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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."

2 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. 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.

  2. 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).