Nokia N950
| Industry | Telecommunications |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 12, 1865 |
| Headquarters | Espoo , Finland |
| Products | Smartphones, telecommunications equipment |
The Nokia N950 is a smartphone designed exclusively for developers working with the Linux-based MeeGo operating system and those developing for the Nokia N9. Around 5,000 units were manufactured and distributed solely to developers in July 2011, with no availability for general consumers.
This final developer edition is characterized by a black exterior, 1 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of eMMC storage. Earlier prototype models, identified as N9-00 (not to be confused with the N9-01), featured silver chassis, 512 MB RAM, and eMMC storage capacities up to 64 GB. Although these devices bore "NOT FOR SALE" labels, some were traded on secondary markets at prices exceeding €2,000.
Beyond MeeGo development, the device garnered attention from software communities creating unofficial Android ports via NITDroid, as well as adaptations for NemoMobile and Firefox OS.
Hardware specifications
The Nokia N950 shares the majority of its hardware components with the Nokia N9 but exhibits several notable distinctions:
- The N950’s chassis is crafted from aluminum and is larger compared to the polycarbonate unibody of the Nokia N9.
- It incorporates a physical slide-out QWERTY keyboard, whereas the N9 relies solely on a touchscreen interface.
- Partial support for landscape orientation exists on the N950; initially, the N9 supported only portrait mode before enhancements via software updates.
- The display technology differs: the N950 uses a TFT LCD panel while the N9 features an AMOLED screen. Both maintain an 854×480 pixel resolution with identical aspect ratios.
- Although camera modules differ in physical design, both provide similar 8 megapixel imaging quality; the N9’s camera carries Carl Zeiss branding.
- Placement of the front-facing camera varies—positioned at the top right on the N950 and bottom right on the N9—while utilizing the same camera module.
- The N950 does not include Near Field Communication (NFC), which is available on the N9.
- The magnetometer and ambient light sensors in the N9 are marginally more sensitive than those in the N950.
- Battery capacity differs slightly: the N950 contains a 1320 mAh battery compared to 1450 mAh in the N9.
- Unlike the consumer-oriented Nokia N9, the developer-focused N950 lacks support for over-the-air (OTA) updates of MeeGo Harmattan software.
Development tools
Application creators targeting the Nokia N950 have access to Nokia’s development environments, such as the Qt SDK and Harmattan Python, enabling efficient app development on MeeGo Harmattan.