Freescale Unveils Design For $199 Tablet

theodp writes "Freescale Semiconductor has designs on new smartbook tablet computers, and to prove it, it's rolling out a second-generation reference design at the Consumer Electronics Show. For under $200, Freescale envisions an instant-on device with persistent connectivity and all-day battery life with the following additional features: 7" (1024 x 600) touch screen, Freescale i.MX515 processor (based on ARM Cortex-A8 core), 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, 3G modem (optional), 512 MB DDR2 memory, 4GB to 64GB internal storage, removable micro SD, 3 Mpixel camera (video up to VGA 30fps), 3-axis accelerometer, ambient light sensor, Adobe Flash support, Android or Linux OS."

Comments

all-day battery life

[wiredog]

How freaking big will the battery be? If I leave the radio and wifi on on my Nook it needs a recharge at the end of the day, and that's with little use of the color screen.

Re: all-day battery life

[msclrhd]

You do know that an ARM processor consumes less power than an Intel Atom processor, and thus increases battery life. In addition to that, the Pixel Qi LCD technology with an ARM processor can give 15-20 hours or more worth of battery life [1] (Pixel Qi uses 1/2 to 1/4 of the power that standard LCD screens use [2]).

[1] http://www.pcworld.com/article/154541/jepsen_works_to_raise_laptop_battery_life_to_2040_hours.html
[2] http://www.pixelqi.com/

Re: all-day battery life

[Hadlock]

Probably about double or triple the size of an iPhone's battery. I fully expect this to be a glorified 10" ipod touch/iphone running the same/a variant of the iPhone OS. They don't use a whole lot of power in standby mode.

Re: all-day battery life

[andrewa]

I refill my girlfriends nook on a nightly basis. Unless she's on the rag (aka anal sex week)

So, is her arse known as the "cranny"?

Re: all-day battery life

[aztracker1]

Not to mention the fact that "All Day" may not mean 24 hrs, but the 8-10 hours or so of a typical work day.

Re: all-day battery life

[Neuroelectronic]

iPhone OS? Is there even such a thing? you must be trolling.

Re: all-day battery life

[Dog-Cow]

Yes, there is. That's what Apple calls the variant of OS X that runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Re: all-day battery life

[ikono]

This isn't the rumoured apple tablet, you know...

That kills the google welfarebook

[tomhudson]

And that's a good thing. Google's "netbook" was going to be too locked-down. Not able to install any software locally, not able to run anything not approved by and signed by google, and any attempt to change it resulting in the welfarebook re-imaging itself.

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[Jenming]

Google's netbook is not going to require applications to be approved or signed by Google. The apps just need to run through your browser and come in from a remote server. This hardly the same thing. Furthermore its open source and if you really want to run local software you can make that happen.

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[tepples]

[Chrome OS] apps just need to run through your browser and come in from a remote server.

Chrome OS will also support installing JavaScript apps to local storage through HTML 5's offline features. But does it run WebGL? And does it allow changing playback rate and volume of audio?

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[FlyingBishop]

There's a good chance it will run full-fledged Java apps running on the Dalvik virtual machines. There's no reason to worry about its flexibility before you can even buy a machine that runs it.

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[PopeRatzo]

And that's a good thing.

I'll say.

Where do I go to order one of these beauties right now? I wish Freescale the best with this product. It looks exactly like what I've been waiting for.

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[tomhudson]

Furthermore its open source and if you really want to run local software you can make that happen.

Absolutely not. Google has said that there is NO possibility of installing software locally, for security reasons. Any attempt will make it download a new image of the OS. So forget about it.

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[TheRaven64]

No it won't. It's a reference design, which is a technical term meaning 'shiny thing that will never become a production model.' FreeScale doesn't make laptops and isn't trying to get into that business. This machine exists so that FreeScale can show it to potential customers and say 'hey guys, look at what you could build with our chips!' Some OEM may pick it up and decide to manufacture it, but they may not. Google may decide to base their machine on this design, but the leaked specs so far showed that they are using a Snapdragon (which should be faster clock-for-clock than the i.MX515 looking at the pipeline diagrams for both, but you'd need to check benchmarks to be certain).

Re:That kills the google welfarebook

[tomhudson]

And where's google's netbook? Same stage - it's only supposed to be released in time for Christmas 2010 - at the same price point - $200.00

The telecoms got their wakeup call when google started ordering gphones from HTC. Given a choice between offering a netbook from google or a tablet from another manufacturer, they will ALL avoid google. They know google is their future competitor.

Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Gothmolly]

How do you do data entry, even touch screen, if you need both hands to hold it? If I want to put a computer on my lap, I'll buy a laptop. If I want a PDA, I'll use a PDA. A 2-handed PDA sucks.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[dcmoebius]

If you read the article, one of the images shows a keyboard dock. While the caption indicates that this is an "alternative" design, it still shows that convenient input is being considered

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[maxume]

So hows that job going?

You know, the one where you are the perfect proxy for the entire consumer market.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[ArcherB]

How do you do data entry, even touch screen, if you need both hands to hold it? If I want to put a computer on my lap, I'll buy a laptop. If I want a PDA, I'll use a PDA. A 2-handed PDA sucks.

You've never written on a clipboard? You hold it with one hand and write with the other.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not a PDA, it's a portable media device. I guess everyone will have to go without a device type because *you* cannot see a use for it?

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Monkeedude1212]

They have a dockable Keyboard to turn it into a netbook, practically.

As for touch screen, all you need is a spot to mount it on your dashboard to use it like a GPS.

It's not the worlds most amazing product, especially since its a mere $200, but the applications are there, you just aren't looking hard enough.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[mmell]

So lemme get this straight - you've never used, say, a clipboard, right? Or are you generally just not a fan of the tablet PC form-factor? Incidentally, tablet PC's aren't generally a first choice for data-entry tasks - typing on an on-screen keyboard is generally a painful exercise at best and considerably slower than typing on a decent keyboard in any event. Tablets are designed as a highly portable data presentation device - using handwriting recognition software, they make a decent data capture device (e.g., handwritten notes) - but for data entry, get yourself a clerk and a desktop PC with a good keyboard. The right tool for the right job.

This thing looks exactly like what I've been looking for, except for the "auto-on" bit (which I take to mean OS in firmware). If there's a mechanism for me to flash my own OS, I'm a happy man (see: SheevaPlug). If it's in EEPROM, fine. If OTOH it's in ROM, well - I don't care if they DO let me add software to a local hard drive, I'll wait for the next guy's offering. The hardware is a really good match to what I want, and I'll handle my own software.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[MozeeToby]

What, other than a larger screen, does this bring that isn't already covered by a premium smartphone? Granted, a smartphone without a contract will cost quite a bit more, but with a contract the Motorola droid is $199 and can do pretty much everything I imagine this device doing with very similar specs, all while being small enough to fit in your pocket.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[xpuppykickerx]

Sounds like you've never used anything too big for one hand.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[sexconker]

$200 for the unit with the least amount of storage.
$45 for the keyboard dock.
$35 for their keyboard (the only one that will fit)
$15 for a pack of 3 styluses (doesn't come with one because it's "designed for finger use" even though finger use is shit on it and nastifies the screen).
$35 for the carrying bag which doesn't hold the keyboard dock or keyboard.
$30 for a little travel mouse

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[jedidiah]

A premium smart phone is a highly flawed implementation of this idea at best.

The whole phone form factor thing doesn't work out so well with the "premium"
bits yielding a larger and more awkward phone while the "phone" form factor
greatly limits things like storage and screen real estate.

The only thing that a "premium smartphone" has going for it is the fact that it
happens to be there in your pocket.

Beyond that, pretty much anything it does can be done better by a more specialized device.

It kinda sucks that my phone based web browser is trapped inside of my phone.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[gsgriffin]

If you need two hands to hold it, you shouldn't be here on Slashdot. Most guys here seem to be perfectly capable of using just one hand to hold it. Many probably dream of a 2-handed PDA that sucks too.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[h4rm0ny]

Uh, it's not made by Apple, you know.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, it's not made by Apple, you know.

I LOL'ed!

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[msclrhd]

Additional storage: $30
Manufacturer supporting Linux by design: Priceless

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Aladrin]

Clipboards are a -lot- lighter than tablets. I know, because I own both and have tried writing with a tablet held in 1 arm and writing with the other. It isn't as easy as one would hope, and precision is about impossible.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[eav]

How do you do data entry, even touch screen, if you need both hands to hold it? If I want to put a computer on my lap, I'll buy a laptop. If I want a PDA, I'll use a PDA. A 2-handed PDA sucks.

Does not seem to be made for data entry. I otherwise don't see holding it with one hand as a problem. I mean, just to test it out I picked up my 13" laptop and closed its easily holdable with one hand. Input with one hand should be easy. Whats bad is how ugly the samples they show are.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[jimbobborg]

Funny way to describe a girlfriend.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Monkeedude1212]

What, other than a larger screen, does this bring that isn't already covered by a premium smartphone? Granted, a smartphone without a contract will cost quite a bit more

Those are exactly the reasons this will have a niche market. Larger screen, no contract, same as a smartphone.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[gsgriffin]

It would be a funny way to describe a girlfriend. Most guys here don't have girlfriends and are holding something else with one hand. Sorry for not clarifying that.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[c]

> $200 for the unit with the least amount of storage.
> ...
> $30 for a little travel mouse

Where's the "Priceless" punchline?

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[aztracker1]

That's why he said $35 for the keyboard instead of $99

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[A nonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs, is that you? -- Bill, green with envy

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Rich0]

Having been involved with evaluating tablets, I can say that they're certainly viable options. However, you will NEVER be as productive at typing text with one as you could be with a keyboard. PERIOD.

So, it all depends on what you want to do. If you want an ebook reader, something the size of a tablet is just great. If you want a chart/map reader with some basic calculations/etc for navigation, it would be wonderful. If you are doing procedure execution and need to jot down a few numbers or check boxes they're just fine. If you want to write a Christmas letter to Aunt Betty, use the laptop.

I'm really happy to see an affordable tablet option out there. This kind of form-factor works really well for certain situations, especially if you have software designed to make use of it.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[sexconker]

Orly? Now we can add

$60 for a a replacement battery

to the list!

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[peragrin]

it was replaced with

???
Profit

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Anonymous Coward]

The knowledge that fellow train passengers will orgasm at the merest glimpse of your buzzword-infested new gadget: Priceless.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[SargentDU]

But if you can replace the battery ... it also proves that it is not from Apple! :)

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[Kadin2048]

Well, I think you answered your own question -- most "premium" smartphones are 3-5x the cost or have an expensive monthly contract, and have a fraction of the screen area. I own one and use it, but it's not exactly an ideal device for reading or marking-up documents on. It's not even very pleasant to browse the web on; the only reason I use it for that purpose is when I'm stuck somewhere, bored, and don't have anything better. A small netbook-sized tablet, something that could fit easily into a small briefcase (or, for a significant percentage of the population, the purse/handbag they're probably already carrying), bigger than the iPod Touch but smaller than a laptop and easier to use without setting it on something, would be pretty handy.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[mjwx]

Uh, it's not made by Apple, you know.

In that case, quadruple the GP's prices. Shiny plastic isn't cheap you know.

Re:Too big for 1 hand, so how do you type

[emilper]

don't need a dockable keyboard, just an usb port and support for keyboard in software ... and maybe a on-screen keyboard.

At 200$ I would probably buy one.

"Envisions"

[jonnythan]

I envision all of that, too. But I think I'm about as close to releasing that product as Freescale is.

But my vision also includes tomato bacon pizza, so maybe my local pizzeria is actually the closest.

Re:"Envisions"

[Anonymous Coward]

But my vision also includes tomato bacon pizza, so maybe my local pizzeria is actually the closest.

They only count if they deliver.

Re:"Envisions"

[jonnythan]

They are the purveyors of joy and have thus far been more reliable in delivering their hot juicy goodness than the USPS. Thank God for Inferno Pizzeria.

Re:"Envisions"

[Aladrin]

You expect USPS to deliver 'hot juicy goodness'? This isn't 1950! (And I doubt you're a lonely housewife!)

Re:"Envisions"

[jedidiah]

This isn't 1950. He doesn't have to be a lonely housewife in order for USPS to deliver "hot juicy goodness".

Re:"Envisions"

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually this is the nightmare scenario that Microsoft envisioned way back at
the beginning of the PC 'revolution', that hardware manufacturers would come
up with their own OS, or software or shared standard, not Microsoft's and would freeze
them out of the market.

With Linux, it looks as if this is coming to pass. So any hardware manufacturer even
envisioning such a thing is a step in the right direction in my book.

Dunno why you think it'll look like a pizza box though ..?

Maaaario!

Re:"Envisions"

[pwfffff]

Oh what the hell I thought you were PizzaAnalogyGuy. Get outta here, we got enough of yous guys.

Re:"Envisions"

[TheRaven64]

Freescale has already released a product, it's called the i.MX515 and it's a pretty nice SoC. This device is not a prototype of something Freescale will ever ship, it's a reference design. It's intended as a base for i.MX515 customers to build on (or discard entirely). It's Freescale's SoC customers, not Freescale, who might release something like this. If you want to build them, Freescale will happily give you the design along with your order for i.MX515s.

Always Innovating Touchbook

[compass46]

I remember reading about this about a year ago. Does anyone actually have one? Similar idea with a bigger screen but a little more expensive.

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[Neil Hodges]

I have one. I have fat fingers, so the physical keyboard is still a better choice for general typing. For non-typing GUI work, the touch screen works quite well.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[Nadaka]

I've been looking into this as well as the Pandora http://www.open-pandora.org/. Do you know if the touch book has regular orders shipping yet? Or is it still: pay and wait for the next batch of parts to be ordered, assembled and shipped? If I can can order one and have it en route before the end of the week, I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[haruchai]

Thanks. I stumbled onto this last year and forgot to bookmark it. It's certainly attractive but the SD card only option is
a downer - why not an SSD? Also, they're being quite coy about the amount of installed RAM - which isn't upgradeable.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[Neil Hodges]

I honestly have no idea. It took something like three or four months for me to get mine.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[Neil Hodges]

Considering the amount of space in the case (I've opened it up), an SSD wouldn't really fit so easily, and would increase the price. I popped a 32 GB SDHC card in it for something like $70.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[compass46]

Sweet, I've been mostly looking for a glorified PDF reader and toy to hack around with. The Touchbook looks pretty versatile as something to hack around with.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[mtemmerm]

Ordered mine in September and it should be on it's way any day now!

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[Nadaka]

Right in the specs it has 256 megs of ram. This isn't a PC, the TI OMAP 3 chip is a fully integrated system on a chip. Its ram, eprom, graphics accelerators and cpu are all cut from a single chip.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[TheRaven64]

If your main use is reading PDFs you might look at the iRex eBook readers. They run Linux and let you log in as root (if you register as a developer) and the PDF software that they run is open source.

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[TheRaven64]

Not quite. The CPU, memory controller, peripheral controllers, GPU and DSP are on chip. The RAM and Flash are on separate chips in a package-on-package configuration, meaning that they stack vertically. This is quite a neat design, because it lets you add RAM and Flash to the SoC without needing any motherboard traces. It limits the amount of RAM that you can use, however. 256MB Mobile DDR PoPs only started shipping a few months ago, and I've not seen any 512MB ones (although I've not really been looking).

Re:Always Innovating Touchbook

[haruchai]

Not enough room for a 1.8 inch card? Too bad - of course that would mean a design change to include a SATA controller but is that really a problem nowadays?
I didn't notice the SD card spec when I first saw this last year - how's the performance? All SD cards I've used are frightfully slow. I was thinking
about having a netbook with something like the Kingston 40GB SSDnow ( a cut-down Intel X-25M G2) which is $100.

What about the A9?

[roe-roe]

I have been waiting, as patiently as I can, for ARM based netbooks with the A9 chip. The ARM integrators have a window of opportunity to effect the netbook/smartbook market significantly. The current Intel Atom offerings are, IMHO, not very good. The licenced Cortex-A9 chip can compete with the Atom processor on a purely performance basis, and blow the pants off of the atom processor on a performance/power ratio. By delaying, Intel is slowly closing the power and performance gaps with new generation Atom processors. Once Intel gets close enough, the ability for ARM based machines to impact the market will be gone.

I fully understand that it takes time to bring the A9 to market, and a chip that can't run windows (I'm not including WinCE) has little appeal in the broader market. On the other hand, if integrators are going to put time and money behind new ARM products why use the A8? I long for when I can get my 2ghz dual-core ARM netbook with a 10" screen and all the connectivity I can think of.

Re:What about the A9?

[Nadaka]

I see some announcements for Cortex A9 chipsets, but I don't know of any that are in production much less have devices available that use them. However, Cortex A8 devices are fairly mature with numerous commercial devices and hobby kits available. If you have enough time and skill, you could roll your own Cortex A8 netbook with a BeagleBoard, Gumstix or other hobby board and an LCD and battery. Due to the economies of scale it could cost you up to $600 for all the relevant parts, but if you skimp on battery life and screen size you might be able to get the cost around $250.

OpenPandora and the Touch Book are two projects to get a small portable Cortex A8 "netbook" to market. Both have shipped a few units to customers, but they are probably at least a few months away from being able to fill regular orders.

Re:What about the A9?

[TheRaven64]

ARM has licensed the A9 IP core to a few people, and a few companies have announced products based on it, but I've not seen any SoCs in the wild that use it (apparently TI is shipping OMAP4s, but only to their closest friends). The A9 should be faster than the A8 (although possibly similar in speed to the Snapdragon), but not by a huge amount clock-for-clock. The big advantage of the A9 is that it's an MPCore, so you can put four of them on one die. This gives it a bit of headroom and you can expect to see it shipping in a few devices in 2010. The A8, however, is available now and is shipping now. The OMAP3 used in things like the N900 is a relatively mature SoC and is shipping in volume.

Basically, if you want to get a product out now, you use an A8. At 1GH+ it's pretty respectable, especially since it can offload a lot to the DSP and GPU in a typical SoC. If you want to get one out sometime this year, you might use an A9.

Re:What about the A9?

[tangent3]

I believe the A9 can do out of order processing while the A8 can... so the A9 should be able to to do more per clock than the A8.

stealing Apple's thunder

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds good and will surely be 5x cheaper than the supposed iSlate.

Re:stealing Apple's thunder

[SuperKendall]

iSlate is probably well under $1k and also a real shipping product (or it will be soon).

Re:stealing Apple's thunder

[BobMcD]

Don't know what you're referring to, but he means the device made by Apple. They charge by the ounce, you know...

Failed troll

[killmenow]

You forgot the simplest rule and outed yourself as a troll the moment you wrote "my girlfriend".

Re:Failed troll

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think he's a troll. In fact, it's pretty funny.

Re:Failed troll

[dunng808]

Maybe the rule is not as simple as you think.

Wow

[ShooterNeo]

The 'netbooks' are shrinking on the low end to compete with smartphones and growing on the high end to compete with laptops. This is real competition at work : there's going to be a computing device ranging from pocket sized all the way up to a desktop with 30" screens.

The interesting bit is that all of these computing devices tend to be all-in one type machines that can take pictures and video, make calls, browse the web, play music, play games, GPS navigate, etc. More specialized devices that only play music (ipod) or GPS navigate (tom tom) or display email (blackberry) or let you write down notes (newton) or take pictures (compact digital camera) are rapidly becoming obsolete.

Every one of these devices, from the smart phone up to the monster desktop, is able to do it all.

On the bad side, the cell phone companies have a stranglehold on the wireless data these devices all need to function. Not only is there clear collusion and oligopoly pricing, but the companies tend to price things based upon arbitrary metrics rather than actual cost. If there was actual free market competition in the wireless industry, text messages would be almost free and downloading video data would cost a fortune. Yet you can get an unlimited data plan for $40-$70 while texting costs at least $20 for unlimited.

Re:Wow

[maxume]

I blame the huge numbers of people that pay for mere convenience (even though it the prices aren't very attractive) rather than spiting the companies and limiting themselves to the service that they truly need (such spite would likely translate into more attractive pricing).

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

I blame the huge numbers of people that pay for mere convenience (even though it the prices aren't very attractive) rather than spiting the companies and limiting themselves to the service that they truly need (such spite would likely translate into more attractive pricing).

Blame? The fact that you're not willing to pay for convenience simply indicates that you value your time more cheaply than many others. My own view is that money comes and goes but time is irreplaceable.

Re:Wow

[vlm]

Every one of these devices, from the smart phone up to the monster desktop, is able to do it all....

... very poorly. In fact, just barely well enough to not get class action lawsuits, usually, which is not exactly glowing praise.

Possibly the lowest res worst quality digital cameras ever made on cellphones, complete with greasy lenses dusty sensors and dim slow sensitivity. Viewing the web thru a screen the size of a postage stamp, even webtv was better. Non-apple music player user interfaces that make you wish for the good old days of the 1997 Diamond Rio, but thankfully the phone battery will die in an hour or two so you won't have to suffer long. GPS navigators that work great on any trip shorter than two hours (after which the device overheats and/or the battery dies). Games released for phones in 2009 that would make a Vic-20 user cringe at the poor graphics. Email reader with all the features of "elm" from 1991, albeit with a nice slow GUI.

Or you can get something like an iphone, which does most of that, sort of well, but costs about $3000 over about two years, some upfront, plus hefty monthly fees, soon bandwidth charges will make that even higher if you make the mistake of actually using it.

If over a hundred bucks a month won't do it, I guess a perfect machine would cost at least two or three hundred a month. I can get a nice car for that.

Re:Wow

[svtdragon]

Somehow I think a GPS-enabled desktop misses the point of both GPS (mobility) and a desktop (stationary power).

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

That's funny, I'm sitting about 2 feet from a GPS enabled desktop (via mappoint running in a virtual machine on top of Ubuntu) mounted in the rear of my car that gets used all day every day on my long-distance travels. And before you think, "He's doing it wrong", I assure you, I've tried everything from garmin's to netbooks to laptops, to cellphones and everything in between. Believe me, I'm finally doing it right.

Re:Wow

[ShooterNeo]

Most of the reason for this is that good software costs a LOT more to develop than hardware design. Hence the success of Apple (they put hundreds of millions into their software environment, and they started with a dev team of accomplished programmers who had worked on previous projects for Apple) and the growing success of Google Android. (while the Android isn't as good as the Apple product, it's a darn sight better than the chintzy products before it)

Re:Wow

[BobMcD]

MapPoint is an AMAZING tool. Just fascinating. I've never seen anything like it since.

Re:Wow

[faragon]

It has started with the Nokia N900, targets almost everything (the only "mistake" is using a TV-out instead of a HDMI output).

Re:Wow

[Eil]

More specialized devices that only play music (ipod) or GPS navigate (tom tom) or display email (blackberry) or let you write down notes (newton) or take pictures (compact digital camera) are rapidly becoming obsolete.

As they well should. All of the devices you mention are basically the same (architecture-wise) as general-purpose computers, just smaller.

I just bought myself an iPod Touch for christmas (my first Apple purchase) and have experienced equal parts of both fascination and frustration while using the device. The fact that they've managed to give such a small device a very capable web browser is nothing short of amazing, nevermind the zillion other cool things the device does.

It's a shame, however, that Apple has such a strong hold on what I'm able to do with the device after I've bought it. It's ludicrous that there's no access to the filesystem and absolutely no way to put data of any kind on the device without the approval of iTunes. I'd love to develop for it, but I'm not slapping down $99 plus whatever the lowest-end Mac costs just to tinker around. The most worrisome thing, however, is that Apple appears to be more anti-open-source than Microsoft at the same time that they directly benefit from a large number of open source frameworks and libraries in virtually all of their software.

I know, I can always jailbreak the iPod and get most of the functionality I'm asking for (and I probably will eventually), but it would be nice for a change if a company could engineer a device without going through so much trouble to lock it down to one or two functions. And/or perceived their more technical customers to be assets rather than enemies.

Re:Wow

[mgblst]

$3000 - cost of your current phone plan. People often forget that, almost giddy with happiness at being able to quote a larger number without justification.

Re:Wow

[ShooterNeo]

The slashdot groupthink on this may be totally wrong.

See, the fact that the iphone is locked down means that it is difficult to conveniently duck out of paying for iphone software. If you want an app, you have to fork over a few bucks at the iTunes store. This in turn means that more developers get paid, which causes more people to put resources into developing for the iphone. That's why there are 100k apps already.

Further, Apple actually makes it pretty favorable to be a dev. Yes, you have to have your app approved, which is annoying (but stops people from selling an app on the store that is a pirated version of another app) However, in return for a small amount of risk and hassle, you get a huge chunk of the money spent on your app. Something like 60% of the revenues, am I right? No other publisher offers terms that favorable, in any industry. While there is an upfront cost to develop apps, it isn't much...a used Mac (or a Hackintosh) is a heck of a lot cheaper than a ps3 devkit.

Anyways, better apps mean more people buy iphones, which means more people buy apps, which means more...see how it is self perpetuating? This is one of the reasons that the competitors, even the ones backed by google, are so embarassingly far behind.

Two points

[Locke2005]

1) Reference design != product
2) Cost of $199 is based on Freescale's projected cost of components, meaning actual cost to consumers would be higher (probably closer to the rumored $300 iSlate price)
However, if you add a tie-in to a decent eBook/mp3/video vendor, this device could have a decent niche market. In fact, it could adopt the cellphone business model and be given away for "free" with a commitment to a monthly subscription fee. Would you pay $20/month for two years for this if it included content?

Re:Two points

[phantomfive]

You know, you mentioning that reminded me that in the 90s, some ISPs actually did try to copy the cell phone model and give away an entire computer 'free' along with the price of a monthly subscription. It must not have worked too well because they stopped doing it shortly thereafter. It would be interesting to look at that and see why the 'free'/subscription model worked with cell phones but not with computers.

Re:Two points

[citizenr]

1) Reference design != product 2) Cost of $199 is based on Freescale's projected cost of components, meaning actual cost to consumers would be higher (probably closer to the rumored $300 iSlate price)

chumby one $119.95
https://store.chumby.com/ most of the specs are the same (minus screen of course)

Re:Two points

[rusl]

I'll venture to guess because cell-phones are easy to lock people into due to their proprietary locked down hardware vs. a full/portable computer is as free as the intelligence of the consumer so it's very easy to take the hardware and then dump the bad deal (overpriced bandwidth charge to account for the freebies)

Basically I think it is most honest and works best if you just pay for what you get directly instead of having "free."

Re:Two points

[Anonymous Coward]

(probably closer to the rumored $300 iSlate price)

Errr, not sure what rumors you've been hearing, but everything I've heard lately (past 5 or 6 months) has pegged the iSlate in the $600-1000 range.

Re:Two points

[spinkham]

No real research here, bu my conjecture is that we're used to freedom on PCs, but when it comes to cellphones, we've never known differently, so we just take what we can get.

Re:Two points

[TheRaven64]

Sorry, the specs aren't remotely the same. The Cumby comes with a 454MHz ARM chip and doesn't say what generation it is. Freescale are pushing their i.MX515 for this, which comes with a 800MHz Cortex A8 ARM core (i.e. probably at least one generation more recent than the Cumby; I've not seen an A8 that slow) and also has a GPU and a couple of other coprocessors. They're talking about 512MB of RAM, while the Chumby has 64MB.

Re:Two points

[citizenr]

new chumby uses i.MX515, you can overclock it if you like

Re:Two points

[Anonymous Coward]

I think in the 90s computers were too expensive for that to be a viable business model.

However, in the UK a couple of years ago AOL gave away a Dell laptop with a 2 year ASDL contract. From the specs, I guessed the value of the laptop to be in the £300 region, pretty close to the extra you were paying over the duration of the contract to have AOL as your ISP over the cheaper options, so if you remembered to switch ISPs after the contract expired, it was a bit like an interest free loan, not a bad deal if you were content with the laptop they provided. My sister and one of my friends took up this deal when it was on offer, but they have both switched ISPs after the contract expired because of AOLs prices. So I have to wonder if this made much of a lasting increase of their subscriber base, but I doubt they actually lost money on the deal.

7 days

[Jailbrekr]

By my prediction, that is how long it is going to take for OLPC to take credit for this.

Just a little Nit

[ArhcAngel]

..."Adobe Flash support, Android or Linux OS."

Isn't Android just a mobile distribution of Linux?

Re:Just a little Nit

[Anonymous Coward]

No. It's a very specific platform built on top of Linux. You aren't, for example, going to be writing Gtk or Qt apps for Android any time soon.

Re:Just a little Nit

[Low Ranked Craig]

Isn't Android just a mobile distribution of Linux?

No.

What is Android?
Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.

http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html

Re:Just a little Nit

[maxume]

It is based on a mobile distribution of linux, but it is also a java like language and a set of APIs.

It is probably better to say that it is implemented on top of a linux kernel.

Re:Just a little Nit

[ArhcAngel]

So...it isn't a distribution of Linux like "Cloud Computing" isn't a fancy term for client/server or thin client computing...Gotcha!

Re:Just a little Nit

[ducomputergeek]

Linux is just a Kernel, not an OS. Android is an OS with a Linux kernel.

Re:Just a little Nit

[Anne Thwacks]

Android is an OS with a Linux kernel

And we want Maemo on this

Re:Just a little Nit

[Nicolay77]

It uses the Linux kernel.

But it is not a Linux distro in the traditional sense, there's no common GNU/UNIX stack there, everything on top of the kernel is custom software made by Google.

Velcro

[JoshDD]

Put velcro straps on it strap it to your left forearm and type with your right hand. And it would even give big dumb jock yet another excuse to beat up nerds.

Some Questions

[LifesABeach]

1024 by 600? Why not 1024 by 768?

can i install unbuntu/kubuntu on it?

64 gBit? where? how much?

Where can I buy one so I can get my trembling fingers on it?

Re:Some Questions

[asdf7890]

1024 by 600? Why not 1024 by 768?

Form factor? Looking at the pictures on the page linked to increasing the screen depth would mean widening the unit (unless you mean you want a higher res but with oblong pixels). Also widescreen format displays are probably cheaper on account of being mass produced for the current netbook market.

can i install unbuntu/kubuntu on it?

The summary does say "Android or Linux" so almost certainly yes, hardware support permitting.

Re:Some Questions

[Lisandro]

1024x600 is the standard "widescreen" resolution for 10" netbook displays.

Re:Some Questions

[mmell]

This is a reference design, not a finished product. Similar to vaporware - think of it as "smokeware" :^)

4-64GB RAM (that's GigaBYTEs, not GigaBITs). Not a server, so I'm not sure I see why you'd want more than 4GB RAM - but I'll admit that 640K isn't enough for everyone, so I'm sure the price differential will be based on memory costs.

There's an Ubunto/ARM distro - IF (as I've commented elsewhere) they provide access to the firmware I'm sure a well-experienced UNIX engineer should be able to install that for you, otherwise I'd say stick with the pre-packaged OS. ARM/PROM-based OS's (embedded systems, in essence) are not quite what your average Linux users is used to.

1024x600 - yeah, that's kinda dorky, but I suppose they wanted a specific aspect ratio on their finished product.

Re:Some Questions

[StreetStealth]

1024 by 600? Why not 1024 by 768?

WSVGA. The width of XGA (minimum native for most web sites) in a smaller package.

Re:Some Questions

[jameskojiro]

Not a very standard resolution. I think a Tablet with Native 1080p or at least Native 720p resolution would be a great place to start.

Re:Some Questions

[BobMcD]

The last ARM device I used had a slider between RAM for storage and RAM for performance. I'd assume the same thing going on here.

Fuck Tablets

[sexconker]

OMG GOOGLE TABLET OMG APPLE TABLET OMG THE OLPC OF TABLETS.
Shut the fuck up. If your company missed the "netbook" boat, then too bad. If you're not Amazon, you didn't make the Kindle - too bad.

This industry has gone from innovation to theft to bandwagon jumping to bandwagon hyping to hyping of planned bandwagon hyping.

History has proven time and time again that the market for tablets is very small. I don't give a shit how much hot air you blow into the media's ass, you're not going to make a bigger market for tablets because people don't like tablets.

As for this proposed tablet? It's sheer feature / price point marketing. The PHBs called a meeting with marketing and wrote some features on the board, then they came up with a price. And they're only doing it because of the incessant, unfounded rumors that tablets are going to be the next big market.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[ZERO1ZERO]

This industry has gone from innovation to theft to bandwagon jumping to bandwagon hyping to hyping of planned bandwagon hyping.

I for one, welcome our bandwagon jumping hyping hyping overlords.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[Anonymous Coward]

I totally agree with everything you said, but I find Apple's impending foray into tablets very interesting. Granted Apple is a niche player in the PC market, but I can't believe that they would enter the very difficult market of tablets without being sure they could be successful. History has proven that even Apple is not immune from mistakes like that, so it will be very interesting to see how successful Apple is.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[Rene S. Hollan]

Er, I dunno.

I think tablets make for great remote controls and under $200 they start to get reasonable: one remote to control them all, with a web interface on each device.

I suppose a smart phone could do that as well, but sometimes the extra display real estate is handy: movie previews from the cable company's On Demand service should be streamable to the remote/tablet so as to not interfere with the program already displayed, if desired.

Accessing recipes in the kitchen, or an "in a pinch" browser would be handy as well. Think of them as intelligent display devices and not computing platforms. Shove in an SD card with a movie on it for the kids to watch in the car. That kind of stuff.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[gmuslera]

Remember where mp3 players were geek-only gadgets? or touchscreens or cheap/small notebooks something without future?

Technology advances, and people preference does too. Maybe 5 years ago tablets had no big appeal, culture wasnt built on consumers, then most smartphones started to have a touchscreen, but maybe sometimes you fould feel that the screen is too small and you are start to build a potential market. Foldable keyboards or twistable screens to turn tablets back and forth to something more like notebooks/desktops could help a bit in that area too.

Sometimes this kind of things ends being just fads, but if that is the case with tablets, probably won't be evident this year.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[BobMcD]

History has proven time and time again that the market for tablets that are more expensive than a traditional notebook is very small.

FTFY

I'd have to insist that the market for such a device at the stated pricepoint has never been tested. You do remember your economics, right? Supply/Demand, Price?

Re:Fuck Tablets

[limaxray]

I think you're taking tablets too literally; this has absolutely nothing to do with tablets. The point here is Freescale, a semiconductor manufacturer (and not a system OEM), built a tablet device to show off their SoC designs to OEMs. It is a reference design and nothing more - actual OEM developers use it as a guide to see how to best implement Freescale's products.

The point here is Freescale is advertising to OEMs "Hey look how easy and cheap it is to develop with our product". This is not aimed at you, and they don't care if you want a tablet or not. They only care that you probably want a small, portable, yet fairly powerful device (be it a netbook, tablet, smartphone, whatever) that could be implemented with their products.

And why did they choose a tablet you ask? It's easier to build, plain and simple. No hinge, no moving parts - just bolt an LCD to a PCB board and put it in an enclosure and you have CES worthy development board.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[Mr_DW]

you forgot "and GET OFF my lawn!!!!!"

Re:Fuck Tablets

[sexconker]

True, new twists, improvements, etc. often breathe new life into an old design.

What we have here is essentially an updated tablet from 1999.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[sexconker]

Oh tablets have their uses, sure. And it'd be nice to have a competent up-to-date one. But that isn't what this article is about - this article is about trying to shoehorn tablets as the next big market now that the Kindle ship has sailed and the netbook market is getting saturated. Freescale is trying to sell OEMs on features/price, blatantly ignoring the lack of a market. Lots of things are cheap. Doesn't mean there's demand.

Yes, I'm saying "Fuck Tablets", just as I said "Fuck "Netbooks"" and "Fuck the "Cloud"". But I'm saying it to the fucking marketers.

I'd love a good tablet. I wouldn't buy a netbook for myself, but if there was a good one for what someone else needed I'd recommend it. I use the "cloud" everyday, yet I don't need to make up bullshit buzzwords for it.

I'm simply reacting to the near future where OEMs buy up silicon and slap together some tablets.
Some jump the gun, others wait and wait for The iTablet and the gTablet, but eventually there's a bunch of tablets out there that few people really want (because they won't be anything special).
Instead of trying to make a better tablet, the OEMs will just have marketing shout "TABLET TABLET TABLET" from the mountaintops until you're giving them to granny to replace the digital photo frame you got her last year.

You can take my posts in one of two ways:

-The "me-too" and price-point marketing in the industry is ridiculous and I hate that we haven't seen anything really new or innovative in a long time.

-Everyone hates on shit once it's popular, but I was hating on shit before it was ever released.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[Shotgun]

History has proven that the tablet market was set at a price point that was to high. Traditionally, the typical tablet has been a very overpriced but underpowered laptop.

Many, MANY uses can be found for these type of tablets, IFF they're cheap enough. That is just now starting to happen.

The thing that hasn't changed is this industry moving from "hyping of planned bandwagon hyping". That has always been the case, and without some government enforced consent agreements (re IBM) it will continue to be the case.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[joh]

And they're only doing it because of the incessant, unfounded rumors that tablets are going to be the next big market.

It's not tablets. It's tablets with an entire ecosystem for apps and content attached. Hardware with just an OS and a few apps on it is lame nowadays.

People have learned with the iPhone that having a device *and* a store *and* some cool company caring for all this is the thing. Like it or not. Geeks buy gadgets. People buy packages, because they're sick of naked gadgets and having to fight them and make them into something usable.

I don't like to say it, but selling cheap gadgets to geeks is becoming economically unsound. Compared to all the consumers out there they're a minority. Expect dozens of tablets coming in 2010 and going half a year later with no traces left. And expect Apple to swipe that market empty. I hate it, but naked hardware is just useless for the majority of people. They want something they can buy and unwrap and use for years, with things pushed to them and them having just to nod or tap "Buy" or "Update" and be done with it and have fun. The PC and its spirit of tinkering and building and nursing along is DEAD. People want to buy things as they buy TV sets and a cable contract and channels to zap around in.

Consumers are called consumers because they consume. If you're wise join in and use your time to create content instead of playing with your hard- and software, because free content will become much more important than open hardware or free software. Learn that now and don't waste your time by fighting windmills while chasing the latest $200 hardware with nothing you can do with it but tinkering.

And now mod me down, please.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[shic]

people don't like tablets.

Pray, how do you know that? I've never bought a tablet - and wouldn't buy from any to-date because they don't meet my minimum expectations. Don't be fooled, however, I'd love to use a good tablet PC.

Sticking points for me are :
* High resolution A4-ish screen (to read PDFs page-at-a-time)
* Long battery life (at least a day)
* Wi-fi connectivity and cheap 3G (perhaps via a bluetooth phone) for generic Web access

When technology meets my demands (and I'm sure it eventually will) I'll buy one - as, I suspect, will the rest of the world.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[mgblst]

There is far too much money going around for companies to ignore this.

What is wrong with competition, or do you feel that there is too many netbooks? Can't see how that is necessarily a bad thing.

Re:Fuck Tablets

[wvmarle]

Tablets used to be much more expensive than normal laptops. So only people who had a very very good reason to buy one, would.

These devices are roughly the same price as common netbooks (similar screen size and other hardware specs). That may make a huge difference.

Technology has advanced a lot since the first tablets were conceived, both hardware and software. The first tablets well they had a nice turnable/flippable screen but not much use for the touch screen itself. This has certainly changed by now.

"Smartphone", "netbook", "ebook", "smartbook"...

[John Hasler]

Can the "phonebook" be far behind?

Re:"Smartphone", "netbook", "ebook", "smartbook"..

[selven]

One bookbook to contain them all...

Freescale

[Anonymous Coward]

Rocks.

Not cutesy enough

[Myrcutio]

It needs a lower cased letter placed ambiguously to inform the consumer that it's good enough for his ePeen. I suggest "Phone-y-book", or "eFingerBook"

Are you Vanna White?

[SuperKendall]

Tablets are designed as a highly portable data presentation device - using handwriting recognition software, they make a decent data capture device (e.g., handwritten notes) - but for data entry, get yourself a clerk and a desktop PC with a good keyboard.

And now you see why tablets have remained a very niche market - because there are only a handful of people who need a tool that excels at "data presentation" over input. The only group of people for whom such a tablet is optimized for input are artists, more specifically people that draw.

That's why I think any successful "tablet" will also come with some kind of keyboard option or attachment. In small devices virtual keyboards are useful because they reduce space, but in something the size of a sheet of paper versatility and ease of data entry is much more important. So you really need a combination of stylus, finger-based multitouch, and real physical keyboard are all important. Basically more an evolution of the laptop to handle more forms of input by default, than a pure touch-only input form.

Re:Are you Vanna White?

[Anonymous Coward]

...The only group of people for whom such a tablet is optimized for input are artists, more specifically people that draw....

Don't forget students. Using a tablet PC is excellent. I take all my notes on my tablet. My notes are much better when I have 'paper' that expands in all directions, can move segments of notes around, and easily switch between any color. I don't use hand writing recognition software as I can read my own handwriting.

I store all my notes from each class in its own file. These are easier to manage compared to binders of physical pages.

With all my notes in the tablet PC, I download and store all the text books too. Carrying a tablet PC around instead of a bunch of folders and books is great. No risk of forgetting a book or assignment at home and the total weight and size is much, much less.

To all those who will be entering college this year and take hand written notes, I strongly recommend getting some type of table PC for school.

Re:Are you Vanna White?

[mmell]

Uh, the thing is pictured with a keyboard, although it shouldn't prove too taxing to imagine using a USB keyboard/mouse on it.

And as to the Vanna White comment . . . obviously, you haven't risen high enough in the IT industry to have had to make a presentation to management, have you? :^)

Re:Are you Vanna White?

[SuperKendall]

obviously, you haven't risen high enough in the IT industry to have had to make a presentation to management, have you?

I've done that many times. But when I did so it was using a projector with a laptop - because outside the small portion of the day I was presenting I still had to work.

Resolution sucks

[mariushm]

Seriously... couldn't they at least have 1280x720 instead of that 1024x600... though I doubt the processor is fast enough to decode regular 720p h264 movies.

Re:Resolution sucks

[Nadaka]

They mentioned an ARM Cortex A8 Freescale processor, that is probably the i.MX515. Like most other Cortex A8 chips it includes on chip audio/video hardware acceleration for popular formats including at least H.264/MPEG4.

Similar processors have been proven to handle 720p for hardware supported formats, though I don't really know how this particular one will fair.

Re:Resolution sucks

[Hadlock]

I think the HP Mini 111 has an upgrade screen with a broadcom video accelerator to push 720p content fullscreen. They exist, but they're about 50% more expensive than your regular, run of the mill HP Mini 110, which is already 300-350 depending on price and features. I think for the most part they're only avalible online. I've never seen one retail.

Re:Resolution sucks

[TheRaven64]

I doubt the processor is fast enough to decode regular 720p h264 movies

Uh, it's an i.MX515. It can encode 720p H.264 in realtime. It can also drive a TV at that resolution and supports OpenGL ES 2.0 (i.e. fully programmable pipeline).

Looks familiar

[orgelspieler]

Judging from the bright red color, I'm guessing you have to turn it upside-down and shake it to reboot. (Apologies to Scott Adams)

This has been done before!

[kurt555gs]

If only the Freescale device had 2 knobs.

http://www.etch-a-sketch.com/

Cheers

Re:This has been done before!

[msclrhd]

It's a touch screen, so it'll be easy to do that in software. In addition to this, it has an accelerometer, so it should be possible to detect when you shake the device. Result: expect an etch-a-sketch application for it any day now.

Re:This has been done before!

[Anonymous Coward]

And that device even uses dual ARM processors and a shake-to-undo GUI -- definitely way ahead of its time.

Would it have been that much more for native 720p?

[Rene S. Hollan]

1280x720 native resolution would have made far more sense, no?

Isn't this missing something?

[Jane Q. Public]

Without a built-in, semi-accurate compass, you don't get "augmented reality" applications. Seems like a pretty big oversight.

They said all of this of netbooks too...

[MistrBlank]

And good luck finding a retail, non-refurbished netbook at the $200 pricepoint these days.

I paid $300 for mine and I still feel I overpaid by about $100 for its underpoweredness.

Re:They said all of this of netbooks too...

[BitZtream]

By this time next year, it might night be a problem. You can already get them for $250 new.

Then again, $200 starts getting into the range of too under powered to be a replacement for the more expensive bigger version.

You think that its a matter of not getting the price down, personally from your own statements about yours being underpowered, perhaps you don't actually want them to produce cheaper ones than they currently are.

Re:"Smartphone", "netbook", "ebook", "smartbook"..

[greenguy]

And when small computers use e-paper for their display, we'll have paperbackbooks.

512 MB of ram

[Anonymous Coward]

Given the way browsers eat RAM, and given how cheap RAM is, bump that to 1 GB of RAM and I'm sold.

Honestly, I'd rather pay $300 for a nicer tablet with a higher-red OLED screen and more RAM than $200 for a cheap tablet with a low-res screen.

Don't want a cheap model

[Enderandrew]

Am I in the minority here, but I'd rather pay $300 for a model with a nice higher res OLED screen and a full GB of RAM rather than a cheap $200 model.

Re:Don't want a cheap model

[mgblst]

Well, where the fuck can you get your mythical machine? That doesn't and won't exist. If you are talking about the possible apple tablet, it won't be OLED and $300.

Re:Don't want a cheap model

[Enderandrew]

I never said it existed. I said I'd prefer they design such a model, rather than design a cheap tablet with minimal memory and a low-res screen.

I've been "envisioning" this for 2 years

[BetterSense]

And still waiting for the Always Innovating Touchbook to actually be available and in stock.

Re:Would it have been that much more for native 72

[TheUser0x58]

My guess is this device would also need more expensive CPU/GPU hardware to decompress 720p video data. Thus, a 720p screen by itself would not be an incredibly marketable feature. I'd sure be upset if I bought something with "720p!!!" that couldn't actually play a 720p video file.

They got it all wrong

[Compuser]

The niche that is not filled right now is not yet another tablet with a low price tag. Those are aplenty on ebay.
What is lacking is a slate tablet with NTrig or equivalent screen so multitouch and pen input would both work.
Now add NVidia ion or somesuch so HD videos could be played, add 1024x768 (not x600) display or better,
make it 2 lb or lighter and make the battery last at least 10 hours. Now keep the price below $500 and you'll
sell a bucket-load of these.

Total Cost of Ownership and the OLPC

[randall_burns]

The basic problem with devices like this tablet is they are largely disposable.

The _only_ netbook I have seen that is designed to be repaired is the OLPC. I can get parts for it at reasonable prices from places like http://xoexplosion.com/ and http://ilovemyxo.com/ and the repair manuals for the OLPC are readily available.

I suspect that we'll see a _much_ longer lifespan for these OLPC devices than any proprietary tablets and what not.

Ships with Debian Etch installed?

[billstewart]

presumably they'd offer Win7 as an extra-cost downgrade...

At least provide a socket for more RAM!

[billstewart]

It was about a decade ago that I upgraded one of my lab machines to 640MB, because that "ought to be enough for anybody."

But these days it's way way way too small, mostly for browsers and caching. Lenovo's already lost one sale from me by selling a cute little Atom-based slab machine for $199 which only had 512MB in it (or maybe it was 1GB) because the packaging didn't say anything about whether it could be upgraded or not. Yes, I know they need to have a low-config price to get some people to buy it, but it costs less than $50 for 2GB of notebook RAM and even less for desktop RAM, and there's no excuse for making a machine that can't be upgraded.

Re:At least provide a socket for more RAM!

[Nadaka]

again... This is an ARM Cortex A8, it is an integrated system on a chip, the ram is in the CPU. You can't just add a slot for expansion. Also, since you won't ever be loading windows on the thing, and will be using a lightweight linux distro, you don't need nearly as much ram.

Re:At least provide a socket for more RAM!

[billstewart]

Got it - that makes sense, unfortunately. However, I'm currently using more than 1GB of RAM for Mozilla (on Windows), and I doubt it'd be much smaller on Linux. At least they could do something to work around it, like providing an appropriate flavor of flash for swapping to?

Re:"Smartphone", "netbook", "ebook", "smartbook"..

[Anonymous Coward]

Can the "phonebook" be far behind?

I think someone beat you to it...

Come on, "iSlate"?

[SuperKendall]

Don't know what you're referring to

I think the "iSlate" name makes it pretty obvious.

They charge by the ounce, you know...

Regardless of your preconceptions formed about a decade ago it's widely forecast the device will cost around $600. Otherwise, people would just buy a Macbook.

Re:Come on, "iSlate"?

[BobMcD]

And regardless of your preconceptions about what you think I said, it was a JOKE! Geez

Re:Would it have been that much more for native 72

[TheRaven64]

No. The i.MX can decode and even encode H.264 at 720p and can drive a screen at that resolution. You won't find an affordable screen with that many pixels in the form factor that they want for this kind of device though (although a 225dpi 1280x720 screen would be really nice in a portable...).

Re:"Smartphone", "netbook", "ebook", "smartbook"..

[lawpoop]

At this point I would say that the phone book *is* far, far behind us.

Oxygen

[Anonymous Coward]

And it is using Oxygen KDE icon theme nice!

Possible use...

[tanveer1979]

Many in car GPS systems cost 200$+
This device could be an all in 1, wifi, GPS, phone etc., with an AV player.

Apparently

[killmenow]

I thought it was just a funny little thing to say. But I must've hit too close to home for some mod.

Re:Would it have been that much more for native 72

[Rene S. Hollan]

Yeah, I found that, with the right dedicated hardware, video decoding is not that power (processing and electrically) intensive: I have a fanless 800 Mhz Via C Nehemiah CPU with off-chip hardware acceleration for MPEG2 decoding to 1080p (though the graphics RAM only had the bandwidth to display 1080i) that runs fanless. And, this is very old tech: the video output is analog VGA and YPbPr.

Granted, it won't do MPEG4 or H.264, but for it's time (c. 2005, maybe?) it was impressive.