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Sony, Toshiba And IBM To Develop New OS
gaijin writes: "According to this article in the English version of the Japanese newspaper
'Daily Yomirui', Sony will use its experience developing the PS2 OS (hey, wasn't
it Linux based?) and work with Toshiba and IBM at the hardware side
to create
a new OS that 'would allow personal computers and home appliances to exchange huge volumes of data, including the high-resolution graphics of a television screen, through a broadband connection.'"
It looks to me like they want something with Digital Rights Management, but don't want to work with Microsoft (and Linux is too open). Evil.
It's also worth noting that 2005 is about the time the next Playstation should emerge. That's not a coincidence.
It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. - Abraham Maslow
exchange huge volumes of data, including the high-resolution graphics of a television screen
So, the product is already vaporware?
Why bother.
What does this new OS provide that we don't already have and are not already capable of doing? You can already watch TV on your computer and view your computer's monitor on your TV. Regular NTSC resolution isn't that high anyway and is easily handled by a computer. You can already store television programs on your computer -- in fact, we even have things like TiVo which are consumer devices just for that purpose.
Also via X-10 hardware we can control just about anything from our PCs -- including air conditioners. The problem isn't availability, it's just that most people don't really need to control their microwave or other hosehold devices/appliances from their computer.
The new OS sounds cool, and the companies developing it are respectful and would no doubt produce a quality product, but there is much more information needed besides the media-PR blurb given in that article. I get the sense that this paper didn't have anything else to write about so it made something up, because throughout the article not one department or source is mentioned besides "industry sources". I would also think the three huge companies mentioned -- IBM, Toshiba, and Sony wouldn't work together anyway. Each one would be more than capable of developing and operating system on their own, and IMO there would be too much departmental overlay to justify cooperation with two other huge firms.
Work on the OS project has not yet begun, but the three companies have begun joint development of next-generation semiconductors that will be hundreds of times faster than current integrated chips and feature networking functions.
Yeah, and the're also working on a way to colonize Mars, too.
"I'll just chip in a bit for RedHat: I actually have that installed on my university machine." - Linus, '95
The PS2 does not run any form of Linux.
However, Linux is used on the PS2 Dev kits for developing games. (The PS2 Dev kits are effectively PCs with a built-in PS2 - the dev kits emulates the DVD/CDROM etc... if needed)
"TVs with the OS installed will be much smaller as they will not need a tuner, the sources said."
And we all know how huge TV-tuner-modules are.
At least several cubic centimeters !
Someone has to say it, so it might as well be me. Does the world need ANOTHER OS? Especially one that won't launch for another 3 years and will obviously be tied down to specific platforms, technologies and underlying agendas (Sony). How many different OS's can you think of off the top of your head already? And isn't IBM hard-core Linux now?
According to the article, the OS will be able to run on PCs and be accessible from your TV (for the elderly the article says) and enable tasks impossible using current technology. Like WHAT? What can a whole new OS provide that 3 years of development on the Linix kernel or some other existing OS can't? Or is this $400,000,000 to recreate the wheel?
2005: I get to use Microsoft at work, Linux on my web server, Simbian on my phone and some other random Sony OS on my television... joy.
-Russ
Man - did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning or what...
Me
We shouldn't be striving for a "standard" OS in all those appliences. (Who would want to run Windows in their embedded systems anyway? Yes, Microsoft would probably succeed in making Windows the standard OS in such a case...) We should be setting standards for exchanging data between those systems instead.
TCP/IP is a good carrier of the information exchange - the global Internet has proven that. But service discovery, naming and security are issues that needs to be delt with. Hopefully, this will be developed out in the open just like the Internet protocols once were developed and not beind closed doors, patents and intelectual property lock-ins.
There have been a number of fairly spectacular failures in this arena. Consider, for example:
Software development successes seem to start with a small team who understand the position and purpose of the product. Once that's achieved, then the team can scale up. I'd be concerned that the three companies behind this announcement are likely to have difficulty assembling an appropriately small and well-focused core team.
I don't know how many times when hauling my VCD, DVD, consoles, etc around that I've wished they could just jack into the local WiFi network and then the tv could pick the feed it wanted to receive by checking a 'Network Neighborhood' type of thing that looked just like picking a channel. You can send video over a WiFi network without any problems so all you need is a tv smart enough to receive it.
:)
:)
Then to be even better they cold make the power cords optional so you could go 'unjacked' for a while and then just plug the system back in later to play/charge. The PS1 already has battery packs so why not DVD players and newer consoles.
Not sure why they need a new OS for it. A simple protocol that agrees on the type of video stream and a way to communicate available channels should work. You could even offer encryption of streams if you wanted to make sure your kids couldn't see the porn your watching. Screw the $400 million. Someone hire me for a year and I'll develop it myself using Linux and standard embedded components.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Check Gamefront Magazine (German). Sony denied the claims of that Japanese newspaper, calling them a misunderstanding. Sony, IBM and Toshiba are developing a shared broadband network, no OS.