The Nokia N900 is even more handy at juggling all your apps, widgets and chat than even the most clever Nokias, thanks to the new Maemo 5 software and powerful hardware under the bonnet. Want to know how to get the most of it? Read on and we’ll show you how to extract all that efficiency from the super-powerful Nokia N900….

Get to grips with the basics
The Nokia N900 has a simple, visual multitasking menu. See that button in the top left of the screen? That’s it. Give it a prod and you’ll see any apps and internet pages you have open displayed in a grid. Tap the icon to open, or the X button to close it from the grid, or tap the left button once more to go to the app menu. Alternatively, tap outside the icons to drop back to the widget homescreen.

Install those apps
You can’t make proper use of the Nokia N900’s multitasking prowess without a bunch of apps loaded up at the same time. Head on over to the Maemo Select app store (you’ll find a widget for it ready and waiting on your Nokia N900’s homescreen) and you can check out what’s ready to go. There are everything from retro game emulators to scientific calculators and live streaming video apps.

Get instant messaging running in the background
Remember that the  Nokia N900 is also a phone, so you can pick up SMS messages. But the Nokia N900 is a mobile computer too, so if you want to save your friends some money, you can leave yourself online on a bundle of different IM services, including Nokia’s own Ovi, Google Talk, Skype and Jabber.

It’s integrated so you can set your status straight from the homescreen (it’s the green light by the battery life icon), and of course, they all run in the background all the time if you want them to. Set them up by heading over to the Conversations section in the Nokia N900’s menu.

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Read our full Nokia N900 review

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Play your music whenever
Needless to say, the Nokia N900 will happily leave your tunes running in the background while you fire up any apps, so if you’re on the commute home, be sure to stick on the music player before jumping over to answer all your email. You can switch it off just by closing the window in multitasking mode, and you’ll find a widget for the music player on your Nokia N900’s homescreen.

Multiple emails
Got separate work and home email addresses? Not a problem. The Nokia N900 supports multiple email accounts, so you can get your messages flowing in from everywhere. In the Email app, just hit the drop down menu at the top of the screen and choose “New account” at any time.

Prep video in advance
The Nokia N900’s rock-solid browser can stream Flash video in near real time, but should you be on a slow connection, you can let it load up first. Just hit play, pause, and then jump out to another app, fling off some emails or play a few moves in Chess, or just open another web page tab for more surfing. Then when you’re done, head on back and you’ll be ready to play.