What's in the box
Hardware
The Nokia N800 comes with an extra stylus, a 128 MiniSD card with an extender, a set of earbuds, a charger, leather-like pouch, a mini USB data cable, and a brief "Quick Start Guide." Unlike the 770, which had a slide-on metal cover to protect the screen when not in use, the N800 only has the pouch. The N800, however, has a nifty "kickstand" in contrast to the clumsy two-piece stand that came included with the N770.
One carryover from the 770 is the display. It's not particularly large at 4.2", but it packs a serious punch with its 800x480 resolution. The high resolution screams "I am a serious piece of hardware!" giving the N800 a different feel from other devices of its size, and is typically the first thing people notice when they see it in operation. Photos look great and most importantly, web pages are legible and usable.
Aside from the beefed up CPU and RAM, the biggest addition to the N800 from a hardware standpoint is a small video camera. It pops out from the side of the unit and can pivot 180°. The resolution isn't terribly impressive, but the ability to video chat with other Nokia N800 ownersassuming you know anyis a nice feature.
Say cheesethe N800 includes a small video camera
Software
Nokia has included much the same software bundle with the N800 as it did with the 770. The N800 features Opera 8 with Flash 7 for browsing the Internet, a Jabber-based instant messaging client with support for VoIP and video chat, an improved e-mail client, an RSS feed reader, a media player, and an Internet radio player.
The N800 includes a robust file manager application, an application installer, PDF reader, sketching application, image viewer, notepad-type application, and a calculator. Since the N800 runs Linux, there are also several ports of open-source applications. Unfortunately, the number is limited at this point due to backwards-compatibility issues. Many of the applications that work fine under Internet Tablet OS 2005 or 2006 will not install or run on the N800, presumably due to changes made in the 2007 version of the Internet Tablet OS.
Did someone say Linux? top running in X-Term on the N800
Maemo.org maintains a catalog of applications for the Nokia 770 and N800. Unfortunately, a number of the apps that I was able to use on the 770 do not function on the N800, including GAIM and the IRSSI IRC Client. Hopefully the pace of development for third-party applications will pick up once the N800 is a bit more widely adopted. The number of third-party applications has grown significantly since the N800's launch, which is an encouraging sign.
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