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Turn Your PC Into A Tablet
Odkin writes "Geekstreet.ca has a story on a new concept invented by Philips called Detachable Monitor. It's an LCD with a touch screen that connects to your PC via 802.11b. I found this article in German with some nice hi-res pictures and there's also a link at Philips' homepage. "
You're kidding, right?
Turn off your laptop, and use it as a rigid tablet to write stuff with a pen. Gee, anything is news on slashdot these days.
Am I correct in thinking this would not be good for 3D graphics, since it probably gets its screen refreshes via the 802.11b interface. (Somewhat like a remote X session, which I know is not good for graphics intensive application unless you have great network bandwidth (>10 Mbps).)
Accentuate the positive, don't waste your mod points on the negative.
Microsoft presents something similiar on the CeBit. It's called Mira and is a hybrid between a PDA, a Webpad and a PC.
Read about it at CNet and Microsoft PressPass.
Boycot? Blackout? Subscriptions?
I don't care!
Making a slimline monitor/input device is great, and the pictures look pretty, but why does it need to be wireless? (other than the geek factor..)
Surely if you really wanted a portable monitor, you'd buy a laptop. Add wireless pcmcia card and run X or VNC over it.
Anyone got a reasonable use for this?
First of all, people have been using devices like that for years. Any tablet PC or handheld with something like X11, RDP, or VNC will do.
Also, Microsoft has been the driving force behind making this concept popular this year (Mira).
Let's just hope that the term "invent" won't translate into yet more bogus patents on old technology.
Of course, one of the greatest Windows CE Tablets is/was the Clio.
its like a Sony VAIO without the box. cool, me wants.
I want 2D games back.
The portable display (along with a portable keyboard/pointer) is the missing link in my home network. I carry around a laptop with WiFi sometimes, but this is overkill. I want the smarts in the "house server" and the remote terminal to be comfortable to carry, nice to look at, and not too expensive.
So who's doing this in the OpenSource world?
--Martin
Fiat Lux.
Note that this kind of screen could be the first step to DRM mechanisms build into the output device: They could use it to send pictures or videos encrypted to the screen. Unless you know the key that's inside your screen there will be no chance to get the raw data. Much safer than a software solution. And at least a solution thats a little bit more OpenSource-friendly (you can safely give away the source of the OS without harming the DRM protection, because everything happens in the screen). Also note that the same thing is possible for audio with USB speakers.
The english link is rather thin on information - how is this device supposed to "connect" and "allow access" to my PC?
For my computers, it wouldn't be a big deal to export DISPLAY=tablet:0, but for Windows users how would this work? VNC, perhaps?
Or is this just using your PC as a gateway, and running it's own software.
Any bets on how long until this is running Linux?
www.eFax.com are spammers
Panasonic had a wireless touchscreen tablet, the Cruise pad, we were experimenting with in Army motorpools in 1994.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Ever since the first PC's, the technology in the box has been modularized and extracted from the box. Ironically, the PC was to break us free from the centralized mainframes.
Networking has once again revitalized specialization, centralization and modularization of the components within the box. We no longer think of the printer being an accessory to the PC. Direct Attached, NAS, and SAN storage have moved disks out of the box. Applications which used to run on our PCs now live on the server.
We now ask questions about our PCs. Why is there a hard disk in my workstation? Why is there a CPU capable of immense processing power in my workstation that will run idle for most of its life? Why is there anything in my PC other than the input and output devices that I require? Why can't everything else go in a specialized room somewhere, where it can be maintained, backed up and monitored more easily? Perhaps more controversially, why do I have to bother with that room at all and couldn't it be a service that I subsribe to?
Someone you trust is one of us.
This could potentially be a good idea. I work in real estate Appraisal, and one of our industry's longstanding problems has been going from field notes to data entry. Newer solutions exist that run on Palm OS devices, but the fact of the matter is that the 2-4 page legal sized forms we have to fill out are represented terribly on the little screen. A laptop would be a great solution, but they're bulky. And being in a cold, northern climate doesn't lend itself to lugging around a lot of technology in the snow. With a device like this, I could leave the laptop itself in the warn confines of my car, and use the touch screen tablet to do my data entry. I guess this would only work if the display doesn't weigh very much though.
I've also been looking into AquaPad's, but I don't think they have enough storage for the OS and all of our appraisal software (of course it's all Windows-based... And it probably always will be.. Hell, it took most companies 7 years just to make 32-bit versions of their software.). Toshiba also has a laptop coming out that's supposed to be >3 lbs. and has a rotatable (sp?) lcd. When the lcd is rotated around so that the laptop is closed but the screen is on the outside, it uses a stylus for data entry. If this thing is not too cumbersome this might also work.
It's nice to see that there are people out there working on these things, and I imagine that in 5 years truly usable handheld tablet devices will be ready for the mainstream. Hey look at the bright side-- that's only 15 years after they were announced.
Is it just me, or do those pictures look computer generated? The logos and things look fake to me.
Not to say that the whole thing is fake, just those high-res pictures look more like 3D concept art than anything else.
Putting blocks together (any kid can do it):
More than that in modularity concept
Consistant Common Connection
And the OS to handle the software side will be the Hurd.
XXXXX
funny
XXXXX
haha
those pictures are really his-res, 200kb, 800kb, 1100kb? this site's gonna be up for a while... someone should mirror it.
it's nothing impressive to look at, btw.
Runnin' On Empty
I use a computer for MP3s, DVDs and poor-man's TIVO. I have it set up with a dual display with one of the displays piped to my TV and the other going to a large monitor. Right now I use a wireless keyboard and mouse to control the whole thing, but a detachable, flat-panel, touch-screen monitor would be even better. Basically it would act as nifty remote control for my little world of convergence. Right now I have to run the computer monitor at 640x480 'cause it's on the other side of the room. If I had the detachable flat panel I could run at a decent resolution without squinting. I _could_ just put the computer next to the couch and run a bunch of extension wires, but the flat-panel looks like a much more elegant solution.
The worst blah blah blah and you people have the gall to be discussing tablet PC's? My *god* people, GET SOME PRIORITIES!
You people make me sick!
(Too tired to update this troll for current events)
From http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index.cfm:
---
Wacom's Cintiq combines the advantages of an LCD monitor with the control, comfort, and productivity provided by a Wacom tablet. The LCD monitor is clear, bright and easy to look at. The Cintiq pen has 512 levels of pressure-sensitivity, is cordless, and batteryless and includes both a DuoSwitch and a pressure-sensitive eraser. The Cintiq pen is used directly on the screen offering everyone from designers and illustrators to doctors and professors a powerful and intuitive new way to work on their computers.
The Cintiq LCD monitor is a true-color active matrix screen providing 16.7 million colors, a resolution of 1024 x 768 and a full 15" diagonal viewing area (the equivalent of a 17" CRT monitor).
For comfort and convenience, Cintiq features a removable pen holder that can be attached to either side and adjusted to your preferred height and angle. The Cintiq stand allows you to easily adjust the angle of your Cintiq screen between 18 and 73 degrees - and you can even remove the stand to comfortably rest the Cintiq in your lap.
---
It also works with UNIX.
I was pointing out that this concept has been around, in working models, for a LONG time. I was not recently invented as the article indicates.
All these companies from microsoft to phillips keep talking about having a "revolution in handheld computing." Where the hell is it? Can I buy it today? No. We're still 5 years behind where we were when we lost the newton. Grr... I wish these people would put their chips up and let me vote with my wallet.
"If you are an idealist it doesn't matter what you do or what goes on around you, because it isn't real anyway."-R.P.W.
It's a lengthly video, but Microsoft demonstrated this very use at CES. Video can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ehome/news/news.a sp.
r a.asp
What you're talking about is exactly what I've been looking for from a PC as well. Microsoft is bundling this "Mira" detachable screen and their new "Freestyle" interface to deliver exactly the home media center that you're describing.
The first version has the following limitations:
1. Only one user session can be active
2. No video or high-end graphics
There's another good overview of these technologies here: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/freestyle_mi
How in the hell are they getting video to the monitor over 802.11b. The article doesn't cover this aspect at all.
I can just imagine trying to decipher the text in my editor through all the block artifacts left from the MPEG compression they are doing to the video?!
"And like that
What? A post touting a Microsoft product is moderated UP on slashdot? I did type slashdot.org correctly, there must be something wrong with my DNS server.
IBM follows a much more interesting concept when it comes to such hybrid devices. It's called Meta Pad and is currently developed by IBM Research.
The MetaPad provides different services in different environments without rebooting.
Boycot? Blackout? Subscriptions?
I don't care!
One of my favourite concepts is the PaceBook. It's a kind of web pad or panel pc plus wireless keyboard. Both parts ship in a special bag so you can also use the system like a notebook.
:)
(And it looks as if the device is actually available
Other than the implementation through 802.11b I don't see any major difference between this remote station and similar ones that have been implemented in the last few years. All are great for a basic remote access terminal, but lack a few critical features such as access speed (for a true high resolution tablet with good response back and forth I would think one would need a pipe larger that 802.11b supplies) ease of use (I notice that the details on rechargability and battery life were sketchy)and a reason for use other than "geek factor" (not that geek factor isn't a fine thing in and of itself). I can't think of one single compelling reason to have one of these things around my house. Well one single compelling reason that would be worth the pricetag (and please factor in a 802.11b hub because they are not, regardless of what you would hear, standard equipment in all young urbanite homes yet).
Find out about my new childrens book: SS Death Camp Criminal Batallion Go To Monte Carlo For The Massacre
If we all rush out and buy all the 802.11b and Bluetooth gadgets that marketdroids are shrieking about, aren't we going to run out of bandwidth really fast, especially given that 802.11b and Bluetooth share a frequency and don't play nicely together? Sure, we've got used to contending for network resources, but hands up who would swap a wired in IO peripheral for a wireless one that has any sort of lag or stutter, even (or especially) intermittent jerkiness. You're going to spend $$$ on a bunch of super-hardware and then tolerate a worse user experience? Excuse me if I don't put down a deposit right now.
Huh, I shouldn't speak. I develop voice over IP, and we're still stuck with IPv4 (with no QoS). Our marketdroids actually tell customers that the choppy voice quality is all in their imagination. Funnily enough, they're not buying that, in any sense of the word, and I wouldn't buy this product either unless I could test it thoroughly in a realistic office environment first.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
It doesn't seem to be a new concept at all.
While it doesn't go into depth, several PC tablets where covered at TechTV in their article Tablet PCs: The New Ultraportable? based on their shown of February 7. It would seem to have the links to the major players. Now what I want to is is get my audio/video routed then controlled by such a beast.
1. Only one user session can be active
2. No video or high-end graphics
Interestingly, the one user session limit is strictly a licensing restriction on XP. XP Professional is limited to a single remote user connection not because of technical limits, but because MS doesn't want people running terminal services without paying for a server OS. The RDP in XP is pretty much identical to the RDP that has existed in NT Terminal Server and Win2k server platforms for the past few years. That said, I don't see that limitation being a drawback to this particular product since it is more geared toward a single-user environment (where you can carry your desktop computing environment with you to the conference room or to the toilet) and not toward having a ton of roaming users off of this single box, although it would be nice to be able to run the type of home entertainment system from one box and have multiple clients scattered throughout the house.
I've been experimenting with this type of use at home. I've use both a Panasonic CF-01 and a Fujitsu Stylist 1200, using 802.11b. They are hooked into one of my machines that has a DSL connection. Having wireless web surfing was my prime reason. A few issues that I've experienced:
Battery life - 802.11b pcmcia cards seem to suck the lifeblood out of batteries. They really drain dry within an hour or two. They also generate a large amount of heat.
Screen Size - 800x600 would be the bare minimum for surfing. Anything less really is sub optimal on the user experience.
Keyboard input - In my opinion, this is a huge limitation. No keyboard means using sometype of onscreen keyboards, which really sucks. It's painful to type sentences by tapping on the screen and the "writing" recognition just isn't there yet. The killer app for these wireless handhelds will be someone coming up with a easy and RELIABLE way of entering textual data.
-jim
View the viewsonic product Here (Which I like better IMHO)
Microsofts video of a family happily using their portable monitor: Here
I the title of the article is a little off. These products are more like simple portable monitors more than anything else. If anything they are glorified WinCE machines.
Tablets are entire computers that are held and used like the product above, except your actually carrying around the entire device. Microsoft showed some manufacturers products @ Comdex and is even releasing a Tablet Edition of Windows XP
-
aphex
I Steal Music!
The Viewpad 1000 in my lap seems to be working just fine and the airplane 100 is available in May 2002.
"Geekstreet.ca has a story on a new concept invented by Philips called Detachable Monitor
Considering Microsoft already have 'invented' the idea (Mira), and that Philips have just announceed that it will deliver Mira devices, don't you think the article summary is a bit um...made up?
Perhaps this article would never have made it to the main page if it had said that Microsoft 'invented' the idea.
That's my answer: VNC! I can set up my laptop to take control of the multimedia computer with VNC. It's already wireless too. If I wanted too I could even run the multimedia computer without a monitor and reclaim the extra space. That's what I hate about /. I see something very cool that I want to spend money on and you all take away my fun by showing me I can get the same thing for free. :(
TW
Yes, this may be considered a troll, but, I'm so sick of all the cry-baby whiners and complainers on slashdot. Most of you just bitch and moan about products and stuff you've never even seen or used.
:)
:D
I for one *have* used this device and it was incredible. It was connected to a tivo-like box,
a stereo and a home computing system. You could watch TV or movies or surf the web, from anywhere in the base station range. I listened to mp3's too
So, for all you disparaging this product, wait until you get to try one before you make a fool of yourself in front of all us slashdotters...
... that they forgot to put on the tablet, is a retractable can holder to attach a bottle of glassex or mr. clean (whatever your fav brand) and add a wiper (the mercedes benz style, single blade) to the tablet, in order to clean the screen every once in a while. I found myself using my iPaq without a stylus because I lost it on a trip. It's incredible how the screen gets greasy and dirty quickly. It becomes so murky that you end up obtaining an anti-aliasing blur effect.
PPA, the girl next door.
-- I feel better now. Thanks for asking.
You're kidding, right?
Ahem. Philips' North American jingle is taken from a Beatles tune:
I've got to admit
It's getting better,
A little better all the time...
What their marketing department apparently doesn't know is that the very next line is:
It can't get no worse
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
Products already existed that allowed you to put a touch screen to a currently existing monitor, this product right here is just an evolution of those other products.
:)
:D
:) )
Now once they release one for which a Waccom Airbrush works on (They are those Digital Airbrushs that detect tilt and have flow control and every other possible feature. They are Very Nifty Indeed(:D) ) I will be right out to buy it.
Well right after it drops below $400 or so, hehe.
Still though, I am instantly thinking of the artistic possabilities for this.
No, wait. The UI possabilities! YA!!!!
Heh, can I set the machine up so it has five "mouse pointers" going on at once? Hehehe. I have long fingers so I could get some REALLY [i]creative[/i] usage out of this thing, LOL! Would give a whole new meaning to the term multitasking, LOL!
"Oh yah, hell, I'm just playing Quake3, UT, and Half-Life all at once."
(Ok so my poor left hand would run out of fingers to use to control all of my characters, but hey, hehe. I could still do Defender, Breakout, and Joust all at once.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
But I want to change my tablet into a PC!!??!!
Apple users have been preeching this things praises for months. We all thought this is what Steve had in store for us in the new iMac. Oh well, I guess we can't have all the inovations to ourselves...
-dewhite
I have this Toshiba 486, running Win3.1. It has a little stylus pen which you use to click, draw, write, whatever on the screen. It's got 8mb ram, a 40mb hard drive, a ps-2 connected keyboard, pcmcia sockets, the works. I maximize paint.exe and let my child draw stuff on it.
Point being, tablet type pc's are hardly new, and hardly as fun as the marketing folks would have you believe. It's just another thing they want to sell you.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
The detachable monitor isn't a standalone machine - it's the display of your existing desktop PC.
When you buy a separate webpad to be able to read electronic text anywhere in the house you get a proprietary operating system and browser, no support for the latest web plugins and standards and not much choice in general.
With a detachable screen you get to reuse your operating system, software, hard disk, CDROM, broadband connection, local files, bookmarks, etc. And, of course, you don't pay twice for the LCD screen itself which is the most expensive component.
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
with a bad hangover.
My monitor was missing again.
This happens all the time; its detachable.
It's a wireless terminal, move along, nothing to see.
So, if I'm reading this right, it will run Windows CE, and allow you to do remote desktop stuff with a Windows XP machine via Windows Terminal Server. That sounds really nifty, except I don't want to run Windows XP, ever. ,but the install is sooooooooooo much easier.
Perhaps it could also net-boot and run Linux Terminal Server, instead. Are there any good X Servers for Windows CE? Any GPL'd? I think there is a GPL'd Java one that might run on Windows CE.
I know that VNC runs on Windows CE. While VNC is very slow when connecting to a Windows machine, it is quite fast connecting to a Linux machine. From what I understand, it isn't as fast as Cygwin/Xfree
It's not wireless, and it's not cheap, but check out the Wacom Cintiq. I saw one at a Mac store and I'd definitely make do...
More importantly, what about security? At school, we love changing somebody else's background when they forget to xhost -. We've all heard the stories of 802.11 networks not being secured properly. What's to prevent somebody from taking over the connection, or mirroring what's being displayed? Will people start trying to intercept the entire video signal, rather than just the data packets?
I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
Just captured 800x600 Netscape window with slashdot and saved as bmp(rle), gif, jpg and tif (every format have it's flaws; sorry, no png here). Results (assuming we've got 11 Mbit/s):
Size Extfps
190490 bmp 7.2
57274 gif 24.0
254061 jpg 5.4
82080 tif 16.8
24 fps is pretty playable. Gif discards true color but lcd are not good at displaying colors anyway. Translating delta and few tricks with remote GDI, MPEG and 3D will make it absolutely smooth.
You're confusing Mira with the Tablet PC. They are two different concepts. There are plenty of comments here if you want to know what Mira actually is. (Hint: it's exactly like this "detachable monitor" concept.)
And unless you've got access to information other than the two articles presented, you're making assumptions about the Philips product. With it's talk of being able to edit photos or watch TV without booting your PC, it sounds like it has it's own OS, which could quite possibly be proprietary. And there's no mention of what OSes it's compatible with, so who knows if you're going to be able to keep your OS or not...
It's nice to see slashdot.org announcing innovations coming out of Microsoft, but it would be nice if you'd properly attribute them as well.
I dunno...something about the pictures on that website do not look real. They look like cg renderings. Notice especially the light sources like the led's.
Save your money... Buy a laptop with 802.11 It'll be faster. The display will look better. You'll have a keyboard and, someone else in your family will still be able to use your desktop machine at the same time!
The only thing new and innovative about this thing is the fact that it's wireless. Wacom has had an incredible little tablet lcd you can sit on your lap or desktop and draw directly on the screen with for years. Pretty good tech, expensive as hell though. I guess they'll have to come up with a new model that's wireless to compete now.
i keep seeing these on ebay. they have what looks like a 486-100mhz with 32 megs of ram. it looks like a lcd monitor without a base, but that's the whole computer. not a bad little device for less than $200 used.
Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
I work on the Microsoft team that's developing the software for this. Just for the record, philips didn't invent this. Viewsonic, Sony and more OEM/ODM partners will also ship similar devices. It's mostly an RDP client that just remotes the XP pro desktop to the device. The device runs the next version of Windows CE, and there is host software to make the experience better. It comes in several form factors, the philips device is one of them. It's very cool and we're really excited about it - using these at home is a real treat. There's a lot more information out there on this than I can put here, just search for Mira here and elsewhere.
What if instead of just sending raw video like many programs do today, what if the processor takes the video, and describes it? Instead of sending the text as a bitmap, send it as text, and tell the fontsize, etc. Is this done already? This would save much more bandwidth I would think.
I laugh whenever I hear about decentralized computing, because it assumes the people running the decentrialized systems are competent and above board and would NEVER screw anyone over or scrimp here and there to save a few bucks. How did this get modded up so high? There will be a huge market in providing these services in a complimentary fashion, however.. but, since you asked:
Why is there a hard disk in my workstation?
Where, exactly, will you store all your pr0n? Are you going to accept huge latencies to move data around? Are you going to trust that the provider of space-of-the-week isn't going to get a court order from the RIAA/MPAA to get rid of your goodies, or serve you with a summons? How about playing your games? Are you going to trust whatever encryption they offer?
Why is there a CPU capable of immense processing power in my workstation that will run idle for most of its life?
Because it costs $100 bucks, and will be $50 bucks in a year? CPU power is cheap, and we're nowheres near what's required for the next generation of applications. Will you trust your provider of CPU cycles to always have what you want on demand, and never scrimp to save money? The real question here should be "why do I only have one CPU in my machine" or "why aren't rack mount home basement clusters more popular". My definition of "immense processing power" and yours are likely quite different. Call me when I can get real-time photorealistic 3D pr0n, then, maybe, we can talk about there being enough CPU power in my box.
Why is there anything in my PC other than the input and output devices that I require?
Ummmmmm.. that's what's in your PC now. There's no reason to control the data in a central spot, you're right. Anyone who assumes users will mindlessly buy into service models when stuff is cheap is fooling themselves. Does anyone remember Divx, and how hard that flopped? Think about it. That's why most of us have home servers.
Why do I have to bother with that room at all and couldn't it be a service that I subsribe to?
Anyone stupid enough to buy into this gets what they deserve.
..don't panic
I remember back when i was about 6 or 7 (circa 89/90) dad bought home an NEC 'pen' computer that ran 'Microsoft Windows For Pen 1.0' (which was basically windows 3.11 but designed for the touch screen)... It was about the 2cm thick and the size of an A4 hardback book.
IBM have also been making them for years but they're much bigger and chunkier and heavier... and a *lot* more expensive. When i was doing work experience at their laptop centre here in melbourne one of the ones they sold to telstra (our biggest telco) came back covered in mud (one of their field techs had dropped it in the mud) and they were gonna have to replace just about every part of it (and charge telstra $20k to do so)
So, you've got an O:Line? That dont impress me much du du da du.
Once upon a time, only the mainframes had enough power to do anything useful. The terminals had a chip to display characters on a screen and send keystrokes back, and that was all.
Then the PC came around, and everyone could have their own system. Ownership! They could keep their own private stuff private! But the cost was that they could only access their stuff at their own computer.
Since then, times have changed. Computers have become hundreds of thousands of times more powerful, and much more capable. Since we can do so much more with them, a much greater portion of our lives is associated with them.
So times have changed again -- not only do we need our OWN computers, but we need access to them all the time! And since not every computer is appropriate for every job, we have multiple computers. Every time we use a computer, we want to use its capabilities (location, portability, power), but we want access to all of the software and data we use at the other ones.
Now all of our computers are potential mainframes. It isn't a problem that the CPU runs idle all the time (you can even run SETI or DNETC). You get your money's worth out of what you do use.
So we aren't going back to "Mainframe Computer." And there isn't a "Personal Computer" either. It is simply "Computers." You can use any computer wherever you are to get your data, manipulate it (software), and store it back. You use the local resources (the computer at hand), and your personal resources (the computer at home), and some public resources (the servers online) and get your job done.
It isn't that the pendulum has swung back to mainframe from PC. It is that we now have the power to keep the benefits of mainframe and the benefits of PC, and add some additional benefits.
Of course, keeping it all simple is the hard part... But the Phillips tablet (Mira) seems to be a step in the right direction.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
While I didn't and wont deny your points regarding data ownership and privacy, I'd be more cautious about your technology presumptions. Latencies around hard drives are huge, and they haven't changed much over the past 10 years. It certainly is not keeping pace with networking and transport speeds. Your 100Mbs NIC has roughly the same throughput of the latest and greatest IDE drives. GigE has about 6-8 times the throughput of a disk drive and 10GigE has 60-80 times the throughput. It's just a matter of time before drive latency is outpaced by networking latency.
Network Latency is an issue, but on the LAN it is already noise compared to spindle speeds. It wont be long before the WAN is no different.
While I'm personaly not going to put my storage in some SP, I will put in my closet.
Someone you trust is one of us.
How hard Divx flopped? What are you talking about?
Perhaps you should put it in context. The Divx I'm thinking of is an mpeg-4 video codec that encodes at about 40% better than mpeg-2 a lot of the time. That codec is currently in widespread use on desktop machines everywhere. I don't see how this has any relavence to servers at all.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
I think that the Divx that he was referring to was the failed DVD extension marketed by Circuit City. The system employed encoded DVDs that required phone line activation to allow you to view them. The basic idea was the capacity to purchase DVDs cheaply and then essentially view them on a rental basis. Needless to say the technology tanked badly, so badly that the Divx compression scheme not only took the name without resistance, but the original technology is nearly forgotten.
Microsoft is supposed to be coming out with some tablet thing called Mira. While the idea sounds intersting, I don't think I need or want another Microsoft product.
Well, then I came across an annoucement at Internet Product Watch about this new Linux based tablet that seems pretty cool. Open OS... Open hardware... Good design, and the embedded universal remote control is pretty darn cool as well.
Think this would fly? Think it's another vapor-product?
HERE's a URL for this Linux thing.