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TurboLinux to Sell Wizpy Media Player Worldwide

Posted by CowboyNeal on Fri Jun 01, 2007 03:09 AM
from the rocking-tux-on-the-go dept.
Businesses TurboLinux Software Handhelds Media Music Linux Hardware
MsManhattan writes "TurboLinux will attempt to lure Windows users over to the Linux operating system in baby steps this June when it starts selling its Wizpy media player worldwide. The pocket-sized device, which plays audio and video files, is really a Linux carrot of sorts, in that it also allows users to store a complete Linux desktop in its memory. You can plug the Wizpy into a PC's USB port and boot up the Linux system with all its user settings, passwords, bookmarks, etc. It originally launched in Japan, where TurboLinux marketed it to 'early adopters who are curious about using Linux but either don't want to or can't install the operating system.' The company will now target the same crowd around the globe, starting in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, India and Singapore."
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TurboLinux to Sell Wizpy Media Player Worldwide 50 Comments More /

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  • It looks decent enough: http://www.turbolinux.com/products/wizpy/ [turbolinux.com]

  • Price (Score:5, Informative)

    by CowboyBob500 (580695) on Friday June 01 2007, @03:22AM (#19348921) Homepage
    4Gb for $278? No thanks.

    Bob
    • You do have a DSP and an FM Radio in there for your 4Gb. It would be interesting to see if a homebrew one is possible *scratches chin*
    • that was my first thought as well, 4g what a rip
    • 1) Exchange rates our notoriously bad at reflecting the actual MSRP. I wouldn't be surprised to see this closer to $249.99 US. That said, most places will probably sell it for less. I doubt TurboLinux will be as bitchy about MSRP as Apple is with the iPod.
      2) A 4 GB iPod Nano has an MSRP of $199 with a slightly smaller (.3" diagonal less) LCD (instead of OLED) display. Also, the Wizpy (ugh, bad name) also has a full blown Linux distro, so it is probably similar to carrying around DSL (damn small linux,

  • I'm waiting for Apple to do this with iPods (Score:3, Funny)

    by Timesprout (579035) on Friday June 01 2007, @03:26AM (#19348943)
    With the market share iPods enjoy it has to be a massive temptation to stick OSX on them and let users boot off them to help drive Mac hardware sales. It's not a strategy without risk but it potentially offers them a much greater share of the market very rapidly if they decide volume sales are the way to go.
    • Wouldn't this cut into Apple's hardware sales, the true Cash Cow for the company? What would be the incentive to distribute its OS on the iPod so that any schmuck can use OS X without Apple hardware. And if it could only be used with Apple hardware, isn't OSX already on it? I just don't see the benefit...
      • I've been waiting for the mythical OS X for PC since the Intel move was announced, but the way in which the iPhone has been released has made it less likely again. Hardware is one of Apple's revenue streams, and they can pretty much define what components go in that hardware, and can therefore build OS X to support those components. A white box OS X would have to support a wider range of hardware than the current lines (although I wouldn't be surprised if OS X supports what is generally currently available

      • Wouldn't this cut into Apple's hardware sales, the true Cash Cow for the company?

        Cash cow for how much longer though? iPod/itunes/iPhone/iTV are expected to bring in the cash now. Maybe you missed them dropping the 'Computer' recently. But its a valid point, can they make more charging for OSX on an iPod than possible drops in hardware sales.

        What would be the incentive to distribute its OS on the iPod so that any schmuck can use OS X without Apple hardware.

        Because every schmuck has an iPod and it alread

        • Cash cow for how much longer though? iPod/itunes/iPhone/iTV are expected to bring in the cash now.
          Well iTunes still doesn't make Apple much money last I heard, the iPhone has yet to be released, so really there is no idea whether it will be a hit or not, only speculation, and the iTV has widely been seen with lackluster (probably one of the reasons Apple is trying to push the iPhone, to cover up for the iTV. The only solid cash Apple is seeing is from the iPod (which is, no doubt, considerable.

          Because every schmuck has an iPod and it already has credibility as a quality product. If Apple can make a decent implementation people will buy Macs for the full experience.
          I don't think that means what you think it means For Apple to have a qualified product, it would need a helluva lot of drivers written up. I would hazard a guess and say that Apple products (where the drivers are written by Apple and not a third party) have far fewer drivers available than Linux, and even Linux is problematic on hardware. Not to mention, most people are morons when it comes to technology -- if their iPod runs Mac OS X (and think of the sheer number of people that would run it), and it doesn't suck (which I am not convinced of, see: drivers) then there would be no incentive because it doesn't suck. If it did suck, then again there would be no desire to upgrade and it would sully the Apple brand.

          Besides, if Apple was going to do something like this, it would be far more beneficial (although stupid, IMHO) to release it as a DVD-install like Windows. To compensate for a lack of Apple hardware, they would probably be charging $150 USD for it -- now figure that if it went the way you are proposing, that would be $150 USD on top of the iPod price, and there is still no guarantee that they'd switch. At least if they are buying the software (and let's face it, most people just take whatever is pre-installed on the system) they might consider buying hardware at the same time.
    • they'd run into a ton of hardware support issues... the range of computers that osx will run on right now is pretty minimal. If they ever sold generic x86 they'd probably be selling it in partnership with dell or some "apple clone" manufacturer.

      Besides, with apple's brand they really wouldn't need that kind of marketing.
  • Of the 4 GB, 1.2 is for the Linux stuff. This leaves you with 2.8 GB of space. That's not very much for a $300 (rounded) media player. At least give this thing a couple SD expansion slots or something!
  • Nintendo had a great success with a game console whose name sounds like a word for urination.

    So TurboLinux now comes out with a device whose name sounds like two words for urination.

  • Can this be used to remove spyware? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kahei (466208) on Friday June 01 2007, @04:14AM (#19349167) Homepage

    Is it possible for a device like this to circumvent XP to the point where it can be used to delete files/kill processes that are being protected by freindly spyware processes?

    I've been confronted by several XP machines that have spyware which can pretty much never be removed within XP, but which also don't run Knoppix or other 'lite' linux distros. Unless they happen to have a floppy drive for a DOS boot disk, it's a major pain removing spyware.

    A Linux USB stick might help, depending on how it's implemented...
    • I haven't run into the spyware yet that the adaware/spybot/cwshredder combo won't fix, when you run the aforementioned in safe mode.
      • You're lucky. I have. External booting (LiveCD, USB) is then the answer. BartsPE is nice, Knoppix can do the trick too, if you know where to look.

        With the right tools, this gadget might be helpfull. But a thumbdrive loaded with Linux is just as handy, and less costly.
    • if you can install the ntfs write driver support then yes, you can do surgery on XP. you essentually have root [admin] powers when you use a live cd or likely the wizpy so you can do just about anything- including accidentally crippling XP. even better though would be just to extract what you need, nuke XP and install linux from the thing like a live cd :)
    • I am not sure that I would call knoppix a lite distro. SLAX [slax.org] really is lite, and it has a subproject devoted to USB stick installs, although AFAIK nobody sells it like that.

      It also has a bunch of tools devoted to security, but IMHO reinstalling XP from your system restore disks is easier and usually faster and more reliable than trying to "clean" a compromised PC.

      Take care,
      -mat
  • This is a great illustration of how to use Linux correctly in creating a commercial product. That is, not just correctly license-wise, but in getting the most market benefit out of using Linux. Wizpy offers power users and opinion leaders a useful, attractive, and powerful tool. Surely a lot of Wizpys will be sold to this specific audience, and that will give Wizpy a leg up on all the other contenders in the media player business.

    Or, look at it this way: When someone asks "Why buy a Wizpy?" there is a speci
  • Ugh... Why is it so hard to find DAB devices? I want DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) on my radios along with FM... They still build radios with cassette players, but no DAB. Nobody cares about cassette players anymore but people would love DAB if it was available.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadca sting [wikipedia.org]
    http://www.cab-acr.ca/drri/index.shtm [cab-acr.ca]

    • Re:any system? (Score:5, Funny)

      by timmarhy (659436) on Friday June 01 2007, @03:22AM (#19348915)
      just write your own drivers, GOD can't you do anything without being spoonhead you bonehead user! it's all your fault our OS can't handle many simple tasks
    • Knoppix and other livecd based distros do pretty much the same thing.

        • Re:Not really (Score:5, Insightful)

          by ozmanjusri (601766) <`moc.liamtoh' `ta' `bob_eissua'> on Friday June 01 2007, @03:56AM (#19349083) Journal
          Linux doesn't have as complete hardware support as some of the other OSs out there.

          Linux has far better hardware support than any other OS out there.

          It's extremely rare that you need to install any drivers on any modern distro. Mac supports a very limited hardware set, while Windows needs half a dozen drivers post-install just to get everything working.

          In the context of a media player capable of booting from any modern computer, Linux much better placed than other OSs.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by timmarhy (659436)
            "Linux has far better hardware support than any other OS out there. "

            bullshit, and you know it. wireless drivers, onboard drivers, 3d accerleration. they all SUCK to install on linux. not to mention specialised stuff like hdtv tuners.

            • Re:Not really (Score:5, Interesting)

              by dannycim (442761) on Friday June 01 2007, @04:17AM (#19349175)
              "Linux has far better hardware support than any other OS out there. "

              bullshit, and you know it. wireless drivers, onboard drivers, 3d accerleration. they all SUCK to install on linux. not to mention specialised stuff like hdtv tuners.

              I challenge you to wipe your Windows HD, re-install everything from just a windows CD and see how much of that hardware works.

              In my experience, out-of-the-box clean installs are generally easier and more complete in Linux.

              • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

                by orangeyoda (958347)
                I've recently done this. Clean install of windows, gets a network connection up and running and i can get the drivers to install the rest of the cards. Red Hat -- Wifi drivers don't work , installed faq has a helpfull link to a Website on how to get your wifi card to work. Suse -- Same deal as redhat Knoppix -- does not support my wifi card Various LiveCD's don't support it either. Eventually what I had to do was remove all the PCI cards from my box, install 4 different pci wifi cards,
                • gets a network connection up and running and i can get the drivers to install the rest of the cards

                  Exactly - You missed the parent's point - It does NOT "just work" after a clean XP install. In your case, you got lucky and the single most annoying part to get working, the network, happened to come up okay. But all those other drivers that allows you to download, don't work OOB.



                  Eventually what I had to do was remove all the PCI cards from my box, install 4 different pci wifi cards

                  When Dell builds
                  • So the two main points to make wider Linux marketshare are :

                    - Have system builders that hand-pick components known to work with Linux distros. Both small Linux shops and initiatives from large manufacturers like Dell shipping Ubuntu on some computers will help. If they build machines on which Linux just installs(tm), that will be a nice step forward.

                    This will be much more creative than bitching whose OS is better for a clean install and throwing personal anecdotes at each other as arguments. (Yes, I know yo
              • Tried Vista with an internet connection?

                I've had expearence with installing vista on four machines (all four had net connections) when Vista first booted it it went online downloaded all the drivers installed them and asked me to restart. These machines were all less than a year old and I agree on older machines you would be less likely to have a driver (i'm talking three or four years old.) Sure Vista sucks for out of the box driver support but this great thing called the interweb means it auto-installs
              • the point is that drivers *exist* and *work* for windows, but they don't *exist* or don't *work* for linux. If it's *impossible* to get hardware to work properly for linux, that's a real problem. Hardware problems are the #1 thing keeping the linux desktop/laptop in eternal limbo... Even my ubuntu install on fairly common hardware has issues...

                As for OSX... that's a whole different ballgame. You rarely hear "this hardware didn't work perfectly" complaints from mac users, but that's because most of the core

            • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

              by gerrysteele (927030)
              Well you don't seem to actually know anything about the thing you are criticising. Well done. Out of the box a windows install is all but useless. Linux out of the box supports near on anything.

            • Re:Not really (Score:5, Informative)

              by dc29A (636871) * on Friday June 01 2007, @05:21AM (#19349475) Homepage
              "Linux has far better hardware support than any other OS out there. "

              bullshit, and you know it. wireless drivers, onboard drivers, 3d accerleration. they all SUCK to install on linux. not to mention specialised stuff like hdtv tuners.

              Troll, but I'll bite.

              Installing XP SP2 on either of my PCs (standard Asus board, Athlon X2) requires:
              - Video driver (7600 GS)
              - Audio (on board)
              - Sata RAID (I can skip this and go with Window's builtin raid, but I'll lose the ability to put my C: drive on Raid0).
              - Network
              - Chipset

              Feisty:
              - Video Driver (if I really want it!, the nvidia driver is ok, of course upgrading to a proprietary driver = 3 mouse clicks + 1 password).

              PS: Wireless worked out of the box for my laptop, something that didn't on Windows XP SP2.

              Your mileage might vary!

              • Re:Not really (Score:4, Insightful)

                by sgc2000 (1009197) on Friday June 01 2007, @05:39AM (#19349539)
                You should really be comparing Feisty with Vista as Feisty is reasonable new unlike XP. When I installed Vista (Intel board, P4) I didn't need to install any extra drivers to get it functioning. I had to install the nVidia drivers if I wanted 3D performance of course and I don't use RAID so I can't comment on that.
            • If you want compiz / beryl u need these

              Sabayon and Kororaa both support Compiz/Beryl on live CDs. Why wouldn't TurboLinux do the same on their media drive?

        • I've never had trouble booting Knoppix, and I've thrown it into a lot of random systems. It performs a hell of a lot better than than a plain XP install, especially since you have to pull shenanigans to even get the boot disk won't even recognize the disk controller on modern systems.

    • I want to know how this will work on any system when Linux is imfamous for it's lack of support for some hardware.

      I think you have that backwards, hardware its infamous for its lack of Linux. the vast majority of drivers are written for windows and/or mac. were the situation reversed, windows and mac would be said to have a problem with hardware support too. but then again, that myth isnt true anymore, linux supports alot of hardware at least partially that windows throws a fit over.

      I can see a use

      • That changes absolutely nothing. You can't get the same use out of a hardware device that's not functioning simply because you know it's not its fault that it's not working. That's borderline insanity. The fact is, Linux has shitty hardware support. That's it. That's the bottom line. Until that's changed, however that should happen, projects like this are flights of fancy with very, very limited application. Because if it doesn't work, what's the point in having it?

        • The fact is, Linux has shitty hardware support.

          that's BS. Windows doesnt support A LOT of hardware- even some that Linux DOES support. the hardware that isnt supported out of the box by Linux certainly isnt by Windows.
          • "Windows doesnt support A LOT of hardware- even some that Linux DOES support"

            people keep flapping their gums about it but i don't see no proof bobby-joe

      • you must come from the department of we are going to talk nonsense to divert attention away from our failings.

        seriously think about your argument there.... I just purchased a $300 device and linux doesn't work on it... what am i going to ditch first, the $300 or the free os?

      • you see that is the ironic thing. I switched to Linux for it's network card support. The software you had to run to config the card it in windows crashed within 10 seconds of booting. I used an Ubuntu live CD and my cards worked fine, I configed my new router and and then installed it. Ubuntu was absolutely wonderful compared to Windows.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by timmarhy (659436)
          omg one isolated example - you totally proved me wrong!
          • omg one isolated example

            I've got plenty of hardware that's Linux only, a lot of which I got free or cheap when the owners upgraded to a version of Windows which obsoleted drivers. There's Matrox G200 MMS video cards that won't work under any version of Windows, but's fine with Linux, Half a dozen D-Link wireless cards that have never been supported on XP (I scored those for free when the company that bought them upgraded from '98), and more.

            The thing is, the pool of drivers for Linux is increasing all t

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by farkus888 (1103903)
          wired card support is much better in linux than it is in windows. I have a couple of mobos with onboard 1 gig nic's that require a lot of work to run in windows. they install and run with 0 effort in every linux distro I've tried. even if it doesn't work out of the box the power is available to fix it yourself, instead of waiting for ms to decide its time to fix it for you. but thats an irrelevant point because the poeple they are targeting are not the kind of people who will be able to do that.
      • I'm a Linux user, I know what is can do, but I'm playing devils advocate. If it doesn't work 100% of the time, people will be upset and not go "oh it's Linux" it will be "this crappy thing only works some times! why am I bothering!?"

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