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More on the Samsung Linux Handheld
Max von H. found the
following on PalmStation: "It seems Samsung is about to ship out a Linux PDA this summer, and it will be called Yopy. Neat, isn't it? " A little slow link, but definitely more interesting then most of the other data on the Samsung devices we've seen in the past. It looks like it's mimicing a lot of the wince stuff... also appears to have a camera option. Nifty stuff
tho.
http://www.sem.samsung.co.kr/eng/product/digital/p da/index.htm
That looks really cool, with the web browser and the integrated video. It also apparently does e-mail and plays mp3s and whatnot, but I'd still want an xterm mode. :)
Anyhow, here's the picture with the specs. It's got a 200Mhz ARM chip (probably for low power consumption) and 32MB RAM. Anyone have more info on this?
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pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
Samsung is falling into the same pitfall as the manufacturers of WinCE devices before them. Trying to cram an entire desktop operating system into a handheld is simply ludicrous. Admittedly, Linux is pprobably better suited for these purposes than CE, but it doesn't look Samsung did a whole lot to tune the interface for a PDA. As a user of both Palm and CE devices, I much prefer a simplified GUI like the Palm. It seems like this would have been possible with Linux, but the screenshots still show the dreaded Start menu. Alas, a good idea shot down by poor implementation.
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While a Linux handheld would be cool in its own right, I see very few references to what applications this thing is going to run. Have they been developed by Samsung? If this is going to be a useful PDA, then I hope they are going to have to have some decent PDA-style applications to go along with it.
I'm a little suspicious that none of the screenshots are showing any scheduling programs or other PDA-mainstays.
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enjoy 10 Mbit
yopy mirror
Threshold -1, Flat mode, and newest first
One of the problems with the current mod system is insightful comments are often missed because they are so far down the story that the moderators have used up their points on trolls before they get to them.
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-- Slashdot sucks.
So does this mean Samsung's got a handwriting recognition client for Linux? I wonder if they'll GPL it.
...without a keyboard?
Questions I have:
1. Does a keyboard peripheral exist or is one planned?
2. Can you get beneath the desktop? It would be great if they allowed the user to customize the interface. They could even create new interfaces later and let you switch between the one you want.
3. The battery is listed as 1400mA Recharge Li-Ion. Has anyone heard any estimates of how long it lasts? (esp. when used as a continuous MP3 player.)
4. I want the power! Can the user trash features they don't want to make room for features they do? (If I don't get the camera, I don't want the baggage.)
5. Okay, if I do want the camera, am I stuck with just one choice? Price?
Nitpicking aside... looks way cool.
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Love as if you've never been hurt, and
Dance as if no one's watching.
So, rather than appear foolish afterward, I renounce seeming clever now.
When you hear about something like this, you really have to ask yourself, is it practical? Linux is a UNIX. No matter how slimmed down, it still carries a lot of UNIX baggage. It still has a lot of complexity that a PDA really doesn't need. MS has fallen into the same trap by shoe-horning windows into PDAs and ended up with the monstrosity that is WinCE. Even in text mode, Linux needs about 4 meg to run comfortably. Thats great when you have a 32 meg RAM PC, but think about it, that 32 meg is mostly going to storage for apps. So in the end, you really end up with about 8 meg or so, and if half that is taken up by the OS, that leaves precious little for the OS. PDAs are in a strange position. They are too big for a PalmOS type OS, but too small for a desktop or laptop OS. Instead of shrinking the desktop OS, doesn't it make sense to enlarge the small OS? I would think that a better starting point for a device like this would be QNX. The kernel is 32K, includeds networking, and Photon is really small and fast. Of course you still have the problem that make WinCE handhelds a pain to use. The desktop metaphor reeks on a 4" screen! Ideally, you'd have a taskbar with a start menu type thing, and would switch apps just by clicking on the taskbar. Throw out the rest of this desktop metaphor. There is a reason that palms are so popular; the interface fits on a PDA. It seems to me that Palm, GeOS, and Netwon are the only ones who ever "got it."
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
The way I see it, it all comes down to what you can do with it. You could put linux on a toaster if you wanted to but what would be the point? If you can actually use it LIKE linux, on this pda then that's great, but I think realisticly that all the os is probally going to be on a rom somewhere leaving you with no customization maybe meaning that you are stuck running KDE, Gnome or what ever they want you to.
Now as for all this talk of playing quake or other games, I don't think it would be very good just for the fact of the strange resolution that it probally has, and that there are only two buttons and a directional type pad, would make it bad to play.
All I have seen on this is the pictures on the link from this story, and the info on samsung's page, but from what I can see, it looks just like Samsung is trying to hop on the Linux bandwagon.
It does look like a nice palmtop though, so it might be a good product. I'm just worried about the actual customizability.
-DNS
Hi!
It mentions USB port in specs. I am wondering
does this USB port allows only to connect this
PDA to computer, or does it also allows to
connect various devices to PDA?
Connecting USB keyboard or ZIP drive
could be pretty cool option!
Just thought I'd share a couple of ideas with you about what I think the ideal features of a PDA are, and what samsung got right (plus a few things they got wrong).
First, a PDA should definately run Linux, or maybe NetBSD. These are pretty much the 2 most scalable OSes out there (at least in the downward direction) that don't sacrifice any of the functionality or compatibility you get on larger systems. Having a unified platform between the desktop and the handheld is important for developers, and neither wince or PalmOS does this.
Plus, Linux is extremely stable, which is very important in the embedded market. Think if you're on a vacation and your PDA fails. "Darn honey, my handheld just crashed. I've lost the road map, our music for the car, the photos we took at the grand canyon, and my notes for my meeting on Monday." Not a good thing.
Secondly, the interface should not be a "desktop-clone". Multiple cascading menus are far too much clutter for a PDA screen. The UI should be simple and intuitive and targeted for handheld applications, not desktop ones. PalmOS does a very good job of this. Wince does not. It's my opinion that PDAs should use some version of X so that development is easy, but none of the current window managers are going to do very well on such a small screen, so a new interface is necessary.
Thirdly, the device should have advanced multimedia and productivity capabilities. It should have things like an MP3 and movie player. It should have a word processor and a spreadsheet. It should definately have a graphical web browser. Wince has these things, PalmOS doesn't. It's my belief that a Linux PDA should have all of these applications, but they should have a much simpler interface than their desktop cousins.
Anonymous Luddite: "What do you think of the dehumanizing effects of the Internet?"
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This is great BUT!
-Will it sync with Linux?
-When/Where can i get the source?
-looks a good deal bigger than my PalmVx.
-seems more aimed at portable multimedia than PDA
If i bought one it would not replace my palm. It would however complement it nicely. Although Yopy can do PIM stuff, it would seem more useful as an MP3, portable video, radio, and internet device. BTW, i like how it will use a mobile phone to connect to the internet instead of requiring that you buy a new device and pay exorbitant prices for mobile internet.
Opinionated Law Student Strikes Again!
The GMate guy at CeBIT expected the price to be in the US$400-600 range, depending on memory size (16/32MB or 32/32MB RAM/Flash). BTW: This 1400mAh battery is said to last about 10h ... Mali
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The crinkly bits compared to a palm are:
The pictures on the original page indicate that Linux will run out of 32-megs of ROM and 32-megs of RAM. It also looks like SAMSUNG is going to try to take advantage of all the chip's features (the disappointing thing about Palm is that they didn't take advantage of all the Dragonball's features).
The thing to remember is that Samsung is like only putting together a reference design from Intel with a reference implementation of Linux (probably from Lineo) and standard off-the-shelf apps (like MP3 players) with minor modifications. The PDA-style apps are probably the Lineo PDA suite. Getting all this to work well in a limitted power budget will be tough enough. The first version will probably not contain any wizbang features beyond this.
The burning questions I have:
Thank you for your interest .
our product would be available by the end of May in US and Europe.
Thanks again.
Best Regards.
Paul H. Yoo
Sales & Marketing
G.MATE, Inc.
E-mail: paulyoo@gmate.co.kr
Tel: 82-342-738-1241
Fax: 82-342-738-1212
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Littlefield"
To:
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2000 8:50 AM
Subject: Linux PDA
> Looks Like a winning product.
>
> Where can I buy this?
>
> Thank you
>
>
I just registered yopy.org (G.Mate has yopy.com and yopy.net). Once it hits the root nameservers, I'm gonna make a mailing list for would-be Yopy owners. The email address for subscriptions will be discuss-subscribe@yopy.org, but that won't work for another day or so.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist