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User Review of Transmeta-Based Aquapad

Posted by timothy on from the pick-up-chicks dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes: "Remember when dot.com's were profitable and webpads were these cool little toys that were going to explode? Well that never happened but it seems like at least one company has actually come out with a Midori Linux webpad...called the Aquapad - looks kind of cool but only uses flash memory, so no storage :( I don't know if it would really be worth getting, but it looks like fun."

4 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. No Storage... wrong. by Arimus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually reading the review they say that the CF slot does support the IBM Microdrives... <OT> wonder if IBM remember the Sinclair Spectrum Microdrives?</OT>.

    Looking at the device it does look rather nice and given it's underlying OS is Linux the potential for getting to do things its not designed for probably won't be too much effort.

    Suggested use, tie it in with a RF locator and web based map of large campus style corporate headquaters and visitors (or employees) need never get lost again ;>

    --
    --- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
  2. Midori Linux? by ukryule · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is this the only current device using Midori Linux?

    It's all gone rather quite since Midori first was announced last year - and the In Use page on their website has only 2 broken links and this device.

    It seems a bit odd that they seem to be ignoring the (large) potential PDA & Mobile phone market in favour of webpads.

    Incidentally, the Familiar Project is chugging along quite nicely producing a decent Linux PDA OS (for the iPaq only ATM)

    1. Re:Midori Linux? by dublin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Pre-production versions of the SonicBlue/FrontPath ProGear webpad ran Midori Linux, but that may have changed. (I tested one of the preproduction units and worked with the people doing the Linux work - I know they considered Slackware, too, and am not sure what they finally settled on.)

      It was a nice unit in many ways: it even supported an internal 2.5" HD, so you could cram 20 GB or so into it if you wanted to. The major problem (at least with the early units) was that it was relatively fragile - not really tough enough to survive the treatment such a unit gets in the real world, and it nneded help on the input front, as most such Linux-based devices do. (Why the various companies working to do this don't pool their resources an do it RIGHT, I still don't know - as it is, everyone hacks up thier own pretty much useless rehash of bad on-screen keyboards and, if they're ambitious, text recognizers.)

      Still, I want a webpad far more than I want a new laptop: The simple fact is that even a mediocre webpad is 10x more useful than a good laptop for the things most people do, especially if outfitted to provide "instant-on" access via wireless networking. (Sadly, the "instant-on" part is one area where CE has a decided advantage, even as totally brain-dead as it is...)

      I think most of the problem here is that web pad manufacturers are trying to build devices that can be both a wireless browser *and* a laptop replacement, driving up costs and ensuring that they do neither job very well. A wireless, browser-only box (or even a remote Terminal Services box using Microsoft's RDP) would sell for those many of us that would like to treat the web more like a book and not be tied to a desk while reading. Sorry folks, but Microsoft's RDP is a FAR better protocol choice than something like VNC for a device like this. RDP is actually excellent, and it would be nice to see open source RDP servers and clients for other OSes. Try the two side by side, and you'll see what I mean. I've done just that with my Epods webpad: RDP is quite usable, while VNC is far slower than dialup (although in fairness the CE VNC client is pretty bad.)

      --
      "The future's good and the present is nothing to sneeze at." - Roblimo's last ./ post
  3. Possible Uses by Selanit · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This could be very useful in a large networked environment, for monitoring system status on your servers remotely. It wouldn't even require modification of the system, if your server has "statu page" accessible by web browser. Alternatively, you could use VNC and get the added benefit of not only monitoring your server remotely, but being able to perform system maintenance remotely.

    I suppose the VNC scenario would depend on a couple of things:

    1. Input problems. Can that stylus/on-screen keyboard be used quickly enough once you get used to them? Having to carry around a USB keyboard all the time would put a serious dent in its usefulness for remote administration.
    2. Using the VNC server's built-in web server, which has permission to serve up one single page containing a Java applet that hooks into VNC to allow web-based control, might be a problem. Looks like the review had a hard time getting Java to work properly in Mozilla.
    3. Using VNC like this might open up some security concerns, particularly if you're a large company. Under ordinary circumstances, you can tunnel VNC through SSH to increase its security, but I don't think that would work in this case without modifying the aquapad in such a way that Mozilla could understand SSH. Still, if you have the know-how that can be done -- ain't open-source great?

    If you're a bit more daring, I bet you could modify this in such a way as to make it a nice, portable media outlet. It's got an MP3 player already. It'd take some doing, but you could make it capable of streaming movies over the network also. 802.11b's 11-megabit pipe is fine for DivX-encoded movies. (Note: the thing's OS is flash-based. If you try making modifications and screw it up . . . it wasn't my idea! Unless you are a Linux Guru, capable of causing device drivers to rewrite themselves by sheer force of will, it's probably best to leave well enough alone.)

    One hopes that future versions might include 1) a hard drive, for example an IBM microdrive, which would make fiddling with the OS's guts a lot simpler and safer. Note that the article says the Windows CE version already uses a microdrive -- so maybe you could get a windows version, wipe it, and install Linux? 2) USB 2.0 instead of 1.1. 3) *Integrated* 802.11b, so you could use that PCMCIA slot for something else.

    Finally -- that green-haired chick that serves as Midori's emblem is cool. I wonder what she's looking at. Perhaps she is looking down at Tux, and wondering how it is that she came to be co-starring with a penguin.