[captnfun]

iTablet

1" thin
SIze of a typical Paper Day Planner (Not 8.5 x 11)
8" Color TFT LCD
(640x480 or 800x600 Resolution)
400Mhz G3
5GB Superslim HD
Airport
Stylus input
Full OS X (no classic compatibility)
128 MB Ram
Firewire, USB, Modem, Network, Headphones, S-Video Out, Microphone

The problem with palm is it needs to do more,and data needs to be easier to enter. This thing could do almost everything, plug in a USB keyboard and actually enter data. Stylus input on the road. Play full screen video, Actuaolly browse the web with a screen big enough to use it. Use regular apps. Plug in your USB game controller and play games on th road. Use speakable items to control your itablet. Use Via voice to dictate to your word processor. Voice recognition is the key to this device.

I only wish there was enough space in this device for a DVD/CD-RW drive then it would also double as one of those portable DVD players, and you could burn your docs for a friend on a moments notice. Maybe they could include a small CD-RW like in the new Sony Digital Cameras??

Tell me the flaws in my plan.

[vmarks]

OS X is a few things-
it's the Aqua GUI
and it's the UNIX compatibility.

Do you need UNIX in your handheld? not really, but it's stable at least.

I've been speculating on all the cool things Palm could do with Be's technology.

My best vision is this:

BeOS/BeIA running on a Palm, with a nice interface, not much different than what Palm currently does.
All that multimedia, and instant-on speed, it's amazing.
Palm application compatibility through a "Classic"-style emulation layer.
good networking stack for wired (in cradle) and wireless operation. Opera or NetPositive would kick serious butt here.

If it's made by apple, slap Aqua colors all around, but don't use window widgets like the close/minimize/maximize buttons. They don't work well on a handheld.
windows of any kind are confusing on a handheld.

[WTWolfe]

Don't hold your breath!!!

[vmarks]

Originally posted by WTWolfe:
<STRONG>Don't hold your breath!!! </STRONG>

No, of course not.

That's only what Palm ought to do to take best advantage of the tech they bought- I know it'll never happen, and more's the shame.

[KellyHogan]

Originally posted by captnfun:
<STRONG>iTablet

1" thin
SIze of a typical Paper Day Planner (Not 8.5 x 11)
8" Color TFT LCD
(640x480 or 800x600 Resolution)
400Mhz G3
5GB Superslim HD
Airport
Stylus input
Full OS X (no classic compatibility)
128 MB Ram
Firewire, USB, Modem, Network, Headphones, S-Video Out, Microphone
Tell me the flaws in my plan.</STRONG>

The flaws are that OSX looks crap at 800x600 or below. S-video out on a tablet would create bulk and a 400Mhz G3 might not be future proof. A PDA has to have a swift accessible interface and OSX is a little to slow to provide that immediate interaction. Is it was based on OSX, it would need a different interface perhaps removing Quartz.

Also, the OS must be in ROM. There's no point in booting a system and running down the batteries. A stylus would also add bulk so a touch screen would be better.

An ethernet socket would also create bulk. The best thing to implement is firewire networking. If you were to rewrite the specs, they should go like this:

A4 size
10" TFT @1024x768 Touch Screen
Firewire, USB, PCMCIA/CARDBUS/Airport
Built in mic and speakers
Headphone socket
2GB slim HD
Cut down version of OSX with mobile applications
G4 400Mhz
128MB ROM for OSX and Applications + 128MB RAM
Little under an inch thin

Think Mac OS X ported to the TabletPC, renamed the MacTablet.

[KellyHogan]

Originally posted by &lt;WL2100&gt;:
<STRONG>Think Mac OS X ported to the TabletPC, renamed the MacTablet. </STRONG>

Sounds like McDonald's food for astronauts. Imagine the stink in space.

[sCreeD]

Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not simply modify what Apple's got?
In short, build an iBook without a keyboard, or to put in another way, lose the hinge and put the display where keyboard is now. Add handwriting recognition, remove the BSD subsystem (who'd use Terminal.app with HWR??) and you've got an iSlate, iTablet, or iWhatHaveYou.

The discussion so far is trying to build-from-scratch like the iPod, but modifying currently engineered products seems easier and cheaper.

Screed ...not an engineer, mind you

True, Fujitsu has the best touch-screen PC tablets. Even their B-books with touch-screen TFT's are pretty cool to use. IBM had some neat ones but didn't make the touch-screen drivers for OS/2.

[Walter J. Ferstl]

Originally posted by sCreeD:
<STRONG>Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not simply modify what Apple's got?
In short, build an iBook without a keyboard, or to put in another way, lose the hinge and put the display where keyboard is now. Add handwriting recognition, remove the BSD subsystem (who'd use Terminal.app with HWR??) and you've got an iSlate, iTablet, or iWhatHaveYou.

...
not an engineer, mind you</STRONG>

"remove the BSD subsystem"? From OS X?

The remainder would hardly qualify as an OS.


Regards,

Walter.

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: Walter J. Ferstl ]