Linux Tablet to be Released in Two Days

Rambo writes "Nokia has finally set a November 17th US shipping date for the $359 770 Internet Tablet. It features a Debian-based distribution called Maemo, which includes kernel 2.6, X.org/Scratchbox WM, and GTK for easy porting of applications. Hardware specs are: 800x480 ) screen, 220 MHz TI OMAP ARM processor (with DSP), 64M of RAM, 128M of flash, USB slave port, 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth, IR, and a RS-MMC slot. Even more details at LinuxDevices and Internet Tablet Talk. It sports a battery life of 3 hours for continous Wi-Fi usage, and accepts common Nokia phone batteries. Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Nokia, and am anxiously awaiting my own pre-order!"

this sucks,

[hector_uk]

seriously 400 bucks for that, i'd rather get a GP2x.

Which is great...

[Delphix]

except for the fact that tablets seem to have been DOA. They seem to have been a great idea looking for a use instead of some actual need driving them. Granted, a few people love em (as with any niche technology), but I have yet to meet anyone who actually wants one and uses it on a regular basis, and I work with a bunch of other technophile engineers... Laptops still rule the portable landscape.

So this seems to me just like another Linux runs on ____________ story. (insert everything including a toaster in the blank)

And the phone?

[hajo]

Where is the phone? My PDA saved my life professional life 10 years ago. Since then the best convergence has been with a phone for me. Now I would need to go back to a separate phone? No Thank you; I'll go for a pocketPC running skype and a functional phone build in.

No ogg support??

[sucker_muts]

Supported File Formats: Audio: MP3, MPEG4, AAC, WAV, AMR, MP2

No ogg support? On a linux platform (which makes is a few steps easier to include it anyway)? Many linux enthousiasts will probably love this device (future mod abilities?), but yet no ogg support?

I have lost of ogg music, and therefore am reluctant to buy even an ipod, so what about it not being put on this device? How hard can it be?

Re:Which is great...

[Delphix]

It's a tablet PC stripped down for a sprecific purpose or a PDA on steroids, your pick. :)

Re:this sucks,

[wpiman]

The gp2x doesn't have the wifi support nor does it have Bluetooth. I would consider this for a wireless browser to control my home automation system.

Re:this sucks,

[hibiki_r]

Sure, redundant if you think that a directional pad and 8 buttons is a better input device than a touchscreen. The problem is that, outside of some games, it just isn't. You might as well claim that you don't want a modern computer because you can do the same things with an Atari 2600.

I can't be the target market

[el_womble]

I don't get it. What would I use it for? Is it for people that can't afford laptops but want the web on the move?

How many people is that exactly?

And its not like you can just use it anywhere. You're either using it on your home network, where it would be a toy not a tool (why wouldn't you use your real computer?) or your using it in an expensive access point, or do they expect you to steal other people's connection?

3 hours battery life?

$400?

I guess this might appeal to PDA people, but don't they have everything that this offers for less, in a smaller package with the same or better battery life?

Re:Which is great...

[Anonymous Coward]

Good point, but remember that most of the tablets that have been failures have been intro'ed at 5 times the price of this little thing, and built more like laptops with swiveling touch screens (Which I think they should just build into all laptops). I think this is one of the first devices to deliver on the real promise of a tablet, which is a smaller computer than a laptop, with a smaller price, to perform smaller tasks. Most of the features it provides have been shoehorned into PDAs recently, but even with the best of those, many everyday tasks (web/email), are still a pain in the ass, simply due to the form factor. PDAs are really most useful as a front-end to some kind of PIM system, not tiny personal computers. Of course, most of the PIM functionality meshes well with cell-phone functionality, and is almost as usable on a cell-phone screen, which is why cell-phones are killing PDAs.

Those specs...

[Anonymous Coward]

are weak. A low end Pocket PC device will cost you about $110 these days. And those specs are on the low end of Pocket PC devices these days. The only advantage is a bigger screen and the notion of running a free OS. The flash memory that thing takes is uncommon and not larger than 512MB. Why not an SD/MMC slot? Or better yet, Compact Flash? From the sounds of it, my Pocket PC device with wireless on also gets better battery life. 3 hours? Get a laptop with battery life like that. Not to mention the software support. I know it runs Linux but exactly how hackable will it be? It sounds like you can't put your own programs on without a memory card to transfer between your desktop and Nokia. I was sold on this little device when it was 4 months ago and $200. In those 4 months, I researched my alternatives and wound up getting a WiFi enabled Pocket PC with specs that are nearly THE SAME for $165. The only thing I lack is the 64MB Flash card. And those can be had for nearly nothing these days.

Good In Hospitals

[blueZhift]

This might actually be of some good use in hospital settings as a replacement for PDAs (which are too small) or Tablet PCs, which are needlessly complex. I've been pushing web based forms for clinical research data entry for which a device like this would be perfect because it doesn't require making the forms microscopic and this internet tablet is much cheaper than a Tablet PC. I also found that Tablet PCs tend to run hot and are still a bit too heavy for the typical nurse to lug around for too long. Unfortunately, hospitals tend to be very Windows-centric, so this will still be a hard sell.

Re:Which is great...

[grasshoppa]

Or maybe you haven't seen the need?

I work at a dental office that's trying to go chartless. We use these things in the op for office visit documentation.

My staff didn't want to use them the first week, then growled at me when I needed to take it for maintence ever afterwards.

There are uses for tablets, but they aren't flashy or glamorous.

Re:Bang for the buck

[moro_666]

for almost the same buck, i get a pda with gsm/gprs/wifi abilities, so i can make calls and use internet from somewhere in the forest (where wifi accidentally is still missing today). ofcourse if i could choose a pda with gsm stuff and with linux, i would choose that... (preferrably with a built in qwerty keyboard and an option to add a fullsize pc keyboard over the usb cable or some direct mounting).

the nokia thing is just a toy from my point of view. a quite expensive toy to browse the internet.

the resolution may be great, but the screen is actually tiny so people with less than magnificent sight are going to have trouble with this one.

if it would be capable of using gsm/gprs and give me an usable input method like a keyboard, i would consider it (especially if it could use cheap sd or mini-sd flash memory units, 512mb costs around 35 euros over here... 1gb around 70 euros).

what kind of cpu does this thing have anyway ? is it comparable to the 400mhz/200mhz cpu's used by hp/compaq handhelds ?

Re:What exactly is the difference between a

[sootman]

You're correct. Tablet PCs are basically equivalent to last years' laptop, plus handwriting recognition, plus Win XP Tablet edition, which is XP Pro plus the tablet features and minus nothing. If you swing out the keyboard and ignore the tablet features, it's a full laptop with a full version of Windows. Typical specs--1 GHz+, 1024x768, 512 MB, 40 GB--are closer to a laptop. This thing--220 MHz, 128 MB, no disk, less than 800x480--is closer to a PDA. Why they called it a "Tablet" is beyond me.

Re:Which is great...

[Eccles]

The problem with tablets has been cost. Generally they cost twice as much as an equivalent laptop, and had at most a 12" LCD screen. Otherwise, I'd rather have a tablet than a laptop, since almost all can also be used in laptop style if desired. Tablethood is often an additional feature, not a different machine.

Re:I've got one!

[Anonymous Coward]

You would have a point, if perhaps this wasn't actually cheaper than quite a few palm models.

Re:Good In Hospitals

[Zak3056]

I'm not sure I agree with that. Instead of issuing one to each doctor/nurse/whatever, you could have a bunch of them sitting in charging cradles at the nurse's stations. When your battery starts to go, you just pick up a new one and throw the old one on the charger.

OTOH, this thing is the size of a PSP... I don't think the screen is quite large enough for medical use.

Re:Operating System

[H0p313ss]

So Linux conquering the world isn't enough? You need people to KNOW that Linux conquered the world?

Re:I can't be the target market

[bfree]

I don't get it. What would I use it for? Is it for people that can't afford laptops but want the web on the move?
How many people is that exactly?

How about people who won't lug about a laptop (weight) but need access to web/email. As others have mentioned, many business applications look viable where browser based clients do the work.

And its not like you can just use it anywhere. You're either using it on your home network, where it would be a toy not a tool (why wouldn't you use your real computer?) or your using it in an expensive access point, or do they expect you to steal other people's connection?

First, I could see myself using one of these at home, the alternative is to lug around the laptop, or cover the house in a bluetooth netork for pdas (unpleasent to surf on anyway) or put a computer in every room! Use it as a remote for mythtv, read email or /. while you eat breakfast and check imdb to settle a bet on what films the actor you are watching is in.

As for where else to use it ... Work. Many free/cheap hotspots abound (e.g. some MacDonalds here would let you online for buying anything). Your friends/business partners may let you onto networks. It has it's own storage so it doesn't need to be online to be useful and finally you could just use your mobile when you have to get online and have no other choice.

3 hours battery life?

3 hours of surfing on 802.11 wireless sounds fine to me! I'd rather not carry around too much weight, and if I had to have longer battery life I suspect I could carry extra batteries. The entire unit probably weighs less then the two batteries I have in my laptop, in fact it's probably about the weight of one.

$400?

Yes, $400. Look at the prices of mobile phones (not subsidised ones), pda's and laptops. The 800x480 touchscreen alone is worth $100 in my book, any general computer (as opposed to a locked device) another $100, another $100 for low weight, power and small form factor and you can choose to argue the last $100's worth (is the software, or even just supporting the idea of it, worth it or perhaps the 802.11/bluetooth).

Whenever a form factor like this starts to become popular you can expect a rapid price drop as I'm sure the main part of the costs are the attempts to recover the fixed costs and the marginal price is low. At present screen options were probably few and far between for nokia, but if 10cm 800x480 touchscreens (or any size/format/resolution) take hold another manufacturer (of both the screens and devices) will likely appear quickly. Right now there's still a bit of "early adopter" to the price.

I guess this might appeal to PDA people, but don't they have everything that this offers for less, in a smaller package with the same or better battery life?

Show me a PDA with a comparable screen? It's as simple as that, what size/resolution screen do you want to surf the web with. 800 pixels wide should mean you are using something more akin to a laptop web browser then a pda one and make things much more pleasant.

Re:Those specs...

[Big Jojo]

...are weak. A low end Pocket PC device will cost you about $110 these days. And those specs are on the low end of Pocket PC devices these days. The only advantage is a bigger screen and the notion of running a free OS. The flash memory that thing takes is uncommon and not larger than 512MB. Why not an SD/MMC slot? Or better yet, Compact Flash?

Those low end devices don't come with 802.11 support though. And if they support CF, they suck battery power up the wazoo. I far prefer having this longish battery life.

The SIZE -- physical dimensions, weight, etc -- of N770 are actually quite nice. Much bigger and I'd feel uncomfortable putting it in my pocket. Much smaller and I'd not be able to use it in the can ... ;)

One of the interesting things about OMAP is the integrated DSP. I've been lax, and haven't checked out how my N770 uses it (or if it does) ... but I'm certain that the VOIP codecs will be using it, even if some of the current audio/video stuff might not yet use it.

Why would you want SD, anyway? Espcially on hardware where you're shaving every ounce of weight? Nokia doesn't use SD, so far as I can tell, just MMC. It's unrealistic to expect them to change corporate policy just for this product.

As for adding software ... just download the packages from the web, over the wireless link. No need for SD.

Admittedly a 220-odd MHz ARM isn't blazingly fast. But it's not like it's used for number crunching (that's what DSPs are for!), and this is certainly fine for web browsing at my local coffee shop. Or even at home.

Specs

[fm6]

If you don't mean to put it down, you should pick a more positive word than "glorified". The Palm's limitations have as much to do with making it a practical portable tool as with keeping it cheap. Instead of trying to do everything, like the Newton, the Palm picks out some specific portable applications and makes them work on a system that you can carry around all day without recharging..

That's also what this tablet tries to do. It's primarily for accessing the web and email. These are applications that just don't need a fast processor or lots of RAM. A better screen is always nice, but this one is acceptable for the intended purpose.

And raising the specs would not just make the thing cost more, it'd destroy the system's battery life. Which is already disappointingly low. I wouldn't buy a web tablet unless it could last through an entire work day without recharging.

Integrated phone.

[Torbjörn]

Why would you want an integrated phone, it is too big to use as your primary phone so you would need another phone anyway, use that via bluetooth. Problem solved.

The screen is really good so I think most users with normal eysight can use it without problems.

It uses RS-MMC which is like mini-sd but cheaper and (I think) slower.

Re:Which is great...

[mrchaotica]

The reason tablets haven't taken off is that they're too big and expensive. Once they can figure out how to make one with a letter (or A4) size screen that's only a quarter inch thick and costs less than $1000, then they'll start to take off.

It looks nice, true, but...

[Traegorn]

It looks nice, true, but how does this qualify as a "tablet" instead of just a high end PDA?