The Nokia N900 is an "Internet Tablet" and a GSM smartphone. However, you'll have a really difficult time finding medical apps for this device since it does not run your "typical" smartphone operating system. You just won't find much medical software that will run on Linux Maemo. However, if you're content researching and accessing all your health content via a mobile web browser, then the N900 may end up working out for you.
I wouldn't recommend the N900 to medical students or residents because you'll be much more productive if you can load medical apps directly on your device to boost your productivity. If you're looking purely for a recreational device, then the N900 is a great little gadget "toy" for your bag or purse.
The n900 is the next generation in the evolution of opensource maemo devices following the internet tablet devices. Maemo devices have been misunderstood for years. Many physicians could not figure out why you would carry a device such as the n800 or n810 that did not have 'phone' capabilities. It's better to think of these devices of very small yet capable netbooks (especially with the video out options on the n900) that happen to include 3G in its myriad of connectivity options.
ReplyDeleteAs to if they would be little more than a 'toy' for a med student or resident, I wholeheartedly disagree. The tablets (as well as future devices) will rely more on 'cloud computing' than on specific downloadable app. I used an n800 for rounding in several hospital environments. With a browser capable of handling full flash and modern javascript laden web pages, I could easily access web informational web sites such as uptodate, utilize clinical calculators, complete documents using the google suite, etc. It has the added advantage of avoiding paying for applications that carry information redundant to that which is available through my institution.
Of course if you want to run apps there is a free palmOS emulator that runs well on the tablets or you can choose to run a full debian distribution and desktop on your device.