There are several laptops on the market currently which have 3 mouse buttons. Several IBM laptops have them and the new Sony PCG-C1X, which Linus himself booted up for someone in a recent interview.
There is an interesting story on linuxtoday.com about Clive Sinclair working on a dedicated Linux laptop with an alternative CPU to x86. I would think ARM is the logical choice, but he is interested in low costs and perhaps ARM is still too much money.
My perfect Linux portable would be a very power efficient machine along the lines of the PCG-C1X with a 1080x1920 HDTV display, same resolution camera, enough slots for GPS, wireless modem, and flash storage. Linux should be able to run off ROM and a flashcard with no hard disk usage. USB supported peripherals such as DVD's, scanners, printers, etc. should all work without too much trouble.
Something I've never understood about the MD is why Sony didn't push it as a floppy replacement years ago. 150 MB is on a par with several floppy replacements now. I much prefer the enclosed casing of a MD vs. a recordable CD. At $2/100 MB it isn't that far off from a recordable CD either. They could have pushed it as a camera storage medium as well.
I have been wondering about Linux as an OS choice in the handheld market for a while now. Unlike Jesse Montrose, I'm not in a hurry for my handheld, since a few enabling technologies such as cheap high-density removable memory, 200-300 dpi screens, and better voice recognition are not ready yet. Though in the long run, I think of it as a reasonable choice for a multi-purpose design that does the following:
GPS - I carry around a Garmin 12XL now, and it really bugs me that I can't customize the interface the way I would like.
map display - Several GPS units do this now and some palmtops interface with GPS units, though the combination is too bulky for my tastes.
paging - I'd like to be able to access a LEO satellite two-way paging network (e.g. http://www.orbcomm.com), a ground based network if available and cheaper, and send a page directly to another unit if it is less than a few km away.
phone - I could dispense with this function if only everyone else had paging ability. A big market though.
camera/photo quality display - an integrated camera design such as the Sony PCG is one solution, or something that slides into a PC slot with a pivoting lens (like Nikon's or Agfa's) would also work. A very high resolution screen (e.g. HDTV: 1080x1960) at 300dpi would work well for displaying photos to friends and for checking the photo quality at time of capture.
voice recognition - for document entry, paging, etc.
Of course none of the above is Linux specific, but if I were to buy a device with another OS (such as EPOC32) for this device, the burden of proof would be on the alternative. It would have to be faster, require less power for a given function, or have some advantage over an OS that is free and for which I already have a small amount of familiarity.
Links: in addition to the links previously mentioned,/. Readers may want to check out:
Alternative OS http://www.altos.org.uk for reviews on PalmOS, Epoc32 and others
Pocket Unix Bookmarks http://cmcind.far.ruu.nl/gillies/bookmarks/pocket. html - I found the PLEB links very interesting.
Embedded Cygnos OS (eCos) http://www.sourceware.cygnos.com - I'm not sure if this OS is really aimed at Palmtop computing, or if it is for more traditional embedded applications, but there is some interesting stuff here.
"The GNU Public License [...] means in practice that application developers have to make the sources available. In the embedded systems market this requirement is generally considered unacceptable and many companies refuse to use any GPL'd code as a result. This would reduce the uptake of eCos, and we want as many people as possible to use the system."
There is also a good overview of Operating Systems at http://www.tunes.org/Review/OSes.html with many links.
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There are several laptops on the market currently which have 3 mouse buttons. Several IBM laptops have them and the new Sony PCG-C1X, which Linus himself booted up for someone in a recent interview.
There is an interesting story on linuxtoday.com about Clive Sinclair working on a dedicated Linux laptop with an alternative CPU to x86. I would think ARM is the logical choice, but he is interested in low costs and perhaps ARM is still too much money.
My perfect Linux portable would be a very power efficient machine along the lines of the PCG-C1X with a 1080x1920 HDTV display, same resolution camera, enough slots for GPS, wireless modem, and flash storage. Linux should be able to run off ROM and a flashcard with no hard disk usage. USB supported peripherals such as DVD's, scanners, printers, etc. should all work without too much trouble.
Something I've never understood about the MD is why Sony didn't push it as a floppy replacement years ago. 150 MB is on a par with several floppy replacements now. I much prefer the enclosed casing of a MD vs. a recordable CD. At $2/100 MB it isn't that far off from a recordable CD either. They could have pushed it as a camera storage medium as well.
I have been wondering about Linux as an OS choice in the handheld market for a while now. Unlike Jesse Montrose, I'm not in a hurry for my handheld, since a few enabling technologies such as cheap high-density removable memory, 200-300 dpi screens, and better voice recognition are not ready yet. Though in the long run, I think of it as a reasonable choice for a multi-purpose design that does the following:
/. Readers may want to check out:
. html - I found the PLEB links very interesting.
GPS - I carry around a Garmin 12XL now, and it really bugs me that I can't customize the interface the way I would like.
map display - Several GPS units do this now and some palmtops interface with GPS units, though the combination is too bulky for my tastes.
paging - I'd like to be able to access a LEO satellite two-way paging network (e.g. http://www.orbcomm.com), a ground based network if available and cheaper, and send a page directly to another unit if it is less than a few km away.
phone - I could dispense with this function if only everyone else had paging ability. A big market though.
camera/photo quality display - an integrated camera design such as the Sony PCG is one solution, or something that slides into a PC slot with a pivoting lens (like Nikon's or Agfa's) would also work. A very high resolution screen (e.g. HDTV: 1080x1960) at 300dpi would work well for displaying photos to friends and for checking the photo quality at time of capture.
voice recognition - for document entry, paging, etc.
Of course none of the above is Linux specific, but if I were to buy a device with another OS (such as EPOC32) for this device, the burden of proof would be on the alternative. It would have to be faster, require less power for a given function, or have some advantage over an OS that is free and for which I already have a small amount of familiarity.
Links: in addition to the links previously mentioned,
Alternative OS http://www.altos.org.uk for reviews on PalmOS, Epoc32 and others
Pocket Unix Bookmarks http://cmcind.far.ruu.nl/gillies/bookmarks/pocket
Embedded Cygnos OS (eCos) http://www.sourceware.cygnos.com - I'm not sure if this OS is really aimed at Palmtop computing, or if it is for more traditional embedded applications, but there is some interesting stuff here.
"The GNU Public License [...] means in practice that application developers have to make the sources available. In the embedded systems market this requirement is generally considered unacceptable and many companies refuse to use any GPL'd code as a result. This would reduce the uptake of eCos, and we want as many people as possible to use the system."
There is also a good overview of Operating Systems at http://www.tunes.org/Review/OSes.html with many links.