokia N9). The disassembled image shows a camera lens and an LED flash. Sorry no XENON flash.
Looks like HDMI out
What we know about the device so far:
- Nokia labeling inside battery compartment
- RM-680 product type
- 0595571 product code
- MeeGo – The OS looks strikingly similar to MeeGo screen shots
- Running the product code through Google, you see some Maemo 6-related bug tracking results
I know its too much to ask for, but I hope that when the device is released (if it is released) it will have the same 12MP camera with XENON flash as the N8. Basically giving us an N8 with a keyboard.