WePad Tablet Will Use Linux To Rival the iPad

cypherdtraitor writes with news of an iPad rival being prepped in Germany for a June launch. "A German company, Neofonie GmbH, has set out to provide an alternative to the iPad, according to Neofonie's founder, Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen. The WePad will boast a Linux-based OS, USB ports, webcam, and Wi-Fi, as well as other features. The 16GB edition will cost €449 ($610), and the 32GB €569 ($773). A more expensive model will include a 3G modem. This PDF compares WePad specs with the iPad. There are also hints of cheap, available software. For example, OpenOffice.org will be the primary office suite, and you may use 'any application that pleases you' to play music and video, a clear edge over Apple's limitation to iTunes." The WePad will also run Flash.

Comments

WeeWeePad

[Anonymous Coward]

First, there was the iPad for those nerdy chicks..

Now our children will have the "WeeWeePads"?

Who comes up with these names? And more disturbingly, what did they name their children?

Re:WeeWeePad

[sopssa]

WePad makes sense anyway. It's both pun of iPad and illustrates the product - it's more for us and since it uses Linux it allows multiple user accounts, good privacy and better security. iPad only has a single user and not even a guest account, do you really want to let your kids, friends or random people to use it access all your browser history, photos, emails and such?

It also looks awesome and you can use applications or develop them yourself. You can run scripts and most ssh in to the tablet. It shows Flash. At this point I would either get this or Courier, as the iPad seems really limited and you have to hack it for it to be any use. Oh and it supports multitasking too.

Re:WeeWeePad

[WrongSizeGlass]

and Microsoft will dub their ill-begotten progeny the " MyPad "

If it's Zune compatible you'd be able to ask someone to "squirt on over to mypad" ... and then we could all throw up together.

The comparison to the Apple II era again...

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

Why am I suddenly reminded of the days in the 70's and 80's when everything ran CP/M and everything *had* to run CP/M? I know that Apple II *DID* run CP/M of some flavor, but CP/M *sucked*, and Apple showed nearly no support for it.

Now we're stuck with Flash, which everyone tolerates and does a lot, but again, it *sucks*. Adobe hasn't put together a decent Flash interpreter for ANY OS(well, the Windows version is debatable), and everyone puts up with it because of it's ubiquity.

Folks. Ubiquity is never a reason to keep a shitty idea around. Particularly when it comes to the mobile space.

Re:The comparison to the Apple II era again...

[Serenissima]

You're right, but it's going to take time to move on to new ideas. HTML5 is awesome, but certainly not ubiquitous. ANY internet enabled device that does not provide users with the ability to view content that is EVERYWHERE on the internet is going to give the customer who purchases that device a limited internet experience. Sure Flash sucks, but it's out there, and it's all over the place. It's just plain stupid to not give customers the ability to view that content.

Re:The comparison to the Apple II era again...

[e2d2]

Okay. What about money. Is money a good idea to keep something around? Businesses tend to think yes. "Throw away all your flash formatted content" is not really something you want to hear as a decision maker who's heavily invested in the format. And considering the iPad device is geared towards things like video, it's a no brainer to support what is now become a standard. Okay so you support HTML5, but what about the meantime as everyone converts?

But let's skip the bullshit. This is a corporate game and the end user suffers for it. You can pretend Apple has your best interest in mind if you like, but the facts speak for themselves. They have limited functionality to poke a competitor in the eye. A competitor that basically kept their Mac platform alive with their creative tools. It's pretty messed up IMHO.

Re:The comparison to the Apple II era again...

[hoggoth]

> And yet the iPhone was the best 'internet experience' mobile phone on the planet when it came out. In spite of the fact that it didn't have flash.

"These aren't the missing features you're looking for", Steve Jobs waves his hand.

Much faster clone time

[jimmyhat3939]

Obviously competitors have realized that it's worth it to come out with clone or me-too products much faster than they did in the past with the iPhone. This suggests to me that they'll be at least somewhat more successful than before in taking market share from apple.

Re:Much faster clone time

[Facegarden]

Is it going to be multi-touch capable and actually responsive, rather than barely touch aware and laggy?

I have yet to see a piece of hardware running android that doesn't feel slow to the point of non-response or that is just as comfortable to use as the UI on my iPhone. Anyone recommend a device running android that doesn't feel like a sluggish piece of poop?

The Nexus One. It seriously is fast as hell and i have a crapload of apps installed. Like, i was blown away the other day when i realized how many apps I have and how that has had *no* effect on the operation of the phone.

I did windows mobile for years (reboot twice a day), then the iphone 1g (reboot once a week maybe? I forget), and then the tmobile G1 (reboot twice a week maybe, but it was just generally underpowered). I got the N1 recently and it just blows me away how fast and stable it is. The 1GHz processor really makes a difference, and I can multitask all I want without having to ever use a task manager. Its also nice to have what i consider an excellent camera as far as a mobile phone goes. Low light with the flash is great and it is better than any device I've ever had (which is mostly HTC, they never put a big priority on cameras before). Also, the camera takes ~1/2 second to start up. THAT is nice!

There are some oddities - about once a week data stops working, but a reboot always fixes it, and honestly that could be AT&T for all their crapiness, I'm not sure.

But it is always snappy, and i couldn't be happier with the phone - it is literally the phone i have always been looking for.
-Taylor

Just stop it

[pieisgood]

You don't need to create a device to compete with the ipad. The ipad will fade into obscurity and during that time your efforts could be better invested else where.

Re:Just stop it

[Fahrvergnuugen]

The ipad will fade into obscurity and during that time your efforts could be better invested else where

I hope you didn't bet money on that...

Re:Just stop it

[0100010001010011]

"Less Space than a Nomad. No wireless. Lame."

"No they didn't, the big difference between iPhone and OpenMoko is that OpenMoko is completely open, so anyone can extend it, while iPhone is closed and only licensed parties can write extensions. This is what uniqe about OpenMoko. Apple added glitter to iPhone, but there are other smart phones (maybe not as good, but I can't judge, it's a long wait till iPhone will be available in Europe) so nothing revolutionary about it. OpenMoko has philosophical feature - openess. So as a geek I know which one is the winner here :)"

How's that OpenMoko doing today?
How about those iPod killers?

Re:Just stop it

[sjonke]

This notion that people are simply being fooled into buying Apples devices is interesting, but doesn't quite jibe with the customer satisfaction level of the iPhone, for example. The iPad we don't have the data for yet, but when it comes to the iPhone, the idea that people buying them have just been fooled by good marketing... that is the only reality distortion field in effect here. Meanwhile, all those iPhone users, you know the ones that have been fooled by marketing, they are all thinking... iPhone's great, entirely touch-based interface but with a bigger screen that doesn't require so much zooming in and out? Who let the dogs out?

Give me ARM, please

[marcansoft]

I'm tired of people shoehorning the power-hungry x86 architecture into small devices. If there's one thing that Apple did right it's not using the Atom. The WePad runs Linux: there's no reason to stick with the legacy x86 architecture. Even Adobe Flash works on ARM (just not Flash 10 yet).

If the WePad used an ARM chip, it could probably retain its feature set and bump up the battery duration to the iPad level, which seems to be the only feature where it loses to it.

Re:Give me ARM, please

[jedidiah]

> If you're running Linux, you're sticking with legacy x86 architecture.

How can you even be on Slashdot and post something that ignorant?

That's not why.

[Civil_Disobedient]

everyone puts up with it because of it's ubiquity

No, everyone puts up with it because:

1. Unlike everything else on the web, It Works.
2. Define works? Sure, no problem. It handles:
   • Vector animation
   • MP3 support
   • MP4 support
   • TrueType fonts

   ...all out-of-the box.

3. Define works, in developer terms? Sure!
   • You don't have to fix cross-browser issues. It is truly write-once, play-anywhere
   • If you know JavaScript, you know ActionScript

As of 2010, these bullet points have all been true for nearly fifteen years. Meanwhile, HTML5 will still be playing second-fiddle even when the language is completely formalized (no fonts, MP4 is questionable, MP3 is questionable, and you'll still have to test twenty different versions and have plenty of hacks up your sleeve to get everything to look correct across all platforms & browsers).