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New Tablet PCs With A Linux Option

Posted by timothy on from the chocolate-meet-peanut-butter dept.

Oliver Wendell Jones writes "InfoWorld is running an article about a new kind of inexpensive (starting under $800) tablet PC that runs your choice of Windows 2000, Windows XP or the Lindows distro of Linux. The PC is called the DocuNote and features an 8.4" touch screen with digital camera and microphone. The PCs are being created by a company called StepUp, which is formed of a lot of people from the old eMachines organization. DocuNotes are scheduled to start shipping in mid-December."

11 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Handwriting Recognition by MrEd · · Score: 3, Interesting
    According to the article, you'll have a choice of a Microsoft operating system or Lindows.


    I wonder if Lindows handwriting recognition software will be GPL'ed. Even if it isn't, perhaps it would be usable on other flavors of Linux?


    AFAIK there is no high-powered handwriting recognition software readily available for linux. Is that so?

    --

    Wah!

  2. Re:Touch screen by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seriously, linux w/ a touchscreen?? How useful is that?!

    yeah true... it's not like any of those Ipaq users or zaurus users can do anything with linux and a touchscreen.

    ok, enough of me being silly... I can give you thousands of things you can do with linux + a touchscreen.

    Internet surfing/ media tablet.
    Tabulate data from people.
    access medical records and display them along with showing the CAT or MRI animations.
    Insurance data entry..

    Basically anything you can do with a tablet pc you can do with linux+tablet pc... but faster, more secure and with greater stability.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  3. Macintosh? by MacAndrew · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I hate to reveal my Mac OS affiliation here in Linux heaven -- but does anyone know of any Apple plans on this front? Tablets have interested me for a really long time, so what if laptops are probably better for most things? ;-)

    This is a disadvantage of a single-source hardware platform. Or not: oddly enough Apple has been an innovator there many times over -- SCSI, USB, Firewire, flat-panel iMac, dropping-the-floppy, Newton (oops), Superdrive and so on (please don't bother to correct the ones I got wrong) -- not to say these were all earthshaking, but you'd expect the innovation to come from the huge Wintel market (or not I now have learned, given the slender margins, 3rd-party hardware headaches, and pressure for cloning over novelty).

  4. Tablet software? by ektor · · Score: 5, Interesting
    A tablet form factor does not a Tablet PC make. The Tablet PC is cool because of all the software that handles inputing with an stylus and integrating that with the rest of applications. That software has been in development for a couple of years and is far from trivial.

    At this stage Linux doesn't have anything even close to that. Of course it would be fun to hack a Tablet PC but not much productivity could be expected.

    And here an article about Tablet PC software.

  5. Re:Newton by mbourgon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Operating system aside, the form factor _is_ similar. I have my 2k here with me now. The Stepup's will be 8x10, 2.5 pounds. It's actually quite a good size- it'll be obvious if you're carrying it around, but should fit in the crook of the arm nicely. And the price is good, too - $800 is the price of a low-end laptop, and I think this could be more useful. Add a wifi card and VNC, and all of a sudden you have the web pad that MS goes on about, but take it on the road as a separate machine. Could work.

    Ditto what others have said - what kind of HWR will this thing have that'll run on Linux?

    --
    "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
  6. Re:hmm by NotAnotherReboot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why not? Perhaps some of the features in Lindows are suitable for a tablet where other linux distributions wouldn't cut it, not to mention that Lindows is much more user friendly than the average linux distribution.

  7. What's up with all the Lindows? by nystul555 · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Ok, this may be slightly off-topic, and it may be a stupid question, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who is wondering -

    What's with Lindows everywhere? First they get distribution with Wal-Mart PCs, and now these tablet PCs which look to me like they could be a serious competitor to the $2500 alternatives. Does anyone know anything about the company? Are they a "good" company as far as their open-source work? Are they looking to make any sort of corporate push? And on the technical side, I've never messed with Lindows myself. Is it similar to RedHat, or Debian, or what? Is it stable? Could anyone with experience with Lindows share their opinions and thoughts?

    Thanks

  8. What's the deal with these tablets by jki · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Who is going to buy them? Why is everyone suddenly manufacturing them? What has changed in the world during one year? Is it only the fact that flat/touch screens are cheaper now? Where should I place one? I already had a VT220 terminal in my toilet 5 or so years ago, but it did not work out that well.

    I mean really - why does everyone just suddenly believe these things have a future? I don't mean they would not, but why now?

  9. Re:Touch screen by Computer! · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here's a question:

    I'm a DJ, and I've been using a laptop to suppliment vinyl for doing weddings, requests, etc. Is there a linux app for graphically mixing mp3s together? This would be the killer app for me to switch off of Windows for personal use. A tablet would look much more professional mounted into a mixer case with no display sticking up. So, to summarize- is there an mp3 mixer (a la Atomix) for Linux?

    --
    If you fall off a building, go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will be like hey, free dummy
  10. using tablet to post this by rufusdufus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am using a tablet pc in compusa right now. cool wireless internet access not compelling enough to compensate for nightmareish pen input interface. Getting this text entered correctly has taken more than 5 minutes...finally had to swith to soft keyboard.which sux to.
    novelty at best

    1. Re:using tablet to post this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I waited 10 minutes to play with the Acer tablet PC. I stood beside a salesman and a guy and neither could figure out how to use the damn thing and I kept giving them suggestions. Finally I got to play with it. I dunno. The active pen drove me nuts... the stupid arrow cursor flying around before I got the pen tip to the screen. Maybe they calibrated it wrong, but I had a hard time making menu selections. And replacement pens are CDN$24 each I think. I tried to enter text into the thing using the input panel but gave up after a half dozen tries. Everything just felt too awkward and too delicate and I never managed to get any text in.

      I was able to write in ink but woop-de-doo, I can do that on my Pocket PC in the notes function.

      At CDN$4000 after taxes, it's way too expensive and way too delicate. I'd like to see something rugged with a tough screen I can work with. I had hoped to have something to display my novels on so I could read them and mark them up with ink and invite other people to do so as well and then have all the comments together.