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Handhelds Software Hardware Linux

YOPY Arrives 266

Posted by CowboyNeal from the results-of-death-greatly-exaggerated dept.
Victor Tramp writes "Apparently the fabled Linux based YOPY handheld has been put on the market after all! Not only do they look like cool PDA versions of a Gameboy Advance SP (they fold), they look like they give the Zaurus a real run for the money, featurewise. Though the fastest processor is 206MHz, they include CompactFlash and MMC slots on the 3700 model. Apparently you can download their Linupy distro, too. And finally, they don't seem to be vaporware!"
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YOPY Arrives More

YOPY Arrives

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  • ... and back then, the people at the Sony booth didn't allow me to touch it, because with my 16 years, i didn't look like a valuable customer to them :)
    I also remember downloading some developer libraries and eagerly waiting for the YOPY to come out. But with the time, my interest faded.

    I'm really surprised it finally got released after all.

  • Uhm.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by RefriedBean ( 615424 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:55PM (#6073003)
    They have been on the market for a *long* time.(Ok, well, in South Korea at least) They have gone through at least 3 or 4 versions by now already. Hardly 'fabled'..

  • Nice but... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by j0nkatz ( 315168 ) <anonNO@SPAMmemphisgeek.com> on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:55PM (#6073005) Homepage
    Even though it would be nice to have Linux in a small for factor like this, i'm not sure Linux would be the best solution for a platform like this. And one thing the device is lacking... A BACKLIGHT!

    I really am enjoying my Palm Tungsten C!!!

    • Solution... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Cyno01 ( 573917 )
      They said its like a gameboy, just get an afterburner kit. :p

    • Re:Nice but... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jericho4.0 ( 565125 )
      i'm not sure Linux would be the best solution for a platform like this

      For traditional PDA type apps, linux is about in the same place that it is on the desktop, that is, powerful but flawed. But who's buying one of these to orginize their day, anyway? I have a IPaq H3900 running linux + apache + grass(GIS modeling) + a whole bunch of network tools. It fits in a backpack or pocket and weighs nothing. I couldn't imagine another platform that could replace it.

    • Re:Nice but... (Score:2, Informative)

      by Vengeful weenie ( 627760 )
      I purchased a Zaurus a couple of years ago, as a dev. kit. I was rather disappointed in the design. The screen was nice and the pointer device worked well, but
      1. The keyboard was lacking a number of important keys. No pipe character among others!
      2. The memory model was crappy, and the solution to running out of memory? Randomly kill apps.

      Hardware support was of course a bit spotty as well. It seems like a generally complex unit for the "basics." I'm not sure about the latest Linux PDA foray, but I'm ra

      • Re:Nice but... (Score:2, Informative)

        by pantherace ( 165052 )
        1) keyboard does have a | (fn or shift + space)
        2) the memory model has much improved. I will say I use Openzaurus(.org) for the ROM, but the new sharp rom does a lot of the same things. (of course if linux does run out of RAM+swap, it kills it just as dead)

        Hardware support was spotty, however unless you are getting something wierd, the hardware is generally supported in OpenZaurus (or you can likely find it for the sharp rom)

        5000D or 5500? I didn't get a 5000D, but the original software on it was, well...

    • Re:Nice but... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by lessthan0 ( 176618 )
      Another thing it is lacking is a Linux based PIM appliction. Something that the Sharp Zaurus offers (by way of the Qtopia application).

      I run Linux on my desktop and my Linux PDA better damn well sync with it. The Yopy desktop PIM is Windows only. F it.

  • Sticker shock (Score:4, Informative)

    by Tyler Eaves ( 344284 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:56PM (#6073011)
    Yikes, the CHEAPEST model is $449, without any accesories. I think I'll give it a miss this once...

  • Nice, but ---BeOS Icons (Score:3, Funny)

    by chewmanfoo ( 569535 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:56PM (#6073018) Homepage
    Come on guys. The carcass isn't even cold yet (well, ok, it is cold, but)...

  • Has anyone used one? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ObviousGuy ( 578567 ) <ObviousGuy@hotmail.com> on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:57PM (#6073020) Homepage Journal
    The Yopy brings a whole new meaning to 'chiclet keyboard'. Has anyone who's used one comment?

  • Bit pricy still - but competitive for it's market (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mao che minh ( 611166 ) * on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:58PM (#6073032) Journal
    Wow, it's new design is a radical departure from the original "beta" models, which looked a hell of a lot like a thicker Zaurus. I like it a lot (the design and the layout).

    However, a $449 price tag is rather hard to justify here. I known that it's comparing Apples to Oranges, but, a person can still pick up a used, last generation laptop with vast amounts more computing power for the same price on an auction, or slightly more at a computer show. And yes, I do realize that making these things are not exactly cheap, but $400+ dollars for those specs - from an unproven manufacturer?

    I'll stick with my $195 backlit Clie [sonystyle.com] that I got from Circuit City - after my $35 mail in rebate and the $10 mark down from the holiday sale (which can do everything that this can) for now. I'll pick a Yopy up off Ebay in a few months though.

  • Koreanglish (Score:2, Funny)

    by florin ( 2243 )
    Very helpful that all their URLs point out that the site is in fact supposed to be in english, considering choice tidbits such as these:

    Making background freely - You can do it using the Wallpaper program or the Painter easily for yourself.
    Screen Protection from scratch or break.
    In France and Austria and UK, you can not get the order. Please contact to the site.

    Come on guys you really oughta start by cleaning up the way you present your product if your ambitions include ever being more than just a n
  • Perhaps they are running their website on a Yopy...

  • Again... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by }InFuZeD{ ( 52430 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @09:59PM (#6073045) Homepage
    The reason these PDAs will never make it mainstream is due to the HUGE program base that is out for Palms and PocketPC...

    You can make an amazing PDA based on Linux, but if it doesn't run the apps that are all ready out there, are the few advantages great enough to outweigh the lack of support?

    • Program base doesn't equal success (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mao che minh ( 611166 ) * on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:11PM (#6073108) Journal
      Look at the Handsprings. They ran Palm OS, but for some reason, I have never, ever seen one in use in the public (the local CompUSA's and Best Buys stopped selling a long, long time ago) - despite the fact that they actually had better specs then a Palm and larger screens, for only $10-15 more.

      PDAs are main stream; everyone from the CEO to grandma has one. Which means that the average PDA consumer is like every other average consumer of anything else, and name recognition and marketing pizazz still rules the market (in regards to sells).

      • Look at the Handsprings. They ran Palm OS, but for some reason, I have never, ever seen one in use in the public (the local CompUSA's and Best Buys stopped selling a long, long time ago

        If you go around that circular counter at most Best Buy's, you'll see the celluar phone section. There you'll most certainly see a Handspring Treo or two. If you go to their website [handspring.com] it's pretty clear they're not competing in the plain 'ole handheld market anymore. Not surprising, if you ask me.

      • I disagree on *better screens*. At my local linux group I remember looking at another blokes *handspring* [handspring.com] and the screen just looked crappy compared to my old PIII [palminfocenter.com]. Placing them side by side I could not adjust to the Handspring screen refresh. The text looked real blurry.
        • The Palm III and the Palm IIIe were the last in Palm's lineup to use the older generation of LCD screens.

          The newer generation of LCD screens, used on all non-color Handspring PDAs and all more recent Palm PDAs, has higher contrast and better response times. The image produced is sharper.

          Of course, this BLOKE you speak of could have been just like the dozens of idiots who destroyed their screen's protective coating through heavy use. Any screen with a damaged coating is gonna look damn blurry.

    • Different markets. (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 29, 2003 @11:23PM (#6073478)
      I think any kind of Linux based PDA (or PMT in Zaurus-speak) is not going to appeal to the average PDA consumer/user. These are really a lot more than PDAs. Actually, if you look just at the PIM apps, they suck. What these are really good at are connecting to/monitoring/administering networks and machines. For Unix boxes you've got standard ssh/scp/telnet/ftp/nfs/smb/etc. There's also a wonderful app called WinconnectZ for the Zaurus that's basically rdesktop on your Zaurus. My boss flipped when I showed him (in a meeting) a server desktop on my Zaurus. Around the room it went to all the managers. They were sold on that alone. Now all our administrators have one. And I got reimbursed for everything I spent. :-)
      Anyway... I wsent off on a tangent, but the long and short of it is I doubt these will appeal to the average user. Admins, definitely!
      If you really wanted to push these to ordinary users, I think I'd concentrate on marketing the mp3 music/mpeg movie players on them. And the fact that they have CF card slots (think IBM 1 gig microdrive - they hold a lot of data).
      The fact that you could check your email in Starbucks doesn't hurt either.

      • Re:Different markets. (Score:3, Interesting)

        by RevAaron ( 125240 )
        The whole PMT vs PDA thing is bullshit. It's something Zaurus users use to help rationalize the fact that they've spent a boatload of money on a PDA that has a very poor screen and even worse battery life and very little software selection.

        You, and countless others on Slashdot, have talked about all the fun little LUG and show-the-boss demos you can do on the Zaurus. Guess what? Pretty much all of them work on WinCE and also PocketPC (which is a superset of WinCE).

        Yes, on Windows CE you can do SSH. Teln
        • Oh, and I forgot to mention- I love my little Jornada 720. Screw a 1 GB microdrive- they're overpriced and don't hold much compared to the options I have with the J720. Thanks to its PCMCIA slot, I have a 2 GB PCMCIA harddrive which only cost $80. The same kind of drive as is found in the iPod. If I was willing to shell out that kind of dough, I could easily get 30 GB of storage for my PDA. :)
    • So tired of this ignorance... You're comparing freakin' toy pdas to a real computer. There are over 1000 app's now specifically for the Zaurus ( see Zaurus Software Index [killefiz.de] ), but I can run just about any app on the Debian Arm distribution, and any other linux app with source code is a simple re-compile away, or a not so difficult port to qtopia pe.

      Maybe if you'd been around long enough you'd realize how silly it is to say "never" in the computer industry, like someone saying the pc will never make it b

      • Likewise, I'm tired of your brand of ignorance. The Zaurus has little in the way of software. No matter how many half-assed apps are listed on ZSI, there is little in the way of good apps. There are definately some gems (Konq and Opera come to mind), but for the most part, the state of software on the Z is pretty sad.

        Yes, you can run just about any app from Debian ARM, but what does that get you in the way of useful PDA apps? Nothing. Your argument wouldn't be so bad if the Z had a bigger screen and ra

  • Not a brick, suprisingly... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by waytoomuchcoffee ( 263275 ) * on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:00PM (#6073048)
    First pic I saw I thought, uh uh another Clie-styled brick. However, the specs put it at only 7oz, much less than the high end clies. Still not as much as my Ipaq 1910 at a little over 4, but just a hair more than my old Palm III, but with a better form factor .

    I have to drool over the 2300mAh battery. Ack.

    While a Strongarm processor might not have the sex appeal of an Xscale, most of the Xscales are just empty promises for other handhelds. PPC 2002 doesn't support the Xscale's ARMv5 instruction set, and from the look of the upcoming Ipaq (which don't support v5 either but supposedly will have PPC 2003 installed), PPC 2003 won't either.

  • But apparently their web server... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...DOES seem to be vaporware!

  • How about Apple's new 4 inch iBook (Score:5, Funny)

    by questamor ( 653018 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:11PM (#6073110)
    Speaking of the gameboy advance SP, can you imagine an iBook like this thing [spymac.com] running linux?

    A server in your pocket, or maybe two

  • Someday maybe... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BrynM ( 217883 ) * on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:17PM (#6073135) Homepage Journal
    When will someone build a handheld with basic USB support? I just want to plug a drive in, or maybe basic printer support. I realize that drivers would be a nightmare, but if someone came up with a unified driver standard or something some USB device manufacturers might eventually support it. The price of a 512MB flash card is just too much and I've got a bunch of old hard drives laying around (some even with USB enclosures already).

    Even if it's not USB, some kind of mass storage would be quite a boon. Perhaps Apple will just steer the iPod in that direction eventually.

    • Re:Someday maybe... (Score:2, Informative)

      by wan23 ( 636995 )
      Here's what a google search turned up... maybe a little on the expensive side but, well if you really want it... http://www.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpa ges/cfu1u.html
      • Good eye wan23! The Ratoc host adapter [ratocsystems.com] sounds like the ticket! It supports HDDs, Zip Drives, Keyboards, memory sticks/cards, RF-ID tag readers, and barcode scanners. Still no printing, but it's a start.

        I don't have any of the supported PDAs, but my ultra-cool, ultra-sexy, uber-geek girlfriend has an iPAQ (not that I'm kissing up so she'll get one, but I do think she is those things... really... its true! bah!). It's $139 though... That hurts and will push it back on my toy buying schedule. Maybe my gir

    • The bulk of a PostScript driver for "business class - I.E. complex" printers usually resides in the PPD (printer description file). It's tough getting the size and complexity of a PPD down, even harder trying to get the manufacturer to make it smaller themselves (or in some cases, like with Canon, even trying to get technical specs from them - though the Code Host deal [codehost.com] looks promising). The PCL instruction set can be daunting as well, especially PCL 5e.

      However, since this can run Linux, you can use a gene

      • Some PDA makers do provide printer support.

        WindowsCE includes the ability to print from the device. Note, however, that this is taken out in PocketPC (along with some other features in vanilla WinCE 3). However, my Jornada 720 and other Handheld PC 2000 and vanilla WinCE devices can print via the network or IR.

        My Newton 2100 also has printer drivers for a handful of printers. As did older Newtons. Another thing the Newton did well, but almost everyone else seems to have dropped the ball on...
    • The USB standard includes specifications for various device classes [usb.org]. You can support all devices that properly follow their device class standards with a single driver. For printers you still have to have a printer-specific driver (or at least a driver specific to the document language your printer uses).
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Someday maybe... (Score:5, Informative)

      by jericho4.0 ( 565125 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @11:43PM (#6073597)
      I'm talking out of my ass here, but I'm guessing the reason we don't see many PDA like devices with USB ports is because of the power requirments in the spec.
      • That's a good point. Upon further inspection of the manual [ratocsystems.com] for the Ratoc device below [slashdot.org], I found this little item:
        • Runs with 3.3V/5V power supply.
        It's strange, because they don't mention an adapter being included in the packaging...
    • It has a CF slot, so this device [yahoo.com] might help.
    • Someone did write a standard - USB mass storage devices are now very common. Those little USB pendrives are USB mass storage, so are devices such as USB HDD MP3 players, USB flash readers, and most USB hard drives.

      The Toshiba Pocket PCs have a USB host function. It supports keyboards with no drivers; someone has written drivers for mice, gamepads, and even... USB mass storage devices.

      So, the specification already exists (thank god) and Toshiba already has USB host (thank god). Looks like Apple won't have
    • ... you forgot to dream about USB memory sticks. If those could work together with a PDA, that would be cool!

  • Killer App (Score:5, Insightful)

    by appleLaserWriter ( 91994 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:20PM (#6073156)
    MAME

    • Re:Killer App (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      for $99 you can get a GBA SP, for another $120 you can get a flash cart and a cable. you can download various roms and emulators. how is a $500 version of a $230 device a "killer app"?

  • processor too slow??? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by CastrTroy ( 595695 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:25PM (#6073192)
    Though the fastest processor is 206MHz, they include CompactFlash and MMC slots

    damn, that's not slow at all, i'm running a 233 right now for my desktop, and it does most stuff, apart from new games very well. I know it's not a pentium chip in the new PDA, so you just can't compare straight mHz, but still 206 mhz, in your hand, this thing r0X0rs!!!
    • I have an older Casio E125 PocketPC with a 150mhz MIPS processor. What I can tell you is my 486DX2/66 with 16 megs of ram running OS/2 is MUCH faster than this pocketpc device running a stripped down OS with twice as much memory.

      I don't know exactly how they are designing these portable devices, but they are not at all comparable to a regular PC.
  • Sounds like an opportunity...anyone stateside want one (or ten) of these, direct from Korea? Should be able to get, what...like 50+ (retail boxed) of these on a pallet? ...and at least ten of them in my pants :)

    "Those? Those are cell phones...I need one for each country I go to, and I go to a lot of countries...why?"

    • Re:Any interest? (Score:4, Funny)

      by geekoid ( 135745 ) <dadinportland&yahoo,com> on Thursday May 29, 2003 @11:06PM (#6073397) Homepage Journal
      Whats the cost on those? Not the ones in your pants, you can keep those...
      • I'm trying to connect with them today to see if they'll give a quantity break, eval unit, etc. I'm also going into the electronics district in Seoul tomorrow to see what the local street price is.

        I've seen these in the past, but I've never priced them locally. You can see their prices on their site, if you order online. Right now it looks to be either $450 or $500, depending on model. Since they are apparently made here, I'm fairly certain there is price latitude, and the exchange rate is pretty good rig

  • I have a first-generation Yopy (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Markus Registrada ( 642224 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:35PM (#6073250)
    I fooled with my first-generation Yopy for quite a while while I was unemployed.

    I haven't touched it in a year, because Gmate never released source for anything but the kernel. Worse, their web site had a place to upload things, but anything they didn't like, (like my cool USB base station mod [cantrip.org], evidently [see the serial number?]) they just tossed, without a reply -- the upload would just vanish into the ether. (I uploaded three times just to be sure it was deliberate.)

    It appears they wanted people to write applications, but not to fool with the hardware or kernel.

    I hope they have got less contemptuous of hackers in days since. At this point I would be a lot more likely to order one of those Japan-only Zauruses.

  • Wireless Lan CARD - LAME! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:37PM (#6073260)
    How lame. They promote the wireless nature of the beast, but it comes with a wireless lan card that stick out the end. Not only does that make it easy to break (and other brands of lan card might not work with the provided driver), but it wastes the slot, something you might need for other things when connected.

  • Y vs. Z (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:38PM (#6073268)
    Well, let's see. I love my Zaurus .. the hardware is good (not sexy, but solid and functional), the software is so-so as a PDA, but great for geeks (my Zaurus is hacked and customized and streamlined out the wazoo, plus I got my wireless MP3 streaming, my tkcVideo movie-watching, got my customized SliMP3 server so I can control any MP3 stream in the house from the Z, got my sweet wireless Pocketop keyboard, got my homebrew RSS reader going on, got my WiFi card in full effect, you get the picture).

    So let's compare with Yopy:

    Yopy: awesome design, keyboard doesn't look as nice as the Z's which is arranged in the perfect way for thumb-typing. Hmm, you can't fold the screen around and hold the Yopy like a PDA unfortunately, and the keyboard is always exposed. I prefer the Z (plus on the Zaurus you can type pretty much any key you need if you know the right combinations, don't know about this guy).

    Looks like the Yopy has speaker/mic onboard? My Z doesn't have that, but the new model does, so that's not a big issue.

    Battery life: YOW the Yopy has a phat-ass battery. If there's one thing I hate about my Z it's the <1000mA-h battery. The new Z has a bigger battery but the Yopy kicks everybody's butt.

    MMC slot: Well, as far as I know, the SD cards are faster (so they can sell you the copyright bullshit feature which is deactivated on the Z anyway). I don't know if this is slower than the Z's SD slot. Why don't these guys just put TWO CF slots?? That's the superior format in my opinion anyway.

    CPU speed: the new Z has a 400Mhz Xscale but apparently it doesn't work right and the performance isn't good. The newer japan-only clamshell Zaurii have a full-speed 400MHz. So I guess it's a draw with the Z here, unless you get the very new clamshell Zaurus.

    Colorful LEDs? Well the Z has a couple LEDs that blink and an ANNOYING buzzer. I guess I'll call it a draw here too.

    Software: don't know much about the software on the Y. It looks like X Windows.. can I get good software for it? We'll see. I'll give the edge to the Z on this one becuase I know where to get good free and commercial Z software, haven't seen any Y software (yeah yeah, port the X apps, but what about when I want something that Just Works(tm)).

    Price: Well the Z is available cheap from many places, I got mine from the HSN special for $168, don't think the Y can compete with that. I'll hand this one to the Z.

    WiFi: Does the Y have built-in Wifi??? I don't understand when they say "wifi card". If it has it built-in that's a win for Y, I hate having to go off the air to use the CF slot (I HATE SD cards, and all my software is installed on mine so I never take it out anyway).

    So based on my cursory glance: The Y *looks* a *little* cooler than the (non-clamshell) Z. The battery life is much much better. Other than that, I don't see much reason to get one.

    Looking forward to the reviews/cool hacks/comments .......
    • I mean, it's rubbish all over, a real minimal effort.

      Lets start with the spreadsheet:

      Does it have a charting/graphing ability? NO.
      Correct behavior with respect to formulas when new columns are inserted? NO.

      The word processor:

      Does it support styles? NO.
      Does it support the embedding of application objects? NO, all it can do are bitmaps.
      Does it have a spell checker? NO.
      Date or other abitrary fields? NO, can only insert date strings.

      Todo list:

      The todo list integrated with the Calendar? NO.
      Does the todo li
      • Psion/Epoc based machines (Series 5, Revo) are *faster*, have all of the above functionality with a significantly lower hardware profile (8Mb RAM, 18MHz cpu).

        You're really almost comparing apples to oranges here. I used to own a Psion Revo+, and now I have a Zaurus 5500, so I know exactly what I'm talking about. The EPOC OS is probably the most polished, stable OS I've ever used. The pim apps were great. That said, the Psions you're taling about never had anything close to the functionality of the Z.

  • These are excellent PDAs (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I've been looking at the YOPY on eBay and they are verry nice PDAs. I first read about them on www.linuxdevices.com IIRC.

    Well built, excellent battery time, excellent visual capabilities and vivid color.

    In the history of PDAs, I would give the YOPY a B+, but because of its affordability I honestly must put the YOPY in the A- or A category. Truly a marvel whereas it will tap into the market share of people that can't afford the more expensive Toshiba and Sharp PDAs; to begin with, YOPY uses Linux and tha
  • I must admit, one one of those people that the applice newton had some form of apeal to, who was very disapointed when the Palm Pilot came out, and found lacking in the way of features.

    Now, I can't tell based on the site wether or not the screen offers handwriting reconition like the old newton did, but it being linux i'm sure it can adapt if nessicary. One aspect I did enjoy abou the newton was it's ability to take notes in class, while it wasn't quite mature enough to be trully reliable, writing on it

  • So what? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Bingo Foo ( 179380 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @10:49PM (#6073307)
    Call me back when Duke Nukem Forever is ported to it.
  • I recently downloaded a series of atari 5200 games and an emulator. To be honest I haven't tried to use anything resembling a 6502 emulator for years. At least on my 733 pentium III machine, it seems quite adquate.

    Question: What about making a nice little transparent wrapper so that an existing wealth of games can be used under this new platform. While I'm sure some of the classics like pac-man and such are still protected under copyright, but after seeing recently an atari joystick with essentally a 2

  • Archaic ordering process (Score:3, Informative)

    by whatch durrin ( 563265 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @11:23PM (#6073481)
    Just to see if they had a secure ordering process (it was obviously foreign), I started to place an order.

    Turns out, you have to make a wire transfer to their bank account in order to get one. When's the last time you went to your bank for a wire transfer (note: there are extra fees involved).

    Also, shipping to the US is US$50. So raise the minimum price to US$500.

  • Making background freely - You can do it using the Wallpaper program or the Painter easily for yourself.

    WOW! You can change the background now? Incredible! I can not only change it, but I can change it easily by myself!

  • looks a lot better than the Zaurus (Score:3, Informative)

    by 73939133 ( 676561 ) on Thursday May 29, 2003 @11:51PM (#6073629)
    This looks great. I just ordered one.

    I have a Zaurus and it has generally been a disappointment. The built-in applications are not all that good, and its use of Qt/Embedded makes it very difficult to port most Linux GUI software to it--you have to spend time learning Qt/Embedded. I find the Zaurus mostly useful as a little wireless terminal and music player for around the house, not as a PDA.

    The Yopy looks like it gets it right: standard Linux with X11. Note that G.MATE also first tried to use some other embedded window system and then saw the light.

    Also, the keyboard on the Yopy looks like it's more functional to me than what the Zaurus has. The Zaurus keyboard feels nice, but the sliding mechanism is kind of clunky. On the Yopy, it's right there.

    The price seems pretty much in line with the new Zaurus, the PPC, and Palm handhelds, and the Yopy just seems like a nice machine.
  • the fabled Linux based YOPY handheld has been put on the market after all!

    I heard a nasty rumor it comes with Duke Nukem Forever preinstalled.

  • I mean really could they not have made it look at least a little better. Yes, yes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but really how much effort could it take to develop something a little nicer.

  • Yopy 3000 (Score:2, Informative)

    by novellvssco ( 677377 )
    Although the yopy 3500 and the 3700 are the first commercially viable versions, the yopy 3000 has been around for more then a year.I have had my yopy 3000 for more then a years now and I have bought the 3700 too. It's a big improvement with the backlight support and the hancom office suite.
  • "Colorful LED Indicator"
    Wow! Gosh!

    Nothing like a Knight Rider-style light thingy to get my money!

    --
    Forget the bells and whistles. Can it sing?

  • StrongArm going obsolete (Score:3, Informative)

    by AlecC ( 512609 ) <aleccawley@gmail.com> on Friday May 30, 2003 @06:35AM (#6074987)
    I hope they have started on the design of the replacement - presumably XScale-based. We have been told that the StrongArm is going unavaiable soon - some time like end summer.

  • This is new?? (Score:3, Informative)

    by ViXX0r ( 188100 ) on Friday May 30, 2003 @07:16AM (#6075117) Homepage
    I dunno about all you, but I've had a YOPY 3000 for about a year now. It's in my pocket as we speak.

    The 3500 and 3700 models were announced before Christmas too...

    The sites have been available since I've gotten it, and they're released new versions of Linupy twice since I've had it.

    Check out www.yopydeveloper.org [yopydeveloper.org]. Many useful opensource downloads for the Yopy. Several of which I contributed (porting ogg123, for example :). Also lots of tips, tricks, and help.

    It's a pretty decent platform.

  • Size Matters (Score:3, Funny)

    by gibbonboy ( 162143 ) on Friday May 30, 2003 @07:23AM (#6075146)
    And with its "Fashionable Slim Size", I could use it to keep my truck from rolling down the driveway. I certainly wouldn't want to wear the thing all day, esp. with the LAN card hanging out to catch on things.

  • ...or is this supposed to be something cool for the Linux/OSS world? If so, why does a precusrory glance at the download page yield only Windows .zip files? Does this machine connect to and communicate with a Linux desktop? Even more important (from my POV) is would it do the same on a FreeBSD box?

    Don't get me wrong, they look really cool, but these are, IMO, the machine's main selling points. If they lack support in this area, you might as well forget it because there's going to be some very disappointed

  • Now if someone had a CF2 sized mobile phone card [petersonsales.org] and the docs to write a driver, I could actually trash my Treo... any hints are appreciated :-))

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