Nokia has been trying to do just that ever since they launched their Communicator series, but with Nokia N900 they're taking a slightly different approach, choosing Maemo 5 - a customized Debian distribution - to be the operating system.
There's no doubt that Nokia N900 can do a lot; it sports the powerful ARM Cortex A8 processor, 256 MB of dedicated RAM, 32 GB of storage (which can be further expanded via microSD memory cards), a 3.5 inch resistive touchscreen with a 800 × 480 pixel resolution and a 5 megapixel camera. But will it all be wrapped in an easy-to-use package, or will the end product only be interested to the hardcore tech crowd?
Well, we're about to find out, as Nokia N900 begins shipping. The first batch of devices goes to preorder buyers, but we should see it on store shelves in Europe, the Middle-East, Russia and North America soon, for the price of about 500 Euros SIM-free (about 750 dollars).