Disqus - Latest Comments for John

Re: 3K RazorBook 400 to come in Linux or Windows CE flavors

John — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:28:11 -0000

CE Is reliable, has been for years.... I own a Sigmarion 3 and Smartbook G138 and can say without doubt I can go months without a crash.

They are instant on and perfect if you need somthing very portable that you can grab and take notes without having to boot the machine or wait for anything. Opera shoudln't be a problem as it can be made to run on CE .net 4.2, there is also firefox mobile and a new version of Netfront coming out. But even then ce .net 4.2's Pocket IE runs very fast on Smartbook and handles almost all sites (esspecially as I have flash 7 and Java plugins working).

The fact they also have a linux version is good as if they had any sense you would be able to change the OS if you wanted.

You often find people running down CE have never actually used a Core CE device and are basing it on WM phones or similar.

There is also a lot of very good software available on CE (which I am sure if this device is a success will appear in MIPS versions). Softmaker Office (2008 due out with very powerfull word, excel and powerpoint compatible applications), Skype, Qmail3 (html and secure mail compatible mail software), TCPMP (very good media player with plugins for all sorts of formats - DIVX, XVID, MP3, AC3, MPEG2, MPEG4 etc.. etc..)

TBH when it comes to software there are not all that many gaps (and what is missing usually requires a bigger screen to use productively).

It is also very usefull to be able to have/use PIM software that can easilly sync with a desktop machine (not as easy on a laptop).

If I had 10 min in starbucks to take some notes or quickly look up a website over wi-fi I would much rather have my Smartbook than a full laptop. The benefit of instant on/off and longer battery life is a boon for reporters and anyone else needing somthing to write on with no easy access to power points. It also means I can go out and about for a day or two and not even worry about taking an AC adapter.

Yeah laptops are better at lots of things but a lot of people miss the things where HPC (Handhelp PC) type devices bring to the table.

Re: 3K RazorBook 400 to come in Linux or Windows CE flavors

John — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:03:15 -0000

The Sig3 is great for that. It will even fit in inside coat pockets and some suit pockets and is a lot lighter than the J720... The Sig3's screen is a little cramped but is great for grabbing quite notes etc.

The smartbook G138 is superb (I guess about the same size as the razorbook) and is without doubt the fastest HPC class device for browsing etc. (though not as good as Sig3 for video - due to sig having an imageon 4200 GPU).

There should be no problems with any apps designed for CE running wihtout a touch screen. The smartbook as a pointer with buttons and a touch screen. Also NEC 900C and Sigmarion 3 have USB host and can be used with USB mouse (all apps work just the same with mouse as they do with touch screen).

I am looking forward for this device. Just hope some software companies do MIPS versions of their software.

John

Re: Cuol Book: Netbook running Windows CE, or a glorified PDA?

John — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:54:05 -0000

No worries for sending you the link.

Sometimes CE gets a bum wrap. I just thought I would put some of my thoughts down to offer an opinion on Windows CE from a person who uses CE.

I actually use CE devices at the moment (sigmarion 3 and Smartbook G138). In some situations these have good points that make them the only viable devices or at least a lot more useful than full desktop OS's. IMHO Journalists and college students could find instant on/off invaluable and unlike early smart phones it is a very stable OS (you would be surprised how many industrial devices use CE - if it is stable and does the job required they don't care what OS is on it).

So for writing reports and taking notes 5hrs battery life (off a std battery), not waiting to boot and not requiring to lug a full laptop bag and AC pack etc. is actually a huge benefit. Also very handy for starbucks browsing and email etc. Or like me I have a very low AC consumption X86 box at home as a media and print server - RDP is quick and gives me full desktop access and CPU power within a few seconds.

So what else does CE offer. Well for kids you can't kill the OS or have a virus destroy it so the parents won't have to constantly rebuild the software setup etc. (how many times do parents have to re-install an OS after their children brake it). You have access to syncable PIM software (for calendar, tasks, contacts and inbox) An x86 netbook or laptop can't do this so you would need to muck about maintaining two lists. There are full office packages (softmaker office which is MS office compatible and very nice to use). Email (Qmail 3 is free and can handle gmail and yahoo secure + html), TCPMP - open source media player that can handle DIVX, XVID, MPEG1,2,4 etc. etc.. Opera is available, the new version of Netfront is very fast and works very well and Firefox is doing a CE version. On a well implemented CE device with flash plugin and java plugin the web can be very well rendered and quite quick (the smartbook G138 proves this with only 128Mb and a 200Mhz Strongarm - browsing is good quality and is not far off a PIII laptop).

Yes it is missing all the huge software library that XP or Linux has but if people who actually use laptops as business tools and notetaking tools (not games machines) had a look a large number will realise there isn't much software they actually use that CE can't offer. I expect the price of these CE units to drop quickly to be cheaper than X86 netbooks and with CE5 devices from Jointech, Razorbook, albatron (tablet) and others (and a 4 core cortex capable of 8000 DMIPS on less than 1watt) if sales are good there will be plenty software comes along to support them.

Most SarNav devices and PMP's run CE and you rarely hear complaints about stability from those devices. I expect the OEM of this device will sell to other brands so hopefully US will be quite a bit cheaper than $300 (they usually are cheaper for electronics than just the exchange rate).

If it hits £100 I will buy one without question.

One final note. You will not believe how many times I have had my CE (HPC) type devices when travelling or on a plane and had some executive business type looking shocked when I open the clamshell and start typing in 2 seconds (by the time he has got his laptop bag out, opened and booted the laptop, logged in and started word. I am already through a paragraph or two. Often he will ask what it is and ask lots of questions. It usually turns out I can do everything he uses his laptop for on my CD device he looks impressed. The killer blow is when we come to land within 2 seconds I have saved, turned off and popped CE laptop in storage pouch and he is still waiting for Word to shut :) They look and say I may have to get one of them.

They are not for everyone, not for gadgeteers that just want to show off, gamers or people who need very specialist software for work. However you often find old CE HPC's still in the hands of professionals, Writers, reporters, programmers, students etc. who prize those few + points CE can hold over desktop OS's which often get missed by x86 users when they pass reaction over CE devices (most of them have never used a core CE clamshell or laptop like device.

Kind Regards

John

Re: Cuol Book: Netbook running Windows CE, or a glorified PDA?

John — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:08:49 -0000

Agree.

Do think they will get there quite quickly well at least to the $140-175 (almost bubble pack price). And people do need to make a considered choice if the plus points are worth the tradeoff.

I do hope someone has the sense to develop a reasonably fast RAW photo viewer for CE. Imagine how handy a $140 unit you can just chuck in a camera bag would be to view RAW photos when out and about. Instant on and battery would again be great plus points. And they would be cheap enough not to worry to much about them getting damaged.

John

Re: Will the netbook revolution lead to a rise in Windows CE handhelds?

John — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:23:10 -0000

And if you look at the Argos website the picture shown there seems to indicate this device has a hinge that can flip the screen for use in tablet mode.

Re: Will the netbook revolution lead to a rise in Windows CE handhelds?

John — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:03:12 -0000

Why even say will we returning to win 3.1? CE5 is not as old as XP. CE is stable (it is used in all sorts of industrial, consumer, SatNav & PNA etc. type devices.

It offers instant on/off, It can be synced to a desktop PC (with an Xp netbook this is a lot harder and not an automatic synchronisation to you main desktop machine).

OS is in ROM so you can forget worrying about having to reload the OS or a virus taking it out (very usefull in a kids PC as kids seem to have a habbit of killing OS installations).

Do you use Windows CE devices? No not WM or PPC etc. actual Windows CE devices like the Jornada 720, NEC900 or 900c, Smartbook G138? If not why do you feel the need to slate devices that use CE?

Yes it is not a full dektop OS and no it will not run windows XP binary files but it does offer a number of plus points that for some people can be very useful.

I agree £199 is too expensive but I expect we will see price drops and TBH if it is a convertable tablet design I can't think of any other similarly priced devices.

I use Windows CE all the time and am looking for a new mini laptop like device to increase performance a little over my Smartbook G138 (though it is very nippy on the web - it will also open a 2Mb pdf file in considerablly less than 1 second with pdf viewer software closed where an XP machine takes quite a bit longer).

If you need a light machine for keeping contacts and appointments, browsing, email and some video/mp3 duties then CE is perfect and hopefully these new devices will stir some development as well.

I agree it would be great to see a Linux option on these (maybe CE in rom but an option to boot Linux from a memory card or SSD as a dual boot would be superb).

John

Re: Will the netbook revolution lead to a rise in Windows CE handhelds?

John — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:49:28 -0000

A lot of WM software will run out of the box or can be made to run quite easilly.

I run a fair bit of PPC/WM software on my Smartbook G138 (Opera 8.6 for one thing). I have also made the GPS navigation software Route 66 version 8 (for WM) run on the smartbook so it is likely a lot can be made to run. www.hpcfactor.com/forums is a good resource for help making apps run (but with the number of new CE 5 devices I would hope a number of companies will re-compile for CE 5 in addition to WM (would likely need no changes to source just thrown through the compiler again).

I think Tomeraider already exists for CE. Another intresting application is TCPMP (open source media player Xvid, DIVX, MPEG4, H.264, AC3, MP3 etc. etc.), For email Qmail3, again free, is superb (with full HTML mail and secure mail support).

If you do buy one (I likely will buy one as well if they drop below £140ish or less) then do pop by hpcfactor and let us know what you think and get advice if any WM programs will not run.

Re: Will the netbook revolution lead to a rise in Windows CE handhelds?

John — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:34:25 -0000

In a lot of WM devices a lot of instability was actually the CPU tried to run the WM side and the Phone side at the same time and the phone side was not part of the WM OS it was somthing the manufacturer implemented.

these days there is often a processor core to handle the phone side of things and the arm core is left to get on with WM. though in these netbook devices there is no such problem as the CPU handles the OS alone.

Most of the raw CE devices of days gone by rely on battery ram still (my smartbook does). I do agree though a large flash drive to install files and apps to would be an improvement over sharing ram between apps and storage.

I look forward to seeing some of these devices in the flesh and hopefully some reviews.

John

Re: Why do you use a netbook? ThinkFree releases survey results

John — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:55:13 -0000

Not this site but a lot of sites have totally rubbished Windows CE netbooks.

Now for all those tasks listed above is CE not one of the best choices? Why?

1. Instant on/off
2. Much better for contacts and callenders as with PIM software it will sync this info with your main machine (no need to maintain 2 lists of contacts and appointments.
3. Low memory and storage requirements (seems to be anothet thing CE is good at).
4. Apps that are already perfect for the screen sizes.

CE covera all the tasks listed above easilly and quickly. Imagine you are having a meeting and want to add a contact and appointment. Pull out CE device click on, enter contact, enter appontment and switch off. I bet in most cases you will have it switched off again before someone with an x86 XP or linux netbook will get theirs turned on :)

I am looking forward to the new Cortex CPU netbooks esspecially CE ones (though I would be even happier if someone did a CE cortex netbook that had a boot menu to allow you to select to boot linux of a hard drive). Best of both worlds.

John

Re: Lexibook Laptop: A netbook for kids?

John — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:01:47 -0000

Well,

For kids to actually use for odd web browsing, typing up homework, mp3, video etc. there is nothing wrong with CE. yeah as usual I get the limitation of CE (no XP software/games).

But kids PC with an OS in ROM??? So virus won't kill it, virus wont even run on it, spyware isn't an issue. They wont get lots of software installed you won't want them to have. It really means you are not going to end up re-installing of fixing windows issues every month and re-installing every 2nd month as you usually have to on a kids PC.

It is light, the case looks like very tough plastic which I would think makes more chuckable than even a netbook. I have dropped mini CE laptops so many times and onto surfaces that would kill most laptops (even if they had an SSD). They have always lived.

Anyway it isn't meant as a full desktop pc just a small light, reliable and maintenace free chuckable laptop for kids.

Still that said. In the current market I would not pay £200 for one. The moment one of these new CE netbook manufacturers see sence and throw away the trackpad and reduce case size in that dimention (ala cool book or the everun amd dual core thing) then replace it with a touch screen will have me intrested.

The market is going to be flooded with these CE netbooks soon and we also have Cortex CPU netbooks coming early next year. I feel if you want to pick up a bargain then January or February will be the time to pick these 400Mhz ARM cpu'd type of devices (lexibook, JL7100, Cuol Book etc) up for next to nothing (under £100 wouldn't surprise me).

Also has nobody noticed how like the JL7100 this device looks? Apart from having a quoted 8" screen they are almost identical spec and look. Even the SD slot looks similar.

Re: Lexibook Laptop: A netbook for kids?

John — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:11:03 -0000

No point comparing UK price to US one via exchange rate.

The cheapest eeePC etc. are about £160 so UK price of £200 is far from double the price. Due to Tax and the fact the companies are more greedy over here we almost always pay considerablly more than just the exchange rate compared to the US. So when these CE devices hit the US I would expect a more reasonable entry price.

It is too expensive "yes". but the amount of devices hitting the market and the speed of price drops I guess part of it is just there is no stability in prices etc.

This type of device will drop very quickly to somthing affordable. After all Maplin introduced it's version of the razorbook at I think near £200 a while back and over the last 2 months it has droped a number of times to £139.

With the sheer overstock we will see and the Recession / Global finacial Crisys I think post Christmas it will be a buyers market (so if you want one for yourself hold on to some Christmas money). Though I think the same bargain prices will apply accross the whole netbook market.

John

John

Re: Lexibook Laptop: A netbook for kids?

John — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:41:50 -0000

Sorry but the CE os on a phone is not really a fair comparisson to base CE on a mini laptop.

Often phone manufacturers manage to introduce instability trying to make it do too many things at once and to save money make it quick to market skimp on driver development. Also phones run Windows Mobile which is a totally diffrent UI to plain CE.

CE has been used for years in Media Players, Sat Nav's, Set top Boxes and Industrial devices where reliability is high on list of requirements. Though often the end user wont know CE is sitting underneath.

For reasons why someone would want to buy one for a kid. Read my list. The only issue I have is the price is too hight but that will sort it'self out.

I think you will find the prices do hit as low as you expect for some of these devices in the first 3 months of next year. Following that a lot of the OEM's that make these cheap units will go bust as they had to sell their overstock at a loss. the prices will likely rise a little after this and I think a more stable price point will emerge.

iphone. funny, my collegue just got a 3G one and it doesn't do MMS and freezes or resets regularly. iphones are not for me (I just looked at all the quality complaints apple have had for ipod's and iphones in last few years and decided against it). That's not to say it isn't the correct device for some and I am sure the software upgrades will eventually sort out stability. And I am sure you are delighted with it. You pick a device where the combo of price, features and style suit your needs. Why an iphone... as per your CE complaint but surely the iphone doesn't run a full OS it is crippled and won't play flash or install desktop programs???

Really I am not attacking you or the iphone. I am really just trying to draw your attention, using similar examples about the iphone to highlight the way you have dissmissed somthing as craptastic, featureless, 5yr old phone os.

I use a 4yr old CE mini-laptop at the moment;

I can connect to wi-fi and browse web quickly (via inbuilt IE or Opera 8.65),
I can write word, excel and powerpoint presentations,
Build databases,
Make Skype calls,
run full GPS navigation (looks good on 7" screen) - and as it is ARM cpu you can use the same software that the PNA's use (a lot is not available for x86)
do full email,
record audio,
view photos and even do basic editing or cropping,
connect to IRC,
play music,
record music,
read pdf's
remote control my PC via RDP or some media remote software
It turns on and off instantly,
MSM,
Video replay (films etc)

Apart from 3d games and stuff like large RAW photo manipulation, CAD etc. I don't see what it can't do that an atom base machine with XP or will (well not much beyond 90% of the people who buy a netbook will use them for).

Yeah 400Mhz is underpowered for real processor intensive stuff but isn't always the hinderence people like to think. Myself, I am waiting for a cortex CPU based one.

I would always recommend for things like this though wait till you can try one, see a friend with one or at least see a good vid on youtube of one in action as the OEM may cut corners and could make these needlessly slow.

John

Re: Like Dell, Intel is challengin Psion’s trademark of “netbook”

John — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:18:02 -0000

IIRC yes the original Psion Netbook was wound up in 2003...

However they replaced it with an updated version called the Psion Netbook Pro (win ce version) which was manufactured and sold quite a while after this.

Think you'll find a few people looked up the dates for the original Netbook and assumed that is when the line stopped but in fact it didn't.

Wouldn't bank on intel or dell winning. After all why should they? If you are a big company and wanted to create a new class of device, and came up with a name "netbook" would you not at least google it or check if it was someone elses in the same market?

I know we all like the term but if Intel or Dell get away with it just wait and see hwo long it is before they start stealing other things and won't care as they will expect they can out-money people in court and lawyer costs...

Would love for this class of device to be called Netbook but can't justify the cost of intel/dell getting away with this.

Re: Like Dell, Intel is challengin Psion’s trademark of “netbook”

John — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:31:12 -0000

Agree with you but they started sellling the netbook pro in 2003 or 2004ish so the assertation they stoped in 2003 is totally wrong.

Although the market was small I was aware of the Netbook and Netbook Pro long before the term Netbook was used in connection with the current crop of mini laptops.

Not saying what is right or wrong as I do think the term netbook is a nice one, just pointing out the 2003 date being passed about all the web is wrong and the possible unforseen circumstances.

You may say the term grew organically. I seem to remember a presentation (may have been by intel or MS) about a new class of device. I think they called it a Netbook as they do like to give each new device class a name.

So not 100% sure it is organic growth. I think someone came along from a company with the name netbook and it caught on.

To sum up I am not on anyones side. Just writing some additional details that seem to be getting missed.

John

Re: Like Dell, Intel is challengin Psion’s trademark of “netbook”

John — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:06:55 -0000

really? You have never heard of psion? Netbook, 5, 3a, revo ??? Or in the US the Diamond Mako or Osiris?

All are Psion....

Have you never heard of Symbian? That is a direct descendent of the Psion OS used in the devices above. It was originally called EPOC but symbian was just a development of EPOC.

Ok so they were much larger in Uk and Europe but still they were pretty big once upon a time. They pretty much do devices for the vertical markets now. Not sure it is all to do with how much money psion could make but they could release a mini laptop and call it a netbook (as they own the trademark). Also if Intel want to use the trademark they should have bought it off Psion.

If it was for a totally diffrent type or class of device I agree but the netbook and netbook pro (although Epoc and Windows CE) were mini laptop style devices.

John

Re: Fidelity Electronics Very Personal Computer is very tiny

John — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:34:49 -0000

These are slow...

You can buy current versions cheaper ($160) or £110 for diffrent makes of an equivilent device.

These machines browse slower then a 2003 CE.net 4.2 device with just a strongarm 206Mhz CPU.

Not sure I would be intrested at any price :)

Re: Psion demands a jury trial in netbook trademark case

John — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:08:28 -0000

Again you say in the article "they stopped making them in 2003".

They didn't stop in 2003. The original netbook stopped in 2003 and was changed to the Netbook Pro which was manufactured from 2004ish through to 2008ish.

John

Re: Psion demands a jury trial in netbook trademark case

John — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:10:56 -0000

They are not dodgy at all.

They made the Netbook (EPOC version) up to 2003 they then made the Netbook Pro (from 2004) and sold it into verticle markets. these vertical markets got functionallity required from the Netbook Pro like RDP and Citrix etc.

Hence why the sales took off over the next few years.

John

Re: Psion demands a jury trial in netbook trademark case

John — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:12:06 -0000

Just to add they are also US figures... The EPOC OS was not a big thing in the US which is another reason for the low sales pre the CE .net 4.2 version of the netbook.

John

Re: Psion demands a jury trial in netbook trademark case

John — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:08:37 -0000

Sorry....

but intel actually first used the term "netbook" for these devices when they knew psion had sold a similar device for a long period of time called a Netbook.

Psion took the time and effort to develop and sell a device in this formfactor in 1999 and was still selling the Pro version in 2009 (manufacture stopped in 2008).

So as far as I am concerned it is only a popular term because of intel when they already knew it was used and would not have been used for these mini laptops if they had suggested it.

Psion desreve to win.. Or else any big company that wants can just step on any trademark they want with no consequences.

It's not about whether we now like the term or not but the presidence it sets if intel win.

John

PS Intels CPU's were used in the psion netbook (Strongarm then Xscale)

Re: Microsoft not throwing weight behind Windows CE for netbooks

John — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:33:16 -0000

They still work well.

I have used J720, Sigmarion 3 and still have a Smartbook G138.

The smartbook displays most web pages perfectly (can run opera 8.65) and does most tasks I require. Wifi or bluetooth is server up via a CF card. And if I ever need real power use then I just rdp into my server which takes 1 second to connect to.

Apart from games and high end video playback it serves my mobile computing needs nicely.

You say CE isn't supporting cortex netbooks but the fact the new WM smartphones are using Cortex's now I am sure CE will be updated to support cortex commands and as WM sits on CE I dont see the problem. Surely it is up to the OEM or Chip manufacturer to provide the CE BSP, as they did in the past, so really cant see where the change is.

there is enough software to give CE all the office, email and web support a mini laptop should require.

Anyway CE, WM, linux or otherwise I am looking forward to the cortex netbooks. I am sure due to lower power usage and no heat problems this will bring HPC sized devices back and at a real nice price.

John

Re: ARM-based netbooks coming in June

John — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:58:08 -0000

There is supposed to be 4 on the market in June, even more in august, and a total of 10 in all in H2 2009.

They are even saying 8 or 10hrs on the web so should be more than capable of 15hrs of use offline. And that is with smaller batteries. With an extended it is likely going to approach Psion 5mx in terms of battery life

Cant wait to see them.

Re: Intel to Psion: Nuh uh, you did NOT sell netbooks after 2003

John — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:02:05 -0000

Cluthing at straws....

The netbook pro was realesed in 2003 and sold till 2008... I know this for a fact...

Also just a funny side, intel sold psion the CPU's for both.... StrongArm in the original netbook and xscale in the netbook pro. LOL.

Re: Deal of the Day/Blast from the Past: HP Jornada 728 for $100

John — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:42:59 -0000

Oh and if you like these check out www.hpcfactor.com

Re: Deal of the Day/Blast from the Past: HP Jornada 728 for $100

John — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:43:17 -0000

also look at alpaxo softwares "Redgear".

It will allow you to run Opera 8.65 for PPC on these devices. Which at least gets you more modern browsing on these old devices.

John

Re: Deal of the Day: 3K Razorbook 400 Windows CE netbook for $155

John — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:56:44 -0000

I know the spec says CE6

but I know someone with one and the std ROM and the downloadable re-flash are both CE5.

John

Re: Deal of the Day: 3K Razorbook 400 Windows CE netbook for $155

John — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:59:50 -0000

The Linux razorbook ran on the xburst CPU.

Don't think there is a Linux version for the ARM one.

Re: Deal of the Day: 3K Razorbook 400 Windows CE netbook for $155

John — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:46:07 -0000

Yes but that is not somthing you can just install on an ARM netbook running CE.

Re: Deal of the Day: 3K Razorbook 400 Windows CE netbook for $155

John — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:46:31 -0000

No it is an ARM...

They did a limited early run of CE ones on the old Injenic CPU and swapped to ARM for later run though it is defo CE5

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:14:32 -0000

Not sure I agree. The small instant on CE devices of the past were not as popular with consumers because they were at almost the same price point as a full laptops not due to lack of features. Back in the Jornada 720's day (late 90's) we were talking serious amounts of money.

I for one will be getting a cortex netbook when they become available (would love one with either 6" screen or 7" with small bezel so it will go in the coat pocket). Being it will last 10+ hours I only need the device it-self, no massive extended battery, no bag with charger etc.

Still regularly use a smartbook G138 from 2003 with a 200mhz strongarm and CE 4.2 (it is reliable, stable, has long battery life and is actually surprisinly fast for a web browser - in fact it is considerablly faster than the latest crop of Chinese netbooks with 400 and 533mhz arm cpu's and ce 5). Can easilly turn on and check a webpage quicker than a netbook returning from suspend.

It is also a lot more convenient to take contacts, tasks, jot down ideas etc. as they come to me due to instant on.

There always seems to be loads of people mumping they don't run Windows can't see why that makes the device a bad device. If they need windows then it is not right for them and not automatically "rubbish".

The latest crop of cortex devices will be able to make a device that will fit in a coat pocket, will run all day, play 720 HD, run 3d graphics etc. etc. does not seem like it is too bad.

If they are cheaper, nicer looking (slim and sexy), quick for day to day tasks etc. but also come with loads of battery I can easilly see a good number of people swapping from a netbook with 6 and/or 9 cell battery for one.

Another reason they may appeal as price point almost get's disposable/impulse buy teritory which is ideal for a device for kids.

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:52:10 -0000

Funny cos you just described what a Cortex netbook will be best at in the list of wants

email, web, office apps, basic photo editing/storage like a Sony Vaio TZ

So which of those tasks can't linux do? And the cortex cpu devices are going to be slimer and lighter than the vaio whith 10+ battery???

To confirm you list a list of wants (all boxes ticked by cortex netbook) then say they are for a diffrent market???

John

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:59:18 -0000

My last issue is re. the options in the poll. Linux is a full desktop OS so where it the option.

Arm Netbooks (well cortex) "the hardware and OS is fine - as long as price is right".

So there is no suitable option for me to vote

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:25:26 -0000

you run linux on a cortex then?

or you talking 206mhz SA or 400Mhz xscale?

not really the same is it?

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:38:26 -0000

Yeah, a replacement for devices like jornada 720, mobilepro 900c, Sigmarion 3 etc. but no reason for it not to run right up to 10" or laptop size.

Think all the professional writers/reporters out there where 10-20hrs battery would be invaluable. There are still some writers and reporters use J720's and Psion 5MX's etc for this very reason.

Also it will allow you to make a netbook with 10" screen that is so thin you could slip in a thin pocket in a ringbinder and hardly notice it is there. Add to that they will come in cheaper.

I think the cortex/arm based netbooks that are due out soon have a place in the market and will have good reasons why some would choose them even if the device is filling the same market as current netbooks.

So I take your idea further and suggest the arm units will fill the old Handheld PC size right up to large netbook with a reasonable crossover. There are also enough linux builds out there with a software repository large enough not to worry.

The cortex or nvidia tegra (arm11 with media processing and GPU) is not a step down. Anyone who has seen the 3d grfx or 720 HD demos on these devices will be happy to attest it is more capable than current atom.

So far we havn't even seen one with linux fully optimised for cortex.

I am looking forward to them

What about some other industries. Corvertable touch screen tablet/netbook great for surveys handheld units as the comms are onboard and battery will last all day without breaking your arm.

Industrial/medical use? Again all day battery and the cortex machines have no heat issues and require no venting holes so can be sealed to the environment better?

There are lots of pluses. but with all these things. they are neither crap or the best thing ever. they just have strong points and each customer will need to weigh them up.

however think it is diffucult to draw meaningfull results from a survey until we see hardware ready for sale. Sometimes manufacturers cost cut and rush things out the door and the finished article isn't all it could be.

Fingers crossed

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:41:06 -0000

what in a linux build not optimised for the cortex so probs falling back to a version of arm v4 command set.

and being it is a prototype I would have thought the drivers although workable are not fully optomised for gpu etc.

You seen how quick the Nvidia Tegra displayed the youtube homepage? and it is an ARM11?

John

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:41:51 -0000

So don't buy one.... doesn't make it a bad computer. If it runs ubuntu why would you feel the apps are not powerfull enough or limited? esspecially if it can perform as well as atom machines (though we need to wait for production models before we can say for sure if power is up there).

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:58:01 -0000

Forget the current crop of arm netbooks from china like the razorbook. They are cheap rubbish that should not be on the market. My StrongArm 206Mhz device from 2003 totally outperforms them and not by a small margin.

The new cortex netbooks are looking at a price point of $200-$300 to start and that will be on devices hitting the market Q3 this year and mark my words they will be considerablly more sexy than the current crop. When the mass market is presented with larger, less sexy, less battery etc. but familiar OS and the cortex option which is sexyer, takes less space, runs all day - the choice becomes interesting and familiar OS isn't the only consideration when the other devices look so sexy.

A lot of ARM units look like they will also come with a touch screen (not all but a lot of them) making them smaller for same device and on a 7" screen a touchscreen is a very nice thing to have.

Lots of years ago I used to think a small device with x86 and full windows would be great but after going through 10 or 20 devices from laptops to PDA's to tablets to Handheld PC's I found it was the CE device that actually became the most productive due to portability and silly long battery.

Doesn't take many people to buy them and start using them for people to notice and re-evaluate their requirements.

Actually was quite funny; the number of times I was on a aeroplane and as soon as the fasten seatbelts light was out I was up and working in about 2 seconds while some corporate person was still getting subnotebook out of the bag. Then we hit some turbulence and I had my device off and stowed in about 2 seconds while he was still saving the doc he was working on. Ended up so many times in a conversation where they asked what I was using and every time they actually took device details to look for one.

I am just looking forward to seeing some retail hardware so I can see the speed etc. as it is about time my venerable StrongArm device was moved on to give me a boost in speed.

John

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:32:36 -0000

Funny as CISC chips as you call them (x86) actually have more in common with RISC now than the way CISC is meant to be :)

I entirely agree there is no good reason for X86 over ARM cpu's it all depends on software and how it is implemented (speed of the GUI for want of a better description).

there are very few people actually need or use software that is only available on windows on a netbook sized device.

Look at some of the multiple ARM devices announced recently I think you will likely find ARM cpu's will power one of the big Supercomputers soon. And it will likely power more and more Servers (less heat, less power but it will give same computing power ok so maybe over multiple cores' or cpu's but does it matter how it gets there in a server).

Once ARM is in servers and Supercomputers (One of MS's big markets is in server software - you think it won't make a version of windows for them?). So many servers are using Linux of BSD these days a switch to ARM or any other processor architecture is no big deal.

Most industries computer included suffer a 10x force once in a while that just changes everything completely in a short space of time. Computer industry has had a few so far.

IBM Choosing a 4bit intel chip for it's first PC??? when there were multiple choices that were so much more powerfull. Intel were as good as bust till IBM made this strange decision. Another was IBM as good as handing DOS to Mr Gates.

A lot of this is just me thinking out loud but if ARM gets it'self as big in the Netbook market and Big in the Server market (this is where cores optomised for power usage and chipsets to go with fast RAM etc will get developed) then it has every chance of coming back into desktop machines.

With energy getting ever more expensive there actually may be other reasons for ARM making inroads to server markets cost of the electricity is likely to be a big reason.

Some people are saying ah but ARM it's a PDA processor. Nope it is just a processor. And the cortex is quite a jump forward.

Disagree if you like, opinion makes the world interesting but doesn't mean it will or won't happen.

John

Re: ABI: Most netbooks will NOT run Windows by 2012

John — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:01:21 -0000

try typing a document on your phone :D

Re: Qualcomm coins the term Smartbooks for netbook/smartphone mashup

John — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:13:07 -0000

Ok so full OS apps may be import....

But if you are looking at 3hrs vs 10 or 12 hours from similar sized battery then it is not such a no brainer....

I am looking forward to their arrival :)

Re: Qualcomm coins the term Smartbooks for netbook/smartphone mashup

John — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:28:53 -0000

Actually,

Gotta wonder...

I own a device that was called a Smartbook G138 and was made by Book Digital. It is basically slightly smaller than a Netbook, has an ARM CPU, Has a keyboard, 7" touchscreen and a GPRS connection.

If anyone still ownes the trademark I can see a courtcase looming. Surely if you are going to use a name for a product family you would type it into google and see what comes up first.

http://www.hpcfactor.com/reviews/hardware/bookd...

John

Re: Qualcomm coins the term Smartbooks for netbook/smartphone mashup

John — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:32:17 -0000

The razorbook and all other chinese based machines had a samsung ARM9 SOC designed for satnav etc.

Most were 266-400Mhz and the SOC only had a framebuffer with no grfx acceleration at all. They were trying to drive a larger screen than most pda/sat navs would be asked to produce. No wonder it wasn't up to scratch.

There is just no comparision in terms of hardware. Software implementation will have to be slick though.

John

Re: HP could build an ARM-based netbook

John — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:14:01 -0000

hmmm could this maybe be based on the nvidia's arm platform???

Being they used an HP mini in demos?

Re: Qualcomm coins the term Smartbooks for netbook/smartphone mashup

John — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:46:34 -0000

Just realised apart from Book digital selling an ARM based netbook called the Smartbook there is a German Laptop company called smartbook.

smartbook.de IIRC

so they could see a challenge from 2 camps :)

Re: Video: NVIDIA Tegra netbooks playing HD video, Flash

John — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:12:28 -0000

They may only have 512Mb ram but they don't have a massive heavy OS taking up most of it - the OS if in ram will take very little space - but they may even run the OS directly from ROM which would be great if they make the rom fast enough.

Netbook with XP running 1Gb would likely be a closer comparisson so you may be fine with more than 4 tabs.

Not that I often have more than 4 running at once.

Nice to see nvidia is obviously serious about supporting the platform and seems to be attracting software producers to get on board. Firefox and IIRC Adobe said it was doing full flash for the tegra.

John

Re: Video: NVIDIA Tegra netbooks playing HD video, Flash

John — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:13:40 -0000

I hope Nvidia remember to include good PIM software and make sure this machines PIM's are syncable to a desktop machine. They are missing a big trick if they leave this out.

John

Re: Rumor: HP working on a Qualcomm Snapdragon powered Smartbook

John — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:22:46 -0000

but then nvidia showed tegra in an HP netbook case...

So maybe tegra inside???

Would be good as firefox 3.5 seems to run very nicely indeed.

Re: Gartner analysts claim Android is snappier on Arm than Windows 7 on Atom

John — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:12:20 -0000

bet you a fiver CE is snappier on Tegra as well :)

but then if you are just talking the snappyness of the UI - my CE devices have always felt very snappy.

Re: Why ARM based Smartbooks might fail… and why they might not

John — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:01:10 -0000

Not sure this is up to date and not so well informed....

Tegra running CE has firefox 3.5 running, Linux also has firefox so how is there going to be any problem updating twitter? One of the comments using a ppc to hunt for bits of webpages.. really?... again firefox! never mind even on a current CE device with 800x480 IE displays nice complete web pages.

I have already seen a version of the early non x86 netbooks (looks like either the xburst or the arm one made by same manufacturer) has been picked up by datawind and they are selling them with 1years mobile browsing built in to the price.

You see I don't want a slightly small laptop with large 6 cell battery to get long useage time. I want somthing small and portable that will last all day. However, I would be very pleased if these devices are not just available through a cellphone provider but can also be purchased retail.

Although tegra's cpu is slower seeing how well firefox runs and hearing how keen they are working to get other big name software working on the platform (with gpu acceleration) I will likely go for one of them.

But it will become even more interesting when 2010 brings dual core cortex A9 machines (well I suppose even more cores are possible).

John

Re: Why ARM based Smartbooks might fail… and why they might not

John — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:04:02 -0000

Totally agreed (it's the same reason some journalists still use Psion 5MX's and Jornada 720's - essecially war zone ones etc.)

Though I would be happier with a 7" widescreen with almost no bezel and a touchscreen instead of trackpad. This would mean it would be possible to almost have a device that would fit in an inside coat pocket like my Sigmarion 3 does.

Re: Why ARM based Smartbooks might fail… and why they might not

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:44:54 -0000

I think the reason netbook are getting bigger with bigger screens is the fact Windows Xp, Windows Vista, Windows 7 isn't designed to work well witht he size of screen with the pixel density they packed in.

This is why smartbooks will work better in the 6" - 9" range. They will have an OS with a front end designed specifically to work on a screen that size.

DO people need Microsoft Windows? No not really but some belive they do. Just think of all the Media Players, Satellite and cable boxes, TV's, MP3 players, SatNav's etc.. etc.. Do people go ah but it doesn't run Windows? No! they look at whether the device does what they want it to do.

If you go to the public and don't mention OS. And say look. It browses, It edit's office documents and you can save them so you can use them on your work PC, It plays HD video (and with the HDMI you get 1080p), It will play HD video for the whole flight from UK to US on one charge, It has built in Data capability, Wi-fi, media players, photo editing software...

Forget Games as TBH the market on this size of device isn't huge for 3d games and even if you had Windows on an atom you wouldn't be playing games. However, Tegra has shown it'self quite capable of producing some nice 3D grfx so will be great for some classic titles re-releases.

A lot of us techy's may care what the OS is. Genaral public are not so bothered. It's the half informed ones who belive they need Windows that will not buy them.

I know these will sell well. And when they sell well any gaps in the software available will be very quickly filled.

The tegra devices would do well to position their devices as a crossover between a netbook and a portable media player as it fits with both these tasks brilliantly. And if it can do the other tasks like edit a photo etc.

Nvidia are you listening????? A $199 device that could be used to display RAW photographs would be superb... Photographers the world over would love a small portable device with long battery that would allow them to preview their RAW photographs. And at $150-199 they would buy one to use while out and about becuse if it gets broken it is easilly replaced. Also the ARM machines would be better suited to this as there are no cooling vents for dust, muck or other stuff to get inside.

So Nvidia, You have the tegra, and have shown the GPU to be quite usefull doing 1080p. Get your finger out and get some software that will allow photo editing. But more important than that some image viewing software that will allow previewing of RAW photos. Optomised for the GPU and make it fast/snappy to use...

The ability to play HD and output 1080p will already make it usefull to preview video from the latest crop of DSLR's that shoot 1080p, If you added RAW it would make it the choice for so many photographers. And you just know when it starts appearing in photographers kit bags everyone amateur photographer will want one.

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:46:02 -0000

Firefoc 3.5 has been shown on Tegra running CE (that's a desktop app).

And it looks very fast as nvidia seems to be supporting GPU acceleration of applications very nicely indeed. Which may go a lot of the way to make up for a slower CPU.

Also outputs 1080p via HDMI so I have no complaints with the power of tegra.

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:12:48 -0000

Really? Strange that because nvidia said not only was the GPU doing desktop rendering to accelerate the desktop but for firefox the CPU offloaded all the webpage rendering tasks to the GPU to make it even faster... Didn't look 3 or 4 times slower than any other firefox demo I have seen? In fact it looked faster than most Atom based netbooks using firefox.

Ok so the 512mb machine slowed after 4 tabs but this was due to memory not lack of processing, it's a portable unit with a 9" screen and there will be 1gb tegras capable of more tabs.

Nvidia also said they were working to get other apps ported to tegra with GPU acceleration as well.

Can I ask if you have used CE? Not WM on a phone but full CE on a larger screen (and recently)? A lot of people put an automatic block on it because it sits under a version of WM they had on a crap cellphone at some point.

I am willing to bet snapdragon will not manage to implement as good GPU acceleration as nvidia and I am also willing to bet on all the demo videos I have seen so far there will be little or no diffrence to usefullness of final product.

Think you will find snapdragon doesn't do 1080p tegra does (snapdragon said it needed a dual core 1.5ghz version to do 1080p). Shows how good the GPU is and if they really can offload some software tasks to GPU to speed them up there is every chance they will make their units snappier and quicker in use than the snapdragon ones.

John

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:25:41 -0000

To give you an idea.

I have a Windows CE 4.2 (mini-netbook esk device called a Smartbook G138).

It has a StrongArm 206Mhz CPU and 94Mb RAM available (split between programs and storage) this is 5 years old with a cpu that came out 12 years ago. It will likely surprise you to know it renders most webpages quicker than devices with 500Mhz Xscale CPU's and my friends iphone 3g. This same device will actually load simple pages quicker over wi-fi than out Dell mini 9 - ok so it struggles with large complicated pages but heck almost no memory and a 200mhz cpu I aint expecting miricales but the fact it's faster on most basic sites and forums is really quite shocking and a little unsettling.

CPU isn't the be all and end all. And there is a huge diffrence between ce devices with the same CPU. A whole lot more comes down to design of interfaces with the CPU/SOC, Quality of Drivers and GPU acceleration.

Take another example a 4 year old CPU would have a good chance of running most recent games with a good grfx card. But a 4 year old GPU would struggle to do the same with an up to date CPU.

Maybe that kinda gives a better example of some of the points I am trying to say.

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:48:39 -0000

not a lot at all for volume...

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:59:31 -0000

Last reason they seem to be suggesting CE over Android. Is...

"Also, all video and graphics rendering in Android is done today by the operating system's Java code, a technique he says is too slow for HD video.

"There's no hardware acceleration. It's all software," Rayfield said."

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:08:32 -0000

Lastly a comment for the article writer.

IE that comes with CE often does a not so good job of rendering on mobile phones with WM as it is trying to re-size the page to fit smaller screens.

IE built into CE .net 4.2 does a cracking job of rendering pages that look just like they do on the desktop PC when on a device with an 800x480 screen. However, looks like tegra is going with Firefox which means I guess I won't be using CE's IE very much.

After seeing all the videos and the fact I like and appreciate some of the good points of CE I am looking to get a Tegra based device as soon as they are for sale (though will get somthing else if better performance comes along). So will happilly do a write-up / video.

Another handy thing for CE is almost all Satnav software was designed for CE with Arm cpu's so adding your nav software of choice will be nice and easy. Another reason I really want to see a very slimline 7" netbook device based on tegra as that would be perfect for sitting on a car mount.

John

Re: NVIDIA: Windows CE is better than Android for Tegra smartbooks

John — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:37:52 -0000

erm nope.... Snapdragon will ship netbooks running Windows Mobile or Linux so that's already confirmed :)

Re: Mobinnova élan Tegra powered netbook with custom UI – Video

John — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:12:49 -0000

To me it doesn't matter a jot if it is CE if nvidia bring along more software like firefox.

At least ce boots quickly, a few seconds, (if a full power off or re-set of unit). It offers better stanby (instant on/off) support and is a very light in terms of resources.

Looking forward to them still. However I am really dissapointed, so far, we have not seen somthing that is Sigmarion 3 sized with a 6 or 7" screen.

http://www.mikenchell.com/handheldpcs/

(if you wonder std machine has a 5" 800x480 screen) and with that bezel would easilly support a 6 or 7" screen with similar aspect ratio).

Re: Mobinnova élan Tegra powered netbook with custom UI – Video

John — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:40:19 -0000

I would rather they got rid of the touch pad altogether and took away the wasted space where it is. A touch screen would be a much better way to control the device.

John

Re: Mobinnova élan Tegra powered netbook with custom UI – Video

John — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:06:12 -0000

nvidia demonstrated firefox 3.5 working nicely which looked faster than the browser in this video (which claim it is firefox 3.1). From what I have read firefox 3.5 is faster and less resource hungry. Fingers Crossed :)

But if they sell and can run desktop firefox maybe other desktop browsers will arrive.

Re: The Smartbooks are coming, the Smartbooks are coming (this year)

John — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:29:55 -0000

They better get their finger out and sell them without being bundled with a data package...

I can tell you for nothing UK mobile providers are greedy and overpriced. I want to buy a smartbook as soon as they come out but I refuse to buy one bundled with a contract.

They need to ensure some are available to purchase without contracts or they are already doomed to failure.

Were these not supposed to be cheap? $150-200 or UKP £125-175. Surely these are cheap enough to sell to joe public?

John

Re: The Smartbooks are coming, the Smartbooks are coming (this year)

John — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:09:38 -0000

Well yes and no... Intel sold PXA xscale to marvell but IIRC they kept the other side making the xscales for controller cards etc.

Re: The Smartbooks are coming, the Smartbooks are coming (this year)

John — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:29:53 -0000

Of course it's clear... 8-10hrs battery with no large battery pack, cheaper, lighter, HD video, Navigation, Always connected data, instant on/off.

I have used CE for years and there is very little I do on my PC that it can't do (except latest games) but then I wouldn't be playing games on a netbook anyway.

Smartbooks may not be right for you but they can be considerablly more than a niche market. It is all about how well the software is implemented (early netbooks were often badly done on linux with menus not fitting screen etc.) and how well they are sold :)

John

Re: Inventec Rainbow: NVIDIA Tegra-powered laptop

John — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:00:50 -0000

erm got nout to do with cortex vs arm 11... CE is light, stable, and is built with good power management and instant on/off..

It may be arm 11 but the cortex cores so far can't handle 1080p this can.

The also have a GPU accelerated version of firefox 3.5 running very nicely indeed.

Nothing wrong with the OS as long as they get enough usefull software running. Nvidia did say they were working on more software with gpu acceleration.

This is faster than any smartphone until tegra smartphones hit the market. However it will still be likely faster as it will be able to display the webpages in full (a lot of smartphones are made slow as they have to make the pages fit the screen)...

Why go to the pain of ARM linux? It is nowhere near as light (unless you use a very cut down distro) and it had nowhere near the power management facilities of CE (so you wouldn't get 10 day standby and would be harder to set up so Data connection can work while in standby).

Yes there is andriod which a lot have mentioned but CE allows acceleration of the desktop with the GPU. Android doesn't which would make desktop considerably more sluggish.

IMHO this thing will feel faster then atom netbooks with XP (based on the speed of my 200mhz strongarm CE machine).

There is a lot to recomend it I think it would be wise to see one in use along side an atom netbook before people automatically dismiss it.

I am willing to bet open office will run fine on this if a port was made for CE... And being nvidia have a firefox gpu accelerated port I would not be surprised if they have other apps like this available soon.

John

John

Re: Inventec Rainbow: NVIDIA Tegra-powered laptop

John — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:56:29 -0000

Well IE on CE seems better than smartphone ones. On CE 4.2 there are very few sites that do not display 100% perfectly. However tegra is bringing desktop firefox to the party with full flash support so don't see how IE in CE will even be an issue.

For office the best out there at moment is made by softmaker wich comes in at €69 so just about £50 or under depending on exchange rate. This is not just basic office but full desktop quality apps that are fully MS office compatible (word processor, spreadsheet and powerpoints - belive they are working on database at moment). Yes it is chargeable but is a superb package and being some ARM devices have come with it as part of the package I think their license for OEM's must be reasonable.

Messenger comes built in and works nicely.

TCPMP is what I usually use for media player duties as it will handle Divx, xvid, ac3, mp3 etc.. etc..

I use Qmail3 for email (as it will handle secure mail and html mail nicely).

Using a GPS reciver I am able to use most GPS software. At the moment Route 66 for WM is my app of choice.

I have zirc for IRC duties

EZ GFX for basic photo resize (I say basic but 200Mhz arm is limiting this).

Also use palringo for WL messenger, Yahoo messenger etc. etc.

I have pdf readers...

There is a lot of software surprisingly, though not as much as there used to be (as CE hasn't really been a consumer OS since HPC2000 jornada 720 and nec 900). However CE has been used in engineering control devices, satnavs, set top boxes etc. to good effect and also as the underpinnings for WM.

So my 1st thought is nvidia have got flash and firefox 3.5 working already (with gpu acceleration), they have HD video and have said they are actively working on more software for the tegra platform. If they can add a good office suite (like open office) and a good photo app I think we have the makings of a usefull platform. If these sell there will be plenty of software (all the WM stuff is just a re-compile away) and if there are customers there will be plenty of software made available.

Maybe a better question would be what software do you use and need in a device like this and I can tell you what apps there are (as I say bearing in mind consumer devices have not been available for a number of years).

Re: Lanyu’s 7 inch netbook sells for just $97 in China

John — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:42:34 -0000

Sorry I meant £'s

£99 with free delivery here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Disgo-3000-Windows-CE-Ult...

Re: Lanyu’s 7 inch netbook sells for just $97 in China

John — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:42:59 -0000

not that I would buy one

Re: Qualcomm responds to “smartbook” trademark claim

John — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:06:15 -0000

Well there was book digital....

They sold a device called a Smartbook G138 (and it was a mini netbook type device with an arm processor, 7" screen and GPRS). So I seriously think Qualcomm will have trouble proving it is generic when there were actually devices from a specific company sold retail under that name that are in exactly the same product category they are aiming the term at....

Surprised this trademark owner hasn't stepped up to the plate. I think book digital may be away but guess someone must own the rights to it.

Re: Elonex launches Windows CE-powered smartbook

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:37:12 -0000

Totally agree...

Give me tegra with firefox and HD video in a Sigmarion 3 case with 6 or 7" widescreen...

Job done

John

Re: Elonex launches Windows CE-powered smartbook

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:37:30 -0000

http://www.mikenchell.com/handheldpcs/

Re: Elonex launches Windows CE-powered smartbook

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:26:50 -0000

Strange as mine has no Japanese left at all...

Was it maybe an early version of the language conversion?

Just want something a bit more powerfull with good video and web and a tegra version of Sig3 - slightly slimer with 6 or 7" screen would be amazing. Although at least Sig3 can manage 800x480 DIVX and XVID at 25fps at a bit rate good enough to look crisp (thanks to the ATI Imageon gpu).

Funny enough you can increase speed of sig3 loads by moving all files onto SD, Dll's for installed software (adding a loader path to make it look for dll's on SD as well as win dir), Program files all on SD, so apart from ATI updated drivers and MUI I have nothing in ram (even deleted pixel browser and added english version on SD in place of it and updated to english versions of the PIM apps).

Just want enough power and larger screen to make it more useable on larger more complicated sites and not require me to compress videos to lower bit rates. Also the tegra should allow me to more quickly do some quick JPG edditing / cropping etc while out and about....

Please can some company take notice and fill the huge gap in the market where a smartbook would be perfect as it can handle a smaller battery without giving short life.

Re: Elonex launches Windows CE-powered smartbook

John — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:12:30 -0000

Yeah,

I have been thinking it would be great if skyfire could make a CE build of their browser. The have WM and it already supports 800x480 so it should just be a case of throwing the source for WM through for CE instead. It would be even better if they could complie for CE .net 4.1 and higher.

John

Re: Forget instant-on operating systems, what about instant-on BIOS files?

John — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:46:24 -0000

Fair enough... but why stop there...

What about OS in rom (ok so CE and even older RISC OS) used to do this...

Has a lot of advantages (lower boot time, resistance to virus taking out the OS etc. etc.)

ROM is cheap these days so why havn't we seen things move to this setup except in embeded devices. Add a quick booting Bios specifically designed for OS in ROM and the OS it'self and I am willing to bet we could have full OS booting to desktop in 2 or 3 seconds.

John

Re: Lanyu’s 7 inch netbook sells for just $97 in China

John — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:38:24 -0000

There have been netbooks with this spec and design selling on ebay for the $130-150 for long enough...

Re: It’s official, Adobe Flash 10.1 to support NVIDIA GPUs, a whole slew of smartphones

John — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:39:40 -0000

Cool... Defo getting full flash for tegra (with the firefox already seen) makes my choice easy.

Hope to see some more apps on tegra (esspecially) ones taking advantage of GPU acceleration :)

Re: 3G enabled Mobinnova Beam netbook with NVIDIA Tegra graphics coming soon

John — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:59:42 -0000

think you mean ion as this is an ARM cpu with GPU and running windows CE so will not likely play the games you are talking about :)

Re: 3G enabled Mobinnova Beam netbook with NVIDIA Tegra graphics coming soon

John — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:04:12 -0000

1) I bloody hope so (in UK without contract please)
2) funny, CE is a real OS and has a lot of benefits for this sort of device (esspecially if Nvidea/Company selling it actually sort/include usefull software like office and image viewing and editing). Tegra comes with CE but expect we will start to see other tegra devices with linux (inc google chrome). However, if you want linux maybe some of the other ARM cores (snapdragon etc.) will provide your linux fix first.
3) The ports are hidden behind the battery and become accessable when the batter is in it's extended tilt position