Looks like a Courier will come to life after all. Well not really. It’s not the Microsoft Courier project recently shelved, it’s actually much larger dual-screen tablet based on a custom Linux variant. The Kno is a lovely and very large tablet device created for reading text books and taking notes. It’s screens are bigger than all tablets and e-readers currently available or in the works. The size of the Kno screens, 14 inches! The creators say that the reason for this large form is so it replicates the students textbook experiences in size, but their aim is to revolutionize learning with it’s functionality. With current technology, it looks to be a heavy device, but that doesn’t mean it would put off students carrying book bags already anyway. The Kno was announced yesterday at the AllThingsDigital conference. CNET was there covering the event and posted Youtube videos talking with the Kno company founders Babur Habib and Osman Rashid which are embedded at the end of this article.
The Kno exists in a working prototype form at this point. It runs embedded Linux with a custom browser-based operating system centered around reading, notetaking and organizing clips of information much like the Microsoft Courier project appeared to specialize in. The Kno interface looks spacious, custom designed and visually organized though the prototype had a few input response issues. Kno is currently posting jobs for several development areas to refine the device and OS. They have partnered with major publishers and expect that rather than having a dedicated app store, apps written for the device will come from many places including the educational institutions, publishers and the students themselves.
According to the Kno website, to develop the device they created a student panel to understand how to build it for their needs. And they observed the way people study to create how the user interface behaves and organizes things. There are a few student reaction videos on the site as well, spoken in a way as if these students already use it, but the device isn’t available yet. Rashid said that they will have their pre-order system in place for this fall with the tablets ready by the holidays.
Things we like:
The large size serves a clear purpose. It has a clear target student market and a custom embedded OS, which means the processing requirements and power consumption could potentially be lower and the startup could be faster.
The blue alternating hinges are a nice fixture
The form is sleek and original
Touchscreen supporting a stylus gives it drawing and sketching potential.
Linux Kernel and a custom interface might break new ground for the future of tablets. Every little bit helps.
Supports Flash Player for video and animations – very useful considering the content on many online course sites include flash components and media.
A journalist and enthusiast of tablets, Charbax brings a very useful video of Marilou Jepsen from Pixel Qi about the company’s screens. If you’re into technology and tablets, you’ll get a kick out of this.
Posted: May 31st, 2010 | Author:Mike Smick | Filed under:Tablets | Comments Off
Thrilled is an understatement when I look at this home-built DIY tablet project. I would call Youtube user Slampana by his real name if I knew it. Slampana decided that he could build a tablet with the specs he wanted using existing parts from other sources. Seems plausible sure, not easy right? But netbooks are so close to a tablet in size and weight. Slampana’s tablet has a resistive touch screen, Windows 7, an Atom Processor packed into unique carbon fiber case. It weighs in a 3.2 pounds. By comparison, a Macbook Air is 3 pounds. We’ve posted his youtube video and specs and his price list of parts below. And you can follow Slampana’s blog at carbontablet.blogspot.com.
Specs and Parts
- Windows 7
- Intel Atom Z530 Processor (1.6GHz) – GMA 500
- 2GB Ram
- 40GB SSD Hard Drive
- 13.4″ HD Widescreen LED LCD (1366 x 768)
- Resistive Touch Screen
- Wireless 802.11 g/b/n
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- Ports: 2 USB, Headphone Jack, Mic Input, Power
- Carbon Fiber Casing
- Accelerometer
- Built-In Speakers
- Dimensions 14.125″ x 8.875″ x .75″
- Weight 3.2lbs
If you haven’t heard of the One Laptop Per Child, OLPC program and their device from 2007, you can read up at Laptop.org. Now we have some new information on their next idea. The original XO-1 has been a success in so many ways for children in developing countries receiving them. I have the laptop somewhere in the closet from the G1G1 days. In some ways the device is killer, in others it’s disappointing. A few expected features were never turned on that I know of. Does the stylus portion of the touch pad work yet? The promised battery life is NOWHERE NEAR what was stated. They said something like 12 hours when reality was about 2.5 hours. The operating system had some good points, but it was clunky with the journal and was slow to organize things. You could have hundreds of unneeded journal entries and you’d have to delete them one thing at a time. Feels like ancient history.
My summary of the various sources of this press release this tablet and the initiative:
Probably running Android, but definitely running an open OS
Eventually sporting a plastic screen, not likely immediately
Dual Mode Display – (Pixel Qi for reflective and backlit mode)
Hi def video encoder
3D graphics
Multi-touch
Camera
I hate to say this, but I’m skeptical we will get something close to their graphical mockup prototype in the time frame given. But since I’m not privy to the plastic display technology coming out near term, I could be wrong. In the video below, Nicholas Negroponte talks about a working prototype for CES in 2011. That’s about 8 months away. And he says plastic is expected for 2012. He’s certain about the price point though. I’m not sure I would be so certain though. When you look at the ecosystem, the pieces of this puzzle seem to be there. Not at this price point though. The Google Nexus One phone, arguably the most powerful smartphone right now, is about the right thickness and capability. It won’t do 1080 video but the 3D is pretty capable. The screen is much smaller, I’m not sure of the battery life with the system playing video, but let’s say 4 hours. If we could drop the power requirements for the screens, the Nexus One would be a pretty capable tablet. More battery could be distributed across and still maintain a decent weight. But again the Nexus One is $529 and most smartphones, even if seemingly priced well such as a $99 iPhone at Wal-Mart, are still hiding their actual cost within the data plans.
Posted: May 27th, 2010 | Author:Mike Smick | Filed under:ARM, Tablets | Comments Off
Here’s an interesting device. Looks a lot like the HP Slate that was demonstrated at CES. This Shogo Tablet is coming out in August of 2010 with a per unit price of $500 with a 5 and 10 quantity discount. It runs an embedded Linux (Angstrom) and has 10″ capacitive touch screen. This device has an open SDK development platform and Realease will work with other companies if for example, they want to create a custom tablet based on the core specs. You can get it with a few features stripped out or downgraded to bring the price down. You really have to get this kind of device in your hands to be able to know if it feels and reacts according to the speed you want. But from the look and video, it seems to be snappy with a decent 8 hour battery life and sporting features that many might have wanted in the Apple iPad.
The real insights on this Shogo Tablet from Realease are found in this Youtube video from Charbax. He’s reported the story on his excellent site: Armdevices. The best, he calls the foldable foot on the tablet a kickstand.
Pandigital creates digital photo frames. Available soon is their entry into the tablet market. The Pandigital Novel is a reader and web browser tablet. It’s got a 7″ 800×600 touch screen with a battery life of 5 or 6 hours. Like the Nook, it will be integrated with the Barnes and Noble ebook store. The device will do many things you’d expect from a tablet and since it’s running Android, you might even eventually get the full web including Flash, though they don’t say whether it will run Android 2.2 or access the Android Marketplace. Its reader functionality can handle ePub and PDF ebook formats.
As you might expect from a tablet, especially from a Digital Photo Frame company, the device has a picture browser, as well as a calendar, video and music players. Things I like about this tablet. I dig the double bezel. If the white border happens to be a durable rubberized sheath, I think it’s a good idea. It also comes with a cradle and USB cable. Which means it has a USB port. Nice. Also they go the simple route by accepting high capacity SD cards. That’s the right thing to do. Too bad there’s no camera. Seems like another $15 wouldn’t kill them or their customers.
If you don’t want to spend $199 on their tablet but are desperate to part with some money, Pandigital also makes a stylish LED desk lamp for only $40.
I’m copying their specifications for the device below because it was hard to find them from the home page. There are some unknowns here. Is the touch screen capacitive. Would it accept pen input? What is the onscreen keyboard like? What kind of durability, shatter, scratch and water resistance? What version of Android? Boot speed? Do you turn this thing off typically or just make it hibernate? Can it access the Android market place so one might be able to add DocsToGo or something? Does it have an accelerometer so could it play games?
Apparently Wired has a Dr. Jeckyll / Mr Hyde on staff. They both are writing under the pen name of Charlie Sorrel. At first I thought today’s article “How to Make and iPad beating Tablet” shouldn’t have made it past the editors for how useless it is, but when I discovered that Charlie also wrote a piece from January “10 Things Missing from the iPad” it became clear that he’s basically phoning in for his paychecks at this point just to fulfill his part of the Wired initiative to tell everyone about how great the iPad 5 times a day. Today his was a real gem. Here’s my least favorite part of the article, which I can’t wait to pick apart.
“Hardware is almost irrelevant, on the outside at least. The iPad is a slab of aluminum and glass with an absolute minimum of ports and buttons. Rivals counter this by promising USB ports, SD card slots and the like. The problem? Compatibility. If you include just one standard USB port, people expect it to behave like one, and they’ll plug in printers, mice and everything else. This requires drivers, which in turn adds complexity and eats into precious flash-memory space (a recent Epson printer driver update for the Mac was almost 1 GB in size).”
Hardware irrelevant? Let’s pretend for a moment Charlie Sorrel had an audience in mind here. Who exactly is he writing to? Certainly not anyone who reads “Wired” you know that company that reviews hardware every moment of every day. But hey, it’s just a slab of metal right? Nothing else to see here. On second thought though, how about this. The iPad screen is nice, but it’s not unbreakable and it’s not a dual-mode Pixel Qi screen which can handle full motion video as well as reflective ebook reading. THAT screen would beat the iPad, even if the refresh rate was a little slower.
Next, Sorrel tells us that SD card slots and USB ports are really just a cheap tool rivals latch onto just to compete with the iPad. Here we go again. Let’s just get this straight, the iPad is NOT the first tablet in the chain, it’s probably the 50th. And SD card slots are ways to transport information to the device quickly and reliably back and forth, for example, 6 GB of photos that you want to show your family during the vacation you’re on, while you’re in the hotel with no Wi-Fi. It’s actually quite frustrating how stupid this comment is, especially since Charlie said the exact opposite in in his earlier article in January! His excuse for USB being a bad idea? Because his latest Epson printer driver was 1GB installed on OSX. So now when people might plug something in it’s a bad idea because their mileage may vary? What kind of nanny state has Charlie Sorrel created around himself since using his iPad for a month? How about a tablet with published driver specifications, including size recommendations to follow so companies can release stripped down or simple versions. Or a list of out-of-the-box compatible printers? I know it’s complicated but when you want things to work together, it IS complicated. The word magical only gets us so far. Then it’s real work and compatibility.
Maybe somebody just wants to plug in a USB memory stick or a digital camera OR they want to transfer data to another device, such as a phone or another tablet to share a book or movie. OR maybe a startup company will be developing a very special application to use with a touch screen tablet. One that interfaces with a large piece of medical hardware or perhaps a set of sensors that can send their data into your tablet application. This way USB means it’s more affordable for everyone, not requiring $60 adaptors that cause more pain and confusion for everyone. Here’s how you build a tablet. You put in at least one USB port and an SD slot behind a slider or rubber capping to keep them clean so people can use them or forget about them.
Under the Software area, Charlie doesn’t do much better unfortunately. “Design an OS that makes it easy to do what people actually want to do with a tablet.”
Oh do tell us, what do most people want to do with a tablet? No real information for us? No actual research, just commentary? Thanks. Because people want to do everything. Sure they want to touch the screen. And?? Charlie might have mentioned that unlike Apple’s iPad, tablets are where people want to take written notes, and possibly even get them transcribed to text. They want to use them for business, they want to hack and to load their own applications without agreeing to some ridiculous terms. They also might want something open. Sure HP has the Palm OS, but we also have Android out there, with a ton of apps in a store, and a lot of developers to tap into. In fact, you might even say Android is probably the best choice given the work that’s been done up to this point and the open nature.
Apps. Here’s where Charlie REALLY reveals the inner Hyde (ahem, d*****bag). Starting out with the truth: “The success of Apple’s App Store isn’t about the sheer numbers. Most of the apps out there are junk”
This I fully agree with Charlie on. We know the iPad and iPhone apps install well and you want them to come with protections so you don’t get hosed. He goes on to say… “The App Store is so successful because it is closed. Don’t agree? How’s the Android Marketplace doing?“
Ok Charlie Sorrel, we want either Jekyll or Hyde on this one. You’re not helping us or yourself here. So the sheer numbers of the App Store don’t matter AND there’s mostly junk in the Apple App store, despite it being closed. BUT hey, numbers matter when you want to sucker punch the Android Marketplace? If you really want to know how the Android Marketplace is doing, why not actually look at it? Because it’s doing quite well. They just got a decent app for Dropbox yesterday. I’ve been able to get apps for UStream, File browsing, translations, conversions, a plethora of great Google add-ons. Pandora has been a real gem. Barcode scanners, porn, etc. And I’ll tell you, if I liked to play games on my Nexus One, I’d be buried by all the games listed, from the traditional to the brand new. I wouldn’t say it has everything, because I haven’t found an ideal daily Buddha quotes app I’ve been dreaming about, but to answer you, the Android Marketplace is thriving. I run a dozen apps or more and they’ve all had software updates for improvements in stability and customer feedback, as you’d expect. And every new Android phone and other devices could take advantage of these. AND if I wanted to access more dangerous apps that aren’t subject to their approval, I can turn off that security feature and look at using those, whether I was taking a risk, or testing for a programmer friend.
By the way, all the apps I install inform me of what portions of my Phone the app can gain access to, so I can choose to say no if I don’t want app X to access the internet. I dig that. And maybe the iPhone does that too, I’m not sure. But I like to know what’s going on underneath.
Even if the iPad included ports and a camera, there’s still the issue of choice. Some of us want a screen a little smaller or a little bigger. Some of us want to draw, and some of us want to smudge. Some of us just want a stripped down device so they can implement their own system around it. You’d think that a company selling the most tablets would be the one to get behind, because the developers and the support would all be on that side. But when you wall off choice such as Flash, keep people from tooling with their own programs and doing their own network push to the device, you’re killing that aspect of computing that makes it fun and interesting. The iPad is the device meant for the ultra-CONSUMER. Consume this and that, pay twice and only buy from us.
Some of us are a little tired of Apple’s revolutionary technologies, such as when they started selling music for $1 a song. Wow, that revolution brought the cost CDs all the way down to exactly where they’ve always been. And how with your new iPod, you could do everything with your music, except of course delete tracks without your computer. And laptops. How awesome were those Macbooks that came without SD slots of their own for years, until the pro-only version finally got them years later. And when Apple took a perfectly good usable HDMI slot and made it more costly and proprietary.
So forgive many of us for liking part of Apple and complete despising much of it too. We think 100 other companies creating tablets, even if they only sell a few thousand each is just fine if it’s a viable business model for them, even if it makes it harder for us consumers to choose. That’s what good reviews on shopping sites and in magazines like Wired are for.
The prototype or mockup video of the concept “Courier” impressed a lot of people when it was first leaked many months ago. Leaked is the wrong term. It was intentionally put out there. The video was way to polished to be for internal use only. It was created to get a sense of the buzz around the device. Smart idea actually. It got a lot of people talking.
Anyway, the Courier was to be a folding dual-screen tablet running a dead simple operating system, focused on content creation stuff like note-taking, journaling, planning and information gathering. It was a pen-usable tablet.
We hear from Gizmodo today that the courier project is now dead. Why would that be if so many people were interested? The Courier looked to be the anti-iPad. This was the tablet many were holding out for. It was for the student, the idea-person and the responsible spouse or employee in all of us.
My easy answer to the reason for deadness, battery life. I have no doubt in my mind that battery life is why product isn’t feasible now. Having 2 screens, you of course have a lot of power consumption right there, plus the touch input on both, and the video and information processing. This thing wouldn’t be able to be made at a reasonable price or weight either. And a device maker would be discouraged even more with $300 netbooks everywhere. Is this product impossible? No it’s very possible. A lighter operating system based on the WinCE kernel could be tied specifically to the Courier and run quite well. We’ll never know if that was the plan I guess.
Sadly (for Microsoft) the idea is out there for the taking by another company now. So if they want to return to the project later, it’s possible they are beaten by someone else. This is good for those of us who just want the tablet or reader that meets our needs. A smaller niche company can be more flexible with the solution, using a modded platform that might work perfectly, one that Microsoft would never think to touch.
For those of us who thought the Courier was their shining light, let’s see if the Notion Ink comes through to save the day, or maybe the HP Slate will surprise us. The last few months we’ve had too many heartbreaks. We deserve to have our day.
Update: The HP Windows 7 Slate was cancelled too, probably for good reason, (bulky Win7 OS). Now that HP has recently purchased Palm, they also own the Palm WebOS and will likely be using that for their slate tablet projects.
Too much vaporware in the tablet universe right now. On the one hand, it’s frustrating. We want to see videos, detailed diagrams, early reviews, is it really coming out? Sadly, if a product is on the way, the last thing a company wants to do is jinx it by showing it to somebody and getting a bad review too early. On the other hand, you get the suspicious feeling that some people aren’t doing what they claim, that they are hoping that spilling an idea as real so they can usher in some VC money is their only hope of doing the real thing .
It’s not that these devices won’t exist, but there’s a whole lot of commentary and not a lot of shipping going on. One that finally did ship, the JooJoo, suffered some bad publicity because of partnership breakups, blah blah more foolishness of which we’ll never know the real story anyway. The important part, the actual JooJoo internet tablet, Wired Magazine called it DooDoo (There are some real middle-school dicks over there at Wired Mag.) We don’t have to believe the reviews, but when you’re possessed, there’s nothing more interesting to read than a device teardown and feature commentary.
Whatcha waitin’ for right now?
You’re probably not waiting for anything. Most likely you are content with what you already have. Computer – check. Smart Phone – Check. Library Card – Check. Pen and Paper – Check.
For ridiculous reasons, there are some of us who have it in our head that a device is soon to arrive that will make reading fun and surfing exciting and videos personal, photos flippable and other activities somehow just more playful. But these have so far been just beyond our reach.
The few that have come out seem to have about 35% of what we actually want done to our liking. But the remaining inevitable shortfalls remind us that we like our money quite a bit and aren’t really lacking in connectivity after all, so we’ll wait for the next one. And that next one might just be the:
HP Slate
WePad
Google Tablet
Notion Ink Adam
ExoPC
Skiff Reader
Alex Reader (shipping starts today!)
Courier (Dual Screen)
Que Pro Reader
These aren’t just the fringe devices either. Some of these devices represent nearly exactly the kind of reader / tablet we are looking for. Example being the Notion Ink Adam. A small group of developers and engineers from India are working on this one. It’s the only tablet that we know of that plans to use the PixelQi screen. This means that it will have dual modes in a single screen. With the backlight on, it looksl like a normal laptop screen with a secret. Turn it off and you get a high resolution reflective eReader screen. It has another huge benefit in eReader mode too. It maintains a very generous refresh rate so motion such as videos can play and the UI will react quickly.
So the Google Tablet. Yeah that’s a lot of vapor right now and probably will be for a while. In the same article, the New York Times reported both that Google was essentially toying with the idea of building a slate, and in the next paragraphs implying it was already happening. Sounds great. But it’s nothing right now.
I’ve mentioned on Twitter that I believe the Alex Reader will be a sleeper hit. It will be an unexpected workable form factor. Similar to the Nook, but it’s a little more open, it seems. I believe that most people will want to navigate a fast and forgiving seconday UI, one that doesn’t require the clicking investment time of an E-Ink screen. You can swipe across the small LCD screen on the Alex Reader navigating your library. Only when you make the choice of book will you have to endure the larger and much slower E-Ink screen. That’s why I think it will work for people, even if the first glance it looks quirky.
The Skiff Reader has one of the largest E-Ink screens we’ve seen, albeit in a rendered image. But if real, would be perfect for newspapers. It also looks to be a little more open, but we’ll see.
The courier was highlighted in a prototype video many moons ago. It appears to be the note taking device you’ve always wanted, one that masters web clips and organization. It will probably be a power hog and we’ll be waiting a long time, but it seems to be likely to actually come out.
The WePad is a tablet that runs Android. They seem to be closer to shipping than several others, but no telling for sure.
Time will reveal the shipped devices vs the vapor. Let’s hope that your chosen favorite doesn’t end up on the wrong side of history.
Ars Technica / Engadget have some leaked specs on the HP Slate Tablet coming out. If you haven’t heard much about this device, don’t feel bad. It was announced at CES, by Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, but with no release date given and not more than a trickle of details until now. The device was already at the stage where the form factor was established though, and that was before any kind of iPad announcement. I say this because some critics see the device and scream “iPad copy!” but it’s just not that simple. You could say both devices copied the bezel of Sharp and other LCD TVs too. Black plastic, silver, aluminum, they’ve been done everywhere in many appliances, not just the iPhone ok!. /end rant
So back to the important stuff. The chart pulled from information from an HP internal meeting lists a 5+ hour battery. I’d REALLY like for it to be a true 8 hours and I think a lot of people will feel that way when they are shopping for these. Realistically, I can still use a device with 5 hours quite well. If I’m a full-time student in classes a lot of the day and wanting this to be my main input device, I’d be interested in knowing how I could supplement the power with device case / battery add-on. The iPad is over 10 hours with a 30 hour standby. That’s significant.
I like how it’s the HP Slate has full Windows 7, but I think that will only work for newcomers if this HP Touch UI overlay works REALLY well for basic tasks. Windows Media Center overlays are decent so if they went that direction I think people will like the experience.
This is a real computer. What do I mean by that? I mean it’s customizable to a certain degree. It will work without any kind of tether to an app store. If you have utility apps you like on your home PC, or things you program yourself you can use those with this device. It’s got a camera, USB port, HDMI out, nice storage specs at 32 and 64, plus an SD (High Capacity) card slot. Price is close to lower priced iPad at $550 and $600 with more features, but less battery life. It’s nice to have more information now about it.
HP video from January 2010 just after HP slate was revealed at CES
