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TechCrunch Wants To Create an Open Source Tablet

Posted by Soulskill on from the i-prefer-gelcaps dept.

RKo618 writes "TechCrunch announced that they are planning to design their own $200 web tablet device. Quoting: 'The idea is to turn it on, bypass any desktop interface, and go directly to Firefox running in a modified Kiosk mode that effectively turns the browser into the operating system for the device. Add Gears for offline syncing of Google docs, email, etc., and Skype for communication and you have a machine that will be almost as useful as a desktop but cheaper and more portable than any laptop or tablet PC.' The aim is for the tablet to run on modified open source software, which will be released back to the community along with the specifications for the hardware."

5 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Hopefully they will get it right. by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They have to compete with the N770 and N800 both that run open source software and both already have a very large installed base of users.

    They have to compete with that, so they really need to get it right. I love my N770 except for battery life. I wish these things could go at least 3 days between charges.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Hopefully they will get it right. by Otter · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It also seems like they're trying to sell to a market that's obsessed with customizability with a device that's designed to give you exactly one narrowly-defined way to do any given task.

      --
      What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  2. Where have all the PDAs gone? by rwa2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think these things would be more useful going the thin-client approach. E.g., just use it to ssh+vnc into a persistent desktop on your home PC. That way you have all your settings preserved, and the performance will likely be much better for anything more complicated than reading.

    I think the opera browser for most smartphones / blackberries use a thin client approach, where they render your web page on their servers and send screenscrapes to your device which you can pan and zoom around in their interface.

    Anyway, I've been looking for something to eventually replace my Palm T|X, and don't really see anything I like too much. The N810 looks nice, but seems like the PIM functionality will be taking a step back from what I have now (granted it wasn't really designed for PIM at all to begin with).

  3. let me get his right by ionix5891 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    a technology blog wants to create a device?

    yea right seems like linkbait to get more ad impressions (open that site while having firebug open they load so much ad shit)

  4. Meh by tgd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I want a 9" iPod Touch.

    Make a Linux based one with a glass screen and multi-touch that has that level of polish, and that level of simplicity and people will be interested.

    Give them plain ol' Firefox on a lousy LCD with a resistive touch screen and it'll have the same success every other internet tablet has had... ie, it'll end up on TigerDirect at 80% off.

    More power to them, but they need to scrap their list of requirements and put one thing at the very top: usability. If it doesn't have the UX and physical usability of an iPod Touch (where my grandmother could figure it out), its missed the boat. If the software is getting less than 95% of the attention, then they've missed the boat.