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Nokia's $400 Linux Terminal For The Masses

Posted by Hemos on from the gimme-one dept.

acoopersmith writes: "In the San Jose Mercury News coverage of the recent Consumer Electronics Show was this article about the new Nokia "Media Terminal" - a device that's designed as a cross between a TiVo and a WebTV, but which is really a Linux PC, including USB& FireWire ports for attaching additional storage, scanners, and printers, and other expansion capabilities. Has the hacker-friendly "appliance" finally arrived?"

5 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Now what's a hacker to do??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    I guess the challange now is to try and hack windoze onto it. How dare those corporate fat cats tell me what os to run on my machine :)

    I wonder which is the bigger challange... installing linux on a tv box designed to run windoze, or to install windoze on a tv box designed to run linux?

  2. Ask Yourself a question. by Lover's+Arrival,+The · · Score: 4
    This may seem unrelated to the article, but all will become clear in just a moment, and you shall see why it is relevant.

    Ask yourself a question. What is the dominant mode at the beginning of the 21'st century? I would say it is entertainment. Entertainment is the lynchpin of all forms of Human interaction and media these days, from business meetings using projectors and whizz bang graphics to our schools, where children are taught in an entertaining fashion as teachers realise their young minds are used to the compleity and speed of television. Entertainment is what our century will be all about, whether it be in business, education, or government. People in earlier centuries may have strove to be free, or to be educated, or to be saved, but in ours we merely want to be entertained. They were scared of being damned or killed. We are scared of being bored.

    Now, the point about this with regard to these new Hacker friendly appliances is that we can see this trend in action. Everything must be entertaining. It is no longer good enough to have a PDP10, with wires sticking out everywhere designed specially for the real hacker. The 21st century hacker must also be entertained.

    This is part of a wider trend. It is no longer good enough for a computer OS and GUI to be easy to use - that is 90's and passe. It must be intrinsically entertaining, like Enlightenment is, a little. These new appliances are the first wave of the new paradigm of 21st century computing. We had better get used to it.

    --

    --Anticipation of a New Lover's Arrival, The

  3. Answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4


    Has the hacker-friendly "appliance" finally arrived?

    If it's a robot girlfriend, then the answer is an unqualified "YES".

  4. Specs from the PDF by HerrNewton · · Score: 4

    Specs from the PDF

    Software

    • Linux Operating System
    • Mozilla open source browser
    • DVB System running on separate RTOS
    • Nokia Navi (TM)bars Lite (user Interface)
    • HTML 4.0,CSS1,HTTP1.1,and JavaScript 1.5 compliant
    • Netscape compatible plug-ins
    • Support for GIF,JPEG,PNG,MIDI,Macromedia Flash and PDF
    • E-mail client:SMTP,POP3,IMAP4,NNTP protocols.
    • Chat support
    • IP over MPEG (DVB standard)
    • IP Multicast and Unicast
    • SSL and TLS security protocols
    • 2D and 3D residential and network games
    • IR and USB game pads support
    • Upgradeable software
    • Conditional Access
    • DVB,ATVEF and MHP Compliant
    • Parental Control
    • Support for USB-devices,e.g.printers
    • Support for 1394-devices,e.g.Digital Video cameras

    Hardware

    • Intel Celeron ®366 Mhz CPU or faster
    • 20 GB Hard Disk or more
    • Full MPEG2 /DVB compatible engine
    • Integrated V.90 POTS modem
    • Nokia designed RC

    Memory

    • 32-64 MB system memory (SDRAM)
    • 4 MB SDRAM for video and system memory (DVB subsystem)
    • 1+1 MB Flash memory for boot loader and DVB system
    • Graphics and Video Processing
    • Accelerated 3D graphics
    • Graphics and video stream mixing
    • Per Pixel Alpha Blending
    • Special Effects
    • Programmable 2D scaling (1:64 arbitrary)
    • Advanced flicker filtering
    • Macrovision 7 compliant
    • PAL and NTSC

    Network Interfaces

    • 2x (QPSK/QAM/OFDM)DVB front-end tuner
    • Digital satellite,cable,and terrestrial transmissions
    • ISDN,ADSL,Ethernet and Cable modem

    Audio/Video Ouput Interfaces

    • Multi-standard connectors supporting composite video,
    • S-video or RGB
    • SCART signals for TV set and VCR
    • 2x RCA connectors (analogue audio L/R)
    • 1x S/PDIF coaxial digital audio output

    External Interfaces

    • 2x ISO 7816-3 smart card readers (for conditional
    • access and e-commerce)
    • 1x PCMCIA connector (WLAN,GPRS)
    • 2x USB connectors
    • 2x IEEE 1394 connectors
    • 1x RJ11 telephone connector
    • 1x IR receiver (supporting RC-MM protocol)
    • 1x RJ45 Ethernet interface (10/100 Baset)
    • 1x Common interface port

    Content Protection

    • Secure mechanism,using triple DES encryption /decryption

    Digital Video Recording (DVR)

    • Up to 30 hours of data storing capacity

    Power Supply

    • Custom switch mode power consumption
    • Standby approx.5W

    Dimensions

    • Width:262 mm
    • Height:104 mm
    • Depth:314 mm

    Environmental Conditions

    • Operating temperature:+5 C to +40 C
    • Storage temperature:-40 C to +65 C
    • Humidity:-25 to 90%rel.humidity


    ----
    --

    ----
    Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
  5. The Implications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4

    1. More support for Linux USB devices across the board if this grill, er applicance gets popular.
    2. People will start to trust Linux. I think that is one of the main things holding Linux back.
    3. More people in Linux users groups.
    4. They may use this to push HDTV,
    5. Finally we will be able to trade our favorite sitcom episodes.
    6. Create jobs for Linux Gurus.