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Future Linux PDA by Samsung
BigDaddyJ writes "I saw over on The Gadgeteer that Samsung has developed a PDA design that uses Linux. It has a color display and can play MP3's as well. Check it out here. You know you want it... but right now it appears they're still looking for suppliers. " Neato. Strange that the title for the Web page refers to it as a "Samsung USB PC Camera".
looks like it uses an ARM processor as well..and contains the codecs for MPEG video as well as MP3 audio. Anyone think that page is clueless ? High Performance Strong Processor ? wtf moron wrote that one ?
When it comes out, I will run to a store and max out my Visa. Maybe the company CC's as well :) Think it runs BSD over Linux over Solaris?
pine on the road! lynx in the forest! mpg123 in the mineshaft! all with libncurses5-dev! the world can get no better! :)
:); }return(0);}
Never before have we been able to 'make zImage' on the back of our hands. never before have we had travelling ssh daemons!
or is it linux based public display of affection... well yeah, i always publically display my affection for linux
#include <signal.h> \ #include <stdlib.h> \ int main(void){signal(ABRT,SIGIGN);while(1){abort(-1)
OFTC: By the community, for the community
oh well
check out
http://www.ltc.com/linux-mips/
Not in the same spec ranges but still cool.
Ok, so it says it's got an "embedded Internet Web Browser, E-Mail"...
I wonder what they're using for this.
Can't be Netscape. The last thing you want is for your tech support people to be getting calls from customsers 'cause their PDA keeps on crashing (or, at least, appears to).
Mozilla? Shows a lot of promise, but you wouldn't load Alpha software onto a commercial product.
Opera?
Hmm...
And another thing is - how does the GPL come into play here? Now, I genuinely am rusty on this, so this may be a silly question. But if they're using Linux, do they have to distribute the source? (Or at least provide it somehow?) Or does that only come into play if you're actually releasing a distribution?
Finally - the specs mention USB. Anybody care to comment on this? I was under the impression USB was not one of Linux's strong points... is this the case, or has progress been made (to the point where a digital camera can just be plugged in and it will work, which is what this thing is going to require if they expect to sell any...)
Cheers,
Alastair
-- "I believe the human being and the fish can coexist peacefully." - George W. Bush, 29 September 2000
I wonder how this ARMLinux measures up against Transmeta's distro. Oh well, it is good to see some competition in the Linux-PDA area heating up, hopefully it will keep the product quality high.
"You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're dreaming or awake?"
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I am already onboard for one of these when it is available, but I thing it would be especially enticing if they added the Springboard component from Visor compatible with Linux. An open PDA hardware component like that with Linux would crush Widoze CE
New Gizmos and Product News
Old News
Not a great start to the ad campain
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
I wonder how a Beowulf cluster would compare to the apples in the previous article.
It would definitely win for shelf space
I think that we all love linux on a variety of devices, but does this really come in to play with other linux developments? It doesn't look like it runs x86, or PPC, or any other normally supported cpu. Unless I missed where it said that it was, it is too much trouble for the non tech user to compile, plus who wants to "type" on a pda. I think it's a cool PDA, but I don't think that it's REALLY going to help linux become much more popular. Then again, it may get the name out to more people making my points moot.
--Josh
There are exactly 42,935,718 letter sized sheets in a square mile.
Hmm... now all they need to do is implement an eye lens system like in that commercial where the guy is sitting in the middle of (Russia?) looking at stock quotes. I will buy that right away.
i just dont get it. has the wurld gone completely daft. what_is_the_point of running a pda with a un*x system. They simply were never meant for this. Okay ~ ill kool down :-P. But, i mean !. Ive got a LAN at home and an apache server i need to connect windoze and lin boxes. Linux is kool for this. But there is simply no getting round the fact that it sukx as the basis for a pda. What concievable reason could there be to try to do this stupidity ?. I know this is going to cause aggro *grin* but, there_is_nothing_wrong_with_WINCE2.11. Its rock solid stable and it has a nice API. When i compare my NEC Mobile Pro 800 with 32MB RAM 131MHz MIPS CPU 800x600 64K screen excellent keyboard with my wifes pilotV i know which one looks like the machine for the future. Get a life you guys. Get off the linux bandwaggon and OPEN_your_EYES. Linux is simply useless for PDA's (see the pathetic http://www.linuxce.org effort if you wanna check this out the miserable lack of progress and pointlessness of this whole approach)
The page doesn't say what it syncs with. OK, the e-mail will probably sync with what's in my mail file. But what about the calendar? ical? gnomecal? Or the address book? In fact, do they even say that it syncs with a Linux workstation? It may be Linux on the PDA, but sync with Windows machines. Yes, it'd be really dumb of them not to support Linux, but don't go assuming that they do.
Other than that, really cool. Want one, but want to know what the price would be, blah blah blah
What kind of storage is used? I'd be nice if i wasn't that flash crap. Oh joy, 5 mp3s on it.
It doesn't look like it runs x86, or PPC, or any other normally supported cpu.
well, couldn't you say the same of any other PDA? If so, then what's the point of having them, eh? Why _not_ do this thing? I mean, it will never get [more] support if no one does any work with it (i.e., code for it, support, new peripherals, etc..)
I say, "yay!"
Insert mind here.
hummrph. its all spookily lacking in , errr, what are they called ?, err, oh, heck !, errr, ... details/facts/basis-in-reality ?. All monies taken that this wee beastie is either (a) hoax, (b) will never happen, or (c) really a Commodore64 in disguise.
Maybe we can make a BEOWULF cluster of these?
This sounds like a nice gadget that meets a lot of my PDA wish list requests. Unfortunately, this looks more like a marketing trial balloon then an anouncement of anything they've actually built. Conspicuosly absent: any mention of the resolution of the LCD, the memory, the CPU speed... come on, they haven't even started designing this! Also, it implies it recognizes handwriting but there's no stylus or place to keep one, and the application examples have a different form factor than the hardware pictured. Plus, oh yeah, I'm gonna be able to actually read slashdot on a 3.9" LCD? Er, I don't think so, Mr. Marketing droid. Ever heard of WAP? It's a protocol designed to reformat data so that you can read it on a PDA. Perhaps you should look into that, next time you dream up a check list for this product.
Hrm, I would think that Linux is all around a better operating system, in general, then wince. If lots of linux geeks want Linux in there hands, then there going to buy it. It makes a lot more sense then submersing your motherboard in mineral oil... but people did that, didn't they?
[ c h a d o k e r e ]
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
What, pray tell is wrong with UNIX on a pda?
What is UNIX? It's a file system interface API. It's a process control API. What is wrong with these APIs as far as PDAs? Nothing, that's what.
It seems like there is something a little odd here--or maybe it's just me--I just can't figure out why this supposed linux PDA has repeat/game1 and launch/game2 buttons
Also if you look at what seem to be screen shots you see some kind of what is supposed to be an mp3 player, and some kind of thing to watch videos(on a PDA?-well maybe it's a good idea?)--and something about development of the OS, and a web browser--the common thing between all of these is that are just screenshots from a regular desktop--there is no way that you would be able to read the text if text this small were on any PDA that I have ever seen
Also, while it looks to my eye like the physical device that you see is a photograph, what they are showing on the screen is definitly some kind of badly drawn artist representaion of what it is linux is supposed to look like
that kinda leaves me two options in my thinking--either this is badly faked, or they don't actually have any kind of working prototype, and are just hoping for someone to..well I really don't know what...
then again, it's kinda seems like whoever wrote the page doesn't speak english either well, maybe it's all just a bad translation
or, maybe I am just an idiot
either way I hope that someone does come up with one of these things soon, cause I know I want one
Slackware: old school feel, new school gear.
likely it's based on an arm processor...
Just one question... the female holographic assistant... will she have nice tits? ;-)
Once again you come through. But I've got to ask, Don't you have a life??
no.
I have used the Pilot since it came out and love the simple, big-button interface. It lets me get a few things done very well. I looked at the WinCE devices for a while because I thought it would be nice to have more "features". Well the CE interface is completely wrong for a device of this size. It lets you do _nothing_ quickly, but a lot of things slowly.
I wonder how they will tackle keeping the UI simple and fast while giving access to the power and versatility of Linux and the applications. You know, I might like this device a lot more if it had wireless connectivity but only a command line interface! They could call it the "bashMan"
----- Indecision is the key to flexibility.
Am I the only one who think this looks fishy? Something about the whole think makes me wonder if this is really a product ready to hit the market.
Follow me here -
Does Samsung really need suppliers?
Why is there no info on the amount of RAM?
It suggests that I can watch my soaps (oh joy) which implies a TV tuner which is not listed in the specs and I cannot believe they intend to deliver real time video in 65000 colors over a cell modem.
also no real information on the processor (strong high performance doesn't say any thing)
Then english translation is poor, which doesn't mean anything itself (mine isn't great either) but with every thing else...
As the story poster noted, the title of the page is wrong, which as an ex-webmaster suggests to me a copied page or misused template, this isn't to say that the product doesn't exist, but a major product like this some exec somewhere would complain. (at least the always caught my minor foo's =])
This looks to me more like a product concept, they may even have a prototype, but I'd be willing to bet they are nowhere near production with this.
I carry a Visor and love it, but if something like this were offered at a reasonable price, I'd be all over it. But I just don't this is will be that device any time soon.
"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -- Homer Simpson
I have always wondered what the need is for gadgets like these. I don't often want to watch TV whilst I'm driving, or to dictate a letter at the same time. And if I want good music where I am, just burn a CD of it and use my discman.
Will these go the way of my friends Palm VII? In the corner collecting dust, still in its cradle?
But of course, it is neat eyecandy. ;)
if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll);
Said Assistant will actually be a small rock statue ductaped to the case.
/.ing a Spice Girls site.
Guess which one will be most popular with this site's viewers.
By the way to save people time the above links are
you could buy modular components and basicaly build your own PDA?
Choose how much ram you want, what kind of display, built in stuff like modem or NIC, wireless etc, choose a case for it. Kinda a PDA version of PC's.
There is a "distribution" directed at assisting owners of Acorn RISC and related computers to install ARMLinux on their systems; this likely will bear minimal resemblance to what would be installed on a PDA.
A PDA represents an embedded application; it is highly unlikely that someone building such would use anything that would be recognized as a "distribution" (in the archetypes of Slackware, Red Hat, or Debian).
Quite to the contrary, it is possible that a PDA would not have an init process as we usually know it, and it is unlikely that it would have a "userspace" that would be recognizable.
If they build a PDA, they'd be likely to create a custom init that starts up whatever set of work processes are necessary ( e.g. - X, a "system manager," perhaps something like cron, and so forth), and this init might be highly attuned to the specifics of the nature of what functionality they wish to "embed."
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Frankly, I'm just not all that impressed with the hardware... it's nice but really not a step beyond anything else... it IS cool that it runs Linux... but I wouldn't buy it.
I heard that this PDA has its own internal compiler, so that you can patch in open source code manually and recompile the kernel to support things like compact flash cards. What a great consumer feature! What lawyer, doctor, or accountant wouldn't want to hack their kernel?
Man that sounds like it must be fast ;-) Too bad they don't really tell us what the specs are (processor/memory). Judging by their lack of english skills, and one solitary page devoted to the creatively named "Multimedia PDA" I'm not holding my breath waiting to have one in my hand. Oh well, its a nice thought.
Spyky
I informed /. this linux pda device with the same link to the samsung Korea a month ago and /. FAQ: "I have an interesting story How to post?") And now the same story is posted here.
/. to know there is a good story out there.
they did't post it!(I submitted the story anonymously by using the link in the
I'd like to know how to let
Thanks
"Samsung's" Multimedia PDA is actually GMATE's product.
It's not clear from the info on Gmate's site whether the CHOPIN PDA and the Multimedia PDA are one and the same or whether Multimedia PDA is a more recent model, but it looks real enough. A lot of the questions raised by folk on this thread are answered on their site if you look around.
I love my Palm, but it'll be quite impossible *not* to buy the Gmate/Samsung PDA if it performs as described and does eventually reach these shores.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
The text of the original message is reproduced here for those who missed it because of moderation. If you think it's funny, please reply and show your support, so that the sad loser who marked it as a troll (which admittedly it is) rather than funny can hang his gimpish head in shame.
Original article:
" The Holographic PDA Project is aiming to develop and miniaturise the current bulky holographic display technology to such a level where you could have a holographic assistant who would take notes and along with voice recognition technology would respond to your commands.
There will be a choice of male or female assistants who will be able to appear with shorthard notepad to take notes and/or display graphics etc. The interface has been carefully designed to be as close as possible to working with a real flesh and blood P.A.
Allied with WAP technology, this is likely to be bought up by one of the major wireless operators. The Project is currently filing patents to protect its IP."
If it runs Linux, "what it syncs with" out of the box is almost immaterial, since we'll be able to make it do whatever we want without too much effort.
:-)
As for price, allegedly it'll be 10% less than the competition, whatever that means.
Check out the GMATE site for more details of the PDA.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
although, what's Compaq doing with the Itsy these days... that rock and roll controller is pretty spiffy...
Cheers,
-- jra
-----
I would not recommend anybody buy ANY PDA for the next 6 to 12 months because you never know what new gadgets will come out using the Transmeta chip.
The Transmeta Crusoe chip is quite powerful and consumes very little power and it's possible we can see PDAs with color screens, voice recording, mp3 playing and have the battery life of a Palm (weeks, not hours).
Rangers Lead the Way!
on a pda, any os you're going to use is going to be stable, (mostly anyway *peer CE*) and i don't see how much different it is if the the embedded architecture is linux.
of course, to the manufacturer, it's nice, because you just need to make modifications to a free product, instead of coding from scratch, but from a consumer standpoint, what does it matter?
(don't get me wrong, i love linux, i use it whenever i decide i really need to get something done)
Note that while they have given it a big ol' 1400mAh battery, information about battery lifetime is conspicuously absent from Samsung's page. G-MATE claims "In normal use, CHOPIN can operate continuously for about 8 weeks with Li-ion rechargeable battery"... maybe if "normal use" is one minute a day.
But hey, we'll see!
What have you done with my LinuxOS ! Please don't abuse Linux!
I hate to see Linux is being used by ordinary people like u and u! That's enough. No more commericalization of Linux.
If you wanna get a good PDA, use Psion 5mx. Their EPOC OS is really nice for this job.
Let's just face the truth. Right now this thing is nothing more than vaporware. There's been lots of this going on in the mp3 market in recent months so let's not get out hopes up.
The LinuxCE group is still in its early stages, but they are making progress. If there are any coders out there that would like to help out, please do, as I would love to be able to run Linux on one of those things. The MS operating system has been the one thing holding me back from buying one.
--
For every post, there is an equal and opposite re-post.
The web page does mention ARMlinux, which implies that it's using a StrongARM processor (the same as the Netwinder)
As for watching soaps, I'm guessing that you first have to download them onto a CompactFlash slot (they'd better be short soaps)
If you look around www.gmate.co.kr (near the bottom of Samsung's page they're mentioned under the heading "System and Asic Solution") you'll find a bit of information about a PDA called CHOPIN, which is due out in March 2000. It confirms the StrongARM and Linux are being used, but the only new piece of info amoungst the pages "Under Construction" signs is that it has 32MB RAM
I guess this means that I can finally give up on porting nethack to my TI-89 calculator!
On the other hand, the PDA's handwriting recognition could mistake one of the single-letter commands for another, with disastrous results... (No, no! I said to 'z' the wand, not 'a'!!!)
-Hypr Geeque
P.S.: I actually was contemplating doing that... (I just discovered the game a week ago and boy is it addictive... I'm starting to dream in nethack!)
Stay up hacking each weekend. Sleep is for the week.
delicious and frothy, why I'd like to chug some tangy horse semen while smearing raisins on my chest and doing the macarena!
Even if this thing is for real, do we really want it?
The key to the Palm design that (from what I've read) made it sell so well and certainly what made me choose it was its simplicity. It doesn't do a heck of a lot, but it does it very, very well. I can pull it out and with only 1 button open a notepad, calculator, to-do list, or address book. There's no boot time and it is virtually crash-free. It has a very smooth and consistent GUI. I have trouble seeing any advantage to using Linux over a custom-written OS. Just take a look at the disaster that is WinCE. I know that there are some desirable things that could be done with Linux but not with the Palm OS, and of course there is the pure appeal to Linux evangelists and to companies wanting to cash in on Linux IPO mania, but it seems to me that consumers would be better off with an OS written from the ground up specifically for the handheld platform it's running on. A handheld is different from a PC in that it is only useful if it can be depended upon implicitly to anytime, in all situations. A handheld that crashes or fails in any way cannot effectively be used as an extension to the user's body, and therefore loses much of its usefulness.
Or did I just totally miss the point?
Granted, it sounds and looks like vapourware, as far as screenshots - the obviously incorrect title goes, and the awful 'concept' looking pictures of the unit - and the lack of any real specs except vague stuff about ARM CPU's and how many inches the screen is.
As a concept, its good (though I'd wanna have gloves on if I were handling it, think of how much the processor will heat up when Mr/Mrs Samsung PDA is shaking its tail feather).
why are all these ppl complaining about linux on a PDA/PsPC (whatever you choose to categorise it as) - they spend all their time on here waxing lyrical about the wonders of this OS then bag it out later. I think they need to remember that Linux is the kernel. The programs ls, ps, cd, ppd and so on are merely programs designed FOR linux to run. The reason it is great for a PDA is because you can take away all the garbage you don't need, and add on or keep what you do.
Obviously nobody wants extended typing on a PDA, lots of the time we pon't want it on our desktops - thats what Tk, Qt, Motif and other GUI toolkits are for - for PDAs, nanoX and Microwindows are common. The thing is to pick a standard toolkit and use it, I DON'T want to have thousands of different GUI libraries stuck on my machine.
Ease of operation via stability and extensibilty is what linux can give to PDA's. As the standard open source mantra holds, if I don't like it, I or someone else can change it. If i create a program, I can keep that as the 'backend', I can then make a frontend GUI that is tailored to the display type. Like all those various frontends to your favourite mp3 ripper.
USB support is interesting, if they've got it working properly, when will the community be able to get hold of the source code and fix it up for our PCs?
Radio? nice addition, I'd been looking at making one for my Nino (for those who know it, I was thinking of a clip on in place of the modem). Though how long till RIAA or someone whacks a law suit on it for being able to copy what it receives.
just my $0.02
FYI, I returned from a business trip to Japan this summer, and they have all of the PDA's that can do what this Samsung can, however I have not come accross a linux version. None of this technology is new. It is pathetic how slow we are to adopt new technology. Sharp makes this unit called the Zaurus I cruise in Japan take a look at this one http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/mic1/text/index.ht ml or click on all of the links on this page to see what we may get in 5 years! http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/excite/zaurus/zaurus-ind ex.htm Yes they are expensive, but Samsung is no genius company. They are just smart for introducing this into the american markets.
by Justin Osborn
To the tune of: G.T.O. by Ronnie and the Daytonas
Little PDA, in the handheld aisle
4 buttons and a touch screen, it's very versatile
Listen to her synchin' up now, backing up yer fi-ee-eye-iles
C'mon flip it out, turn it on, write on it, PDA
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
Wa-wa (Ahhh, little PDA) wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
I pull it out at the office, or in the train turnstile
This little handheld computer, is so worthwhile
I don't use no Win CE, I'm not seni-ee-eye-ile
C'mon flip it out, turn it on, write on it, PDA
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little PDA)
Wa-wa (Ahhh, little PDA) wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
Gonna go on the Net
order a PDA
Get a case and a cradle
I'll be running today
Show it at the conference table
and then they'll say, yeah, yeah
That I'm a flagrant geek
I'll upgrade it in a week
And then flip it out, turn it on, write on it, PDA
Sheepdot: Open Source good, Closed Source baaaaaaad!
i wish to call a moratorium on Neil Diamond parodies. The little 'from the ... dept' has
got that song echoing in my brain, where I am sure it will remain for the better part of my day, haunting me, and maybe even tricking me into humming it in public.
If i start breaking into a medley involving "Cracklin' Rosie", I will have no choice but to hunt you down and make you pay for this insidious echo that resounds between my ears.
In the future I ask you to please be more responsible with your position as slashdot author.
You have been warned.
Thank You.
Anyone want to help me port Windows CE to this baby??
Clapping, Cheering
Yay! Offtopic? Yes. Negative one? Hell no!
You sir, are the reason I browse at -1.
Thank you.
My replacement criteria:
My question: after the Newton brain drain to Palm, what have you Newton guys done? Where's Palm's english-language reader? I have yet to see any real progress back towards the functionality I enjoy with my Newton...
Then again, I guess I've always been a 'too good for popularity' tech collector. Atari Lynx, Jaguar, Sega Saturn, Newton...
Your Working Boy,
Yes, it's the same model. It'll be for sale no sooner than the end of March.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist