PDAs & Handhelds's archive
Elektrobit MID Reference Design Aims to put Linux Desktop apps + Smartphone in your pocket
Smartphones, netbooks, smartbooks, and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) while very similar feature-wise, each has their own distinct advantages. Smartphones such as the iPhone have been widely successful, while the MID market has been a bit slow to take off. Elektrobit Corporation (EB), based in Oulu, Finland aims to change that with their new MID reference design that combines the “pocketability” of smartphones with the power of PCs/netbooks since it can run desktop Linux applications. Picture an iPhone that can actually run full version Linux applications such as Firefox, Opera, OpenOffice, Thunderbird, SSH client, and more. That’s exactly what you’ll get with Elektrobit’s (EB) new MID reference design. EB’s sleek, media-centric MID reference device takes the power of the PC and makes it pocket-able so you don’t have to compromise on mobile capabilities.
I spoke with EB’s Vesa Kiviranta Vice President, Mobile Internet Device Solutions, Wireless Solutions BU about their new reference design. Vesa explained that it’s based on Intel’s next generation Moorestown platform. The reference design includes touch-screen support with multi-touch (cool!) support. It uses the latest 3D and high resolution capacitive sensing touch screen (3.97″) powered by EB Touch & Feel technology. Because the screen measures nearly 4 inches (3.97″), it fits into the MID category, while smartphones have screens smaller than 3.9 inches and netbooks have screens larger than 5 inches.The reference design relies on a Linux-based OS with EB’s MID UI & Application framework based on QT. It also features EB Navigation Suite with integrated GPS.
It supports two cameras (front & back of phone) so not only can you snap photos, it can also easily support videoconferencing/videochat. I asked EB about support for Skype video chat and they told me it will indeed be supported in their MID design. In fact, they tested it using the Linux Skype application in their labs. As far as I know, this marks the first time a pocketable mobile phone can perform Skype videoconferencing! Cool stuff! 
I know many iPhone fans were very disappointed the new iPhone 3GS didn’t add a front-facing camera (myself included), which would allow for videochat capabilities. Of course, the current Skype for iPhone client doesn’t support video, but my sources tell me it’s in the works. It will be very hard to have a videoconference if you have to turn the iPhone around so the camera is facing you, but not the iPhone screen. Basically, they’ll be able to see you, but you won’t be able to see them - unless you spin the iPhone back around.
Tags: chat, eb, Elektrobit, mid, mobile phone, netbook, reference design, skype, smart phone, Vesa Kiviranta, videoconferencing, voip
Related tags: reference design, mobile internet, linux applications, touch screen, iphone, design
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TechCrunch Touchpad - Needs 3G/4G/EVDO, Skype, and VoIP
TechCrunch has a prototype of their tablet PC featuring a touchscreen, Wi-Fi, an accelerometer, a camera and a four cell battery running on a stripped down version of Linux. Well, actually they’re running the prototype on full-fledged Linux, but they promise better performance once they strip out all the extra stuff.
According to TechCrunch:
The device has a 12-inch touchscreen with a 4:3 aspect ratio (which is ideal for web browsing in my opinion). It is powered with a Via Nano processor, which has performed at par with the Intel Atom in our testing. 1 GB of ram (its more than we need) and a 4 GB flash drive to store the OS and browser and any cache. Resolution is 1024×768, which means the vast majority of websites are viewed in full width without scrolling.
So what’s missing from this Techcrunch tablet gadget? Well, how bout a PCMCIA slot for inserting an EVDO/3G/4G card. Forget Wi-Fi - that’s so 2005. We need to be able to roam and happily surf the web when outside earshot of a Wi-Fi access point. Although it does have a USB port, so maybe it will support USB-based EVDO/3G/4G dongles. PCMCIA is pretty large come to think of it, taking up a lot of internal space. A touch screen tablet optimized for web surfing needs to be as thin and as light as possible.
It should also support Skype, including Skype videoconferencing using the embedded camera. Maybe it will and maybe it won’t, but surprisingly no mention of Skype in the article. It should also support some SIP softphone client for those that like to BYOVA (Bring Your Own VoIP Access).
What else would you like to see?
Tags: 3g, 4g, EVDO, PCMCIA, skype, TechCrunch, touch screen tablet, voip
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Comments on this Entry:
(Andrew on
Jan 19, 2009 5:23 PM)
If you want to hit a sub 200-300$ price point (as is the goal) forget Skype, and the other things you want. Browser based VoIP is the best you are going to get.
(Tom Keating on
Jan 19, 2009 5:30 PM)
Linux already supports a full-fledged Skype client. It’s only hard drive space - so why not at least make it available on this tablet? Browser-based VoIP clients are OK, but Skype is still the dominant player, especially if you IM/VoIP your buddy list a lot. Skype just has much more traction still than other VoIP clients.
I assume TechCrunch isn’t “locking” the device, so maybe Skype will at least be user-installable - as will other Linux apps.
Apple Large screen iPod Touch in Future Plus Skype & Apple Partnership?
According to Techcrunch, we can soon expect to see a 7″ or 9″ iPod touch, which would make it more akin to a tablet PC than a portable music & video player with app support. The app support is a key point here. One of the problems with the iPod touch and similarly the iPhone is the relatively small screen. Sure, it’s bigger than most portable devices, but it’s still not quite large enough for optimal productivity.
By stepping up the screen size, not only will it improve productivity, you may even see users actually “work” within business apps such as Excel on the iPod touch. Try working in Excel on the iPod touch or iPhone on such a small screen is nearly impossible. In fact, I should point out that natively the iPhone and iPod touch don’t support Excel. There is a workaround however.
Continue reading Apple Large screen iPod Touch in Future Plus Skype & Apple Partnership?…
Tags: apple, excel, iphone, ipod touch, large screen, skype, voip
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Toshiba 512GB Solid State Drive
Toshiba announced that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive (SSD) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, with shipments of this large SSD in the second quarter of 2009. These NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) will be the industry’s first 2.5-inch 512-gigabyte SSD and features fast read/write times and reliable performance for laptops/notebooks, and other equipment.
In addition to the 2.5-inch, 512GB drive, the 43nm NAND SSD family also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules. The drives feature a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This should definitely result in faster boot and application loading times. The drives also offer AES data encryption to prevent unauthorized data access.
512GB soon… next stop 1TB (1 terabyte)! 
Tags: 512GB, drives, memory, NAND, sequential read, sequential write, solid state drive, SSD
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Black Friday Results are in!
It appears it just might be a Merry Christmas even with the doom & gloom surrounding the economy. I guess President-elect Barack Obama must be the Messiah, since he’s already creating miracles and he hasn’t even been sworn in yet.
Check this out:
NRF Survey Finds Black Friday Gets Holiday Season Off to Energetic Start
– Great Bargains, Pent-Up Demand Drove Shoppers to Stores, Web
Though the holiday season is far from over, retailers across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief after shoppers headed to stores and websites in droves over the weekend. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year.*
Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend*, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion.
“Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season’s hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again.”
Friday was clearly the busiest day of the weekend with 73.6 million people hitting stores and websites for doorbuster sales. Though traffic did subside after Friday, retailers were also buoyed by two-day sales as 56.9 million people shopped on Saturday, up from 48.3 million last year, while another 26.2 million people planned to shop on Sunday. Thanksgiving Day also continues to increase in importance as the number of people who shopped on Thursday was up 48 percent over last year (16.2 million people vs. 10.9 million people).
Those who shopped on Friday lived by the adage that the early bird catches the worm. The survey found that 23.3 percent of shoppers were at stores by 5 a.m. while more than half (57.6%) were at stores by 9 a.m. Bargains appeared to be so good that people have more of a jumpstart on shopping.
According to the findings, Americans have completed slightly more shopping than they had one year ago (39.3% vs. 36.4%), indicating that traffic and sales over the next several weeks will moderate.
“Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. “Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases.”
Though retailers in all categories were featuring big bargains, a majority of shoppers visited discount stores for holiday deals. According to the survey, more than half (54.7%) of this weekend’s shoppers visited discount stores. Nearly half (43.0%) shopped at a traditional department store, up 11.1 percent from 38.7 percent last year. About one-third of shoppers visited specialty stores like clothing or electronics stores (36.0%) and shopped online (34.0%).
As expected, many shoppers (50.9%) purchased clothing and accessories over the weekend while 39.0 percent bought books, DVDs, CDs and video games and 35.9 percent purchased consumer electronics. Toys were also big sellers, as 28.5 percent of shoppers bought a toy. Gift card purchasing dropped ten percent with 18.7 percent of shoppers purchasing a gift card over the weekend, down from 21.0 percent last year.
NRF continues to project that holiday sales will rise 2.2 percent this year to $470.4 billion.
About the Survey
The NRF 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. NRF defines the weekend as sales from Thursday, November 27 to Sunday, November 30. The survey, which polled 3,370 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from November 27-29, 2008. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent.
BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2007 sales of $4.5 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com
Via NRF
Tags: Barack Obama, Black Friday, Christmas, National Retail Federation, Thanksgiving
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Palm Going the Way of the Dodo?
At a moment in time when smart phones are one of the few hot tech products, Palm, the industry’s pioneer, appears to be dying.
This morning, Global Crown Capital analyst Pablo Perez-Fernandez cut his rating on the company to Underweight from Neutral, setting a $1.50 price target, well below the current level.
Perez-Fernandez provides a damaging list of factors now facing the company and the stock, all of which add up to a deteriorating position in a market where competition is heating up considerably.
In the debate over whether to buy an Apple iPhone or a Research in Motion BlackBerry Storm or Bold, does Palm’s name even come up in conversation? Alas, no.
And that makes me sad as a long time Palm user — back when the Palm Pilot was as hot as the iPhone …
Read more of this sad story about an industry pioneer at Barron’s.
Tags: apple, blackberry bold, blackberry storm, iphone, palm, palm pilot, smart phones
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Mojo Mobility Charges Gadgets Wirelessly
Mojo Mobility Inc, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm, has developed a technology to simultaneously charge multiple mobile devices simply using a flat surface that doesn’t even to touch the charging circuitry of mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, and other gadgetry.
While NFP (Near Field Power) is not a new concept, the non-contact charging system leverages an electromagnetic induction method. The system is composed of two coils, one for transmitting and the other for receiving electric power.
Mojo Mobility has developed a prototype sheet-type charger equipped with multiple transmitting coils. On this sheet to the right, up to four devices charged at the same time with the ability to produce 2.5W to 4W of power ..
Tags: charge, electric power, electricity, gadgets, mobile phone, Mojo Mobility, Near Field Power, NFP, wireless
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Opera Mini 4.2 beta mini-review
Opera Mini 4.2 beta just launched today. Opera Mini is one of my favorite mobile phone Internet browsers. It’s a tough call between Opera Mini and Skyfire. Skyfire supports Flash and video, so it’s better at multimedia, however, I find Opera Mini better suited to regular web pages with just graphics and text. Opera Mini is much faster at loading web pages and scrolling than Skyfire. Still, I use both on my Windows Mobile.
That said, today Opera Mini is trying to add video streaming support. Ironically, yesterday I was trying to figure out how to copy/paste my Orb TV streaming links from Opera Mini 4.1 to Pocket IE so I could stream live TV. I prefer browsing via Opera Mini, but I have to use Pocket IE to stream video/audio. I could use the popular MortScript to add copy/paste functionality, but unfortunately, it only allows pasting into Opera Mini and not from Opera Mini. In any event, in 4.2 when you are browsing video content, such as Youtube, Opera Mini will launch your regular Windows mobile browser (Pocket IE) with a prompt that says “Open URL? Yes / No” with a link similar to this - http://server4.operamini.com/hr02-14/5oxerx…/2/196. I figured out that this is like Opera Mini’s version of tinyURL to point directly to the Youtube video. If you click ‘Yes’, it then launches Pocket Internet Explorer with a single URL on the web page “Start Stream”. When I clicked this link it then said “Running a system command on this item might be unsafe. Do you wish to continue? Yes / No” with on option to save my preference for the future. (Pocket IE’s fault not Opera Mini). My default media player launched and then I got “An unknown error 0X8007274D has occurred.” I looked at the URL it was trying to open and it looked similar to this:
rtsp://prug.rtsp-youtube.I.google.com/CkcLENy73wIaPgn43DiE8… (bunch more letters and numbers)
I’m guessing Windows Media Player couldn’t handle the long string. It probably has a character limit.
Even if it did work, it’s a bit of kludge, though I’m glad they’re finally working on video support. I toggle to Skyfire when I need video. Opera said, “We are working to make video content available on more phones through Opera Mini. If you have a new Sony Ericsson or Nokia phone, the chance is high that you can take Opera Mini for a spin on m.youtube.com”. So I guess Ericsson and Nokia users might have better luck than me. 
Some other benefits of Opera Mini 4.2 over 4.1:
- Opera Mini 4.2 can use their newly established server park in the U.S. for faster performance.
- Sync your notes. The handy Notes functionality from the Opera Desktop Web browser just got more portable through Opera Link. All of your notes are available in Opera Mini directly from the Bookmarks menu.
- Personalize Opera Mini by choosing a new colorful skin. They reintroduced the popular skinning feature from Opera Mini 3.
Overall, I like the new version, especially the speed bump. No need for my Opera Mini browser to connect to Opera’s servers in Norway and then back across the Atlantic. Still, I wish they allowed me to copy/paste links for cases when I need to use my alternate browser.
more info here.
Tags: browser, mobile phone, Opera, Opera Mini 4.2, Skyfire
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Sears Wants Your Old Gadgets
Sears is offering VenJuvo’s Trade4Credit program to Sears.com shoppers that will allow you to earn Sears store credit in exchange for trading in pre-owned gadgets that have been determined to still hold value.
The program, which offers free recycling and shipping, will accept a variety of gadgets, including iPhones, digital cameras and camcorders, MP3 players, GPS systems and gaming systems.
To use the service, simply have to log onto www.sears.trade4credit.com, select your gadget and then enter the specifics about it so the system can calculate an estimated trade-in value. Once the value is established, the user can print out the prepaid mailing label and send the device to VenJuvo.
After the device is received, VenJuvo will validate the value and within three days you will be able to collect a Sears gift card for that value.
A quick look at the site tells me the product categories are narrow and the prices low. Now, wouldn’t eBay be a better choice in some cases?
More at TWICE.
Tags: ebay, recycling, sears, trade4credit, twice, venjuvo
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BlackBerry Mac Media Sync on its Way
Am sure you know the feeling …
Feelin’ left in the dust while all your Outlook-loving PC friends get all the cool BlackBerry stuff?
Well, RIM has been hard at work on the Mac side of things, and here’s a chance to see what’s on the way — the first look at BlackBerry Media Sync for Mac.
This isn’t a final version so don’t get too depressed that the options are pretty limited at this time, but it least gives you an idea of what’s happening.
Great screen shots and more at Boy Genius Report.
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What’s in Your Back-to-School Pack?
Is every kid in America (at least at a certain age bracket) heading back to High School (or even Middle School) this week with a cell phone and iPod?
I’m sure there a many other variations of gadgetry in the average back-to-school back pack (or other notebook, pencil, paper, lunch carrying device), but that’s got to be the one.
Wait … Maybe it’s just the iPhone without anything else, but that would seem to be more appropriate for a higher demo that what I’m given to thinking.
Or maybe the real debate is the iPod and a specific model of cell phone in tandem?
Anyway, before I get myself all confused over this burning issue, what do you think? Anybody out there got anything to contribute?
Tags: back to school shopping, iphone, ipod
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Amazon To Re-Kindle Its Popular eBook Reader
Amazon will reportedly ship new versions of its Kindle e-book reader before year’s end. The original reader launched last November sold out in its first week and had Amazon scrambling to fill holiday orders. While sales have been brisk, estimates vary.
A Seattle newspaper confirmed late last week that Amazon.com is in the late stages of rolling out two new versions of Kindle. Reports unconfirmed by Amazon indicate there will be at least two new devices — one with a new user interface, but the same dimensions of the original paperback-sized reader, and another the size of an 8-by-11-inch sheet of paper. Other tantalizing details are that the new readers may sport color choices.
The original Kindle has been criticized for its bland appearance and somewhat clunky controls, so color and a new interface could help sales. Not that Amazon seems to be complaining.
Low estimates of current Kindle sales are pegged at around 230,000 units shipped in nine months, while others speculate that more than 380,00 have been sold.
Get more at NewsFactor.
And for another take, go here.
Tags: amazon, kindle, newsfactor
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Is There More to Netflix/Roku Than Meets the Eye?
Blogged about the intriguing Netflix/Roku deal back on May 20, but now an interesting piece on VentureBeat makes it even more (and more!) interesting.
The new Roku box (doesn’t look like much, does it?) lets you stream any of Netflix’s 10,000+ “Watch Now” movies (movies that can be watched immediately over the internet for free with your subscription) to your TV set instantly. However, a new wrinkle may make the device even more attractive — with a simple software download, other services beyond Netflix will soon be able to use it, according to Forbes.
This changes the device from a nice little purchase (it’s only $99), into a potential Trojan horse for digital content in your living room. Of course, it entirely depends on what other services reach agreements to use the device. Roku would only say that other “big name” providers could bring their services to the device with a simple update.
At the same time, Netflix plans to release another box featuring its “Watch Now” service in conjunction with LG later this year. There’s also an intriguing rumor that the service could come to Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
Tags: Forbes, LG, Microsoft, Netflix, Roku, VentureBeat, Xbox 360
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Jan 18, 2008 - Microsoft XBox 360 - No Linux for You! -
Sep 04, 2007 - Windows Live Messenger Now works with Xbox LIVE -
May 09, 2007 - 100 million iPods sold -
Apr 09, 2007 - Microsoft Carbon IPTV for the XBox 360 is real! -
Jan 08, 2007 - Microsoft Equipt includes Office, OneCare for $69.99/Year -
Jul 02, 2008 - Windows Live Messenger 8.5 Launches -
Jun 25, 2008
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