Pocketables

KDE Plasma Active Spark tablet shown off in video

 

KDE Plasma Active's $265 Spark tablet is looking to be one of the better tablets out there; it's a little more expensive than the Kindle Fire and a few other tablets, but the Spark has one special differentiating factor: it runs Linux.

By running linux, the Spark is completely open, meaning that owners can hack, customize, and do whatever they want to the tablet. And the tablet comes with some good specs, too: a 1GHz processor, Mali 400 GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage round out the innards. 

The video that was released today shows off how well the tablet performs. It's very reponsive to touch, and the animations look very smooth as well. Hopefully the Spark will ship sometime in May, but there's no guarantee exactly when it will ship. 

When it is released, are you going to pick one up? 

[Aseigo Blog]

SDG Systems's Trimble Yuma is a ruggedized tablet that runs Ubuntu

Android is being used more and more on all kinds of devices, including business tablets and smartphones. However, sometimes you just need to have a full operating system to get something done. While Windows 8 is certainly looking promising for mobile users who need that kind of functionality, SDG Systems has already announced a rugged tablet with a full desktop operating system that is based on Ubuntu.

The tablet, called the Trimble Yuma, is actually a slight redesign of a previous Windows 7 business tablet, but with slightly updated specs. Its hardware matches up nicely with netbooks, as it includes a 7-inch display, 1.6GHz Atom processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 32GB or 80GB SSD. It does have some additional consumer/business oriented features, like GPS, dual cameras, and SDHC and ExpressCard slots.

As far as ruggedized goes, the Yuma looks very good compared to some other "ruggedized" hardware we have seen. It has a magnesium alloy case to protect everything, is water and dust-resistant, meets the United States Military Standard for durability, and has an Ingress Protection rating of 67.

Last year, we heard of Canonical's (Ubuntu's parent company) plans to bring the Ubuntu OS to mobile devices, and while it doesn't appear that SDG Systems is affiliated with Cannonical, they have done just that. Unfortunately, their device has been designed strictly for the business side of things, with a consumer shocking $3695 a device sticker price.

Still, the Trimble Yuma is pretty cool simply for being a practically indestructible tablet with a unique OS, and something that I would own if I could afford it. The KDE Spark tablet may be a better fit for consumers, this might serve as a good baseline example what Ubuntu and Linux can be on a full fledged Micro PC, and get people interested in full featured operating systems on tablets.

[PCWorld]

Want some cheap, cross-platform apps? Check the Humble Bundle

Do you like supporting charities and developers in a way that you can afford? I do. That's why I just gave a healthy amount of money to Humble Bundle. 

If you don't know what this great software bundle is all about, let me explain it to you. Each bundle is made up by very generous developers who actually donate their software to the bundle. Since it's all donated, there is no cost for the software itself. The best part about that is it allows you to pay any amount of money that you want, and then you can split it up between Humble Bundle itself (server costs), the developers, and charities. This year, the charity is the Child’s Play Charity, which focuses on improving the lives of children in hospitals by providing video games, toys, and books to play with and read.

The apps are Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Osmos, and EDGE. If you pay more than the average donated price (which obviously fluctuates based on what is being paid at that moment), you will get World of Goo. You get the files for every OS for every app that you buy, meaning that your MacBook, Windows gaming PC, and Galaxy S II can all play the same game for one low price.

Like I said, it's not just a cheap way to get apps. It also supports a great charity and gives the developers a chance to get better recognized. Click on the source below to get in on this amazing offer.

[Humble Bundle]

KDE Plasma Active unveils $265 Spark tablet

As awesome as Android is, sometimes it's really nice and refreshing to see a device with another open-source platform installed. Today brings us one of those refreshing devices: the Spark tablet. For $265, the Spark will give you a 1GHz processor with a Mali 400 GPU, 512MB of RAM, 4G of internal storage, and a 7-inch capacitive screen.

Of course, the Spark tablet isn't just about its specs. What makes this device stand out from the crowd is its software. Like the title of this posts says, the KDE Plasma Active team is involved with the Spark project, and because of that, the tablet will run Linux with the team's free software distribution platform.

The platform for software distribution is completely community-driven and open. That's more than a few other platforms can say already, and at just $265, I think it's a fantastic deal. It looks unique and also supports open platforms and has a sense of community. I love that in technology, so I am a huge fan of this already. 

[Aseigo Blog]

DMCA exemption on rooting will expire soon, EFF requests action

Although there are many gadget users know what rooting and jailbreaking are, only a few are likely aware of the legal implications of the act. Up until 2010, unlocking your device in any way was technically a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, and could carry stiff penalties if you were convicted. Fortunately, in 2010 an exemption to the law was added that made unlocking the devices that you own completely legal.

However, that exemption is set to expire in the near future, which would mean that rooting would go back to being a crime. Even though I'm sure users don't want to commit crimes, the ability freely to modify the devices you own at your own discretion certainly seems like a right that you should have.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation feels the same way, and has set up a page where users can comment on the situation directly through the Copyright office. In addition to asking that the exemption be renewed, the EFF is also hoping to get things like tablets and game consoles explicitly included in the ruling. 

As I'm sure you all want to keep your right to use the devices you own, I urge you to follow the source link to the EFF's page and do your part to make sure rooting stays as legal as it should be.

[EFF via Good and Evo]

Pandora gaming handheld to ship en masse next month

With so many tablets and phones coming out these days, it's fantastic to get back to Pocketables' roots: handheld computers. Those of you who've been with us for a quite while probably remember the little device you see above: the Pandora open-source handheld gaming console/UMPC. We just learned that the company, despite numerous setbacks for its production and shipments, is going to ship more than a mere 4,000 2,800 devices starting next month. 

Of course, this is after an antagonizing four years of waiting for the company to get its act together and ship the darned thing. The specs are still decent for what the device is, but they're not as spectacular as they were when it was originally announced have been updated since the original Pandora, and the updates are as follows: 512MB of RAM and a new OMAP3 processor. The company even states that PSX can run full speed at just 650MHz, although it's overclockable to 800MHz. That's all that was updated though, and the device still keeps a 4.3-inch (resistive) touchscreen with a resolution of 800 x 480, WiFi, Bluetooth, host USB 2.0 port, and two slots for SDHC cards, which you can actually boot off of (if your OS of choice supports it). It's "created" to run Linux, but you're obviously welcome to toss any operating system you can on it. 

Over 70 investors poured over almost a half a million Euros ($650150) to get this project started up again. Head to the link below to preorder yours as a thank-you to those investors. 

[OpenPandora preorder via UMPCPortal]

Samsung is merging Bada with Tizen, putting two dead OSs together at last

Chances are, you have never heard of Bada, and even if you have there is almost no chance that you know of Tizen. However, Bada actually has more feature phone market share than Windows Phone 7, and Tizen grew out of Intel's once awesome MeeGo OS project. As such, I have just a bit of a soft spot for any news involving Tizen, and Bada is still a pretty big deal.

So, while it is certainly odd, Samsung's recent announcement that they plan to merge their Bada OS with Tizen has given me the slightest hope that Tizen might survive. In this merge, Samsung will be porting some of Bada's features into Tizen, as well as preparing some low-end feature phones that will run the mashup OS.

A slightly less tangible aspect of the partnership is that Samsung will now be supporting the open source development going on around Tizen, which should also serve to give the OS a second chance at popularity and spur new development.

Of course, the new Bada customized Tizen won't become Samsung's main smartphone OS, they have plenty to worry about with Android and Windows Phone 7. Still, I think its really nice to see MeeGo still alive and kicking, and a truly open Linux based alternative OS in the mobile market is something that is always great to have. 

[Pocket-Lint]

Nook Tablet does unofficial Ubuntu, will soon get custom ROMs

Following in the footsteps of the original Nook Color, the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet is already proving to be a popular development platform. First it got root and the full Android Market, and now hardworking developers have gotten Ubuntu to run the device.

While the full Linux OS is in fact running completely on the tablet's hardware, it is not doing so directly or on its own. Instead, it is running within the Nook's proprietary Android OS, as a process in the background. In order to actually use Ubuntu, you have to start the OS and a VNC server from the tablet's terminal, and then open a VNC viewer application on the Nook to use it. So although things like Firefox, application installation, and a full Xorg GUI work, Ubuntu is of little or no practical use thanks to lag.

However, the developers hope that they can use Ubuntu to break the Nook's locked bootloader, thus allowing users to install custom OSs like Cyanogenmod on the device. If their efforts go as planned, soon the Nook Tablet could be running Ice Cream Sandwich just like the Kindle Fire.

[XDA-Developers]

Concept render of Nokia 803 reveals huge camera, little else

Although Nokia is currently switching to Windows Phone 7 for their devices, occasionally the remaining Symbian users get a little bit of love. Today is one of those days, as a concept image of what appears to be the Symbian-powered successor to the Nokia N8 has just leaked.

Along with the image came a manual, which named the device the 803 and confirmed that it will be running Symbian Belle. It also revealed a few features of the smartphone, like a 3.5-inch 800 x 480 display, HDMI, DLNA, and NFC capabilities. However, most of the specifications are still rumors, such as the 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, and display type.

Camera details also remains a mystery, but it seems safe to expect something huge. The N8 packs a 12MP shooter with xenon flash, so if the 803 really is its successor the camera would have to be great. This doesn't necessarily mean more megapixels, but from looking at the size of the camera hump it seems possible that the device will have a large sensor, lense, flash, or even optical zoom. 

According to a source, the device will launch sometime next year, possibly at Mobile World Congress. As far as the camera, Nokia probably has a winner here, but their choice of OS and hardware design are less impressive. It seems odd to me that they continue to release devices with Symbian, while Windows Phone 7 and even MeeGo are better choices. Hopefully soon we'll see some of these awesome cameras on Windows Phone devices, but until then it looks like you will be stuck with Symbian if you want a quality smartphone camera. 

[Digital Trends]

Ubuntu plans to bring desktop Linux to smartphones

Just after news that some manufactures are planning to put the tablet-friendly Windows 8 on smartphones, Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical announced that the company will be bringing their popular Ubuntu Linux distribution to smartphones. This full-on desktop OS could result in some more very cool UMPC-like smartphones that can still capitalize by the light processer and battery load of Linux.

For those who don't know, Ubuntu is a desktop based on the Linux operating system, and the most popular distribution in the world. This also makes it the third most popular desktop OS, behind Windows and OSX. Ubuntu works much like any other desktop OS, with many browser options, office suites, free applications, and interfaces. Ubuntu is based on Linux just like Android is, but the difference is that Android has been customized by Google for mobile use. 

While Android does have an advantage for now in terms of UI, the Ubuntu team has been working to make their offering more effective for mobile devices. Implementation of multitouch support is almost complete, and a new, more touch-friendly interface called Unity has been implemented. Shuttleworth also said that although the OS will maintain a coherent look and feel throughout PC and mobile versions, smartphone and tablet versions would also receive form-factor specific tweaks.