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AMD Demonstrates Linux-Based PDA at LinuxWorld

Posted by timothy on from the continuing-to-fail-to-fail dept.

Misha writes "AMD has demonstrated a new Linux-based handheld at LinuxWorld. The OpenPDA runs on low-power Alchemy chips, with support for USB, Ethernet, UARTS. Here is press release. Among the highlights are: A comprehensive Metrowerks suit as the basis of OpenPDA applications, Qt, Java, Opera browser."

10 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Handheld? Or just a simulator? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The submission may a bit wrong. According to the linked release, they're running Linux on a (assumably PC-based) simulator, or perhaps their PDA simulator is running on Linux?

    AMD (NYSE: AMD) today demonstrates OpenPDA, a Linux technology-based software platform running on the latest version of the AMD Alchemy(tm) Solutions Mobile Handheld Reference Design Kit (RDK).

    I don't see any reference to a handheld device -- just to a "software platform". My read of the info was that it was like the Palm OS PC-based simulator.

    Or did I miss something?

    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    1. Re:Handheld? Or just a simulator? by RevAaron · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Roughly, what is the performance of a 400 MHz Alchemy performance compared to a 400 MHz PXA255 XScale at 400 MHz? Do the Alchemy CPUs have an FPU?

      I'm lucky enough to own one of the new C760 Zauruses- the 400 MHz PXA255 combined with a 100 MHz (!!) bus, it's a really fast machine- especially compared to the really slow (30 MHz or so?) buses found in most other PDAs with similar CPUs. I wish it ran WinCE rather than Linux, but soon enough, it won't be an issue. I'm always interested in hearing about possible advances in the speed of my PDA- which these days is my main computer.

      First the Newton MP2100, then the Jornada 720, and now the Zaurus SL-C760... With PDAs like these, I don't need a "real" computer for much!

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  2. Great! by ebf · · Score: 0, Interesting

    I'm glad that almost no one is scared by SCO's legal crap. Now, I want to know if McBride will visit AMD also... Another reason to buy an Athlon ;)

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    -- Eduardo B. Fonseca
  3. Question by tmark · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Does it function in the grand tradition of AMD products and also double as a space-heater ?

  4. Perhaps I'm out of it by kapok_tree · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But I think the best thing about this is the increased integration with the PC platform. The specs read like a low-end PC, and the applications available seem about the same. What this means to me is that a PDA running OPENPDA will function less like a separate platform, and more like a piece of my network. I wonder if eventually PDAs will render laptops obsolete - or, rather, if PDAs and laptops will converge.

    1. Re:Perhaps I'm out of it by kapok_tree · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What if you oculd have a pocket device with a fold-out screen - or maybe a HUD that simulates a very large screen? The itnerface is certainly an issue, but there are possible workarounds. Eventually, it will become possible to carry the equivalent of a computer in an item the size of a pack of cigarettes or less. At that point the PDA as an appliance will likely be obsolete.

  5. Checks and Balances of Moderation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Since this is blatantly offtopic, it is likely someone will waste a mod point on this post. This is a good thing; by moderating this worthless post down, that mod point isn't doing any real damage, such as unfairly moderating controversial posts or posts that express opinions opposite those of the moderator. It's a built in system of checks and balances! Thank you for wasting your mod point!

  6. Re:Hmmm. by softweyr · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Battery life. Check out the power consumption specs on the Alchemy processors, they're way down there, even compared to ARM cpus. I have a Zaurus SL-5500 I used for daily appointment keeping, address book, game playing, and as an MP3 player in my car and at work, and the 8-hour battery life isn't enough. Lower power is better.

    I don't know if this will be a useful device on it's own; AMD creates these things as reference/demo designs to get people to jump on the bandwagon and make commercial products, but I really like my Zaurus. Some competition in this arena, to drive functionality up and cost down, would help make a better Personal Geek Assistant (PGA).

  7. How about trying something completely silly? by ratfynk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What would be really cool is if an SMP version of these processors could happen. Just imagine a 4 processor laptop version using lowpower SMP. I wonder if anybody has thought about this possibility.

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    OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
  8. it's not going to work by 73939133 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have really tried hard to like any of the Linux PDAs and I use Linux everywhere else, but they simply aren't competitive as mainstream PDAs; a $99 Zire makes a better PDA than any of the much bulkier and more costly Linux PDAs.

    What Linux PDAs need is a completely newly designed GUI, designed specifically for small screen devices, not some adaptation of toolkits that originated on desktops (Qt, Gtk+, Java).