A hacker called
Brandon Roberts has worked out a way to dual-boot the native Maemo-Linux
operating system on the Nokia N900 and also the Android operating system.
The move means that Nokia can run an Android phone if it
wants and might give it a bit of market power among developer/hacker-centric
crowd. They would like the phone to run Maemo for experimentation and Android
for everyday use. Many think that while the N900 is a tempting smartphone
the Maemo 5 OS is an “enthusiast’s platform” rather than a consumer-ready one.
Robert's hack is into the ARM-based N900 itself.
The hack is still a proof-of-concept showing that the
dual-booting idea can be done. The keyboard seems to work, and the display is
running at the N900’s WVGA resolution; a boot menu allows you to choose between
Maemo and Android. There are no instructions as to how exactly he did it,
but our guess that is because he will be packaging it to make a bob or two.