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New Cellphone Sized "Computer" Takes Aim at Sub-Notebooks
IMOVIO has launched a new cellphone-sized computer that is aimed at something similar to the subnotebook market. While it doesn't have 3G of its own, it does have a QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, and a $175 price point. "It can connect to the Internet using a standard Wi-Fi connection, or it can use your cell phone's mobile broadband connection via Bluetooth. The company is currently pitching it to mobile network operators and retail stores. It's being compared to the ill-fated Palm Foleo. But the comparison doesn't work because the Foleo was Palm-phone only, didn't fit in a pocket and cost well over three times the price of the iKIT.
It's infuriating. I already have a computer the size of a cell phone. It's called a "cell phone". Damn it, why can't I plug it into a TV or monitor, and plug a mouse and keyboard into it and use the damned thing like a computer?
Free Martian Whores!
Because I hear tethered data connections are cheap. I could see wifi, but I don't see it going very well as a tethered device. That said, at that price point I could see alot of geeks, at least the /. crowd picking them up for novelty value -- so it should well well either way.
What's the screen pixels? An Eee 700 is usable at 800x480; this can't go much below that and be usable on the modern Web. Even if the resulting text is Flyspeck 3, at least it'll be detailed Flyspeck 3 rather than pixelated.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
So at what point can we start calling these things tricorders and be done with the whole sub-sub-mini-micro-net-note-laptops?
No thanks. I already have a cellphone with a thumb keyboard.
Gone!
Computers of this size and form-factor are not totally unprecedented. Things like the Nokia N810 internet tablet are similar. (QWERTY keyboard, fits in your pocket, WiFi or bluetooth connectivity...). Also, many smartphones have all the features and functionality of this device (including having a physical keyboard, etc.) with the advantage of direct connectivity through the cell network.
The only thing this new device can offer is a somewhat lower price ($175 instead of >$400 for the N810). But I think this device will only appeal to a very small market (most people would prefer to spend a bit more for a more capable device, or get something with a bigger screen/keyboard).
How is this not a PDA minus the PIM apps?
2.6?
Let's hope 2.4 stays supported for some time to come.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Nokia has a line of small devices that do the same thing. The 770 (which I use) and 800 have on-screen keyboards, the 810 has a slide-down keyboard. The access the internet via WiFi or a bluetooth connection on a phone.
[Insert pithy quote here]
After shrinking down audio technology with integrated circuits, true audiophiles decided that big, 'ol honkers with tubes are better. I predict that the same will happen with PCs. What? A PC in your pocket, how mundane. I have a tube powered ENIAC in my basement. In fact, it IS my basement.
I can really tell the difference, because every month when the power bill comes, I know it must be good, because it is using butt-loads of electricity.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Is because unlike our cellphones/pdas which have the same functionality, this is a clamshell design that looks like a shrunken laptop.
..goes between whether I can type with it using more than two fingers or not. Fail. Next.
Add some video glasses/goggles and I might be interested. The existing screen in to small for real work.
The only thing this new device can offer is a somewhat lower price ($175 instead of >$400 for the N810).
That and it's cheaper than the Pandora too.
The specs seem much closer to a PDA than a netbook. Also the choice of using a 2.4 based Linux is interesting. I admit I haven't been following Linux on Xscale, so perhaps that explains the choice. Personally I expect more general purpose use out of a "computer" and these specs seem like it's more geared for PDA use.
- Processor: Marvell PXA270 312MHz
- ROM: 128 MB, RAM: 64 MB SDRAM
- User data: 12MB, User media files: 23MB
- Operating System: Linux 2.4.19
- User Interface GUI: Proprietary plus Trolltech QT/E 2.3.8
- Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR, supports wireless stereo headset
- (A2DP) & DUN profile
- WIFI® IEEE 802.11 b/g
- Optional USB connection configured for HSDPA dongle
- QWERTY/AZERTY + numeric keys, other languages optional
- Micro SD (up to 8GB)
- 2.8 inch QVGA, TFT, 260,000 colors, landscape
http://www.webitpr.com/release_detail.asp?ReleaseID=10258
Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
here's the actually spec and release data.
It looks neat and I'm sure it works well...but smartphones have GPS and 3G/data plans built in. Most have some developer support good to go and better cameras. Ultra-portables have a better keyboard/mouse, more ports to connect crap and full web browsers. Hell, some allow you to just stick in SIM card, rolling all 3 into 1.
The battery life is ok but not great, seeing how long it takes to charge. It honestly fills no niche or even covers everything. Solid Meh.
import system.cool.Sig;
Pretty soon, your iPod/iPhone is going to be your computer. You'll be able to have your iPhone in your pocket, walk in to any building, sit at a thin client (monitor & keyboard) and connect to your iPhone using a physical cable and possibly even BlueTooth or Wi-Fi. Soon your iPhone/iPod will be a wearable computer, with sunglasses for the display and a bluetooth headset. Commands will be spoken into the handset instead of typing. You'll meet somebody and be able to look at their MySpace/Facebook while you're talking to them face to face.
:-)
Do you think I have a decent chance on the speaking circuit as a futurist?
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
So, my iPhone can:
Access Google Apps for document processing.
Access the internet in a normal fashion (non-WAP)
Check email
Calendaring
PDFs
Hook up to data projectors using the component cable adapter
Play music on my home stereo/computer/car
And honestly, looking at that keyboard on this sub-sub-notebook, the iPhone's input is likely better (I'm one of the lucky people who LOVES the iPhone keyboard)
SSH using a new app I bought (sorry...I did buy it)
RDP using a free app (not as good as the SSH app, but it does let me control my office webcam)
Play games
Make lightsaber sounds
Seriously...this sub-sub-notebook doesn't offer anything I don't have and that the iPhone (and likely other phones) don't already do better.
Bah. A TRUE computophile won't settle for less than a full-fledged Analytical Engine. Gears are the true analog circuits! I can really tell the difference, because every month when the coal bill comes, I know it must be good, because it is using butt-loads of coal.
I still have my old tandy with whopping 4k of ram somewhere: http://www.trs-80.com/images/computer-pc5x300.gif Boy I miss that thing. I remember writing little programs for my physics class. It was also handy to write out equations "long hand" to make sure I entered them properly. If I buy a cell-palm-top, am I just trying to relive junior high? Maybe I won't get beat up so much this time.
meh
... and went back to 2003! Twice!
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Actually, I just read the spec sheet somebody posted. It is a beefed up version of the Zipit. Exact same processor, same screen but it has the USB port brought out, microSD instead of miniSD, but with a bit more ram and bluetooth.
More ram+bluetooth isn't really worth another 100 bucks though.
I wonder if this is the same company, or if it is like the Wind/EEE/etc where it a bunch of different companies working off the same reference model.
My Dell Axim X51V has the same thing. It can do VGA, with the proper cable, has Bluetooth, WiFi and most everything else this thing has.
http://www.mobiletechreview.com/Dell-Axim-X51v.htm
It has a 16 meg RAM video system in it (not bad for a PDA, and it does VGA on screen as well as using the external VGA to monitor cable), although it costs 50 or so dollars (USD) more to get the VGA output on your monitor, it's still relatively cheap. (http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Axim-X51v-Presentation-Cable/dp/B000FFYALU)
Add a bluetooth keyboard, and you have pretty much anything and everything you need, unless you HAVE to run linux to be cool (or insert reasoning here, I don't bash OS's, they ALL have their place.)
At least, it does everything I need... Found an upgrade to 6.1 windows, and it works great for me.
Of course, YMMV, someone else will say it's crap, etc., etc., etc.... But the bottom line is, it works, and has been out for YEARS. Not to mention, it runs at > 500 megahertz.
Why does it seem any palm sized device that runs linux is behind the times... Either an old kernel, or a newer kernel, but they are playing ketchup (pun intended) with what's already out there? I mean, seriously now.... Can someone answer that question?
--Toll_Free
Burning all that coal is going to black out our atmosphere and leave the world in shambles for our children and animals. When you decide to finally join the 21st century, you'll learn that CLEAN computphiles use hydraulic analytical engines powered by slaves on rowers! I can really tell the difference, because every month when the mortality report comes, I know it must be good, because I'm going through butt-loads of slaves.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
It's infuriating. I already have a computer the size of a cell phone. It's called a "cell phone". Damn it, why can't I plug it into a TV or monitor, and plug a mouse and keyboard into it and use the damned thing like a computer?
You can.
http://www.openmoko.com/
While I believe you'd have to use a USB VGA adapter to get a TV-out, you can certainly use it with a mouse and keyboard. (Tragically, it seems most developers do, as the device's built-in UI is still lacking. The OLPC is (about a year after I got it) just approaching tolerable, I suppose it'll take the Freerunner just as long.
o/~ Join us now and share the software
It was hard to see, since it was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf...
I'm done with sigs. Sigs are lame.
I find that the tube-based computers produce executables with more "air" and "top end" that are missing from the transistor product. I also find that using gold-plated USB cables pass data with 1s and 0s that are much more pure.
I want one that snaps into a netbook sized device (giving you a bigger battery, a bigger screen and keyboard and perhaps some more flash memory), or a laptop (ability to access optical drives, longer battery life, etc), or expand that laptop like it is a dock to make it a desktop with full sized monitor and keyboard and good mouse. The same basic unit, but highly modular. A very portable computer that functions as a cellphone, or "other" depending on what is is snapped into to and what accessories are then present. *That* would be a slick little gadget, and once it was attached to another thing, you'd have two or even three screens!
I tried one the other day, it even ran my 3D editor perfectly at speeds which would put one of those old SGI boxes to shame. It has VGA output for big-screen presentations and would have saved me a lot of shoulder ache from lugging a laptop around last month. I'm getting one as soon as I've got a few hundred bucks to spare.
The ONLY thing I can see that this thing has got going for it is the WIFI. With some custom applets it could do all sorts of cool things wirelessly.
Then again, so could an Eee PC...
No sig today...
The iPod Touch, however, is twice as fast, has twice the RAM, has a multitouch touchscreen, has twice the screen size (480x320 vs. 320x240), comes with more built-in storage (the smallest version comes with as much as the iKIT can possibly hold; without an additional card (= additional cost) the iKIT has a whopping 25 megs of storage), has access to the Apple App Store with lots of third-party apps, does OpenGL and can play MP3s without performance issues (which the iKIT's CPU apparently can't do when used in cheap MP3 players).
Compared to the iPod Touch the iKIT is ridiculously expensive.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
How appropriate that a user named CorporateSuit refers to his IT team as "slaves on rowers."