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PengPod Crowdfunding a Tablet Made With OS-Switching In Mind
PengPod is running a crowdfunder to create a GNU Linux/Android tablet, the PengPod 1040. This is their second such product; the first was mentioned on Slashdot last year. PengPod has pledged to make all source and tools used to build the images available, so users can build their own OS top to bottom to guarantee that it's free of NSA tracking. The PengPod has previously found some success as a low-cost touch platform for industrial/commercial control systems and is partnered with ViewTouch, the original inventors of the graphical POS to offer PengPod1040s as restaurant register systems. The feature that the developers seem keenest to emphasize is that the PengPod is built to run conventional desktop Linux distros without special hacking required; Android is the default OS, but it's been tested with several others (including Ubuntu Touch) listed on their Indiegogo page.
I would applaud for a nice tablet with my choice of OS but it's 1.4 lbs or 22.4 ounces. Yikes that's heavy.
If you're going to install a Linux distribution on the thing anyway, why not just run Android in a VM which eliminates the need to reboot to switch operating systems?
What's the odds on this being the NSA's way to keep tabs on people who want to avoid NSA tracking?
What? Does this table have no cell or networking capability?
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Well, we tried, but we didn't ham-handedly mention the NSA in 100% of headlines today. There's always tomorrow, folks.
an ihackPad that can jump to android and linux at will would be pretty sweet.
Saving a spreadsheet downloaded in Android, then rebooting into Linux to edit it, then rebooting back into Android to send it back with a touch-centric email client, or any similar workflow seems rather archaic. It's like over a decade ago when on occasion I would absolutely have to reboot into Windows to get something done - it was annoying (and destroyed my uptime!). Further, you need a keyboard and mouse to operate this device under Linux - at least that's what the demo video shows, and I don't see how it could be done any other way (in a practical sense).
This is the total wrong approach. Now that Android is making it's way onto desktop type machines, perhaps it's time to look at porting applications like LibreOffice and Gimp over to Android. You would still want to plug in a keyboard and mouse to use them, but at least you wouldn't have to reboot multiple times in order to complete what amounts to a single task. Also, it would be nice to drop my phone into a dock that connects it to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard - but only if I have desktop applications available. If for some Android OS-centric technical reason, porting full scale apps makes no sense, then it's time to look at some kind of practical OS hybridization. Not to mention the time is now to steal Microsoft's thunder and if we don't make such moves now, I can't promise it will still be that time in two or three years.
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Yes but bitching about it *is* doing something, and if enough bitch about it it may yet have an effect, and even if it doesnt its an improvement from being blissfully ignorant. I prefer the bitching.
So...bitching is going to stop the NSA? Just complain about it and it will all go away? *Giggle* The hippies got out and protested at Occupy Wall St. but I don't see anyone protesting about being spied on all the time. I guess most Americans really don't mind it.
I fail to see how any device that is on the internet (and what's so fun about an android device that's NOT on the internet) can escape the NSA. You are on the net, you are subject to being monitored by the NSA and a whole host of countries which do the same thing (albeit on a smaller scale..)
So is this article assuming android has NSA tracking built in on all commercial devices sold? Somehow, I doubt even the NSA (which apparently has the same reputation as Ole Saint Nick, [knows when you are sleeping, knows when you are awake.. etc]) could manage to do that. Most of these devices are built and have their software loaded over seas. If anything, I'd be more concerned about China getting their software bits added but that's a totally different story.
Even though Snowden and WikiLeaks make loud claims about what the NSA can possibly do, it does not make it so and to me, much of the noise being made is self serving "I want my 15 seconds of fame" grand standing. Yes, they can likely track a lot more than most realize, but they are not putting tracking software on commercial devices being sold to the public. If they did, it would be a HUGE violation of law that would make the reported on excesses at the NSA look like a 2 year old shoplifting candy in the checkout line. (Bad, to be sure, but you might want to pay attention to the armed robbery going on involving the cash register..)
Sarcasm
Of course, turning off the TV IS doing something about it, now they won't know what I'm doing. Better unplug your X-Box too, oh and all your android devices, I-devices, etc, cause they are out to get you...
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
I'm looking for a 4" device that runs android and is not a phone, and has current hardware. Nobody seems to be making such a device unfortunately. Samsung used to have the Galaxy Player but not anymore. I specifically don't want a phone.
Twinstiq, game news
Jane Silber's previous job was at that military contractor, namely the C4 Division of General Dynamics. It turns out that at the C4 Systems division is all about using computers for spying.
From their website: "General Dynamics C4 Systems is a trusted leader in the development of intelligence and information gathering systems for national defense and homeland security. These systems are designed to receive, process, exploit and disseminate information -- in different forms and often from different networks -- and distribute relevant information to operators, both in the field and at higher headquarters."
Dont want a phone, then turn off the radio. Poof, its no longer a phone.
Remove the SIM?
if they ship for $249 as spec'd I buy one
Look again. Samsung still sells the Galaxy Player 4" and 5". I have a 4 and it is great. I use it daily for work. While they are only running Gingerbread it is sufficient for anything I need to do. With access to Google play it is a great little unit. I does everything the big boys do.
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/mp3-players
The normal minimum price for a ViewTouch point of sale system is about $3,000 plus $1,000 a year for unlimited support, training and other services. The offer of ViewTouch on the new PengPod cuts $2,500 from that price and $600 a year for support, training and other services.
I own the PengPod 700 and I contributed to this project for the 1040 for an upgrade. Here are some comments I have:
First, the PengPod 700 is great for what I need it for - which is mainly a mobile tablet that boots Linux for taking notes in Vim. I would do the same with a Rapsberry Pi, some USB display, and a battery, but it is all there in one package with the PengPod 700. It fits just fine in a case with a mobile keyboard. Some downsides to the original design: low processor speed + RAM - starting Firefox takes some time, but it still works. I feel like USB in Linux without autologin is a single point of failure - and it has been reported that the connector does suffer. It also doesn't have access to the backlight PWM/GPIO out of the box - so no brightness control, which directly affects battery life, which isn't that great. For what I use it for (taking notes at meetings or on the go), the issues aren't too bad. At $100ish for a Linux tablet, you can't go wrong if you set your expectations right.
Now, I want the 1040 because the specs are amazing for that pricepoint, especially with Linux. I would up my usage of it to playing some light games, spreadsheet, general web browsing - it would really be something that I wouldn't feel bad using from the couch or pulling out at a conference. I still would prefer multiple USB ports, but most tablets don't even have one.
I really wanted an Ubuntu Edge, but didn't really need to replace my current smartphone and honestly I could see myself using the 1040 a lot more. I probably still won't be doing heavy development on it or running WINE (both due to ARM), but I can't really find much that is cheaper from a mobile perspective with the full package running Linux.
Now you can be disappointed with *all* the open source software support for ARM systems simply by rebooting!
I'm on the project so if you have any questions ask away and I'll try and answer.
Smartphone prices are routinely marked up with the expectation of carrier subsidy. I don't want to pay marked-up phone prices for what amounts to an Android pod touch.
I have two questions, and I will ask one per post, as is customary for Slashdot interviews. The first: Android runs on a kernel that's Linux with a few modifications. Ubuntu also runs on Linux. Is there a possibility of rebootless switching between Android and Ubuntu by running Ubuntu in a chroot? Canonical seems to think so.
Google for android media player. Cowon comes to mind
slightly less than the ipad and slightly more thet the nexus 10
Why not just get a second hand Android phone and throw the sim card away?
That's exactly my reasoning. Also to the other person who replied below, those samsungs are out of date, I want to run apps too.
Twinstiq, game news
Look again. Samsung still sells the Galaxy Player 4" and 5". I have a 4 and it is great. I use it daily for work. While they are only running Gingerbread it is sufficient for anything I need to do.
Unless I've misread something, CyanogenMod supports the Galaxy Player. That'll give you a version of Android that's pretty much as current as you can get. Easy to install, too.
Will it run the Crunchyroll appat reasonable speed?
Is it just a finger-grade touchscreen? Or can I get the kind of precision needed for serious artwork? I'm thinking of a Wacom screen with a stylus here.
Last time I searched for that, I ended up buying an Archos 43 Internet Tablet. It's stuck on Android 2.2, and like Internet Explorer on Windows XP, Android Browser on Android 2.x gives a certificate error when one attempts to view an SSL site on shared hosting. It has a resistive single-touch screen, which is fine for some apps (I borrow a stylus from my Nintendo DS Lite) but doesn't work for, say, games that use an on-screen gamepad. Nor does it ship with Google Play Store; one has to pirate com.android.vending.apk to install it. Do these Cowon products have Android 4, multitouch, and Google Play Store?
Projects like this are high-risk unless the hardware is something off-the-shelf---in which case you can get it today and run whatever OS you want on it.
Secondly, the idea of switching between OS ecosystems is abhorrent to most users: I still can't get my android phones to sync properly with my music on my desktop. No one has ever wanted to edit a spreadsheet on a device the size of a phone
This will be little more than a novelty.
Also, the NSA claim is absurd.
Do you think the hippies just woke up one day and spontaneously converged on Wall St like some "Close Encounters" thing? Or did they bitch about it a bit first before it coalesced into action?
You can't have snow without moist air.
Step 1 in being point-to-point secure is to have secure points. It's well known that once you have access to the hardware, it's game over.
All the bitching is just leading to more paranoia and outright lies being spread as the truth. The NSA isn't doing 10% of what everyone is claiming they are doing
Why port apps to android that already work in other supported Linux operating systems? Android uses a Linux kernel so why not virtualised instance of android within a full Linux OS instead? Just put a dalvik VM and whatnot in there and run android apps within a window side by side with LibreOffice or other native apps?
Then you don't need to reboot or have dual mode operation.
ever tried to code an OS using FPC libs from scratch on x86? switch is a misgnomer...they mean between ubuntu and droid no doubt...
This is trial THREE on SVN by the way for a simple tasking OS....
Telephone support for PengPod customers needed !