Well, even though they haven’t picked up Android,  the new version of the Maemo OS, based off of Debian/Linux, has impressed, and intrigued me. I have even pre-ordered a N900 (Nokia’s newest handset with Nokia Maemo) which takes full advantage of the new OS, and I will be providing you with a full-review once it arrives.  Until then Update: Due to an issue with the pre-order I was not able to get the phone rapidly.

I highly recommend all of you Smartphone fanatics go and take a look at the Maemo website, but for now here are some of the highlights:

Web browser that shows the web as its true self with full web standards support (Sort of like Apple claims to… but with Flash support too).

Multiple desktops… but not just icons… widgets too

Integrated Skype to Skype calls. They even let you use the 3g network and not just wifi.

Oh yeah and did I mention: video, mms, copy/paste, maps, email, media player, and an open apps store?

Here are my thoughts on the Smartphone market. When you start a jigsaw puzzle and all the pieces are scattered across the table, you know that there is a beautiful picture in there somewhere, but the parts are in all the wrong places. Well that’s the Smartphone market. Think about it.

HTC
On one side of the table you have HTC: one of the few companies that got the “sleek form factor” piece of the Smartphone world right with their HD2 phone. Too bad they left the usability piece (aka Android OS)  back on the other side of the table. Instead they force fed WinMo 6.5, a piece that looks like it fits, but really won’t. In the end, it ruins the puzzle’s beautiful picture.

Motorola:
Back to the other side of the table, you have Motorola. They’ve got the usability concept down, taking the extremely versatile Android OS and building it into their new release the Motorola DROID. But they seem to have forgotten that puzzle piece that likes to fall off the table and onto the floor: form factor. I might be the only one, but I want to break off every slide out keyboard I see on a phone. I would love to rip the keys off and put them back on, spelling “your a tool”. Seriously, why bother with a touch screen if your going to put physical keys on it. It defeats the purpose. Touchscreens are designed to eliminate unnecessary moving parts…

RIM
Which brings me to another point: The Storm. This is an especially touchy subject for me as I am an original Storm owner. So believe me, I know first hand of all its short comings, but I may also have a biased opinion so feel free to comment.

I think RIM did good in a lot of areas here. Form factor, usability, and even the service provider (Verizon); all fairly decent. Not top of the line mind you, but decent none the less. Not to stray back to my cheesy analogy… but think of the storm as your 50 piece puzzle instead of your 1000 piece puzzle. You have to remember the Blackberry OS was not designed to support a touchscreen so I give RIM a handicap in that area, and the sure-press click typing thing; a ballsy move in my book, so I give them points for effort despite it’s tremendous failure.

Apple
I am definitely not an Apple fanboy, far from it in fact, but over the past few years the iPhone has set the bar for Smartphones and they set it pretty damn high. But even Apple didn’t get all the pieces together right away. Stupid things like picture messaging and landscape keyboards in initial releases didn’t make the cut. Which make me wonder; will any of these companies ever get this right? Thoughts anyone?