Slashdot Mirror
AMD Moves Closer To Linux PDA
Ryan writes "Mobilemag is reporting that AMD has advanced the prototype design of their current Linux-based PDA handheld, adding full-screen video capabilities, and completing work on the device's battery charger. The device is based on AMD's 400MHz Alchemy 1100 processor." However, "AMD has yet to find a hardware maker that has committed to bringing the Alchemy-based reference design to market as a commercial product."
Acronym Overload:
AMD to announce ETA for OEMs on GNU/Linux 400 MHz PDA RSN.
as long as I can use a command line instead of that pen thing.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Remember to bridge the L1 and L2 gaps. Then you'll need to slap on a Zalman copper heatsink or a Vantec aeroflow on the back of the PDA. How's that for overclocking? Now you can put in your contacts and record voice memos even faster!
And it's Linux...so why not run a server?
Homestarrunner.net -- It's Dot Com!
Well, that's great and all, but can it run ...
... it can.
Oh
topreacher@signature.slashdot.org 1% rm -rf sig
I'll take "PDAs You'll Never See Again" for $500, Alex...
oh wait, that was last article
Sure, YALPDA, but it looks as though it's as capable as any of the others out there. I see it runs Qtopia too... sensible choice considering the large number of people developing for it (and its various forks, in case Trolltech ever trys to call in fees on the technology, but I doubt they'd be stupid enough to do this!).
This appears to be becoming almost a "de facto" standard for PDA development. The useful thing though, when compared to PPC or POS is that it doesn't really matter what hardware it's running on, so unlike Microsoft or PalmSource, companies won't have their exact hardware specifications dictated in advance.
Hopefully this should lead to some real innovation (and looks like it already is) rather than heaps and heaps of PDAs that look and work exactly the same just because they run the same operating system, even right down to the number of hardware buttons they happen to have. I've always considered this a little silly.
Sure, you might be able to code up an XviD decoder. The Au1100 has an onboard graphics controller, and a pretty fast memory interface which is key. I've seen the MPEG decoding real-time on this processor and it works pretty well. This isn't their normal x86 processor, it's a low-power MIPS32 core.
The sneaky thing is that it will run WinCE as well. That just doesn't get mentioned because this is Slashdot after all.
AMD wants to make chips, not finished consumer hardware. This is a reference design for an ODM or OEM to pick up and run away with. It's basically a "Here you go, market this and build it yourself, then buy the processor and the flash memory from us. Love ya, AMD."
So, basically, if someone in Korea took the hardware design and optimized it for a small form factor, you'd get what you want. Don't be looking to AMD for it, though.
The point of a linux PDA is that you are never stuck with no upgrades. It's running linux! You have the source! You can personally update it. Meanwhile an assortment of tiny linux distributions are being quietly pieced together to unify all of these PDAs.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Most of the time, the Intel chips actually ran hotter. I had an AMD 486 running at 160MHz that didn't even need a fan, just a heatsink.
Even as late as the Pentium III, Intel chips ran very hot.
You also have to consider the typical "My chip is way too hot" source. My stock Athlon is running at 44C under load. However, my overclocked running at 2.2v Athlon rarely dips below 62C. People overclocking (and AMD is more overclocking friendly) are going to have more "I'm overheating" stories.
They will probably list this right under, "It makes perfect Julian fries!"I honestly don't understand why this is rated "funny". Not only is this joke old, but AMD chips have been *less* power hungry than the competition (i.e. Intel) for a long time. Even more so with the next generation (AMD64 vs. P4EE/Prescott).
A "Keyboard" of some sort. None of that graffiti crap for me.
EMACS.
No, this isn't a troll. Emacs does everything I need it to do. Seriously. It's got all the PIM functionality in a well-integrated set of programs and it's easily extensible. And the MIT remembrance agent is way cool. Nothing else I've run across comes remotely close to its functionality.
The Sharp Zaurus was pretty close to my needs except that the battery life really sucked.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?