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Forget the PDA, Here Comes the TDA

Posted by simoniker on from the there-goes-the-tda dept.

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."

15 of 390 comments (clear)

  1. bad pricing idea by tedtimmons · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So it costs $600 right now. After 1/2 million units, they'll lower to price to some unspecified amount. After 1 million units, they'll lower the price to $100.

    How would you like to pay $600 for the 499,999th unit? Or (unspecified amount) for the 999,999th unit? D'oh!

    1. Re:bad pricing idea by madprogrammer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Good pricing idea, poorly executed... they shouldn't have advertised the pricing changes in advance.

  2. Hardertolose? by Trillan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Youinsensitiveclod!Ihavenothumbs!

  3. taking notes by Hatfieldje · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the reasons people like PDA's is because they can take notes in class or in meetings. I didn't see any easy way to take notes with this thing, unless they use morse code: Left thumb = dash, right thumb = dot.

    --
    for maximum effect, the preceding post should be read monotone and at a steady cadence
  4. Their new slogan: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "So simple a monkey could use it.*"

    *If that monkey had opposable thumbs.

  5. I smell a hoax by scrytch · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's see, "super sekrit SEVEN PROCESSOR PARALLEL PROCESSING sauce ..." runs for over a week on standard AA batteries. Telling everyone your pricing model which includes a ridiculously steep drop after shipping a million units. Truly amateur copy writing ... even the French know that when you have a new product, you have to market it wel.

    Oh, and you pay a $100 or 100 eur "deposit to confirm your order".

    So it's not only a hoax, it's a SCAM .

    --
    I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
  6. HOAX / SCAM - $100 needed for "Escrow Account" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you look, they require $100 to be put into what they call an "Escrow account" until the unit ships. Huh!? ELABORATE SCAM!!!

    It is a very professionally well done web site, very convincing, but a company of their stature would be accepting payment by means other than PAYPAL!!!

    I mean fake Apple PDA pictures have surfaced a few years ago that also looked very convincing as well. At least these fakers are trying to get some money out of you for all their hard photoshopping and HTML design!!!

    1. Re:HOAX / SCAM - $100 needed for "Escrow Account" by Bellyflop · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm going to have to call shenanigans on this one. That's pretty sketchy. They don't seem to really want to let you know how to really use their new touchscreen technology to do useful things like input an address. That's the sort of thing a PDA company wants to reassure is very simple right off the bat.

      The website is registered to Novinit, some company in France. I have a hard time believing that they are real since they don't seem to want to leave an address on their website, nor do they own the domain "novinit.fr" which any self-respecting french company would own. They claim that they have been doing the research for 10 years with "tens of millions" of dollars invested in research. Sort of hard to believe since they also claim to have been founded in 1999 and with a 2mil euro initial investment and $10 mil in initial capital. Strange that they keep flipping between Euros and Dollars.

      If they are real, they ought to provide more information.

  7. 7 CPUs? by autopr0n · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why in gods name would they include 7 processors? That just dosn't make any sense. My guess is that some idiot just counted up all the chips in the system, or something.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  8. why you need marketing! by Perianwyr+Stormcrow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because something that sounds like a cross between masturbation and tortillas ain't so great!

    --

    What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey

  9. Sony Gummi by datawar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sony has a device called the Gummi Bendable Computer that they've been developing. Input is based on bending the credit-card sized device (made of flexable material) towards and away from you. The design is well thought out, and as an HCI person, I'm actually pretty impressed with it.

    If you have access to ACM's digital library there's a good paper on it that was published at the CHI 2004 conference.

  10. SCAM? by wdavies · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ok, the more I read this, the more it seems like a scam. Of course Slashdot can't be held responsible for novel scams, I do think a large rwarning should be put up now enough folks have ridiculed the site.

    Lets see: Weird named OS that has never seen the light of day, a "deposit" required, etc. Even if this isnt a scam, seems like these guys dont have a shippable product, and are looking for some free funding... and that's being charitable

  11. Re:it's a hoax by anticypher · · Score: 5, Informative

    A quick reverse directory on that address turns up no company called novinit, but the offices of a couple of shell companies, MMSA/Digiplace. Web design and hosting, with not much history according to google.

    Novinit is not a registered company name in France. Perhaps it is the operating name of another company. The website does not offer the required information of a tax number, physical address, and other contact details.

    Arnaud de la Fouchardière is the money behind the fly-by-night Marcopoly online store. They've got a bad reputation for shipping various bits of kit which probably fell off the back of trucks, and no after sales service. He made his money from online pr0n, mostly doing the technical front for prostitution rings using the old Minitel service.

    There are two sites, novinit.com and jackito-pda.com, one is hosted in France, the other in California. They seem identical in content, but the one hosted on 7x24net in the U.S. has bogus registration information.

    The photos of the device on the website are of an Apple Newton.

    There is no way to get in touch with this company except through a paypal link. The phone number given for the registrars is a pre-paid anonymous GSM phone on the orange network.

    All the hallmarks of a scam.

    the AC

    --
    Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
  12. Forget the PDA, here comes the PEDA by qseep · · Score: 5, Funny
    Studies show 90% of PDA users lose their PDAs. Why worry about losing your PDA ever again? The SolePad(tm) PEDA (podiatric embedded digital assistant) fits right in your shoes!

    Walk your way to a new day! This innovative product, made possible by the NASA space program, has undergone 35 years of development and cost over $10 billion.

    Advantages over PDA's:
    • Large footprint allows easy data entry. What is more natural than walking?
    • Take notes with the innovative Hopscratchpad.
    • Simultaneous data entry with both feet!
    • Play fun built-in games such as Twister(tm) and Kickman, and educational software such as Prance Prance Evolution.
    • Experience multimedia interactive fiction such as Stomp: The Interactive Multimedia Experience (requires force-feedback module).
    • Contains FOUR MULTIMEDIA LAYERS of Teflon, Foam, Silicon and Plastic!
    • Easy connection to Segway(tm) docking station.
    What people are saying about SolePad:
    • "Finally, my hands are free to do my work. I love taking notes with the Hopscratchpad." - Jackie Chan, actor
    • "I kept losing my shoes. Now I have an excuse to keep them on!" - Bikram Choudhury, yoga instructor
    • "This is the greatest new technology I have seen since Jackito." - Michael Jackson, singer
    Special prepaid introductory price: $1000/ft.

    SolePad: Finally, a step in the right direction. (tm)

    Kickman (c) 1981 Midway
    Twister is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley
  13. 5 things stop me splashing the cash... by hedgehog2097 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "This guy must be laughing all the way to the bank. Every minute this is on the front page suckers are sending this guy money..."

    Would be my immediate comment. But I'll back it up with some quick detective work.

    Let's view the source on the payment page and start with some PayPal background checks. You need a PayPal account for this:

    Seller Reputation: New Member*
    Account Status: Unverified
    Account Type: French Business
    Account Creation Date: 28 Jun. 2004
    PayPal Member For: 15 days
    Cust. Service Email: lafouchardiere@novinit.com

    An unverified account rings an alarm bell immediately. It doesn't take long to do this, just a week or two to wait for a code on a bank statement. It's another sign that you are who you say you are. Any reputable retailer does this. Maybe he's just about to.

    Now a whois search on the novinit domain:

    Arnaud de La Fouchardiere
    66 bis avenue Jean Moulin
    Paris, 75014
    FR
    Phone: 06 07 61 23 36

    Alarm bell 2 - the name "Arnaud de La Fouchardiere" itself is registered to another address. You can determine that with a search here:

    http://wfa.pagesjaunes.fr/pb.cgi?lang=en

    I won't paste it in case I'm barking up the wrong alley. But it certainly isn't the one from the whois result. Perhaps he moved recently, or this is his office address. Or perhaps he's a clever scammer syphoning away our money as we speak.

    Alarm bell 3 - from comparisons with the above site, Parisien phone numbers should begin 01 4.

    Alarm bell 4 - The whois address given appears to have rather too many companies using it for my liking. It may be a rented service.

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8& sa fe=off&q=%2266+bis+avenue+Jean+Moulin%22&btnG=Sear ch

    Alarm bell 5 - he wants us to wait 90 days?!?

    If you check PayPal's policies, it's increasingly difficult after 30 days to retrieve funds on items that aren't received. This guy is expecting us to wait 90 days before he despatches?

    So what we have is a site that seems a little too good to be true, appears to invent technology, and has some large information holes that many other people have pointed out.

    Maybe it's genuine. Send us an email Arnaud, we'd love an exclusive interview!

    I'll wait for the first million.

    Perhaps "Arnaud" could make a better living designing websites? I'd be glad to throw him 600 bucks to redesign mine...