N800, the successor to Nokia’s 770 Maemo-powered Linux internet tablet was apparently unleashed yesterday by CompUSA. While Nokia’s site is still quiet on the new device, there are already unboxing pictures out there.

I’ve been using my 770 quite actively as a mobile internet terminal since I got it in February last year. While the software is occasionally buggy, it still beats lugging my MacBook around or trying to browse the web with my cellphone.

In addition to browsing I’m using the Jabber/Google Talk feature of the device quite often, and also sometimes watch movies on the go with it. There are other cool apps, too, and when my hard drive died and on the Death Monkey Rally, 770 was my only computer.

While the current uses make the device already quite useful, I’d love to use it as a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, automatically finding Wikipedia information about things near me. When Maemo-Blog improves a bit, the device may also become an useful tool for maintaining a travel journal, especially since the application is able to communicate my coordinates to the blog.

As WiFi is becoming more ubiquitous there definitely is demand for small and portable internet access devices. The new device has more power and is reputedly more stable, and so sounds like a worthy upgrade. In addition to buying a couple for the company, I’d love to get one for Piotras in order to get Midgard libraries ported there.