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the idea of buying a tablet PC during the now-dead Internet Appliance boom. I finally realised the offerings at the time weren't worth the money. A company, Qubit Incorporated (dead link, given for posterity) based out of Denver, Colorado had some very attractive offerings and made a very large splash at Comdex 2000. It would appear Qubit is now defunct. There seems to be very little actual demand for Tablet PCs, and demant will probably remain very low until they become *very* cheap.

The news of the Transmeta chips stirred up more speculation in the 'coming soon' market of pads (FIC Aqua). And it seems like there's always a new one shown at Comdex, but afterward they disappear faster than a virgin on prom night. The Norwegian company Screen Media touted a produkt called FreePad which sounded good to me, but I guess the name loses something in the translation. As for a cheap wireless pad... well we all saw how long 3com's ergoAudrey lasted.

Recently there was word of the Honeywell WebPad, but as for the inexpensive pad... I continue to hope, dream, and become more cynical by the day.

This thing seems to meet your requirements, sans Bluetooth: Orbit. And yes, of course it runs BeIA

From the site:

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The Web Tablet allows customers to access information in ways that best fit their lives.

Lightweight, the Web Tablet weighs less than 3 lbs.
Displays a bright 800x600 touch screen
Roams up to 200 feet from base transmitter
Delivers fast, 802.11B RF connectivity
Includes an onscreen keyboard and wireless keyboard

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Be also announced a deal with Ricochet several months ago...

Thought a few people should hear from someone actually supporting these things. My company was contracted out to do the internet technical support on this product. Although I don't know much about the internal electronics of the NIC, what I can tell you may be of some help if you plan on pursuing this project.

The Processor is a Cyrix 266 with a single pc100 64meg ram stick. It is running using a bootable Linux CD. Included on the CD is Netscape 4.73, vncviewer, Winframe client, a few games, etc.. It has support for an internet provider (also supported by us)called NetZero (free internet access), but it also has support for paid ISPs. It simply boots, when you turn it on, loads X and eventually Netscape (which, through a webpage, gives you connection options).
There is no way to change settings for the operating system in any way. Other than adding connection information and bookmarks, etc. It only has 4MB of Flash RAM to store the information into it.

Because it is using Linux all the hardware should run on any distribution of Linux, but the hardware is of the cheapest quality possible. Having said that, from the 3 demo models that were sent to us I can definately say that the case is nothing special, looks like something that came out of the late 80s. And after 3 hours they overheat and have to be turned off. Extra cooling may be needed if you plan to run it 24/7. It also does not have a floppy drive, for those of us, like myself, still needing one occasionally.

It has a premotional price of $199 ($329 with the monitor).

Personally, I am waiting until the Web Tablet, from Qubit, comes out.
Weights only 2.5 lbs.
Active matrix 781x600 touch screen
Roams up to 200 feet from base transmitter
802.11B RF connectivity
Includes an onscreen keyboard and wireless keyboard

I've been keeping my eye on the Qubit , which is a wireless web tablet that talks to a local base like a cordless phone. They say it includes both dialup and ethernet out of the box and will sell for 300ish. It runs the Be OS and seems to do pretty much everything you could ask in a handheld couch-surfing device. They originally promised it in early 2000, but now they're saying Q4. Joel Risberg

According to their web page, their internet appliances will have modems and ethernet ports. They say their wireless WebTablet will come out Q4. (I've heard THAT before :P )

I want to kit out our whole office with these and Star Portal (or some such). If they ever reach these shores... (Ireland)

Check out Qubit. They're still a little more vaporish than I'd like - they keep pushing the release date back and back, for one thing - but at least they provide some real specs instead of just buzzwords.

This is certainly true today, but it's going to change in a few years, as people start buying Web Pads and the like. Eventually display technology will be good enough that reading a hand-held LCD screen won't be significantly different from reading a traditional book, and at that point I believe people will find themselves preferring these to dead-tree books, if only because they don't have to keep going out and buying new ones.

And any material put on the web will be usable now (on your computer) and then (on your e-book). Hell, you can even take your e-book to the library if you miss the social aspects... ;^)

Why not leave I-opener alone and support a company that is making a versitile web-pad with built in wireless networking that runs Linux. Check out Qubit. Their device should be out this summer and cost around $400.00. It also runs BeIA.

Have you checked out the Qbit? Looks to be a little more fleshed out than the ScreenMedia. Sounds like they'll have product out in the next few Q's. I also question whether the ScreenMedia (as described) is U.S. ready.

http://www.qubit.net/in_the_news/press_releases/PR _12-21-99.html
http://www.qubit.net

Be was chosen as the operating system of choice for the Qubit, another Internet appliance. Will Be help to distinguish this appliance from the rest of the bunch?

http://www.qubit.net/in_the_news/press_releases/PR _12-21-99.html
http://www.qubit.net

Be was chosen as the operating system of choice for the Qubit, another Internet appliance. Will Be help to distinguish this appliance from the rest of the bunch?

the Cubit is a wireless PC, in fact the PC is included in the LCD flat screen and you have keyboard and mouse wireless, also modem and LAN. It runs Linux, and costs less than 400$ as well.
--
http://www.beroute.tzo.com

the Cubit is a wireless PC, in fact the PC is included in the LCD flat screen and you have keyboard and mouse wireless, also modem and LAN. It runs Linux, and costs less than 400$ as well.
--
http://www.beroute.tzo.com

the Cubit is a wireless PC, in fact the PC is included in the LCD flat screen and you have keyboard and mouse wireless, also modem and LAN. It runs Linux, and costs less than 400$ as well.
--
http://www.beroute.tzo.com

I am also one of those people who are waiting for a portable Internet client. Our wait might be over by the Spring, when Qubit Internet Appliance hits the market with a price lower than $400. Check the link out.