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Hardware

Sony plans to release new toy: Airboard 66

Posted by timothy from the would-buy-one-for-my-sweetheart dept.
valmont: "The folks at cnet have this article about Sony's latest toy: The Airboard. It seems to merge all kinds of wild stuff in a pad hooked to a base station with TV Antenna and wireless modem: simultaneous TV and Internet/web browsing, remote-controlling of home appliances. Looks pretty nifty ..." And considering that Sony is hep to Transmeta, I wonder what chip and OS will power this thing.
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Sony Plans To A New Toy: Airboard More

Sony Plans To A New Toy: Airboard

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  • Re:What's the networking? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The article says a wireless modem. You can read that as a $30/month subscription to a crappy 9.6Kbs connection.

    Then, I think you have definately mis-read it.

    First of all, in Japan wireless modems are up to 128Kbs. They use a different network type much more suited to data.

    Second, I assume that the article was refering to a wireless modem which connects to the base station. A mis-nomer I know, but it would not be the first time. Panasonic already sells notebooks in Japan with wireless ISDN. That is, there is a wireless adapter built into the notebook connecting it to an ISDN terminal adapter. The ISDN TA then connects as standard. This product was described as having "wireless ISDN". Note, that the referncess of wireless is to the communication between the base station and the roming unit, not how the base station communicates to the outside world.

    Walter Mitty

  • sigh (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I sincerely hope whoever moderated this comment up as "funny" never has to experience a close relative (or worse, him/herself) having Parkinson's disease. Michael J. Fox as "that guy who shakes a lot" .. yeah, that's a real knee-slapper. I suppose Magic Johnson is "that guy with the busted immune system", huh? I know at least one Slashdot reader who is afflicted by this disease.

    For people who are really interested in Parkinson's disease and would rather help those that suffer from it than make childish jokes about their condition, here are some links:

    NIH's Parkinson's Disease Research Agenda [nih.gov]

    The Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center [jhu.edu]

    National Parkinson Foundation [parkinson.org]

    Computers for People With Parkinson's Disease Project [cooltime.com]
  • And remember not to do all these things while wearing your Nike running shoes.

  • Re:MEEPT!! (Score:1)

    by pb ( 1020 )
    MEEPT!!

    When did you find your password?

    Wow, I just went on a search for MEEPT!! posts, and I found a whole bunch of them, and now I get a *new* one! This is great!

    And, so help me, if anyone mods this down for being "Offtopic" or anything else, I'll hunt you down, hack slashdot myself, change your user page to goatse.cx, and post even more comments.

    MEEPT!! is back! The world must know! Let every slash poster rejoice, and make merry!
    ---
    pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate [ncsu.edu].
  • Why would you assume that the "funny" content of this comment is the reference to Michael J. Fox, and not the reference to the Airboard from Back to the Future II? (neither of which were in the least bit funny, IMO)

    On another note, I suppose you have never told or laughed at a sexist, racist, or otherwise offensive joke? Somehow I doubt it.

    If you must express your offense, don't knock the moderator for his sense of humour, knock the poster for his insensitivity.

  • anyone else extremely disheartened to find out sony's "airboard" isn't one of those things from back to the future 2?
  • Aside from still not understanding why things that have Crusoe in are automatically desirable (it's a processor, and it's low power, and?), you can bet that this thing will talk only to other Sony things. I have liked Sony gear in the past (particularly their various CRTs), but I'm really starting to dislike their 'gadget' strategy...
  • As if it wasn't bad enough having to deal with all the idiots who had cell phones glued to their ears on the road... Now this?!

    If I find the group of engineers responsible for this and pokemon broadcasts.. *grumble*

    --

  • Well.. who ever said marketing had any creativity? Hey.. I heard a term that sounds cool... let's run with it.

    Now you know HOW natalie portman wound up being petrified (and coincidentally, was naked at the time)... it was marketing.

    --

  • you're not the only one...i was hoping for that too. it would be more entertaining. how would you ollie on one of those things anyways?
  • Three words: sign me up!
  • Werd.. and the first person in the world who will sell you one is the guy who runs this site [hovertech.com].
  • no..you need the sony surfboard for tubbing.
    built to put darwinism in practice.
  • What happens when you stereotypical geek is eating chips and fries? Let's face it the screen get greasy and needs to be clean. Can it be cleaned easily?
  • Am I the only one who hoped for an instant that an "Airboard" was going to be one of the crazy floating skateboards from BTTF 2?

    *sigh*

    Josh
  • I seriously hope that this sort of innovation continues, because Sony's stock price has been in the crapper lately. I also wonder if this thing is possibly hackable, although then from the looks of it the thing might just be useful as it sells. Another question -- will it require a monthly fee or subscription?
  • Um, no it hasn't.... Sony is currently hovering around a hundred. Figure in the stock split that happened a few months ago, and you get that it is down forty points from the year high. It grew hugely to that point, but that point was early in 2000 before the split.
  • Your momma's got a glass eye with a fish in it!

    Oops, this comment must have been inserted by l33t haX0rs, please don't moderate me down for it! ;-)

    How can I tell? Well, because Dragonfly Blue would never troll, would he?

  • But this is not an Airboard! An airboard can be seen in Back to the Future part 2, in which Marty McFly played by that guy who shakes a lot, rides one.

    Actually, that's a "Hoverboard". I've always wanted one.
  • Sony Plans To A New Toy: Airboard

    What the hell does that mean? Is this from the original Sony dialect of Japlish?

  • heheh - cool. now you have prior art.

    don't worry, i've videotaped my monitor reading your post and mailed it to myself. you're safe.


    FluX
    After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network
  • Note: I didn't bother reading the story, or do I even care.

    But this is not an Airboard! An airboard can be seen in Back to the Future part 2, in which Marty McFly played by that guy who shakes a lot, rides one.

    An airboard is a skateboard, but it floats!

    God damn it sony, get it right next time.
  • I wonder what chip and OS will power this thing.

    Maybe cuecat?
    ---

  • I thought it was a board made of air. sorry.
    ---
  • Hmm, no, it's CueCat.
    ---
  • god I want one of those, and a lightsaber too.

    and a cheeseburger. but with no pickels. why do they put pickels on them? they're not very good. most people either pick them off, order it without them and everyone else is just indifferent about them. cut them out and pass the savings onto consumers, i say.

    DOWN WITH PICKELS
    ---

  • FYI, it's "grammar" not "grammer".

  • Anyone else remember the Mac TV [apple-history.com]? How much progress have we made in 7 years?

  • Well, at first glance this seems legit, but there were very few typographic or grammar errors in the story. It must have been inserted by our hacker buddies...


    My mom is not a Karma whore!
  • I read the title and I thought they had invented that floating skate board from the second back to the future movie

    god I want one of those, and a lightsaber too.
  • What I want to know is could I hook this thing's base station up to my network? That way I could set up so that I could remotely log in and start my VCR recording, or screw with the head of any guests who may be staying :) It could also make a pretty nifty "security" timer type deal, much better than those crappy power plug timers. Just set up a cron job to turn things on and off at varying times through the day and night. The list of possibilities go's on...

    -- David Smith
    C:\ is the root of all evil.
  • Meanwhile our l33t friends have installed a nice DoS package. Imagine what someone could do with the 10 OC48's running into the back of the servers. Or, even just scanning for active accounts and stealing them. There is nothing to suggest that there was anything 'bad' done, but who knows? I would shut that box(s) down as quick as I could. I wouldn't even bother to shut down. Pull the plug (NIC of course)

  • Soon any self-respecting portable computer/thingie will have wireless communication, and adding a TV tuner costs about, what, 30 bucks top for the manufacturer? As for being a remote controller, all you need is an infrared lamp - another 2 bucks, and software to send out the codes, gee that might take all afternoon to write. Touchscreen - those are nasty, how 'bout a flexible keyboard? So what is Sony selling? Please be sure they don't get any patents, 'cause this is not inventive, it's just what we're gonna use those S3 Linux Transmetta pads for anyhow. (Well, I hope they don't add the TV tuner, but then again, as on option, why not? It's cheap.)
  • Shutting down slash would not be a good idea from a PR point of view. It would make them appear scared. This is the equivalent of, "Move along. Nothing to see here." A good idea, I think.
  • which will severly pump-up the price of the initial releases!
  • There are a lot of specs on the Japanese Sony website... 800x600, browser, good mailing capabilities, memory stick, A/V in etc... looks pretty good for a webpad... very good for my in-laws in Japan (still using a typewriter and all)

    At least officially, they haven't released a price on it yet. It says it's "open", which tends to mean that retailers can set their own prices pretty widely. And that tends to mean the price nosedives after a few weeks.

    With any luck, it'll be dirt cheap from competition by mid-January...

  • The name just shouts 'Hoverboard' I thought that Sony had been secretly developing anti-grav devices. Shucks!
  • You will need the AirBoard Sports (TM) for that. Same functionality, but fitted in a large bright yellow casing.

    Comes with floating rubber ducky antenna.

  • Let me tell you; I had to work at a Radio Shack one summer, and it was confirmed to me that consumers need every POSSIBLE simplification of technology. It will probably be a GOOD thing when the average sheep- i mean joe- doesn't have to worry about anything more than, "Memory stick goes here. Plug goes in wall. My stuff works now!" and leave the technical details to the eggheads. The choice is to either simplify the technology to that level, or accept that you are limiting your potential market. .... just my 2 cents
  • DUDE! Pokemon is the insanity I need in my mornings! All the cartoons that were on in the 80s combined by people with an affinity for mushrooms...

    Of course, I could just rely on Bob & Tom (and CHIIIICK!) for my morning insanity, but it wouldn't be the same...

    Besides, how many shows with yellow rabbits that shoot lightning out of their asses have you seen? =)
    -----------
  • you're joking, aren't you?

    aren't you?!

  • I think Timmy is a Monkey! (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Me like banna good eat eat mush banna face yummy.

    Sony make plans to new toy banna food yummy.

    Enlgish me speak hep to transmetta banna...

  • <i>oh yea, and get some depends man-diapers and i'd be set.</i>

    Hell, no. Going to the "smallest room" for a crap would be a pleasure if you could take your internet connection with you!


    Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
    Thought exists only as an abstraction
  • The article says the device locks into the base station... Does that mean that you can only view TV when it is in the base station? When you take it out of the base station, it is a wireless Web pad without TV?
  • The article says a wireless modem. You can read that as a $30/month subscription to a crappy 9.6Kbs connection.

    It seems that all these companies can think of is a way to lock consumers into a ridiculous pay-me-for-a-year contract. I want a base station with all the connectivity options of a standard PC. I want 802.11 wireless networking in the pad and X windows or a functional replacement that would allow anyone to log in and get their personal desktop. NT doesn't cut it since it downloads and stores a bunch of crap on the client. I don't want to waste money on a HD, powerful processor, >4 Megs of memory. I just want to pay for the bare minimum of a remote "display", not a remote "PC".

    Another story put the projected price of this thing at $1100(US). I can get last years laptop much cheaper than that, and have much more functionality. The point of cutting out the functionality is to get a lower price, so the Airboard doesn't cut it in this case.

    Someone here is bound to have better insight than me. How much would it cost to design a display that has a 9 inch screen, 802.11 modem, minimal memory processor and ROM, and that boots off the network? The price for the first unit would have to include a wireless NIC for the base station PC. Could this design be open-sourced and built cheaply? Could a small office, around 2 to 10 people, benefit from a system with one central server and several portable, remote displays?

  • But this is not an Airboard! An airboard can be seen in Back to the Future part 2

    Actually, an Australian comapny is marketing a personal hovercraft called the AirBoard [airboard.net]. The inventor says he was originally inspired by BttF2. They are a bit pricey though, around $7,000 (I think that is Aussie dollars, but the web site its pretty vague.)

    They can go 25 kph, but aren't marketed as street legal, so you're supposed to use them in your yard, or at the beach. However, since they don't have wheels, I don't think they can be classified as vehicles, and unless a cop has authority to arrest for illegally operating an aircraft, I bet you could take it on most public streets where it is safe to drive that slowly.

    The website seems to marketing them as an alternative to go-karts for amusement rides.

  • And who says they're not? ;-)

    Just kidding, although sometimes Sony is innovative, mostly they are just corporate. And this comes from a frequent supporter of Sony products...

  • Sony's been making some cool (albeit very spendy) wireless products lately, including a base station that seems to attach to a 10 base T network hub for a 300 foot radius of wireless access, and wireless ethernet cards to go along with it. I'm sure their other products are striving for interoperability as well, with the exception of the Memory Stick which should DIE DIE DIE YOU PROPRIETARY BASTARDS.
  • Have you guys ever heard of a grammer check? Seriously, it took me like 30 seconds just to make sense out of the title to this post, then timothy's links were absolutely horrible in grammer. Drink more Mountain Dew, timmy.

  • What short memories you have. Look I realize I'm probably going to troll myself out of existence. But remember what that VP "Steve Heckler, senior vice president of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. According to him, Napster WILL lose, because "The [music] industry will take whatever steps it needs to protect itself and protect its revenue streams. It will not lose that revenue stream, no matter what." . . . "We will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall Napster at source -- we will block it at your cable company, we will block it at your phone company, we will block it at your [Internet-service provider]. We will firewall it at your PC."

    http://slashdot.org/articles/00/08/23/0212232_F.sh tml

    I'm NOT going to buy anything at Sony. All that technology that is mentioned (all vapor IMHO) will make sure that this guys fantasy will be a reality. Look, don't buy Columbia records. Don't watch Sony movies. Don't buy their computers and certainly don't buy their consumer electronics. Multinationals corporations that control content, distribution and the devices that play them are evil.

  • Really. Who could you trust more than Sony intertainment corp? I mean, who better to supply and monitor your internet usage than the people who threatened to "build personal firewalls around everyone's computers, if that was what it takes to stop intellectual theft"?

    After all, there's no more respected voice in freedom of ideas, freedom of speech, and all those other nifty ideals that large parts of the net are founded upon. Just ask Connectix, Offspring, or anyone connected with DeCSS!
    [/sarcasm]
  • Out of curiousity, does this support the standard wireless protocols? Would it work with an Airport base station?
  • The AirBoard seems interesting enough, but has two major faults:
    1) Memory Stick - the BetaMax of Flash Memory - doomed to failure, and destined to take all its 'supporters' devices to the scrap yard, and money with them.
    2) Sony's Home Network AV/IT Gateway yadda yadda yadda - have these people never heard of TCP/IP & Ethernet? USB/IEE1394/Bluetooth etc? Like I need a home full of proprietary Networked devices. I wouldn't even consider buying any Sony product that requires another SONY device to 'communicate'. What the hell are they thinking?

    Attention Sony: Stop trying to take over the world w/ your proprietary BS! First adopters (the /. Geek crowd) are a little smarter than that, have you never heard of GNU/Linux or OpenSource? Try and replicate the ideals displayed there, you'll thank us for it.

    Tell your neighbours/friends/relatives to:
  • I wonder what chip and OS will power this thing.

    Betcha it won't be an Itanic^H^H^nium. ;-)

    Won't be a P4, neither, unless we want all the gold medals in weightlifting in the 2004 games.


    --
    Chief Frog Inspector
  • Vaporware all the way. Why's that you ask? Well for starters there's no specs. Anywhere. Next: can you possibly imagine how much it costs to build such a thing?
    The article at The Register [theregister.co.uk] states that the device will cost around 120,000 yen ($1100) in Japan. Quite a bit of $$$...
  • If this is true, we are going to have not couch potatoes but couch pumpkins. As it is, a large population is already overweight with eating chocholate and sitting with their TV remotes. And now this, they'll never get out of their seats and grow huger by the day. Maybe they should start manufacturing seats with some agitator or exerciser so that their bodis can work while they are vitually bound to their seats.

  • What's the networking? (Score:3)

    by Monty Worm ( 7264 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @07:46PM (#745488) Journal
    Something I have to wonder - what's the networking like ?

    If they're going to make a device that dials up their provider, I don't even want to know. However, if they're going to build something that has a base station component, so I can attach it to my local LAN, and have wireless internet anywhere in my house without the cost of a laptop, cool.

    Applications like

    • Book replacments:
      • Recipe An electronic machine I can use to work on while cooking, by moving between work surfaces easily.
    • Access to support manuals when the computer in question is down

    I had a couple of other ideas, but they went away. Think: anything you could do with a slim, A4 size PDA screen?

  • also (Score:3)

    by fluxrad ( 125130 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @06:43PM (#745489)
    there's also a link at the register [theregister.co.uk] that's pretty interesting.

    it talks about how the airbord is supposed to bridge the digital divide for those who don't have computer access. ironic being that it costs more than one.


    FluX
    After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network

  • Don't hold your breath... (Score:3)

    by goat_attack ( 127983 ) <goatattack@nOSpaM.notsohotmail.com> on Thursday September 28, 2000 @07:12PM (#745490)
    Vaporware all the way. Why's that you ask? Well for starters there's no specs. Anywhere. Next: can you possibly imagine how much it costs to build such a thing? The touchscreen itself will cost you an arm and a leg. If it's lucky enough to get through the design stage; this thing will die on the market. There's no way Joe User will buy this thing: "5000 BUCKS FOR A FREAKIN' COMPUTER!? SCREW THIS I'M BUYING AN EMACHINE!" This thing is supposed to appeal to the people caught on the wrong end of the "Digital Divide", just like the Web TV. Guess how well the Web TV is selling. In fact the only demographic that would ever buy this thing are the geeks. Last time I checked there's not exactly a nerd on every block.
    A shame though... it would have made such a good toy.

  • F*** Sony (Score:3)

    by Kryffpi ( 203333 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @10:47PM (#745491)
    Who owns the Artists, the distributions channels and sells us the very devices we play the media on? Sony.

    Who is going to firewall Napster on our very PC's? Sony.

    Who is a member of both the MPAA and RIAA? Sony.

    Sorry if I care very little for Sony and anything related.

    --

    --

  • Does this mean... (Score:3)

    by Auckerman ( 223266 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @06:45PM (#745492)
    Kewl, now we will be able to hack Slashdot while watching TV in the tub.

  • Ahem... (Score:3)

    by Johnny Starrock ( 227040 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @07:01PM (#745493)
    Just a reminder:

    *PART* of Sony is hep to Transmeta. Another part is hep to the RIAA.

    This is a big company. This thing could come with Carnivore Lite. =)
    -----------

  • i bet (Score:3)

    by clinko ( 232501 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @06:43PM (#745494) Journal
    I bet i end up sitting in front of my computer holding this amazing remote device. I won't have to EVER get up. Only if they could have a mountain dew drip, i'd never have to leave my desk.

    oh yea, and get some depends man-diapers and i'd be set.

  • Memories of a goldfish. (Score:4)

    by deusx ( 8442 ) on Friday September 29, 2000 @04:10AM (#745495) Homepage
    Now, I know this is proper News for Nerds, and some Nerds don't care squat about the Napster thing, but anyone remember:

    Aug 23, 2000: Sony VP on Stopping Napster [slashdot.org]

    "The [music] industry will take whatever steps it needs to protect itself and protect its revenue streams. It will not lose that revenue stream, no matter what... Sony is going to take aggressive steps to stop this... We will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall Napster at source -- we will block it at your cable company, we will block it at your phone company, we will block it at your [Internet-service provider]. We will firewall it at your PC."

    Whether you give squat about Napster, you do need to remember that this is a corporation who apparently wants to sell you on products which will be the gatekeepers to your access to the internet. Not for your convenience, but to protect their REVENUE STREAMS. (Read: not artists, not property, not people, but HOW MUCH MONEY THEY CAN GET FROM YOU )

    Granted, that's what most companies are after, but many seem to do it more tactfully than this. I've canceled my future purchases of Sony hardware and products (although I admit the PS2 is tempting) because of this stance. Not advocating an organized boycott, but I figured I might be yet another one of those people who won't let this down.

    I mean they're counting on you to be a goldfish:

    "Not in MY PC, not in MY CABLE MODEM!

    Not in MY-- ooh... shiny, purple.. buttons... VaaaaIIIIIooo.."

  • The ultimate couch potato... (Score:5)

    by FreeJack1 ( 203705 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @06:53PM (#745496)
    Your day will consist of nothing more than:
    9:45am - wake up and roll over.
    9:50am - devour tube of scrambled eggs w/ french toast.
    10:00am - Reach over and switch on "Airboard".
    10:05am - Begin day of telecommuting, teleconferencing and all kinds of telecrap!
    6:45pm - you feel sleepy, use "Airboard" to switch on TV across the room.
    7:20pm - Nothing on TV, you switch everything off and roll your lard ass over and go back to sleep. You've had a busy day you little buckaroo! Get some rest, you deserve it.

    No thanks, I like actually doing physical work and exercising.


    --

    Vote Homer Simpson for President!

  • those rascally norwegians (Score:5)

    by happystink ( 204158 ) on Thursday September 28, 2000 @06:51PM (#745497)
    The hackers are obviously still posting stories, because this one is actually somewhat interesting, and has nothing to do with napster, cuecat, intellectual property or DeCss. Message to hackers: Do not give slashdot back, please.

    sig:

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