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Linux Business Hardware

Linux Based Tablets Are Coming 217

Posted by timothy from the drunk-people dept.
CrypticSpawn writes "Read some good news on Diracian; there will be a Linux tablet coming out running Lycoris's Linux distribution, Lycoris Desktop/LX Tablet Edition. What's great is the tablet is the Protege by Toshiba, so you get a laptop and a tablet wrapped up into one. I guess I am a gadget fanatic, I love my Zaurus, now I want this. They even have pictures of it here. Also found another reference of this tablet on PC World, without the pics."
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Linux Based Tablets Are Coming More

Linux Based Tablets Are Coming

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  • In the next release? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Leeji ( 521631 ) <slashdot@leeholme s . com> on Saturday November 01, 2003 @01:55AM (#7365552) Homepage

    Right now one of the things it is lacking that it really needs is handwritting recognition, which they say will be in the next release.

    Did I tell you I'm just about to submit my perpetual motion machine to manufacturing? Motion will be in the next release, though.

    But seriously... I hope they're talking about the "next release" as in "the version that will go onto the tablet when it ships." A Tablet Pc is just an expensive doodle pad without the handwriting recognition.

    • are there actually people who can write FASTER than they can type?

      gimme a keyboard any day over some flashy handwriting crap. a tablet with no keyboard is nice in the showroom & a paperweight by the time it's hit the parking lot.

      • are there actually people who can write FASTER than they can type?

        Those of us "of a certain age" that learned and practiced technical drawing/drafting before CAD made us obsolete are surprisingly fast.

        Still haven't gotten to the point where I can draw animated cartoons real-time, though. Tremendous strain on the wrist.

        [stealth Simpsons reference]

    • Re:In the next release? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by jhujoe ( 579368 )

      A Tablet Pc is just an expensive doodle pad without the handwriting recognition.

      Not really. I have a tablet running XP Tablet PC edition which has excellent handwriting recognition, and I find myself using this feature rarely. Mostly because I can type about 50X faster, and it's so easy to flip out the keyboard and type instead of writing.

      Instead, the main advantage of the tablet PC in my eyes is form factor / comfort for passive applications such as web browsing.

      A tablet PC is not something you can

  • Linux Tablet PC == Good? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by aardwolf204 ( 630780 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @02:03AM (#7365575)
    Let me just make sure I understand this correctly:

    Windows Tablet PC == Bad
    Linux Tablet PC == Good

    Ok, continue on with the mindless /. ramblings...

    • Um, yeah... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @02:29AM (#7365625)
      Windows Tablet PC == Enormous licencing costs that bite into already razor thin margins

      Tablet PC sales have been disapointing, and I understand that Microsoft made a deal with one of the manufacturers (I forget which one) that bundles the handwriting recognition software free with the OS while everyone else has to shell out for both. That's gotta be pissing the rest of 'em off.

      Once the handwriting app's written, this'll be a perfect market for linux to make some headway in. I only hope they're not boneheaded enough to release the thing without handwriting recognition (maybe banking on the ability to use it as a laptop instead).

      • Re:Um, yeah... (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        "and I understand that Microsoft made a deal with one of the manufacturers (I forget which one) that bundles the handwriting recognition software free with the OS while everyone else has to shell out for both. That's gotta be pissing the rest of 'em off."

        Just to correct you slightly. Handwriting recognition comes with all XP Tablet PCs as standard. The application in question is Microsoft's OneNote - a note taking and brainstorming application. It's a killer app for the tablet PC, and Toshiba have license
    • for people who don't use MS products for philosophical reasons, then Yes.

      It has nothing to do with the fact thats its a tablet.

    • Windows Tablet PC == Bad
      Linux Tablet PC == Good

      Close.

      Windows Tablet PC == Okay, so maybe it is a cool toy but HA, apart from the gimmick value what's the point?

      Linux Tablet PC == Okay, maybe it doesn't have much going for it beyond gimmick value but WOW, what a cool toy!

      The difference in emphasis is a little more subtle than Good vs. Bad.
      • They're flexible. They can effectively be used as "note-taking" devices. I have seen tons of these types of devices out there. There are even pads that move paper notes into a PDA.

        I seriously doubt that the handwriting recognition is a big thing for now. Just the ability to get the things into digital format.

        The ability to sit back and browse is probably good as well. These devices will likely be used as portable kiosks for charting in hospitals and other similar applications.

        Just give them time. Th
    • Not the first one. Check http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6733

      It's less expensive, works with existing zaurus apps, and ships *now* with handwriting recognition.
    • You DO realize that there are many people who read/post to /., right?

      Personally,

      Windows Tablet PC == Stupid
      Linux Tablet PC == Stupid

      OTOH, I realize that some people are interested in these overpriced pieces of crap, so YMMV.

      But, TBH, I think ANYTHING with Windows on it is stupid, so...

  • Toshiba (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LoudMusic ( 199347 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @02:11AM (#7365592)
    what's great is the Tablet is the Protege by Toshiba

    Actually it's a Portege - we have one at work. I really like it quite a lot. There are a few software enhancements that need to be made to XP Tablet, but for a kick-start it's really quite nice. I could even go for one that is a bit thinner, has no keyboard, no hard drive, and 802.11G. Basically a thin client tablet that connects to a server and does everything "Terminal" or X-Server style. That way you additionally wouldn't have to lug around the processor and cooling. You'd get killer awesome battery life too. It would still need a simple 'cradle' style charger, though.

    Tables are cool - they just need a little work.
    • Tables are cool - they just need a little work.

      I've got it - a fifth leg!

      *hurriedly scribbles on paper and stuffs patent application in mailbox*

  • Only If (Score:1, Insightful)

    by mccormick ( 40772 )
    Too bad no one cares about them anyways, Linux or otherwise.

  • Take the red tablet (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I wonder if the Linux tablets will come in both red and blue [slashdot.org]?

  • How great are tablets anyway? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by metatruk ( 315048 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @02:36AM (#7365641)
    I mean. It's not a laptop. You can't type on it.
    It's not a PDA. You can't put it in your pocket.
    It relies on recognizing your handwriting with this pen.

    I dunno about the rest of the geeks out there, but I would *much* rather type than write. Typing is faster and more accurate (vs recognition).

    • I dunno about the rest of the geeks out there, but I would *much* rather type than write. Typing is faster and more accurate (vs recognition).

      No kidding. You ever tried doing any sort of programming or scripting using some sort of pen input device?

      Look at some code sometime and imagine writing it out by hand (esp. with things like &, *, {}, etc.)
      It hurts me to think about it.

      -mo
    • I looked at tablets a few months ago. They seem more suited to a niche market. For school, it would be better to get a laptop for typing. They're worthless for games, and with the ultra low voltage chips they are using, most anything else. The only situation that seems to warrent a $2500 tablet is a professional artist. Thats it. $2500 can buy you a kickass 5lb Pentium M laptop. Linux on Tablet? Great, now you can't even use Photoshop, the only worthwhile use...

      • Re:How great are tablets anyway? (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        And I desperately hope that nobody spends more than about $700 on a new laptop for school (preferably less for a refurbished one). Whatever you buy now will be obsolete by the time you've graduated, and the more expensive it is now the more expensive it will be to replace or repair when dropped or stolen.

        You should only really spend just enough to make sure that the damn thing can do all you want (word processing most likely), is suited to your needs and has a fairly good build quality.

        Oh, and a professio

    • You obviously didn't read the article (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I mean. It's not a laptop. You can't type on it.

      Of course you can type on it. If you had bothered to read the article, you'd see right there in the image at the top that it has a normal laptop keyboard when used in laptop mode. Sheesh!

    • If you'd bother to RTFA, you'd notice that it does in fact have a keyboard...
    • Medical industry.
      It would be used as a portable chart. It would have acccess to all active patient info.

      Any industry that needs someone to carry a clip board would be likly to want one of these.

      Personally, I think it would be neet for role playing games. Too bad it's so dang expensive.

  • A Tablet is NOT a notebook without a keyboard (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Pizaz ( 594643 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @02:44AM (#7365656)
    Why on earth doesn't their website have more details about the Tablet specific technology that's been integrated into this thing?

    They have no details about the character recognition technology at all. I'm also curious about the type of stylus they use. Windows TablePC's use an electromagnetic type detection of the point of the stylus so that you can wrest your hand on the screen without accidentally pushing window controls. In other words, its NOT really a "touchscreen." In this Lycoris tablet, they do call it a "touchscreen." But if this is the same Toshiba then it too must have the same type of LCD right... maybe not necessarily?

    In any case, their site is very short on details.

  • Toshiba clone (Score:4, Informative)

    by ogewo ( 652234 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @03:01AM (#7365688)
    Didn't notice if this has been mentioned yet but this tablet is an exact clone of a Toshiba model that has been available for quite some time now. The Protege 3500 runs on the PIII-M as well, only it comes with Windows XP. The price for the Toshiba version with Windows is around $300 cheaper in retail stores.
  • Linux Based Tablets Are Coming

    You know that its time to go to bed when you read the title and start thinking:
    "Why the hell did those folks at Slashdot put Linux on a table?!?!"

  • mirror (Score:1)

    by qmrq ( 648586 )
    The second link took forever to load for me... mirror here [countrypure.net] if it craps out.
  • And when they arrive, the peoples of earth shall TREMBLE under the gaze of their never-closing eyes! The very core of the earth shall be smitten by unquenchable fire, and those who resist the glorious new world order of the Tablets will be used as fuel for the flames!

    THE END IS NIGH, 'WARE THE COMING OF THE LINUX BASED TABLETS!!!11

    • Reviewed (Score:2, Informative)

      by KaosConMan ( 579641 )
      Here's a review by pcworld: First Linux Tablet PC [pcworld.com] I realize it's not as optimistic as most of us would like to think, but we need to remember that the average buyer is the PCWorld technologist or lower.

      Given some time and a bunch of developers really motivated to get an awesome linux tablet, I would consider this do-able, but unfortunatley, I don't think that is the case right now.

  • Linux Based Tablets? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mister Transistor ( 259842 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @03:37AM (#7365756) Journal
    What is this, some kind of new pain reliever? Take two linux-based tablets and call me in the morning!

  • Skeptical (Score:2, Redundant)

    by tftp ( 111690 )
    The device, regardless of the OS, will not be adopted by corporate masses any time soon. The reason is that the PHBs are really conservative people. It took them 20 years to progress from pen and paper to a notebook. Expect 20 more years to move them to a wearable computer with HUD and voice recognition (by then it will be standard. You can have it even now if you want to.)

    Consumers and early adopters are free to buy the thing, and they probably buy most of manufactured tablets already. They have too much

  • The PC World article says that there is no handwriting recognition included. I would have thought that using X-Stroke [xstroke.org] would be the best idea. I use it on my iPaq (flashed with Familiar and GPE) all the time!

  • Linux on a tablet? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 01, 2003 @04:05AM (#7365792)
    Come on, now that's a bit hard to swallow...

  • let's just hope this will encourage adobe and corel to port their artistic stuff to linux, or that it'll add to the mindshare and therefore developer input that the gimp has.

  • This might drive down the prices of all Tablet PCs (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    One of the major complaints of Tablet PC manufacturers is the licensing fee that Microsoft charges:

    http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/personaltech/0,390 01 147,39155730,00.htm

    Could this presage competition for Microsoft, forcing it to bring down it's prices for Windows Tablet Edition, and thus, tablet PCs in general? One of my major concerns with the tablet pc is the fact that it costs so much more than it's laptop equivalent - even though it costs incrementally more to produce.
  • www.VisionPlate.com
  • As much as I love the PowerBook G4 (also waiting for the G5 PB) I would like a OSX based Tablet. Make a stripped down version of OSX (I.E take away some of the Aqua effects, iLife), get a low power processor such an a 300 Mhz 68k (or maybe a 300 mhz G3) processor with 128Mb of RAM and release it, hopefully with Airports and Eo801.11 The one button mouse nature of the Mac would make it easier to port. Sell it for around $1500 and I'd snap it up. But don't give it a name like Powertab or iBlet, yuck.
    • Uh, why would you strip it down just to table it? Any mac user who would otherwise pay for both a laptop and a drawing tablet would gladly pay even if it costs more than the non-tablet equivalent. They'd probably have an advantage in the tablet market for people who want high-end tablet machines if they didn't cheapen the hardware for it, since as of now you can't get a tablet PC that matches the highest end non-tablet laptop.

      But I'm sure Apple won't be entering the tablet market until it's more stable,

      • ::applause::

        I've been putting forward the idea that it would _not_ cost Apple much to do a pen convertible, and that the potential benefits are win-win.

        - Apple already includes InkWell (nee Rosetta, the print recognizer from Newton OS 2.0), Microsoft is _licensing_ Calligrapher (the cursive recognizer from Newton OS) from Paragraph

        - Apple doesn't have to muck around w/ things like the Transmeta chip to get decent battery life

        - all Apple has to do is engineer an elegant double-hinge (idealy improvi
  • Somehow you only seem to read negative comments about web pads. I don't get it. A friend of mine got a TC 1000 [tomshardware.com] and it's just great.

    The device is robust and elegant with it's light metal case and the glass plate. You can attach a keyboard and use it as a (sub-) notebook. You can detach it and snuggle up on a couch and read e-books. In summer, he also brought it to the park for use as a mobile mp3 and video player. (The display is not transreflexive. Works ok in the shadow, but not in the full sun).

    My frien
    • "The device is robust and elegant with it's light metal case and the glass plate. You can attach a keyboard and use it as a (sub-) notebook."

      You sure can... And as an added benefit, the screen wobbling as you type acts as test for motion sickness. Thanks to my TC1000, I now know that I need to pick up some Dramamine before getting on a boat.

      "You can detach it and snuggle up on a couch and read e-books."

      Yep, the 5-degree viewing angle makes it very comfortable to read as a book or use as a notepad. I

  • Uhm so let's see... (Score:5, Funny)

    by CountBrass ( 590228 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @05:21AM (#7365920)

    Microsoft, with their market share and cold hard cash, couldn't convince people that tablets were a "good idea" but some minute outfit, using an OS that's has the most arcane GUI of any of the major OSs is going to succeed ?

    I don't think so.

  • From one of the articles: I have come to realize about the Linux community, where there is a will there is usually a Linux programmer working on the way

    That is so cool. It's just like the Windows community, where at sites like download.com or jumbo.com there is free, shareware, and commercial software for everything.

  • I finally used the Compaq Based Tablet (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tkrotchko ( 124118 ) * on Saturday November 01, 2003 @06:04AM (#7365992) Homepage
    I finally was able to use a tablet computer running Windows XP tablet edition.

    I was distinctly underwhelmed.

    I can certainly see why it would be interesting for vertical applications where it is in essense a replacement for a clipboard. But as a general purpose computing tool? Its clunky, the interface is bad, the software feels prototype-ish.

    And while I like the newest toys, I couldn't think of a single practical use for it. I wonder how Microsoft managed to talk companies into building this thing, because I can't believe they'll sell more than a handful.

  • Might be useful in schools (Score:3, Insightful)

    by darnok ( 650458 ) on Saturday November 01, 2003 @07:01AM (#7366068)
    Even though I work with a bunch of MS consultants who all carry these, I'm yet to see the killer use for tablet PCs that actually makes them more useful than a laptop PC. While laptop vs. tablet remains largely a matter of personal preference, tablets just won't sell.

    I can see several potential vertical markets for tablet PCs, but they lack the following:
    - a killer app or suite of apps for any one vertical market
    - a distinctly "better" interface than laptop PCs for any market
    - a new group of users; ones that wouldn't use laptop PCs, but would use one of these
    - a cost point that makes them a worthwhile investment. In particular, the Windows OS+tablet interface and the hardware requirements to run them blows the cost out too much
    - a much simpler interface. Current tablets are too complex for current non-PC users to use; manufacturers should be looking to *remove* stuff from tablets to make them simpler to use and cheaper to purchase in bulk. Something like an X-terminal with local storage and the ability to sync to central servers makes more sense than an all-singing-dancing laptop-like thing; the only people likely to buy the current crop of tablets are current laptop owners

    However...

    If the price of the hardware came down, and the tablet was reasonably rugged, I could see some opportunities for schools to take these up. I'm talking primary/secondary schools, or K-12 in US-speak. Take out the price of the Windows licence, and they're suddenly a lot more attractive.

    Most schools are having their budgets slashed, so IT spending is very low, but imagine taking a bunch of these and hooking them to something like an LTSP server:
    - teachers could use them to mark attendance; most current teachers are hopeless with a keyboard, and prefer writing. I'm inclined to think that a full-screen app that looks just like an attendance book, which has the names of all the students and check boxes next to their names, would go down very well with teachers, particularly if they could enter a "tick" or "cross" with a pen rather than typing stuff in or using a mouse. Laptops just aren't working out for most non-maths/science teachers who have them, in my experience
    - teachers grading assignments, particularly if they could take the tablets home, enter their data then do a seamless sync back to the central server
    - kids using them in test environments; imagine entering all your answers on the tablet, having the handwriting recognition neaten up the answers, then (for some subjects) getting your results at the end of the class. The marks could immediately go into a central database, and be exposed to parents over the Web; lots of possibilities here...
    - learning tools for specific, visual/factual subjects (e.g. geography; imagine all those maps coming to life when you point to them...)

    In particular, using LTSP, there's no need for every kid to have one; they could be tied to a class or classroom rather than an individual kid. Maybe physically lock them to desks somehow, or use RFIDs to track their whereabouts - I don't know, ask a hardware guy...

    I'd say this could be an interesting opportunity for a vertical market in education.

    BTW, IANAT (...teacher), but I have a mother who's an English teacher, and who constantly complains about using laptops because they're just too complicated.
    • The purpose for a tablet is computing without a table, or a sitting/lying down environment where computing while needing mobility away from that chair or bed. The real need is computing while standing, and moving around. Unfortunately given PDA competition, its wanting computing with something heavy and battery intensive (or that needs the extra mhz)

      For business, you could think that Inventory management would be suitable, but really, the cost savings of avoiding a 2 step process of pen and paper combine
  • One of my (former) teachers was showing me one of these not too long ago. While I scrawl illegible notes on my pad of paper, he can do the same on his tablet, and then convert it to text. But for times when I just want to type (when X dies? ;)), he still has the keyboard he can use. If I recall correctly, though, it has neither a CD drive nor a floppy drive; I guess you're expected to carry external ones and use them over USB. Integrated wireless would make up for it here, but not 'in the field' when I can'

  • What I want from a tablet (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) <vincent.jan.goh@NoSPam.gmail.com> on Saturday November 01, 2003 @10:00AM (#7366363) Homepage
    I want it cheap and lightweight, and I mean 'lightweight' two ways.

    The tablet should barely be able to run an OS. It should have minimal RAM, a really small harddrive, and no keyboard, but come with the fastest wireless networking hardware available. For me, a useful tablet is one that I can leave laying around my house and pick up just to wander around and read an email, or browse a website, or read a paper or something. I have a desktop computer for all the hard stuff. If I needed proper portable computing, I'd buy a Powerbook.

    I figure this would be most useful for business, too. You install a good wireless network in the building, and people bring the tablets to meetings, or wander the hallways reading whatever it is they think they need to read so urgently. Checklists and meeting notes are sync'd to your PC automatically and wirelessly, so you can just sit down at your computer and do work when you get back to your desk. Forget doing work while walking...nobody does that very well right now with pen and paper anyway.

    Because the specs for the machine would be so low, it would be a lot cheaper. You don't have to pay the price of making things really small like a PDA, and you don't have to pay the price of making things powerful, like a good laptop, so you should be able to come up with something farily reasonable.
    • IN a corporate enviroment, it would be great to have one for 'hallway' meetings. so When some manager asks me to do 'real importan task' right now, I can fire off an email to him to 'confirm' what he wants, and CC my manager so he knows whats going on. Then when I do 'real important task' and there is any issues, my ass is covered, and my manager has had time to deal with any of the politicing that might need to be done.

      as far as cost, I would imagine that most of the cost ss the screen, not the power.

  • But the price seems like it will limit it to a narrow market of "ooh I gotta have that" tech thrill-seekers. For that price, I can build a least two very capable desktop systems.

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