Category: Gadgetry

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Commodity Laptops

Doc Searls reports that Lindows is releasing a $800/933mhz Linux laptop. I wonder if this will bring anyone else’s prices down.

Lindows Launches $799 Linux Laptop

here I am, writing from the floor of the Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego, where Michael Robertson, the founder and CEO of the Summit’s local host company, Lindows, has done the same for a much smaller audience (several hundred vs. several thousand) but potentially a much larger market. At the top of his list of announcements is an item that drew a gasp from the audience: a 2.9 pound, $799 Linux laptop, the Lindows MobilePC.

Here are the stats:

  • 933MHz VIA processor
  • 256MB RAM
  • USB 2.0
  • Firewire
  • Ethernet
  • 12.1″ 1024×768 TFT display
  • PCMCIA slot
  • Compact Flash slot

    Michael Robertson tells me “It has the same mini-ITX form factor that’s in the Lindows Media computer.”

    There’s no WiFi or modem capabilities installed, but you can add a PCMCIA card for both. During the break I heard no complaints and plenty of kudos. (Nobody in the room had used one yet, though, other than Michael Robertson, who used the box to give his whole presentation.)

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Garmin Enters PDA Market

Garmin, maker of the most diverse line of Global Position System (GPS) receivers, has announced a new handheld GPS that also does double-duty as a PDA. The new device, called the iQue, runs Palm OS5 on an ARM processor (probably 175 MHz), making it compatible with most of the existing software for Palms, and ready for new programs with powerful mutimedia features. The iQue has an integrated flip-up antenna that activates the GPS, saving power when it’s down. The included software has point-to-point directions and voice guidance, as well as all the other GPS features you’d expect from a Garmin. The maps are displayed in full color on the hi-res 320×480 screen. With 32 megs of RAM and an SD slot for expansion, there’s plenty of room for apps or maps. Expected retail price is just under $600. Full specs at Garmin.

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Fan Noise

Got a noisy G4? Many Apple G4 owners complain about excessive fan noise, so much so that there’s a website dedicated to discussing and fixing the problem. Its name? Well, G4Noise, of course.

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Gadget o’ the Season

I guess when you’re a gadget geek, it’s inevitable that everybody wants to know what great gear you got for X-mas. The answer is: none. I don’t have to get gadgets for presents. People send me gadgets for free all year long, sucking up to us Street Techies in the hopes that we’ll say nice things about their stuff. But if I HAD asked for a gadget this year, it would’ve been the AeroLatte. My mother-in-law had one at her house and we all fell in love with it.

The AeroLatte couldn’t be cooler (or simpler). It’s nothing more than a battery pack/motor and a tiny circular whisk on a shaft. Stick it in milk (or juice or anything else) and it whips it up to twice the volume in seconds. It’s so cool to put the spinning whisk right below the surface of the liquid, leave it there for a few seconds, and you can literally lift the liquid up. Pour in some strong coffee and you’ve got an awesome latte with no need for steam.

AeroLatte is available in the US from Restoration Hardware for $25 (incl. the stand).

OK, I lied, I did get one gadget. My brother-in-law is a tools salesman. He gave me one of those new-fangled bright LED flashlights. It’s a pen-sized light with a bendable eye-stalk. Perfect for looking into computer cases, behind entertainment centers, etc. Really bright light.

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Nano-review: The IBM Model M “clicky” keyboard

After leaving one job for another, I no longer had a fresh supply of spare keyboards laying around and had to (gasp!) buy my own. Being in a hurry, I purchased eight dollars of plastic at MalWart and quickly discovered that it was driving me crazy. I could feel a slight scraping as each mushy key was depressed. Although a Northgate or a clone was out of my price range, I was able to find one of IBM’s famed “Model M” keyboards on Ebay for $15 shipped.

The Model M weighs about five pounds, and could easily be used to break a car window in an emergency. The best part about it is the mechanical switching in each key, which provides instant, clean feedback, but without undue pressure. The worse part is that it is huge and the barrage of clicks sounds like something stolen from the set of Brazil. Nevertheless, it’s a vast improvement over the disposable keyboard it replaces.

My ideal keyboard would be wireless, have a trackpoint, and have a small footprint. Perhaps one of these?