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Forget the PDA, Here Comes the TDA

Roland Piquepaille writes "A French company has just started to sell the Jackito, the first 'Tactile Digital Assistant' (TDA). This new kind of PDA has no stylus, doesn't offer handwriting recognition and has no keyboard. Instead, it is based on touchscreen technology and relies entirely on your thumbs for input -- which are harder to lose than a stylus. And as Jackito has two simultaneous touch points, you can operate it with your two thumbs at the same time, at least according to the company. For an entry price of $600, you'll get parallel-processing capabilities with 7 processors and plenty of brand new technology, including 3ActilOS, a multitasking OS, which is not even referenced by Google. So be warned before purchasing one! However, the approach is pretty unique and I wish them good luck. Before opening your wallet, you'll find some selected pictures in this summary."

7 of 390 comments (clear)

  1. I only have one thumb! by raehl · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Those insensitive clods!

  2. Re:Is it just me... by hellfire · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I happen to like ham sandwiches. Especially with the right cheese and mustard. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm Ham sammich... *head lolls back while drooling commences*

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    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

  3. Re:What's the target market? by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Bluetooth is a wireless technology.

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  4. Wacky Screen Pricing by MSTCrow5429 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Apparently, the unit, sans screen, costs $600. If you want a screen for some reason, a B/W costs $123, while color is only a mere $15 bucks more, for $138. Totally nuts you have to pay more for a screen, should just be honest and sell two models, one for $723 and another for $738. F'ing retarded to try and slip in a lower unit price by pretending the screen is an optional accessory (Did fool the loons on Slashdot though; the uber-parent fell for this ploy, as did the nutsy Slashdot uber-mod).

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    1. Re:Wacky Screen Pricing by Coke+in+a+Can · · Score: 1, Redundant

      The basic option, nothing checked, is the black and white screen. The $123 one is "Bistable", allegedly shatterproof or whatever.

      Not that it's anything more than a scam anyway.

  5. Re:Their new slogan: by Tongo · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I wish I had opposable big toes... :o(

  6. Re:taking notes by Doppler00 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    A more friendly layout?

    Like Dvorak, or the Left/Right handed varients?

    The Fitaly keyboard layout looks cool. Or T9 predictive text is also very fast. 30 wpm is very possible. Anyone who uses QWERTY on a PDA is just crazy I think. I'm always amused at manufactures that add a bunch of buttons in a QWERTY configuration on small devices, even though the benefits of using QWERTY touch typing skills are useless there. They might as well be in an efficient arrangement for using two thumbs.

    Even using Graffiti on palm is faster than typing the letters out. You can't spend 30 minutes learning a more efficient key layout saving you hours in the long run?