A new firmware update for the Nokia N900 Maemo Linux device has been released. Key features of the update include bug fixes, stability improvements and support for Nokia’s Ovi Suite. The Nokia Music Store will also be accessible from the device allowing for DRM-free downloads. The update is supposed to aid developers in dual booting their devices into MeeGo. It also aligns the Qt application and UI framework with the planned version for the MeeGo 1.1 platform based on Qt 4.7 and Qt Mobility 1.0.2 APIs for mobile development, allowing for app development using PR1.3 and the Qt4 framework.
The N900 can be updated from Nokia’s Ovi Suite, using a Windows PC. MeeGo 1.1 however cannot be installed without significant manual installation and configuration. Newer MeeGo images are forthcoming which will make it much easier to dual-boot MeeGo with Maemo, now that the firmware supports dual-booting properly.
It’s good to see Nokia not abandon N900 owners. After they announced “no official MeeGo”, the N900 seemed to be all but abandoned.
Now with dual booting N900 users at least won’t be abandoned until early next year :/