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OQO Ultra-Portable Impresses At CES
carpoolio writes "One of the most-talked about gadgets at CES last week was the OQO ultra personal computer (uPC). TechTV gave it a Best Mobile Device award, and deservedly so. It's a fully functional PC that fits in your pocket. Running on a 1 GHz Transmeta Crusoe processor, the uPC packs a 20 GB hard drive, 256 MB of RAM, and has a color screen that slides up to reveal the keyboard. The price? Sub-$2,000. Photos available on OQO's Web site. Similar devices have come and gone in recent years, but this one really looks nice." OQO seems to be slowly migrating from vaporware to a release date - a CNET News article notes that "OQO said Thursday that it will begin selling the device in the second half of 2004."
We must have skipped vPC (very personal computer) and hPC (hyper personal computer). I'd still be interested in a sPC (semi-personal computer). Just don't show me the aPC (anti-personal computer).
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
...And only two or three replies. This has got to be some kind of record.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have backups to corrupt.
Oh, yes, it is. Nevermind.
Is that an RS-232 port I see on the side? If it is, why? Is there something wrong with just providing a few USB ports?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Isn't that called Windows XP?
Test your net with Netalyzr
Oh yeah. I'd definitely hit it.
Damon,
http://actionPlant.com
OQO 1.0
The only real change I noticed from the original spec was a 20Gb HD, vs 10Gb in the first.
--H
..The keyboard looks awkward. With the device set up the way it is, there doesn't seem to be muc provision for placing it on a desk to enter data quickly (well, more quick than dual thumb tapping)
The machines run Microsoft's Windows XP operating system and all the software that goes with it
I know this is pretty much a /. cliche, but I think that it is actually warranted in this case - can you run Linux on it?
I can think of several functional uses that a PC of this size could fulfil running Linux.
ThisIsAnExampleAccountGL@yahoo.com
I didn't get to see all the photos before it got slashdotted, but I don't think it accepts that kind of input...
Jurisprudence Fetishist Gets Off On A Technicality --theonion.com
the server must be on an OQO :-)
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
The darn thing runs windows!. Oh.. Nm. All the other specs sound like my ibook. Needs more ram though.
I don't think this'll be fun to type on, though I'd say it would be much better than the PDA's of today. Looks well constructed from the pictures.
I'll wait for the solid state CF 2.0 GB internal drive. I've had it with HD's in portable devices. I love my iPod, but I've had so many HD's fail on me that I'm sick of replacing them.
-=fshalor
their web site is running on one of these things... probably in someone's pocket (ow!).
Here is another site which shows the uPC -- with pics.
:)
Soon to be Slashdotted too, I'm sure.
Right is wrong when left is right.
that's just user-hostile.
ed
It's vaporware. Oqo has announced previous versions of this product several times, none have ever made it to market. I'd love to have one of them, and many people have been waiting for it, but at this point I'm not holding my breath. I'll believe it when I see it.
/. in 2002 for best vaporware:/ 12/22/022821 7&mode=thread&tid=126
It made
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02
Slashdot should not be promoting hype from any vendor that has a history like OQO until it's actually released.
Actually this didn't win best of show from techtv. The Denon/Mediabolic networked PVR won that award, this won in its category (mobile computing) http://www.techtv.com/news/ces2004/story/0,24195,3 591383,00.html
------
Got Wang?
http://www.battlewang.com
It does look sleek and sexy, but not the most practical. It fills in where a power user needs a PDA, and it seems to have the function built in to become a desktop. But the problem is that it's filling a pretty small niche of people who want more than a PDA but less than a laptop. It's not practical to use this as you primary work travel PC as the keyboard is a thumb-board and isn't good for quick entry. It is an ultimate PDA... but you've got to be a pretty high-roller to spend two grand on your glorified PDA.
Sadly it's probably a niche market item. I hope they find a way to make those innovations really work with a practical product, but I fear they'll be innovating in the field but not financially leading it. I'd love to try one out but don't see it as a practical addition to my tech tool belt.
CharlesP
wordtrip.com
CNet has a picture of the device:g =top
http://www.cnet.com/4520-7912_1-5116369-1.html?ta
the specification seems similar to a nano-itx board, although the dimensions (145 x 86 x 23 mm) seem a tad too small. instead of modding a mini-server into a cdrom drive, you could mod one of these boards into a floppy drive. add a microdrive and the ports you'd need and you'd be well on your way.
No need for an iPod when you can carry around a whole computer.
Just image a large warehouse filled with racks upon racks of these things running as an OpenMosix cluster... Super (space efficient) computing at its best. ;)
No, I'm New Here
Neat idea, but the company really sucks at delivering. At least update your webpage. They are only 3 months away from not updating it in 2 years. That's just pathetic. They need to invest in some more resources and a PR team.
Really, what are the uses of these kinds of tiny devices? Heck, for PDAs as well. They're nice toys but they lack power, easy of use and most importantly, a good use. I've only encountered a FEW situations that made me think "Yes, a PDA would be a good tool for this job." and that mostly involves truck drivers and route planners. For the rest I can't seem to find a use for these things. And I'm supposed to seel em for crying out loud.
As I see it, TINY computers ( PDAs and these toys alike ) are like solutions waiting for a problem.
Hate me!
One of these actually made it to Real Life? And Doom3 is in pre-order? My God, can DukeNuk'm Forever be far behind?
How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?
i think the lameness filter should now catch this "1. 2. 3.profit!!" bidness
and to stay on topic, i would really like one of these, but sub $2k isnt sub-enough for me. might even be worth it, but thats hefty for a college student. oh well, pdas get bigger/better, and laptops get better/cheaper. someday ill have the $ to get some neat tech toys...
use your turn signal! you people act like it's divulging information to the enemy
The specs are still all right, I guess..for the size... but when they announced it almost two years ago it had specs I'd die for, right now it's just a too low spec too small expensive laptop, or a too high spec, too short battery life, too heavy pda.
If it had the size of an average contemporary PDA with these specs it'd be ultra, or with the performance of a P4 2.5GHz with a 120 GB HD and 1024 MB of RAM (a contemporary PC) then it'd be ultra too. Right now it's just a bit smaller, a bit lower performance, a bit more expensive... just a different compromise. Windows XP and Office XP on this hardware? Nothing ultra about that.
They're still speaking in terms of: "it will be available in QX of 200Y" though, so maybe they're just waiting for the year ipaq's have these specs and HP is willing to produce them OEM style so they can slap their by then hype-laden brand-name on...
Sorry to be OT, but this is too amusing to not comment on. Here at /. people very anti M$, but then on the home page there's an ad for visual studio. Is that ironic or what!?!?
we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively - bill hicks
Was also unveiled. It is based around an iPod-like module which uses the same Toshiba harddrive as the iPod and a Transmeta chip.
Everyone and their dog seems to think that Transmeta will never make it in terms of their ultra low heat and ultra portable processors. These things, especially seeing as this one could get off the gound, will be Transmeta's saving grace. They have realized that GHz is no longer the barometer by which users in the know guage performance but it is power consumption and consequently battery life that becomes important as our society moves towards portability bundled with performance. Transmeta has found their niche and, through products like these, will finally realize their potential.
I saw this device Thursday and drooled the rest of the day. While the rest of the show seemed to be a contest in who could put the most flatscreens in their exhibit, OQO drew a huge croud around their tiny booth in the gargantuan Microsoft display. Having held it and played with it, i can assure you that it's not vaporware. And if it is indeed vaporware, then they've managed to pull the wool over the eyes of many exhibitors who all got to play with this very chic device. While form factor is great, the best feature, i think, is the power dongle, which extends the device well past a simple "not a laptop but not a pda" category that is growing. It has vga, rj45, usb, and firewire all of the same dongle, with usb and audio on the device itself....oh yeah, and it does just fine playing back dvd's...Quite the gadget.
I played with one at CES, and I must say you are dead wrong here. Try building a mini-ITX box with the size that this thing has, not to mention the sheer slickness of the device. Oh yeah, there is that 5 hour battery life also.
Look at the size of the thing:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=13578
I spent a lot of time talking to the OQO guys, this is done right. I have not played with the cappuccino, so I can't comment there, but OQO is slick as shit.
-Charlie
so, i bought a fujitsu tablet which weighs in under three pounds. on the road, i access email via a cdma modem, and hunt and peck my way through the emails. at home or at the office, i use a keyboard. the weight was my primary issue. i was really tired of lugging around a full laptop, when the uses for a pc on the road are primarily information gathering and communication.
my questions about the oqo are: will it use tablet edition of xp, and isn't a 1gz transmeta a bit backwards for 9 months from now? i like the profile/size, but i think people underestimate the power requirements for a pc you want to use in different settings, particularly graphics processors.
i would love to see a pc card slot so that i could use a cdma cell phone/modem in it. talk about a full featured phone! skip the p900...
but, in terms of the market you describe, communications are key. and, there is not a slot. What good could it be in that market? oqo needs to be a bit more focused on the market for this product. fujitsu has been doing this for years, and some of the palmtop pc profiles are downright strange, yet driven by customer needs... barcode readers, technician equipment...
my wishlist would be: tablet pc driven, higher capacity hard disk, pc card slot for a cell phone, and a decent graphics card. battery capacity can be added by battery packs when needed. most people don't need the processor speed, but want to drive a decent monitor, though a 1ghz transmeta is so 2 years ago, not nine months from now.
Second of all, it runs linux just fine. The designers have tested it with Red Hat 9 with no problems. They haven't tested BSD, but don't see any reason why that wouldn't work as well; there's some discussion of testing Darwin on it.
Third, I just asked one of the designers about ports. The reponse:
"We've got USB, FW (4 pin), Audio (stereo with "extra" feature lines), 2 docking ports, external 802.11 antenna port and Power. USB is 1.1, FW is 400Mb. On the docking connector, we've got: VGA, LVDS (for digital interface to LCD), Serial PCI (for external PCI chassis/devices), same FW, 2 USB lines, Audio, Power. On the docking cable, we've got a USB -> Ethernet converter with RJ-45 plug, male and female VGA connectors (for flexibility of plugging into devices without additional cables), and so on." There is no serial port on the device.
Fourth, the theory behind the device is to have a box that will convert from a PDA to a desktop machine and back again. You use it in the office, undock it, use it on the train, and redock it to use it again once you get home. No syncing required. It's not really meant just be a turbo-charged PDA.
Subject says it all. I would rather not have the RS-232 port.