Samsung's Linux-based Diskless Camcorder

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices has a story about the Samsung Miniket, a digital camcorder the size of a pack of cards that also works as a portable MP3 player, webcam, voice recorder, storage device, and more. The Miniket (annoying Flash and sound) will be available in February or March in the US, for $600-$700, with a rugged 'sports' model to follow. The device runs Linux, boots in under a second, and is the first of several products from Samsung that will run a new variation of Linux called 'ARM-no-MMU.' LinuxDevices also has a whitepaper about Samsung research that shows the new Linux variant to be faster than normal Linux."

Request for clarification on Diskless technology.

[sanityspeech]

I'm somewhat unclear on how this device classifies as a "diskless camcorder."

From the article:

The Miniket is available in three models, with internal storage capacities of 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB.

How can a "diskless camcorder" have internal storage?

From the gentoo diskless HOWTO: [gentoo.org]

A diskless machine is a PC without any of the usual boot devices such as hard disks, floppy drives or CD-ROMs. The diskless node boots off the network and NEEDS A SERVER that will provide it with storage space as a local hard disk would.

(Emphasis mine.)

Can anyone reconcile these statements?

GSM please

[Anonymous Coward]

Now if they could only squeeze a GSM fone into that, it would be perfect.

Re:C'mon

[bugbeak]

Adding data into flash storage is significantly faster than adding data into a HD. Certainly, you don't want the damn thing to stop recording just so you can write into the hard disc first, then continue?

Windows Media Player?

[Anonymous Coward]

If it's running linux, how come the flash site shows it running windows media player to play back your videos?

Hopefully Samsung won't repeat Panasonic's mistake

[PortHaven]

Panasonic released a similar device with their d-snap AV-50S

However, the video is not truly MPEG4 as they encapsulate the file in a proprietary .ASF file format preventing you from being able to easily share the movies.

Secondly, the voice recorder files cannot be played back on your PC (only on the camcorder device which is limited to about 1 hour battery). Nor do they give you a tool to convert them from their proprietary format to a standard .wav or .mp3

http://www.easternstorm.net/dsnap for more info on these matters.

Just say no to no MMU

[Animats]

No-MMU systems should be restricted to applications where the processor costs a few dollars or less and all the code is in permanent read-only memory. Something that costs a few hundred dollars and runs Linux should have an MMU.

Re:Request for clarification on Diskless technolog

[Albanach]

My guess that it uses some sort of flash memory, which is technicially not a 'disk'.

Informitive?!? Actually, the article's informitive:

Movie length can be extended using removable storage cards. The Miniket includes a MultiCard slot that supports Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro cards. Memory Stick and its faster Pro variant are typically supported by digital cameras and other consumer devices from Sony. Memory Sticks are currently available from SanDisk and Sony in capacities up to 4GB, typically priced slightly higher per megabyte than CompactFlash cards.