It’s fair to guess Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will launch a new Internet tablet device later this year. We’ve already posted an article with the rumored specs, but we haven’t said — cause we don’t know — whether the touchscreen used will be capacitive or resistive. The point of this article is to make the case for the use of capacitive touchscreen as well as a chance to add my 2 cents to the table.

First of all, I must say that I’m a big fan of the Maemo platform. Though I haven’t used the original Nokia 770, I relied on the N800 a lot. Coupled with a Bluetooth keyboard, it was my mobile office, and I wrote hundreds (yes hundreds) of articles for IntoMobile on it. Later on, I ordered the N810 from the U.S. — because it was significantly cheaper due to a weak dollar — but it got lost in the transport to Europe. Boy was I pissed…

Anyway, I continued using my N800 until I bought the Dell Mini 9, which is the cornerstone of my current mobile office. This is not to say I’m not using the N800 any more, it’s just that I’m not using it as often as I used to.

As a matter of fact, I brought the Nokia tablet with me to Barcelona. And there’s the part where my plead for the capacitive touchscreen comes in. It was very hard, almost impossible to see anything on the N800’s screen under the Sun in Spain. At the same time I had my iPhone with me, which touchscreen hasn’t bothered me at all. Now you could argue the capacitive touchscreen is no good for some markets in Asia where handwriting recognition is a must have feature, to which I say – fine, make two versions of the device, one with capacitive and the other one with resistive touchscreen. I’m sure, actually quite confident, the capacitive version will outsell the resistive one even if it ends up costing $50 more. And having a choice could prove beneficial to the platform, or at least me thinks so.

To summarize – capacitive touchscreen is a must. Otherwise I don’t see a reason why would someone (mainstream user, not a Linux fan) would go for Maemo rather than Windows Mobile. The rumored specs we’ve seen go in line some of the existing WinMo smartphones such as some HTC and Acer models, which rely on the “classic” resistive touchscreen technology. This is not to say this is the only reason for selecting one platform over another, it’s just something pretty visible/tangible to the end user.

You could argue an AMOLED screen could do the trick, but i don’t buy it.

As for the rest of my wishes, I hope Nokia will use the same or at least very similar keyboard as the one the N810 has. I like the D-pad on the left, but I don’t like the new-look keyboard of the N97. To be fair, the N810’s keyboard could slide a bit more down to leave little more space for the first row of the keys.

Moreover I’m looking forward to see a decent CPU running the show, and from what we’ve heard, that will be the case. Will Intel jump in as a supplier? I think that may happen, though Nokia could opt for some other chip maker for the first Maemo 5 device — some of their existing semiconductor suppliers.

Finally, to further spur the adoption of the Maemo platform, Nokia should offer the new Maemo device(s) to developers either for free or with a significant discount. The same should go for journalists and bloggers. Speaking of latter, have I mentioned I’m a big fan of Maemo?

Related News from IntoMobile:

• ABI Research: Capacitive touchscreens not the wave of the future for most mobile phones
• Capacitance touchscreens for Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones?
• Nokia to add capacitive touchscreen to the 5800 XpressMusic?
• Verizon offering Glyde Refresh?
• Touchscreen Touchscreen Touchscreen!

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The software development kit for iPhone software 3.1 has been released, hinting at a few helpful updates, the two big ones being Bluetooth support for Voice Control and the option to Save As… after editing a video so you don’t automatically overwrite the original. Smaller changes, like a vibration when you move icons, OpenGL and Qwartz improvements, APIs giving access to video editing have also been discovered. We’ll likely hear about more little tidbits to be found in the next iPhone OS update as developers do their poking around. Speaking of which, if you are a developer, head over to the Dev Center to get started with the new SDK.

[via The iPhone Blog]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Apple goes live with iPhone Dev Center – web apps only for now
• Google releases APIs to work with iPhone
• Android 1.1 Software Development Kit Now Available
• Palm rolls out minor update for Verizon Palm Centro
• Qik now available for BlackBerry

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Zumobi keeps pumping new apps to the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) AppStore. Their latest work is the Msnbc.com iPhone application which, like Zumobi’s earlier apps, is available as a free download to the end users. As you can guess for yourself, the Msnbc.com for iPhone offers access to breaking news, videos, photos, and more from msnbc.com. The content also includes NBC News, MSNBC Cable shows, blogs and even Twitter streams from favorite NBC News and MSNBC Cable anchors.

The application comes with they call the “radial interface,” inspired by NBC logo, that allows for easy navigation by offering a “full view of the colorful menu so they can select what they want to explore.”

Finally, Zumobi seems all proud that the first advertiser is on board, right from the launch. It’s Best Buy which is featuring an “innovative mobile campaign” integrated directly in the app…

Related News from IntoMobile:

• The Rachel Maddow Show gets an iPhone app powered by Zumobi
• Zumobi, SportingNews.com team-up to release Sporting News Baseball iPhone app
• USA Today launches iPhone application
• Zumobi’s Pro Basketball free iPhone app offers real-time NBA news updates
• Zumobi announces its first iPhone app – Ziibii

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Wattpad keeps conquering new mobile platforms. After BlackBerry and iPhone, the popular “YouTube For Ebooks” is hitting the Android world, too.

A dedicated application is available in the Android Market, using which users can discover new ebooks, share their collection with the world, and download ebooks other people have shared.

According to Wattpad, each month over 10,000 stories are published by thousands of passionate writers, including many well-known writers such as John Gregory Betancourt, whose story Alien Still Life was first published online on Wattpad…

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Mobile ebook sharing community Wattpad goes iPhone
• No surprise here: novelists find a new medium in Japan
• Ojom releases Men In Black: Alien Assault
• Writers Guild of America on strike for better compensation from online and mobile media
• Handmark launches international news app for Android

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Some time ago we wrote about SHAPE Services’ trip-trackin’ app GPSed for the iPhone. Well, it has been updated recently, not just for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s handset, but for all other platforms supported — including BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), Java ME and Windows Mobile.

Among the features GPSed 1.4 packs are:

• Ability to attach a photo directly from the application.
• Improved user interface.
• Dialog for posting to social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Blogger.
• Improved code that makes the app run faster.
• iPhone version is optimized to sing along iPhone OS 3.0.
• Many other fixes and improvements.

And that’s it. To grab the latest version of GPSed, simply search for it in your smartphone platform’s  application store, or visit GPSed’s website…

Related News from IntoMobile:

• SHAPE Services’ trip tracking app/service GPSed hits the AppStore iPhone
• Pinger Phone integrates instant messaging with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, calls, SMS
• CellSpin announces instant mobile posting of audio, video and image files to MySpace and Facebook
• SHAPE Services’ IM+ for iPhone reaches version 3.0
• CellSpin adds Twitter and Pownce to the list of supported services; Micro-bloggers rejoice!

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The folks behind the popular mobile social networking service, GyPSii have been busy these days. As a matter of fact they had few news items to share with us:

• There’s now an English version of GyPSii JavaME mobile app, which works on feature phones;
• BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) and iPhone apps have been updated;
• GyPSii now lives in Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Ovi Store, too

You see the point here, right? The idea is to reach as many users as humanly possible, by making GyPSii mobile app available for all platforms. As I pointed earlier, if I were at Samsung, LG or some other major handset maker, I would strongly consider acquiring the GyPSii…

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Idea: GyPSii seems like a good acquisition target!
• GyPSii goes iPhone!
• GyPSii coming to China for the Olympics
• GyPSii hits Samsung’s Mobile Application Store
• GyPSii launches GyPSii CONNECT, web-based service for automatic updates of user’s status across other social networks

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As part of its efforts to fight terrorism and also as a result of lobbying by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and other handset makers, India is moving to block sales of cheap copy-cat Chinese mobile phones and accessories.

According to Indian Cellular Association (ICA) — the lobby group representing major handset makers in the country — some of the phones that come from China have fake batteries that can blow up on users. Moreover, some of these device ship without the so called “international mobile equipment identity” number, which allows handsets to be traced to prevent their use by terrorists.

According to analyst estimates, 40% of Chinese replica aka “whitebox handset” shipments are exported, with India becoming their biggest overseas market. The ICA estimates that about 1-1.5 million handsets imported to India each month are cheap replicas produced by small shops in southern China…

[Via: FT]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• China Mobile to subsidize TD-SCDMA enabled handsets
• Nokia warns against buying weakling Chinese clones
• Sony Ericsson to make TD-SCDMA handsets?
• CCID: China to make 605 million mobile phones this year
• Motorola, China Mobile announce $394 million worth deals

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SPB Software is out with another educational game called SPB Geo Game — it’s about time they remove the “SPB” part from their titles, don’t you think?

Anyway, the game is designed to educate players on world’s capitals and national flags. On that note, SPB’s press release says that today’s global diversity is represented by 235 countries (including small islands and independent territories), 235 flags, and 234 capitals. SPB Geo Game helps users memorize all this information and “widens one’s horizons in a fun way,” as a result.

The finger-friendly app also features 3G globe view, as well as educational animations. It is readily available for touchscreen smartphones running either Windows Mobile or Android, and you can grab it for $4.95.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• CrazySoft announces Smart Educational Games along with the Christmas discount
• Spb Puzzle released for touchscreen Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 smartphones
• Spb Traveler 2.0 released; Frequent flyers rejoice!
• Spb Weather for Windows Mobile hits 2.0
• Fingersuite – Optimize Windows Mobile 6.1 menu for finger navigation

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