Slashdot Mirror
Midori Linux Powered FIC Aquapad
quantumgravity1 writes: "Check out this review of the FIC Aquapad. It has a 500MHz Transmeta Crusoe CPU, runs Midori Linux, is wireless capable, and is totally portable. According to pics included it is comparable to the Iopener in size. There's no hard drive, but it comes with up to 256MB of memory with 32 embedded for the os, but you can expand it with compact flash or the IBM Microdrive. GPS support is in the works, but it already supports MP3 and MPG. Now I just need a wireless setup at home, or perhaps I can do some mobile sniffing. :)"
this is not the first post.
damn.. any mirrors?
Prospecting Stinks. Stop Wasting Time on Cold Calling.
sorry, i won.
bitch! :P
A 500MHz Crusoe CPU with 256MB is probably fine for most applications, guys, but trying to run the Slashdot site off one for an hour and a half was, I think, a case of foolish geek bravado.
So, does anyone know what happened?
Below me. I'll take anal bum covers for 600.
I wonder why the linux version is the same price as the windows version.. I see mozilla, xmms.. all free as in beer. Are they charging everyone the Microsoft tax?
Liberty.
My only question is why?
Why wouldn't you want a keyboard attached to the thing so you could enter text at a decent speed and fold shut to protect the screen? I mean, I can see the appeal of working with a tablet pc, but I thought the best design for this would be something like the Vadem Clio, which has a keyboard that folds behind the screen - Now if I only I could find a real machine in this configuration!
air and light and time and space
LOL! That's some funny shit!
... then I can pick one up for 80 bucks. :-)
http://www.audreyhacking.com
Later,
-Ryan
on amdzone? that almost seems like a conflict of interest...or does transmeta farm out the manufacturing to amd?
as a side note, i'd like to point out that this puppy also runs "windows CE 3.0", somthing not mentioned in the post....i think some of the other crusoe-based books/pads run linux....but it's only an extremely stripped down version for quickboot-MP3 playing.
it's neat to see webpads finally making it to market
moox. for a new generation.
As a portable PDA / computer, the AquaPAD doesn't seem like an ideal solution. It seems that for the $700+ that the AquaPad costs, plus the $250 for the wireless access point, you could get a laptop that does everything it does and more. It looks a little too bulky to use as a PDA, and doesn't have all the features I'd want in a PC. I'm sure the touchscreen is limiting, and when you add the keyboard and mouse seen here it looks a little clumsy and loses all the appeal of a portable device. However, I think it would be really cool to mount it in the car as an mp3 player, GPS, etc.
Funny that AMDZone is running a story about a TRANSMETA powered system. But i guess the Transmeta Zone, or whatever it was, has closed due to nothing happening with transmeta.
"Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire" --Robert Frost
While I am tickled pink to see such new devices emerge (especially those with linux), I just pray that these companies spend money/effort in moderation when looking into such workpads. For all intensive purposes, these workpads are one-way devices with very little input meant to come from the user.
/.'d-ness.
In order for that to be useful, it has to come with the ability to accept a variety of data from a variety of sources (IR, Radio, Laser, etc) and display it back to the user. In a world where you can gather information simply by walking around and grabbing datastreams, I can see the workpad being a useful and hip thing to carry around for the traveling businessperson, or the college student (less books!)
But... until that day, the $1000 laptop + 56k modem will still be the reliable source to get connected when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. So... I just hope that these companies don't expend too much of their energy in making devices that are a bit too ahead of their time...
As for the article, it's great... hope ya'll get a chance to read it... Me? I've already mastered the art of anti-slashdotting...
1) Open Article
2) "Open in New Window" all the relevant pages
3) Read, enjoy, ignore screams of
Why would people put hand writing on a device. This is really bizarre. I hate writing and the last time I did it was when I wrote a check sometimes last year. Beside the design of this device is plain ugly. I wish they could resurrect this laptop you could rotate the screen on the keyboard to act as a tablet (forgot the name...) and power it with an SA-1110. But a Transmeta, bah...
During the course of the past two years, I've spent all my money on computer stuff. I bought an iPaq (which I still have and it runs Linux), a Sony Transmeta rev 2 (600MHz) which I sold because it was really slow and the keyboard barely usable. I bought an iBook with an iPod which I really like for MP3 and OS X fun. I bought a Sony Clie, which I sold on eBay, because what's the use when you have laptop with a keyboard (I hate graffiti) etc... The result of this, is that when I have serious work to do on the computer, you find me on my thinkpad which I got about 2 ago and when I have serious games to play I go to the PS2 or an AMD box which I rev up every now and then. The rest is just a waste of money.
So what's this thing will do for me?
-- I feel better now. Thanks for asking.
I know this will definitely be better than a Netpliance I-Opener because it is legal, low power , self reliant on its own portable power source, has 802.11b, and it makes a great picture viewer on my wall. I'm going to buy 3 of 'em as soon as I see them available. And I will run an X Server or FrameBuffer driver ontop of Xlib, use the program "chbg" to cycle the picture in the root of X, and use the "gtkmotd" program as a template for a better program to pop-up a window and display weather forecast, stock market data, Quake3:Arena server status of games.linuxgames.com, and whatever else I can think of to bring shame to Bill Gate's implementation of a flat-screen on every wall in your house.
But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
For only a couple of hundred dollars more, you can get a full laptop. And at "2.8-3.5h", the battery life isn't all that impressive. On the other hand, the Midori is simpler and lighter. Is that good enough? That remains to be seen, I suppose.
...put reflective TFTs in web pads and laptops? Don't they save a lot more power than normal LCDs? Also, LCDs are really hard to see in sunlight. What does this device use? It says it uses a TFT, but is it the reflective kind?
funny stuff...
Uninnovate - Only the finest in engineering.
When I grow up I want to be a doctor
When I grow up I want to be a fireman
When I grow up I want to be an astornaut
When I grow up I want to be a baseball star
When I grow up I want to be a forest ranger
Nobody ever says, "when I grow up I want to be a Linux developer"
The price of $660 dollars isn`t too bad for this type of device, but I`ll wait until they start appearing on Ebay before I consider purchasing one.
I didn't look at the technical part of the review, but went straight to the part where the usability of the webpad was explained and there was the biggest error of the machine. It doesn't have an adequate user interface to input text. Neither the handwriting recognition, nor the onscreen keyboard seem to suffice. For this to become a success it needs applications that support its presence in the marketplace. One of the great things of a palm is that the user interface for inputting text is good enough for most people. (go ahead flame away) This has made that people are willing to buy it and other people to develop aps for it.
My prediction: The first webpad to be commercially succesful will be made my Microsoft and have adequate text input, like a Pocket PC a version of Office, Internet Explorer and a possibility to port your own aps to it easily. Why? A Dutch journalist spoke to Bill Gates recently in The Hague, Bill was carrying some kind of pad computer. We all know he wants to dominate and we all know he knows what is nescessary to get the product to succeed in the market.
Use Adsense for Charity
As another user pointed out earlier the battery life of 2.8 ~ 3.5 hours is surprisingly unimpressive.
Aside from that I've decided it might be nice to have a little wireless web pad for when i just wanna cruise through the web sites I check out every day. (slashdot, UserFriendly, dilbert, Get Fuzzy, and Dozings.com.) As a replacement for a laptop or pda it wouldn't cut the mustard, but if I had the money something like this (but with more battery life) might be a nice little addition to my bag of electronic gizmos.
Dozings.com -- Its kinda funny... If you're as crazy as me.
Kind wish it had an ARM chip and cost around $100...
Lots of aquapad:
http://www.aquapad.org/
They need better colo(u)rs
M0571y H@rml355.
Seriously, look at it. it looks like a very interesting product, with nice specs, but whos gonna buy it? its too big to fit in your pocket, and if you are going to bother to carry it around in case, (as one of its features is its wirelessness) then you might as well carry a full fledged laptop (except that a laptop is heavier). The only use i can see is for someone you really needs a laptop, but can't afford/doesn't want the extras of a laptop, then this would be a good option. But, there arn't many businesses that 1) have a need for lots of people moving around and 2) will take a chance on this product, and businesses are one of their primary targets.
Only dead fish swim with the stream...
please stop with them.
In use, from what I've seen (for word processing and suchlike) the Crusoe is about as quick as a Celeron 200Mhz slower
eg, a 700Mhz 5400 is about as quick as a 500Mhz Mendicino
Okay, I have to ask : why so much power in a device like this ? I know faster is better, and you can't stop progress, yadda yadda, but exactly who is this destined to ? Meteorologists who need to get tomorrow's forecast while on the plane ? Serial killers on the run who happens to like finding large prime numbers as a hobby ? Linux geeks who want to compile their kernel in the john ?
Seriously, the only explanation I can come up with is the thing is designed to run XP, but it doesn't. Makes you wonder how Palms got away with a lousy 68K CPU for so long ...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Give it up already.
"You have no chance to be funny make your time!" -Glyn
Karma: Non-Heinous
Looking at this product does suggest some use in an automobile application. I have installed two PC's into cars. It's really hard to find the right solution. So basically, I had to design the make the thing. One solution was to use a laptop. The laptop I could just wire in DC power from the car 12vdc. Power issue solved. The screen was removed from the base unit and a cable was made for 20 feet. Everyone including my mother told me it was not possible to run the video cable at 2" into 20 feet. Well that was no problem with the video. Works great!!! The mouse and keyboard I just ran 20 feet from the base in the trunk of the car to the front. Again, no problem with signal. It's the better solution than this product. Bigger screen and better functionality.
Now with the problem of upgrading a laptop. I installed in a friends car a full size desktop. It give me the power to upgrade anything at anytime. I just installed it in the center console area with a leather covering. Bought the screen with anolog screen from http://www.flat-panel.com for $349 dollars. Wireless keyboard for $20. Done, full dvd with win2000. Again, more functionality than this device, with cheaper hardware/faster/smaller.
With the Garmin GPS device that is the size of a mouse with serial input. Mint GPS/MP3 with wireless upgrade solution.
I like the product, but again. You can hack someone better, which fits your requirements better.
With products such as this actually seeing the light of day, how long until we see the big innovation i've been waiting to happen:
Electronic Textbooks.
yes, we already haev Ebooks, but they are _so_ limited in what they can do, compared to what they _should_ be able to do. I want to be able to have all of my books on 1 small device. I want to stop paying so much to buy books when i'm going to sell them back anyways.
Anyone else agree?
"[..supports MP3 and MPG..]"
*Sigh*.... Kids these days..I swear.
Time for a clue, children:
One of those formats is called MPEG Audio Layer 3 Compression. That's what you youngsters call "an MP3 file".
The other is called MPEG Video, or, as you call it, an "MPG file".
See the similarities between the two? Those four pesky little letters that you keep hearing about? Its an acronym, gang. Motion Picture Experts Group. The same standard yeilds two different media formats.
Saying your product supports both MP3 and MPG is redundant. Its like saying your vaccum cleaner pulls up dirt and as an added bonus, it also pulls up dirt as well.
Bowie J. Poag
5th post !
I didn't look at the technical part of the review, but went straight to the part where the usability of the webpad was explained and there was the biggest error of the machine. It doesn't have an adequate user interface to input text. Neither the handwriting recognition, nor the onscreen keyboard seem to suffice.
:)
:)
:D
/. for the info. :)
User interface to input text? It isn't necessary.
I'm looking for an embedded device on which I can build a GPS-navigation prototype for cars. This seems to be a very suitable choice for us. As long as it has a development kit to feed in the apps in there, that's it! (woo MP3 is surely an extra, a good idea, and Linux-based would be much welcomed):)
No keyboard; touchscreen or buttons control would be enough. We don't want our users having car accident merely by a GPS query or searching a MP3.
The first webpad to be commercially succesful will be made my Microsoft and have adequate text input
Webpad...well, may be. Though I'm pretty new to embedded industry but I'm sure MS doesn't get any advantage in this market. Man I love it.
P.S. I know this device isn't designed to be an embedded system from groundup, but I still find it very suitable to be one. Thanks
I am involved in developing a data collection system for a medical practice. This is actually the 3rd implementation of the same idea from the (more or less) same group. Where the system had previously stumbled was the user (read: Doctor's) interface.
Previous systems used a web-based application accessed via terminals (well - in the test case, they were cheap white-box PCs) located in each examining room. The problem was that Doctors tended to feel uncomfortable juggling a keyboard / mouse and the patient at the same time. The software itself received high marks.
The software involves a lot of checking boxes as it burrows down a path of diagnotic observations. Actual text entry is at a very minimum.
The webpad / tablet form factor seems ideal. Some testing was done with PDAs and they were found to be a little restrictive on available screen realestate to be comfortable. The Aquapad seems to offer ample space for even a fairly complex form without loosing the user. Doctors are often already comfortable with interacting with a patient and ticking off notes on a pad. Putting the data in front of them in that pad will enable them to (we hope) easily note their observations and collect accurate data while still maintaining patient interaction.
I would love to have one of these to prop up on my table and just surf on while eating breakfast. Much broader (and current) news than my newspaper can provide, takes up less space, and I don't have to flip it inside out to continue a story.
Hell, I can browse mail without needing a keyboard. At least then I can filter out all the mail I don't care about, and reply to the stuff I do care about later when I'm at a computer.
no price difference between linux and WinCE. :(
makes me kinda sad..
Now, as for Pocket PC, all the might of Microsoft hasn't managed to displace Palm. For Microsoft to throw money at porting bloated software to handheld devices is not going to magically make them usable. Microsoft never gets these things right; at best, they have the good sense to buy or copy what they need, a few years late.
You are right that this thing doesn't come with the "right" set of applications, and it's also a bit too expensive. But it's a great platform for starting to develop those applications, which is what I'm planning on using it for. And as a portable web browser for reading the news around the house, it's also pretty nifty.
I've been reading AMDZone (off and on) since it was first started, or at least very close to its inception. (My last Intel CPU was a Pentium 100 and I paid top dollar for it. I dumped it for an AMD K6 166 and have used AMD ever since. So I came across AMDZone while looking for AMD info early one.) Anyway, the site has never been that good, and has certainly never been objective.
Some of AMDZone's low points:
A typical news story is either about some arcane chipset that AMD is making for an embedded device, a complaint about another review (or reviewer) on some other site, a self-congratulatory blurb about AMDZone.com, or a combination of all the above. I could paraphrase a typical AMDZone news item like so:
OK, so the good stuff? Well, their site is awful and the authors are petty, but they have a lot of news coming to them. Not much happens AMD-wise without them having a link to it. It's a bit like Slashdot, except very focused and very blatantly immature. So if you want to keep up on AMD, then you can scan their site a couple times a week and get the news they link to without having to wade through the mind of a peevish adolescent.
But don't buy anything from them, especially something they review. As far as I can tell, the site is run by a couple kids from Texas (brothers, I think). They aren't real long on cash (who is, eh?) and so wouldn't have any real incentive for scruples. If I see a good review on dansdata.com or anandtech.com, I'll think about buying. But for all I know, these guys might have borrowed against their college fund and could soon be sitting on a whole garage full these Aquapads.
AMDZone.com is like any other online site: you assign a level of trust to information based on your knowledge of cross-checked facts, your perceptions about the site and its authors, and the past history of the info's source. If you trust biased opinions, then please buy.
C'mon, FIC? Transmeta couldnt find a better partner than that?!?
Geez, FIC sucks. Everything FIC touches turns to shit!
I've had two FIC motherboards (a VA-503+, a K6/Socket7 motherboard, and a SD-11) and they were both the most rotten, buggy, broken-as-designed examples of crappitude you could possibly imagine. Dozens of BIOS flashes later, and they still havent fixed the bugs. As motherboard manufacturers go, FIC is the bottom of the barrel. FIC's the sort of company that use the "rush a half-done design to market, fix it later" paradigm. Bleah.
I suppose it serves me right for buying two of them - had to be the first one on the block with a K7 - no one else had any problems making a stable K7 motherboard. (except fsckin' FIC, of course)
Nothing, but you will buy it nontheless :)
You have been warned. Be prepared for some serious Whack-a-moling...
Should invading one's peaceful neighbours be opposed, or rewarded with trade deals?
He has a whole new web site created specifically for a device he intends to sell. He's linking to it from a page which reviews that same device. What are the odds the review will be objective? "In conclusion, Aquapads thoroughly suck. Click here to buy one from me at a special review-only price..."
AMD Zone sounds like a great site. I'd trust his reviews. Way more so than Tom's or Anandtech or Dan's data. None of those guys has a deeply personal involvement with the hardware in question.
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
How about this: The Library Model
You pay a yearly fee. You can download any book you like. It has everything that is feared with DRM: you can't copy it to another computer. You can't print it. You can't sell it. It deletes itself after 2 weeks.
But who cares: you just download it again and start reading. The library makes money by keeping the subscriptions alive (how many people pay their fees to have library cards and then maybe go once or twice a year?). I would pay £20 a year just to be able to read recent books on my palm pilot.
Hmmm. Anyone know any VC guys that haven't gottne completely paranoid about dotcoms?
7-Vodka
;)
:-)
:)
Because I worked with FIC to get a good price.
affegott
You won't get one from me at that price. FIC is not 3com, and the Audrey is not the Aquapad. Audrey? What kind of a wuss would buy something called Audrey?
e1en0r
You don't have to buy a wireless access point with it, you should already have one by now. What, you can't afford it? Then stop bitching.
ageitgey
Because I wanted one, so I found out how to buy it, people saw it, also wanted it. No one in the US sells it. Why the fuck would I want to support a bad product? Have you ever done tech support? I have, and until you have supported a crappy product shut up.
Anonymous Coward
ebay, haha, that one is real funny.
Raindeer
You want a keyboard, plug one in. For most purposes you don't need to enter anything, in fact if everyone used this to read the post I bet it would get rid of 95% of the total bs most people post in the talkback these days. The lazy people won't take the time to post something stupid when they have to tap it in. I'm all for that.
dozing
Small battery, good sized screen, equals 3-3.5 hours of battery life. Design tradeoffs and cost tradeoffs have to be made. There is no perfect product, but this one is close enough for me.
BLAG
yeah, right, arm, 100 dollars. You must be a cheap ass, am I right? I'm just kidding, don't get upset.
Gaccm
Marketing major? I doubt it.
Rosco P.
Holy shit, two marketing majors in a row.
Bowie J. Poag
Who the fuck are you caling a kid? Did you read the article? That was a typo. Prick.
Jeff Probst
Pick up a dictionary and look up the meaning of joking.
Anonymous Coward
So did your mouth.
Wee
Refer to ageitgey's response. Don't you have a conflict of interest reading slashdot and then buying linux based products? Yeah, I'll make loads of money off the 10 I might sell at just above cost, not factoring my time spent and tech support. Oh yeah, I'm not making shit. Dick. Is it possible for you to fathom that I'm trying to do people a favor?
Well that was fun. Thanks to the 3 or4 of you that had something intelligent to say. For the rest of you polish up your jokes and sarcasm, because this talkback is weak.
ignorance is bliss. googlefiberatx.com
Personally I'm getting a little tired or reading about interresting products that never seem to make it to production.
Sure it looks neat.
Even neater it runs Linux.
Defitiely cool because it has a Transmeta CPU.
But will we ever see one at Wal-Mart?
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
I think this sucker comes close to being a real winner in the wireless connectivity pad with extra features market. For the most part Palms and PocketPC devices are glorified datebooks. Now of course they're jammed with features like video playback and web browsing. Laptops are portable but awkward to use when on the move or not sitting down because you interface with them exactly like a regular desktop machine. I've been waiting for a really good tablet system since I first saw ST:TNG.
I think in many cases tablet systems offer a more intuitive interface than laptops and definitely give you more real estate than a handheld device. With a web enabled device you want to have something that can view a web page with reasonable clarity and functionality. Most of the web simply does not mesh well with handheld devices. Then on the other hand laptops don't work well when you're really on the go. Tablets fall inbetween both of these catagories (which is a boon and a problem). On the one hand you can have a highly portable system with most of the functionality of a full fledged PC. With a well thought out GUI you won't miss a keyboard for any task other than typing which is when you whip out an attachable keyboard or a soft keyboard on the screen. On the downside you're limited in function by how portable the system is. In order to be viable a tablet needs a long battery life but enough power to do what you need it to. A tablet also runs into trouble when running anything not specifically designed for it. A tablet PC running Windows or Linux could run all sorts of programs but would you really want to run some stuff where a mouse was really intended to be used?
Personally I'd like something the size of a note pad that I could run lots of different software on and interface with all kinds of network services. I don't think the Aquapad is quite there yet, in fact I think we're still a couple of generations away from what I'd (not to mention lots of other people) spend money on.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
Go to Ebay, pick up any of the linux supported touchscreen computers. you can usually get them for less than $220.00 and by the time you buy an 802.11b card, an accesspoint and a server you sill have spent less than this webpad will cost for the next 3 years.
webpads are a neat idea, but until they're affordable ($250.00 MAX) and can run at least 24 hours withuot a charge/ use magnetic coupling charging so I dont have to physicall dock the thing to it's charging station (Just lie it on the proper end-table with magnetically coupled charging)
webpads have a really long way to go before they are going to be actually useful and adopted by the masses.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
That would be the right way to do it. But which way do you think the big publishing houses (i.e., the already-established companies who would most likely crush new start-ups the way the record labels try to crush indy music) are going to go?
been waiting for. With wireless networking, a nice touchscreen, running linux so I can have my own apps on it, sweeet. And if I get bored lounging on the couch listening to music I can browse online news papers, check and read email. I can have it laying around so that people can look through the digital-camera pictures from the latest trip, and with a small wireless keyboard I might even get them to write some comments to the pictures while waiting for me to get ready to leave. It's a bit pricy, but I'd love to have one.
I've seen people support the larger size of Pocket PCs because they plan to take them on airplanes and play games. Well, this looks like a much better candidate for that kind of application. (God knows you cannot carry any of those monsters around in a shirt pocket all day.)
Games! Build games for this da*n thing and someone will buy it. Maybe I will.
The processer is twice the speed of any Pocket PC, the screen is 4 times (or more) bigger. Yes, games.
--- -- - -
Give me LIBERTY, or give me a check.
According to the 'order AquaPAD' page, the base prices are $660 for either Midori or WinCE included.
I sure hope the situation is that the Midori distribution team is getting money for each Midori AquaPAD sold, instead of the more likely case of Microsoft being paid per-cpu whether it includes WinCE or not.
Anyone know for sure?
[
I could see how the AquaPad might make a nice in-car GPS (Global Positioning System) platform. Laptops are unwieldy in cars, and the screen displays on most GPS units are too small.
Hey...I'ld be glad to port my open source, java-based GPS access library and demo programs to the AquaPad (avail for d/l at GPS Java Library)....IF they send me a loaner AquaPad to port and test on! ;-)
I find these announcements more interesting when taken in concert (ie. AquaPad, Sharp Zaurus, etc.) as an indication of where technology is evolving towards, rather than as the coming of the holy grail of new machines.
Chaeron Corporation
Readers here will know that I want to stream media (uncompressed audio and at least MP@ML MPEG2 video) from a central server a the headend to entertainment devices throught the home with quiet (i.e. fanless, diskless) set top-box style client boxes. The issue becomes: how to control everything.
The Web browser has become a rather useful and ubiquitous interface, espescially with the advent of MIME and plug-in technology. You just go the the appropriate site and get what you want. One can imagine controlling home entertainment devices and requesting streamed content this way. But, where do you put the browser display?
On the TV? It's of klunky to have to turn on the TV to stream some music. Do you really want a browser window on the same screen on which you're watching a movie? O.K., so we add another screen, say an LCD panel, nice and flat, for that display. Great, now you have to squint across the room at your browser. Spend the bucks on a big enough plasma display and once again, you've integrated the control display with the content display. Double plus uncool. What you (well, I) want is a high-resolution (compared to broadcast TV, 800x600 is fine, but 1024x768 would be better), separate display, that is unobtrusive. A tablet PC on the coffee table fits the bill nicely.
There are some technical issues to work out: when you stream content you probably want it to go to the big-ass TV screen and big honkin' Dolby Digital 5.1 speaker system, and not the small display and speaker in the tablet PC (though that should be an option, for previews, or quiet viewing). But, that doesn't strike me as something that can't be handled with some kind of selective proxy in a room (that splits off the right kind of content for local processing rather than send it to the tablet PC).
Of course, the tablet PC now doubles as a convenient Web Pad, letting you surf the net without having to tie up the entertainment devices, perhaps even while watching a movie, or listening to music (perhaps you want to order more pizza). The unit is going to be expensive no matter what, so it should be functional. And this leads to a weakness in all such devices.
You really, really, do want some convenient means for data entry, like the ability to fire off a short email, or response. It doesn't have to be designed for hours of continuous use, but it should not be so difficult as to make one want to leave the room to send that two line email, or order that pizza, using a "real" computer instead. A slide down or even an unfolding keyboard would be nice, but not a clamshell design: you want to lay the thing flat on a coffee table and still be able to glance at the display and pick it up and use it "like a remote" on a moment's notice -- no fumbling to open a clamshell just to see a display or hit a few buttons on the touch-screen.
So, such a unit needs two things: (a) easy (though not for long periods of time) keyboard data entry, and (b) a fast enough data link to support content-rich browsing in it's own right.
Make that, and I might just spend $1000 for one.
You could've hired me.
Secondly, can we please stop using raw processor speed as the only benchmark of performance? Everybody should know by now that not all XXXMhz chips are created equal. This is particularly important for a Crusoe processor, a design which does not emphasize raw computing power.
--
?
I cannot believe that no one here actually sees a use for this thing. Apparently you are all either too old, too business oriented, or too much a bunch of "long hairs".
;-)
This is a perfect LIVING ROOM product. You can sit on the couch and surf while watching TV. And for a tablet PC, handwriting recognition is EXACTLY what you want. Not for serious text entry, but for quick e-mails, web page text fields, and/or AIM/IRC chats. And this thing is plenty fast for those purposes -- its gotta be faster than a blasted NatSemi Geode like all the other webpads have been based on. And not having a hard drive is a nice thing as well (less noise + no moving parts). And the RF networking is PERFECT for this type application. Actually for this type application (a few feet from a base station), BlueTooth might even make as much sense as 802.11!
For these purposes, a notebook is extremely large and awkward (not to mention even more expensive than this thing is).
A 3Com Audrey was a decent product for this but, unfortunatly, it was not built in a way where you could comfortably hold it in your lap. Additionally, the fact that Voyager basically, well, sucks as a browser didn't help much either (Opera is livable under RTP but still not quite "there" yet). Similarly, all the blasted power cords/network cords make it a real bear to deal with. This is why the new webpad makes sense!!!!
And I find myself quite amazed at the number of slashdot people out there who have never heard of AMDZone or Chris Tom. Generally speaking, his reviews are well written but tend to be a bit biased in favor of AMD...(duh). Though personally, based on my own experiences with Intel, I tend to agree with him most of the time. Actually, I am a bit surprised he is dealing with TransMeta on this. But not really, after all, they still aren't Intel!
And, yes, Chris is selling these off his website. BIG DEAL!
I seriously doubt he is making much money on these -- i.e. probably not enough to even really help much with the effort or cash it takes to maintain the site. He has done similar deals several times in the past where he will order products straight from Taiwan if he can get enough people interested in the items in quantity.
These are items that are currently viewed as having basically so small a market that their manufacturers are not willing to take all the steps necessary to find U.S. distributors, etc.
By offering these for sale, Chris is doing you people a FAVOR, NOT trying to scam you for money!
Now all I have to do is decide whether or not I can afford the price tag on one right now. *SIGH*
Like the ones who said MULTIPLE TIMES to hold your Enron stock and that the company was ok???
Midori powered. I was expecting the French green liquor advertised as "the feminine way to puke" by a magazine ad showing a woman puking all over a guy in a tux.
Just as well I guess.
wow, a webserver listed on slashdot.org with only 16mb of ram? ouch.
/usr/www/users/ruined/aquapad/modules/NS-User/pass word.php on line 81
Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 16777216 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 50001 bytes) in
Chris Lee
lee@mediawaveonline.com
Nobody seems to be talking about the very specific markets out there, where access to your company's intranet services in unusual spots or from a variety of locations would be beneficial, but a laptop is too much (money, weight, complication) or too insecure or too difficult to support.
For example, I run the IT department at a museum, and we're pretty stumped when it comes to how to provide access to a variety of services in a variety of situations:
1) read access to the collections database in the storerooms, so art handlers can look up locations while they're in the vicinity of the object. A laptop costs more, does more (which is inappropriate in this situation), theoretically breaks down more (more moving parts, more software complication), and is more worthwhile to steal for more people.
2) public access to web-based information in the galleries or lobby areas. You know, exhibition related materials, maps, brochures, etc. For the most part this does not require advanced input by the visitor, so I don't care much about the lack of a keyboard, in most cases. Laptops fail for same reasons as above.
3) public access to web-connected "Art learning center" stations. Which are a lot like gallery and lobby stations, except they can browse arbitrary web content, not just what I provide, and need keyboards, absolutely.
4) front-desk check-in. Currently we use windows terminals accessing servers via citrix, which is fine, since we don't currently do numbers 1, 2, or 3. But I would like to have one solution for everything, you know. Probably never will, but I can imagine other people do this over the web and might like a little internet appliance thingy.
Is it interesting that only one out of four of these applications involve mobility? What I really need is just a web-browsing, wireless, cheap, storage-less, unalterable-by-the-user appliance. It needs to be mobile and lockable, so it can stay put or not, and it needs to either have a keyboard and mouse, or be touch-screen. If it looks good, great, because then maybe our exhibition designers will be happier about putting some in the galleries.
Obviously I'm a pretty small market, but there are other industries that have analogous uses. I have a feeling the issue is that mostly these services are not provided by web servers and accessed via web clients. That's changing, of course, but given that you can test out your new web accessible Oracle application with your PC, and you already have PC's, lots of people are not heading over to the thin clients yet (how long has this been going on?).
the aquapad site, not aquapad.org but the actual one (which isn't loading right now) lists the only operating system as Window$ CE! there's absolutely no mention of Midori linux as an option for OS.
Have they ditched midori, or is this merely a PR frell-up deal?
The original is slashdotted. I can't get there and read.
What I think, they spend effort to make sure the Midori Linux is working well on their Aquapad. Also, does it mean they provide support too? If so, it's reasonable to charge a price on these. Of course, I expect to receive at least the same support level from Microsoft for windows (which is none) from this company for linux.
A sig is redundant.
Like any commuters in the North-East need 300+ HP to sit in traffic.
-ted
There are a couple of reasons that I would love to have a webpad, but the main application where a webpad would kick the ass off anything availiable is art work. I've played around with wacomm tablets and they make both 2d and 3d stuff (espessialy 2d) much eazier, quicker, and more enjoyable. Having something that I could carry anywhere and sketch directly onto would be awesome, and you bet that it would need a lot of processing power. (and a big harddrive - hint, hint).
:) so all you nay-sayers who keep saying that webpads are worthless devices ought to think again. FIC did make a fatal mistake by not including some sort of handwriting recognition, however.
:)
I would buy one of these for that purpose, but once I had it, I think it would be usefull for many other things like taking notes. Just try typing advanced math (yeah TeX works but this is a case where I'd like a program where it would be much nicer to be able to read what I wrote imediately instead of compiling it first) Also, in just about any class or meeting Ive been to, the speaker always uses drawings at some point during the lecture, and drawing with a mouse takes way too long to keep up (and don't even get me started on drawing with those touchpads/eraser tips). It would be ideal to have a program that accomidated easy entry of text, math, and plugins for other stuff, and use plain graphics as a fallback when nothing else works better, but on a normal laptop the only reasonable input method you have is text, so this application can't exist.
I would definately prefer a webpad over a laptop any day. (If only I could afford either
PS - if anyone is looking to hire a good coder / linux hacker to write applications or drivers for a webpad-like product, Im graduating in May and that would be a dream job for me
Well if you want handwriting recognition check out the FrontPath ProGear http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5771747599. html
pretty much the same, only a 400MHz transmeta, but You can get a 6.4 gig hard disk.