Second Prototype of the $200 Open Source Tablet 259
holy_calamity writes "TechCrunch blogger Mike Arrington decided last year to invent a new class of low-cost internet tablet using open source hardware and software. The second prototype has been unveiled, sporting a 12-inch touchscreen powered by a Via Nano processor, 1 GB of ram and a 4 GB flash drive. It runs a browser and nothing else on top of a custom Linux build. 'Resolution is 1024×768, which means the vast majority of websites are viewed in full width without scrolling. The device also has wifi, an accelerometer (so when you turn the screen on its side you can view more of a web page), a camera and a four cell battery.'"
Hope the market is ready... (Score:5, Interesting)
Today it should be a lot easier, given that they can rely on much cheaper off the shelf components and don't have to squeeze everything into minimal amounts of RAM and flash (for the first version we were working with Opera to get it running with a custom GUI in 16MB or 32MB of RAM total, and about the same amount of flash)...
Hope they make it - I want one.
ur doing it wrong (Score:5, Interesting)
Why go with X86 if you want low BOM cost ? Any ARM/MIPS/PowerPC SoC with decent Mhz will do it better for lower bill of materials. Try TI OMAP35xx line for instance, one with Cortex ARM and PowerVR graphics all in one chip. Works out way cheaper than anything x86-based. Getting a Beagleboard [beagleboard.org] is a good way to start.
And now with Canonical throwing official support for ARM-based Ubuntu, you have got your opsys covered as well.
Re:I'm not (Score:3, Interesting)
From TFA:
The software: currently weâ(TM)re running a full install of Ubuntu Linux on the prototype with a custom Webkit browser.
Maybe they'll cut it down later, but I don't see why they should. They probably don't boot Gnome or any services, but it should be able to run random executables.
I wonder if they have tried to incorporate the setup from the 5 second boot project.
Re:hm, not sure (Score:3, Interesting)
I imagine that their marketing budget will have to dwarf their development budget, since they'll have to create a new market segment.
First problem: how do you sum it up in a short, punchy marketdroid phrase, without making it sound like it's either a overly weedy laptop, or an overly expensive toy?
Second problem: having boasted about how it's a "$200" device, how do you then get early adopters (us!) to pay more than that for it? Or if it has to retail for $200 from day 1, how do you persuade retailers to commit to carry it without a fat margin to balance their risk?
Top marks for their technical prowess, but I fear that they're about to pull an OLPC and EPIC FAIL the delivery-to-market part.
Give it pen input and I'm sold. (Score:3, Interesting)
I would love a device like this with pen input, so I can use it to take notes in class.
Notebook computers are great for textual classes, because I can type like a demon.
But much of my engineering curriculum is math, and keyboards don't lend themselves well to that.
I would ABSOLUTELY JUMP for a $300 tablet computer that let me write on it like digital notebook paper.
I paid about this much for my first engineering calculator (HP32S).
Re:Why x86? (Score:2, Interesting)
Flash.
Dead on. Flash is a huge part of the web nowadays. Nearly all of the big video sites deliver their content using Flash. There's also Flash-based games, and when the devs have no idea what they're doing, even navigation.
Flash is the only piece of proprietary hardware on my Aspire One netbook. Without it, that thing wouldn't need x86 either. Hopefully gnash [gnu.org] will soon become good enough to replace Flash entirely. In the meantime, better Flash than Silverlight.
Re:for 300 bucks (Score:3, Interesting)
I have an Eee, and use it for reading rather frequently. Have you ever tried turning it on its side? (Either with screen rotation, e.g. xrandr, or a program like FBReader which includes a rotated mode?) The Eee 900, at least, is even balanced such that you can lay it with the back of the screen flat against a horizontal surface (when it's not plugged in). Also, unlike most paperbacks, it actually stays open on its own at whatever angle you choose.
A matte-reflective screen (e.g. e-Ink) would be an improvement, but otherwise I generally find FBReader on the Eee to be just as readable as any printed book.
iGala Already Exists -- $239 (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, I know that by posting this I officially brand myself as a corporate shill, but here's a device that runs Linux, has a touch screen, has an open API, and already exists and can be yours for $239:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/digital-photo-frames/b425/ [thinkgeek.com]
And you can use it as a picture frame out of the box. =)