Two Handfuls Of Handhelds

rgarcia writes: "CNET has this story: Panasonic announced on Monday its first handheld computer, the Toughbook 01, which is designed to complement its notebook line of the same name. The consumer electronics maker has been selling into a niche in the notebook market by focusing on durable laptops that can withstand the shock of a fall and can resist moisture, dust and scratches. I know Ive dropped a few in my day. Damn things are fragile. Cool design, though I dont know if its actually better." And an unnamed reader points out that DALinux now has hardware available: "They claim it is Palm compatible, but it won't run palm apps - so what 'Palm compatible' means is anyone's guess. But it is a cool gadget, it runs Linux, and, most importantly, it is affordable." "Palm compatible" better at least mean painless address-book import.

Comments

Same processor as Palm

[Steven Reddie]

It has a Motorola Dragonball processor, so it looks like "Palm compatible" means same CPU. My iPaq uses Flash ROM just like my CD burner so I guess they are compatible with each other. If anyone can tell me how to burn CD's on my iPaq I'd really appreciate it.

Fashion Faux Pas

[SubtleNuance]

You have got to be kidding

This is why nerds cant pick up in public...

Hardware Compatible

[_Sprocket_]

Since the last article on this device, I've been pondering something simular to the submitted question:

"They claim it is Palm compatible, but it won't run palm apps - so what 'Palm compatible' means is anyone's guess."

The only thing I can think of is "Hey, don't like our Linux distro? No problem! Grab a PalmOS image and load it up! Cheap PalmIIIs!" Illegal as they may be.

Of course, I'm a little hesitant to push that point so much. Sounds far too much like not-so-distant claims from Microsoft that if a whitebox shop didn't pay for a Windows license, they were obviously intending to pirate Microsoft products.