__/ [Karel "de Jazz" Jansens] on Monday 17 October 2005 15:16 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> Some of you have possibly heard about the Nokia 770. For those who
>> haven't:
>>
>>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100500279.html
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> The Finnish mobile firm had originally expected the Tablet,
>> which runs on Linux-based software, to enter the market be-
>> fore the end of September.
>>
>> </snip>
>>
>> I personally use a Palm and I was deeply disappointed with the move which
>> had the Treo run Pocket PC. Palm were committed to Linux for quite some
>> time, but were recently taken over by a Japanese giant, so the future is
>> uncertain and past promises or planned strategies should now be taken
>> with a grain of salt.
>
> PalmOS has indeed been acquired by Access, best known to the public for
> their rather good Netfront mobile browser, but that company had been
> spun off Palm long before this transaction.
>
> Palm themselves are still working on version 6 of their operating
> system, which will indeed run atop a customized Linux kernel. Whether it
> will be any good, is another question...
No cobalt then, I presume. Operation was scraped as expected and somebody
told me that a big peril was the re-implementation of merely any basic app
to accommodate for that type of change.
I am glad to at least hear that the Linux kernel intentions have actualised.
> As for the Treo running WinCE (I still like to call it that, lest people
> forget the calamity it came from) ...
Some says its pronouciation made somewhat of a prediction.
> ... , Palm finally discovered you cannot
> make a decent smartphone with anything but a multitasking OS -- even a
> crappy one. The WinCE-Treo should be seen as a stopgap measure to
> prevent too much market loss until PalmOS 6 is -- finally -- ready.
> Grapevine talk has it that Palm is even considering a --shock! horror!
> -- _Symbian/UIQ_ version of the Treo. Know they no shame?! :)
Say what?!?!
>> I started to explore alternative paths and the Nokia 770 is one of these.
>> I have just been reminded that it would not be surprising if Nokia dumped
>> that rusty Symbian altogether and implemented a port of the existing GUI
>> to run on the Linux kernel. From the article above, it sure seems as if
>> the codebase will be made available for other devices as well. I think
>> the device will be ready by Christmas, so expect a homebred Linux distro
>> for mobile devices. It can then be sold to other vendors which will mark
>> yet another revolution -- the entry of Linux into the mobile phones,
>> handheld PDA's, tablets, etc. First the servers, then the desktop and
>> soon a penguin in everyone's pocket
>
> The Linux operating system of the N770, Internet Tablet 2005 software
> edition, is basically a taylored version of Debian GNU/Linux and will
> most certainly become available for anyone (well, they have to, haven't
> they?). ...
Yes, I read about that and thought to myself "why in the earth Debian?". But
let's not make this a flamebait...
> ... One of the most important exceptions will be the handwriting
> recognition software, which is proprietary and commercial (my personal
> guess is it's a port of Decuma Alphabetic, based on the screenshots I've
> seen), so there is still scope for Open Source developers there (hint!
> hint!). Personally, I would love to see a port of the ParaGraph engine,
> of Newton and PenOffice fame.
I am very upset with the Xerox-Palm conflict over Graffiti and hope
something is done to prevent YAA (Yet-Another-Adaptation). Luckily I have a
Tungsten that is still Graffiti 1 in its core.
> As for the delay, that might actually prove to be a blessing in
> disguise, as the rumours of a significant drop in price ($250 according
> to some!) are becoming more and more persistent.
Wow! For quite some time I have been trying to find predictions of the cost
to no avail.
Let's not forget some existing Linux PDA's.
Summary/overview (largely out-of-date):
* http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8728350077.html
The expensive type:
* http://www.archos.com/products/overview/pma_400.html
And lastly, the more affordable:
* http://www.powerplaydevices.com/products/ppvs_info.html
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | Viruses to Linux is like cancer to a shark
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