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Indeed. Last weekend, I downloaded the FreeCiv source from Ubuntu's repositories, and cross-compiled for ARM. It worked, literally, first-time on my YOPY. Of course, it's going to take a bit of GUI tweaking to fit it onto the screen properly (FreeCiv was really designed to work on 640x480 and above, whereas the YOPY 3700 has a 240x320 screen), but the actual game itself runs fine. I was very pleasantly surprised :)

Call me when hackers have got it to boot into Linux, with the PalmOS GUI. Then it'll run the SW I want, over the 3G network, with an interface useable on a tiny device. When Verizon and Sprint try to charge me for downloading songs that they have nothing to do with, I'll just stream over a secure tunnel I make to my home computer over my cablemodem. If Apple can't deliver, I'll wait for Palm to hook me up.

I've had very good luck with my Sony Clie TJ-37. It did what Palm never did and brough wifi to the mainstream ($ rather than $$$) Palm OS devices. It's worked fine, after that one RMA. 802.11b, speaker, nice screen, a camera, if only it didn't use memory stick media it'd be perfect... well, if they still made them. http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1933

I use my Zaurus SL-5500 to read OHUK all the time. But not on Linux it's running PocketPC, see here.

Nice review! I just recieved a LifeDrive from Amazon last week. The unit feels very sturdy and has some nice features notably wifi and large disk space. But you're completely right about the software. In 3 days, the things crashed on me about 8 times and rebooting takes a couple of minutes. On top of that, the software isn't as powerful as I'd hoped. This is my first PDA and many things of which I'd think they'd be logical are not implemented. For example, addresses in real life have country dependend formats. Contacts has no support for this. Also in the contacts list, the name and one feature of the person are shown per line. But if the preset feature (phone work) is not set, nothing is displayed. I'd think that displaying the next likely feature would be good idea. Especially since the line also contains the letter W, H or M to signify what type of phone number it is.
I expected much more from the lifedrive. Notably: stability, versatility, well developed PIM software and smooth music playing.
I guess the Sharp Zaurus SL C3000 would be a much better machine, but it's also much more expensive ($600-$900).
Now if only they'd hurry up with either a Nokia 770 with keyboard extension or a Linux distro for the lifedrive.

did a search on google and found these reviews:

Sharp's Zaurus SL-6000L: A Free Software PDA
Zaurus with VGA Screen, Wi-Fi Now Available in U.S.
Sharp Zaurus SL-6000L Linux PDA
Review of Sharp Zaurus SL-6000
Sharp Zaurus SL-6000L Review

------------------------
here are all the reviews from customers on amazon.com.

you just have to wait for its arrival stateside.
BT, wifi, 1mp camera w/ flash, tri gsm/gprs, unique form factor, keypad, external display.
http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2327
WHAT MORE CAN YOU EXPECT? (except for more memory, it's got 32mb, maybe gps also?)

If we're to surf the web properly with these things, won't we need more than 320x240?

I'm looking at one of these:

HP iPAQ 4700

Look at the nice third photo. It lacks the phone of course, os it's not good enough.

Anyone know if running SkypeOut with one of these is a good idea?

• AximSite - Axim X50V
• PocketNow - Axim X50 & X50v
• infoSync - Axim X50v
• infoSync - Axim X50 Advanced
• infoSync - Axim X50 Standard
• PDA Buyers Guide - Axim X50v
• Read - Brighthand - Axim X50v
• CNET - Axim X50v
• Pocket PC Thoughts - Axim X50
• BargainPDA - Axim X50 & X50v
• Geek.com - Axim X50 & X50v

You can never have enough reviews, right?

rz1715 review.

I believe the 6315 is pretty well linked on this thread, so I'll leave it out.

The upcomming hx4705 should have VGA resolution. Of course, it's much more expensive, and consumes more power...

They should use what they are already developing on to make the iPod: PXA2XX-series X-Scale boards!

With support for PCMCIA, CF, and MMC/SD built in, plus AC'97, serial, and LCD controllers on_CHIP_, it's a no-brainer. Plus, the X-Scale is already used in several high-quality PDAs, including a Linux-based series (the Sharp Zaurii).

One quick way to test the idea would be to recompile XDarwin for the Zaurus SL-6000. Why?
1) Put a Mac-like OS on a PDA and you're halfway there.
2) Zaurus sports the largest array of expansion types (CF, SD/MMC, _and_ USB Host!), clearly a worthy successor to the Newton's dual PCMCIA slots.
3) With the only full-VGA Sharp LG Silicon screen available in the U.S., a large pop-out thumb-board, and a 1500mAh battery, the Zaurus is a beautiful monster, overpowered and meaty... like a hand-held Mac IIfx!
4) It's ridiculously expensive... and, c'mon, isn't that a prerequisite of Macintosh *anything*?

If you're too impatient to wait for Apple to bring the iNewton to market, and too broke to afford a Zaurus, you can probably hack together your own version using a Gumstix board. I figure this homebrew Newton could probably use the Linux 2.6 kernel, XDarwin, and a spare portable DVD screen, and go by the name of iOfNewt :)

I saw this story on Brighthand this morning and was about to submit it to slashdot, but I decided to check my facts first.

BargainPDA says "Sony has informed us that they will not release any new Clie PDAs this year in the US."

They had a conference call with Sony last week, and Sony made is abundantly clear that this is just a regrouping, they will NOT be exiting the market.
You can probably expect for Sony's next US model to be released with a bang. 'After an x-month hiatus, Sony has decided to revolutionize the PDA landscape again!' or something.

But again! SONY IS NOT EXITING THE MARKET! NOTHING TO SEE HERE! MOVE ALONG!

If this doesn't get me some karma, nothing will :-\

Rather than the empty link (href="") in the story, this is the correct link to the previous story on the Zaurus SL-6000.

Also, the BargainPDA article, directly, is here.

The survey from BargainPDA about shops, which offer SHARP Linux PDAs seems not to be fully complete. Here is an international distributor survey for PDAs pre-equipped with Linux. BTW: If you are looking for a pre-installed Linux laptop or notebook you may find distributors there, too.

Display on a larger screen with 320x320 resolution. Run software that requires a 300+ MHz. ARM processor. Use a regular SD card for memory expansion of 256 MB (and up?). I'm not sure about the phone, what does it use for mem expansion? What is it's native memory capacity? (The Treos are a nice meld of phone and PalmOS BTW...still with small screens though.)

The one thing that didn't look too good to me with this was battery life - only about 4 hours if used heavily. Also the camera looks pretty bad unless this reviewer got a bad unit.

I'd be interested in other reviews if anyone finds one. The Sony TH55 looks interesting for longer battery life and higher res screen, though it is more expensive and has an even worse camera. The Tapwave devices also seem worth a look. The Zire 72 looked near perfect (for me) until I read the review though. :/

Display on a larger screen with 320x320 resolution. Run software that requires a 300+ MHz. ARM processor. Use a regular SD card for memory expansion of 256 MB (and up?). I'm not sure about the phone, what does it use for mem expansion? What is it's native memory capacity? (The Treos are a nice meld of phone and PalmOS BTW...still with small screens though.)

The one thing that didn't look too good to me with this was battery life - only about 4 hours if used heavily. Also the camera looks pretty bad unless this reviewer got a bad unit.

I'd be interested in other reviews if anyone finds one. The Sony TH55 looks interesting for longer battery life and higher res screen, though it is more expensive and has an even worse camera. The Tapwave devices also seem worth a look. The Zire 72 looked near perfect (for me) until I read the review though. :/

I'm going to wait until the Motorola MPx comes out.

-horizontal or vertical alignment
-Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Tri-band GSM/GPRS
-64MB of built in RAM
-SD slot up to 1GB
-320x240 2.8 inch screen
-1.3 MP integrated camera
-QWERTY layout keyboard

It's not Linux but it looks way cool:
Phone 1
Phone 2
Phone 3

Thanks PennyArcade
Bargain PDA

While WinCE and PocketPC prolly have the best tools available, DVD ripping to PDAs isn't only done on WinCE machines- folks do it on Palm OS and the Zaurus as well. Heck, the Sony Clie PDA line even has its own PVR for recording TV and movies in a format and screen size ready to be watched on a Clie handheld. Cute.

I've used some programs that automate this process nicely. I've watched Ghost Dog and Kill Bill vol. 1 on my Clie, though that's it so far for me. The files are good quality for their size- a full length movie with good sound, although a low res, even for the 480x320 screen- comes in at 100 MB or so. The file format is a good one- MPEG4 in a QuickTime 6 file.

I'm not sure if MPEG4+Qt is better than using DivX, which is what the PocketPC folks usually use. But performance is perfect, better than I've seen on a Zaurus C760 or fancy new Dell Axim. The reason for this is likely the MPEG4 decoder chip built into the Clie, which handles the decoding. Completely smooth.

Somewhat ironically lame is that the Zaurus C7x0 has a similar decoding chip, albeit MPEG2 (IIRC). But nooo, Sharp's own apps don't support it, and they won't share a library. Ahh-- open source at work! Still screwed over. *sigh*

Motorola tried Microsoft, decided they did not like it, and started to build Linux phones.

Really? Is that why Motorola is releasing three new Microsoft Smartphone models this year?

Source, please.

This is not true.

This review near the bottom shows how easy to remove the batteries. And the entire size is pretty small.

What about space? Well slip in a SD memory card of your choice.

This is not a cheap solution but you don't have to choose 2 of your 3 choices.

Would be helpful, as others have noticed.

Here's a related article that gives a little more information while we wait.

AFAIK, Metrowerks was mostly used for as a remote debugger rather than as a compiler. Other compilers for embedded chips were used.

I am waiting to see the effect on Palm and Hangspring Merger on wireless...

No joke, the new name of the Palm company that produces the hardware is called pa1mOne.

A new website ( http://www.palmOne.com ) is live today and features product information and support services previously available at http://www.palm.com .

Because the current iPAQs are way better than the current Zaurus. (Or at least the Zaurus models readily available in Europe and the USA.)

For instance, I'm currently looking into getting a iPaq 19xx series PDA. It's extremely light-weight - I think it weighs about half as much as the Zaurus - and is also smaller than most of the other PDAs. Much in the same vein as the entry-level Toshibas (e3xx), with the difference that "good progress is being made" by the familiar developers in porting familiar to the h19xx family of devices. I'm not aware of any such movements to get Linux on a Toshiba PDA, sadly, and I did look for it.

Okay, and that's just one part of the PDA market, the entry-level market with it's low scale PDAs. iPADs also dominate the (very) high-end market, and have done so for years. The recently released 22xx series is just mean. Of course there are other great PDAs, including the Zaurus models mainly available in Japan, but the iPADs have been bleeding edge for a long time now. And they are the only PocketPC PDAs which can be flashed to Linux - my hat is off in regard to the familiar developers, but also to the Compaq/HP engineers that, if I recall correctly, helped familiar off a great start.

Let me express my cynicism this way:

This appears to be one of two things. Either it is an overpriced gameboy with low-end PDA specs, or an Ipaq for people who think themselves too stupid to figure out how to download native games, or currently available NES, SNES, Gensis and MAME emulators onto their own Ipaq. Its only advantage over the current batch of XScale PDAs, it seems, will be developer support, unless you believe that Compaq's and Palm's engineering and battery life advancements at the time of this device's release will be found inferior to this one's, which seems unlikely. Maybe they'll forgo a modern screen to save power, but then why not just get a gameboy? Will developer support for a gaming platform manufacturer not a major name in the industry, who is furthermore in COMPETITION with major names in the industry, be, itself, competitive? I find it hard to answer that with a yes.

And let's be clear on this: this device is not out NOW. It is not, at least as far as specs go, competing with presently available devices like the 200MHz Ipaq 1910, say, selling for $250 or 400MHz Ipaq 2215 selling for $370. It is not, at least as far as available titles go, in any place to come close to competing with existing platforms like the Gameboy. This device, the existence of which at all is purely speculative, is priced at $299 for a release at best several months to come.

If you want a handheld computer and want to play games on it, buy an Ipaq 1910, also with SDIO, currently available for under $250 depending on where you shop and play Age of Empires, Everquest, PocketQuake, PocketDoom, SNES, NES, Genesis, SMS, MAME and the upcoming titles now.

If you want a handheld gaming system with titles available NOW, go with the Gameboy.

If you want to wait several months to pay a PDA price for your next Gameboy without any certainty as to whether titles will in FACT be available at all, then this is the system for you. Hmm.

Palm seems to be stepping up the pace of their model releases. The T3 is already rumored.

Landscape-able screen, and you can actually use the area underneath the slider. Pretty nifty.

For me, the T2 is too little of a improvement over the T to justify buying it. Plus, a forced conversion to Grafitti 2 embodies the concept of "suck".

Of course, by the time the T3 is out, the T4 will be rumored, complete with photos...

I just got a Toshiba e355 and like the article says, it includes windows media player 9. The biggest thing for me anyway, is that pressing the home button brings up Home Version 2.00 with a games tab, a programs tab, a main tab and a running tab. The running tab makes it much much easier to actually close programs. I haven't noticed much else different between 2003 and 2002(I used to have an HP1910 until it stopped syncing and Best Buy replaced it with this three days ago.)

And for any wondering about the Toshiba e355, I can transfer files fine using Synce

And here are some specs for it.

Does anyone know if this is the Linux powered motorola phone?

like this?

it's the samsung sgh-i500, not to be confused with the sph-i500. looks sweet.

i am a little skeptical of the palmos 5 business. a lot of ppl criticized the new kyocera 7135 for coming out so late with only palmos 4 support. but palmos 4 means a less power-hungry processor, which translates into better battery life--critical for a phone. but if samsung can pull it off with this new phone, i'm all over it. of course we may not see it for a long long time.

There is another contender in the Linux-based PDA arena: the Motorola A760.

It is also a GSM dual-band cellphone, supposedly coming out in late 2003.

I believe I read something on slashdot.org about it earlier, but can't find the URL. Here are other URLs with text on the device:

• Motorola press release;
• Geekstreet;
• I4U;
• BargainPDA;

ma2oliveira

The first would be the lack of tactile response. After all, your desktop or any other hard surface would become uncomfortable after just a few minutes IMHO.

The second would be the lack of any position designators - i.e. the 'f' and 'j' keys. Most 10 fingered typers probably don't even think about it anymore, but it's very easy to lose your place without them. I suspect this would become very annoying if taking notes in class during a lecture or in a business meeting.

As far as a good portable keyboard for a PDA, my money is on the new Stowaway XT. It's been getting really good reviews/previews.

Anyone been lucky enough to play around with one yet?

The rumors about the 9310 appear to be true... according to this article Nokia is set to release their latest Communicator model (phone/PDA/mobile office) later today, with support for GPRS. See also on Google's news for other articles on the 9310.

Slides from the Dell PPC Presentation are available here

Shape looks familar.