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More on the Samsung Linux Handheld

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stuff-to-lust-after dept.

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.

3 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Another big mistake by d_pirolo · · Score: 5

    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.

  2. The specifications by Bj�rn+Stenberg · · Score: 5
    Here are the specs (taken from the Samsung page and pictures):
    • 206MHz ARM cpu, running "ARMLinux"
    • 4" 240x320 16-bits TFT screen w/ backlight
    • 32MB RAM, 32MB FlashROM
    • CompactFlash slot in top
    • Built-in radio
    • MP3 and MPEG player
    • Voice recording
    • RS232 + USB serial port
    • IrDa port
    • Audio in/out jack
    • 3D sound stereo audio codec
    • 1400mAh Li-Ion battery
    • Handwriting recognition software
    • Size: 128.8 x 83.5 x 19.9 mm (H x W x D)
    • Speaker on front
  3. Specifications (StrongARM SA-1110) by RobertGraham · · Score: 5
    In much the same way that the PalmPilot hardware is just the Motorola Dragonball single-chip solution, this device is from our friends at Intel: StrongARM SA-1110. You can get full datasheets at: http://developer.intel.com/desig n/strong/datashts/278241.htm

    The crinkly bits compared to a palm are:

    • 235 MIPS @ 206 MHz (Palm is 2.7 MIPS @ 16MHz)
    • 2.5 million transistors in 0.35 micron technology (image if they made it in 0.18 mircron!)
    • IO = USB, IrDA, serial, audio/telecom CODECs, PCMCIA, CompactFlash
    • Color/grey scales LCD at 1024x1024. However, the only touchscreens it advertises that it works with are 320x240 pixel screens.

    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:

    • Does it come with a TCP/IP stack?
    • Does it use X Windows?