Major Nokia N900 Software Update Now Available

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s small update, the N900 is seeing a major firmware update this morning- PR1.0.1 (1.2009.44-1).  The update includes support for the Swiss keymat variant with hardware and virtual keyboard layouts supporting the combination of German, Italian and English characters.  Full compatibility of certain SIM cards from network operator 3 has been included.  Mail for Exchange has also been updated, bringing full support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, possibly allowing Exchange integration into a much broader group of users.  Ovi Maps now has improved search performance and route calculation, along with a range of smaller usability improvements thanks to excellent user feedback.

In the smaller update released this week there were two key changes- Ovi Store Beta compatibility which we mentioned and the second was preparing the device’s application manager for over the air software updates.  If you already installed the smaller update you should receive an OTA notification within the next 24 hours alerting you that a new software update is available.  If you prefer not to update over the air you can install the update using the Nokia Software Updater on your PC.  For those of you running Windows Mobile 7, the Nokia Software Updater software is now fully compatible so I recommend downloading the updated version. Now on to the full changelog:New features

* Hutchison SIM cards are supported.
* MS Exchange 2003 support.

Maemo Update

* Bootloader (Nolo) can be updated over Maemo Update.
* Cellular software can be updated over Maemo Update.
* Icon cache removed to allow more memory space for Maemo Update.
* Application Manager: Available space check moved to apt-worker for more accurate results.

Reliability

* Improvements in SGX performance and reliability.

Use-time and power consumption

* API for status area applets to detect if they are invisible/absent.
* Fixes to Pulseaudio timer increasing power saving when starting/closing apps.
* Browser: Removed unnecessary serial logging.
* Reduction of wake-ups in Desktop, Connectivity, Conversations, RSS Feed Reader,
* Backup handles correctly directories containing pairs of symlinks.
* Less CPU load caused during video recording.
* Support disabling Virtual Keyboard in input field.
* Performance improvements in Browser.
* Lock: “swipe to unlock” will not stay on.
* CPU idle latencies and thresholds updated.
* Fixing eMMC data lines while sleeping.
* CellMO power consumption reduced.

Usability

* Volume button operation in call flipped based on audio routing (no more on screen orientation).
* Browser: Downloading & rendering of page content runs promptly.
* Helping to avoid capacity limits of rootfs when installing apps (make Docpurge aware of /opt).
* Stability and usability fixes to the Profiles applet. Selection, usage and restoring of ringtones.
* Fast call from home shortcuts.
* Fast SMS rejection of incoming call.
* Avoid false alarms in pocket.
* Silence ringing by flipping face down.
* Fix to Camera photo orientation problem: correct orientation is now written to EXIF.

Performance

* X: performance of GLES apps improved.
* Lower RAM consumption while capturing video.
* Phone-UI & Msg-UI always ready to appear.
* Application Manager UI speed improvements.
* Email faster with large mailboxes.
* Large file copy (SD->MMC) doesn’t degrade system performance.

OVI Maps

* Route calculation and search performance improved.

Connectivity

* BT Secure Simple Pairing fixed for Windows Vista.
* BT transfer progress indicated.
* Improving WLAN connection stability.
* Improved WLAN negotiation when going out of reach of access point.

Phonecalls

* Add voicemail shortcut support.
* Showing call forwarding correctly when busy forwarding is not set.
* Call log improved.

Audio & Video

* Audio volume control works with +/- keys in full-screen playback of flash.
* Handling corrupted ring tone files better.
* HW volume keys always have same orientation.
* Media Player UI now provides feedback when tapping control buttons in video playback.
* MIC input not clipped when loud voice in VoIP call.
* Pulseaudio: Ringtone is heard from the loudspeaker if BT connected.
* Ringtone played both to headset (BT or wired) and to internal HF speakers.
* AV sync fix for recorded videos.

Camera

* ISO EXIF value for images saved when automatic sensitivity in use.
* Vignetting test of 2nd camera fixed, VGA sensor stability.

Battery and Charging

* Improved charging in case of low charging power (PC USB charging).

USB

* Fixing the USB detection and card mounting issue related to quickly attaching/detaching the cable.
* Able to format corrupted eMMC properly.
* Hang fixed in case of WLAN disconnection while copying files.

Synchronization

* Activesync supports now MS Exchange 2003.
* Activesync – fixes the forwarding of attachments showing incorrect sizes (Exchange server 2003).
* Content copier of PC Suite enabled. Whole content backup (including Notes) can now be restored from PCSuite.

3rd party applications

* Policy-settings: Fixes rotation transition in for 3rd party applications.
* Policy-settings: By default, 3rd party apps should have the same limits as our applications.

Calendar

* Public API for color picker. Home widget is now translucent.
* Set/get alarms API.
* Syncing of task alarms supported.

Image Viewer

* Thumbnailing faster.

Application Manager

* Rename Maemo Extras to maemo.org and enable by default.
* Grid view applied for the categories in download view. Added API for filtering packages.

Development Platform

* SDK content and tools updated.
* SDK GUI installer updated.
* New sharing-dialog-dev package added to enable Bluetooth and email sending.
* New wappushd-dev package documenting MMS interfaces available.

Upstream Security Issues

* Fix for CVE-2009-2417 in curl.