Slashdot Mirror
InfoSync Reviews Sharp Zaurus
Bill Kendrick writes "infoSync has just posted a
very well-rounded (and long)
review
of the Sharp Zaurus PDA. Get out the kleenex - you'll be
drooling." Gotta say, thats a sharp looking little device.
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
hit up developer.sharpsec.com ... that one doesn't bother you with the IE downgrade ;)
AmigaDE should be Cool. It includes technology from the Tao Group called Intent. I'm not up on all the recent details, but originally this was a system that ran a small (~8KB) VM on each CPU and could translate from their byte-code system to native during the time it took to transfer the byte-code from: HDD, Network, or another CPU. Translation - you could run the same software on multiple CPUs OF DIFFERENT TYPES! On the same bus no less. Check out the Tao Group
Lump lingered last in line for brains, and the ones she got were sorta rotten and insane.
As far as I know, it only synchronises with Outlook, via the Qtopia palmtop centre . I haven't tried it yet because I don't use windows. You can get Qtopia for Linux as well.
P al mtopCenter
http://www.zauruszone.com/wiki/index.php?Qtopia
(Updated version)
Here's a link to Sharp's FAQ page about the Zaurus SL-5500.
It features a built-in hideaway keyboard (nice!), color screen, and a bunch of other goodies. Available "Early 2002".
I'm a 2000 man.
I know it's been mentioned here before, but I thought I'd jump in...
The Sharp Zaurus runs "Squeak", it's an open source programming language, it is a genuine, complete, compact, efficient Smalltalk-80 environment, you can read their licence here.
Check the
ZauChu homepage for more information on programming for the Zaurus.
He mentions that the two memory slots would be better with little doors to keep stuff out, and he points out that the front panel buttons don't work unless the panel is all the way up or down. There is information on battery life (and Sharp's claims that it will get better.) Plus, it's not even the final product, so a real full review is not possible. Give them a break.
The sync features need some work.. it works over USB but the connectivity is somewhat limited.. it uses TCP/IP over the USB connection so this can cause some problems as well ( The default network is 192.168.1.x) this is a problem if you are running a private network with this address space. However changing that is no big deal. The sync functions do need significant improvement before this is released commercially. One cool thing is the ability to ftp over the USB link once you include the proper hooks into the linux kernel (see http://www.ruault.com/Zaurus/ppp-usb-howto.html) I see this device in more of an enterprise role and less of an end-user role however.
*narf!*
I would say, that enough detail was given in the "review" for me to make my own mind up about the pros and cons of the device. Which I think is the basis of good journalism.
An article is never gonna be as good as having an actual device to play with. But kudos to Infosync for the information, and the many, many screenshots!