Litl Easel Webbook gets the extensive hands-on treatment (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Nov 9th 2009 2:19PM
posted Nov 9th 2009 2:19PM
Wait a minute -- you say you've been longing to get your hands on an overpriced netbook that you can use upside-down? Well, kids, the time is drawing nigh. Mere days after the Litl Easel Webbook went official we've become privy to a lengthy video of the bad boy in action. Indeed, things are as you expected: a 1.6GHz Atom-based machine running a proprietary web-optimized OS, this guy has been specially designed, in the words of the company's CEO, to do away with "the computery stuff." To that end, users will see no icons or folders in the desktop. Such tried-and-true stalwarts of computer interface design have been eschewed for "web cards." Indeed, you won't be able to overlap or resize windows at all, at all: unless you're in easel mode, in which case you scroll through cards one at a time with a wheel. But there's more! Users may "liberate the photo" in a manner not unlike a digiframe the fraction of the cost, thanks to the device's integration with several photo-sharing services (including Shutterfly and Flickr). Still curious? I bet you are. Hit up the video after the break and prepare to have all of your dreams fulfilled (well, maybe not).
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Who funded this company? LOL I'll make sure to stay away from them.
There are so many things wrong with this product it's hard to know where to start. I'm all for creativity and entrepreneurism, and I hope the originator have the correct mindset when his baby inevitably gets flushed into the proverbial toilet by the public at large. Making computers simpler is an ongoing holy grail, and you, sir, should view this as a 0.10 edition, i.e. something to be improved upon. Hopefully, you didn't hock the house on this.
As one (of many hundred) tips I can give: Decide who is your target market, and how your product will be used. If you want it to be used for watching web videos, then at least have the hardware be capable of it. This thing presently can't even run YouTube in low-res. What happens when people wants to run Hulu? And you call this a "premium" product?
And really, please either hire a competent PR person who doesn't umm and uhhh her way through your sales pitch presentation. Or at least, visit your neighbor Toastmaster club and get a pointer or two about public speaking.
Good luck.
I see a distinct lack of user control over a product bought by the user for use in their home. F* that.
On a side note, have these people ever heard of "tabs"?
I'm surprised that this isn't an Apple product. It costs way too much for the hardware it provides and it is less open and customizable then most computers. Seriously Engadget, are you sure it's not called the iEasel?
I must be dyslexic, because every time I look at this, the "W" moves around and I see "Little Weasel". Oddly enough though, when I notice it isn't really a "Little Weasel" webbook, my desire for the product actually drops.
Why is this even a post on here. This is such a lame product. Where is the multitouch capacitive touchscreen. No bells and whistles != Engadget material. Plus it's not an Apple product! :p
looks like those olpc awhile back made for third world country children.
Looks like a kids laptop to me boring design and its 600 dolloars lol.
Actually looks like a pretty neat interface to me for a web oriented appliance. For specialized devices I love interfaces that bring you right to the tasks you might want to do, as opposed to general purpose interfaces suited for general purpose computers. A good example of this is XBMC media center, or maybe WebOS.
It's a shame it's very, very overpriced. Touch would have really helped too.
There's more going on here than just a new version of tabs. The UI we use today deal were designed a long time ago to deal with hardware. It's the definition of an operating system: the human interface to hardware. Litl believes that people don't want to deal with their hardware as much as their content. Hence we've built a UI that is exceptionally efficient at web content. Furthermore, today there is a need for a continual experience between types of connected devices. The litl is the first UI to deliver a consistent experience between user modes that are radically different, like TV and a laptop.
This also explains why we didn't go with the touchscreen. Our easel interaction calls for passive, broadcast interaction. So content in easel mode does not have anything to touch. We also use it when connected to a TV in HDMI too. Since arms aren't 20 ft long we figured a simple remote would be better than touch.
If the user needs extensive input/output, then flip to laptop mode.
Litl OS is not just a "launcher" of web apps. There is a lot going on to achieve content ubiquity with a continuous experience among all connected devices.
I think you're missing the point that people have been trying to make.
By taking more control away, you're taking more control away and limiting the usefulness of the device. Profound, eh? :D
It's not that you have good functionality within the bounds you've created, but you're overpriced for those bounds; you're trying to redefine the laptop which has all the things that people (including my mom and my grandmother, and she's OLD) know and are used to. You're trying to say that the paradigm of "point, touch, move" is outdated - but you're moving BACK in time, not forward.
Instead, what was that UI thought exercise of a few weeks ago - THAT looked forward, gave more control (or at least as much control, just in a different fashion) and tried to adapt control systems to human factors. I just don't see that forward looking processes with Litl.
The assumption that people are passive and want passive is an old one, and one that is no longer valid. People see touch screens and are embracing it. 3D? Nah. Touch? Yes - it's visceral; it's something a 3 year old can understand (maybe not use. . .someone please clean the apple-sauce off the screen...); and it's active.
I just think you took a wrong turn on the human-factors UI paradigm road.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Not all Internet content is intended for use in a browser, no matter how you make that browser look and feel. The fact that you have multiple pages open at the same time shows just how much some people do multitask. I often minimize my browser window to use other software. Sometimes I'm only researching and sometimes I'm just waiting for a page or video to load. At this point in time, I'm fairly certain I can get a small 8-10" laptop, with touch screen, for less than you will ultimately price the Easel.
i agree with you. this device is really cool and i think its way ahead of its time. people are just scared because it different. i like it and i probable will buy one. my question is this. Why didnt you guys use Nvidia Tegra? it would have been around the same price but ten times better. it would have made it cheaper actually. so please let me know why you guys didnt use tegra.
I think this has a similiar kind of audience as Peek and while it isn't for me, I can certainly see relatives that could use one.
I want to take a second to respond to @mmalsed. I don't see where litl is being positioned as a solely passive device. Yes there is a passive aspect but there is an interactive aspect as well. And there is a massive audience out there that the passive option works great and fits their needs.
The way I see the easel being positioned is this: there are thousands, if not millions of people that simply don't want to deal with the day-to-day updating and maintenance aspect of todays computers. They don't want to have to deal with new versions of things like browsers and text editors and virus software. They surf the web, look at (and collect) photos and plays online games. My mother and wife are perfect examples of this. I get emails, phone calls and literal shout outs ("Can you come look at this!") about do I want to upgrade to version n.n of program Z, or "how you heard about virus x? do I need to upgrade or update anything?". The litl device address those issues, along with backups among other things.
I really do like the idea, but this should really be an OS rather than an OS + hardware at 600. More like a net book with the OS for 350.
No picture frame I know of:
1. Automatically aggregates content from online photo service providers like shutterfly and flickr.
2. Automatically syncs photo albums or sets keeping content fresh on the screen
3. Has an awesome 178 degree viewing angle and a mega bright screen
4. If using a photo service that also stores movies, automatically integrates and plays movies in a photo slide show
5. Plug and play hook-up to HDMI for larger than life viewing. Awesome slide shows on a projector!
No picture frame needs to:
1. Automatically aggregates content from online photo service providers like shutterfly and flickr.
2. Automatically syncs photo albums or sets keeping content fresh on the screen
3. Has an awesome 178 degree viewing angle and a mega bright screen
4. If using a photo service that also stores movies, automatically integrates and plays movies in a photo slide show
5. Plug and play hook-up to HDMI for larger than life viewing. Awesome slide shows on a projector!
It's not very useful really to compare the litl interface with conventional OSs, WinXP etc. We're not trying to replace those. We have different aims.
Our device takes the label "webbook" literally. We're building a platform that is entirely geared to web services and not at all geared for conventional local applications like those you run on your office laptop. Keep your office laptop for those. We want to simplify useful services out there and integrate the experience into the interface. Because we update the software while you sleep, our experience will continually get better. No "service packs". No antivirus sw needed.
This is a device you use around the home (eg) to share photos, to watch streaming media. For your grandparents. For the kids to play Flash games on.
We have a whole slew of litl-adapted services and apps coming down the pipeline in our litl channels. Stay tuned.
Isnt that what ChromeOS is going to be?
Or any other browser is?
Don't get me wrong... I love the concept and would love to give this to my mother. The price point is wrong here..
You can find 50 other notebooks/netbooks under 500 bucks.. that have more power than this.
What about Flash? Is flash even an option? Whats the BASE OS here? Linux?
I posted a reply but it seems to have vanished - apologies if it turns up.
Glad you love the concept!
Unlike ChromeOS, litl controls both hardware and software and so we can build a total experience.
On pricepoint: you get what you pay for. This is a premium product. The great LCD, high quality keyboard and sturdy casing all cost money. This is no flimsy el cheapo netbook.
The device ships with Flash. The underlying OS is derived from Ubuntu UME. See http://cscott.net/ for more tech details.
On power: the litl webbook is not going to be used for processor intensive tasks like re-encoding video or something. So CPU power is the wrong metric.
Lenovo produces fairly inexpensive laptops with industrial cases.
Do you intend to sell this in the UK? Since my iBook G4 was burgled a couple of years back, I've been wanting a well-styled, simple web-book, but with the cost of MacBooks and the fact I only really need it for wireless browsing around the house, I've not bothered to get a Windows-based model. This however looks very cool to my eyes and I like the fact that it's designed for web-browsing first and foremost, so no superfluous add-ons that I can use my iMac for.
I'm going to keep my eye on this, as I think it could suit me perfectly.
I don't know, i'm not really convinced by this, it's like a regular netbook, but with 80% of the functionality gone and at double the price.
I can see how this is a great device for passive consumption of media like websites, news feeds, online photo albums and such. (by the way: does the litl also do podcasts and online radio streams?)
What I really missed in this video was for example: How can I use it to upload my photos to my flickr account ? How do I write an e-mail ? How do I receive e-mail? Can I open and edit attachments like MS word files, or PDFs? Does it feature any kind of text processor at all?
Hi!
Glad you like the concept!
The litl is great with streaming online media - online radio like pandora and online music libraries like Songza provide a fun auditory experience that goes really well with everything you can do with photos on the litl.
The litl also supports browser-based email applications and chat, google docs, etc. It has a great PDF viewer, and you can open attachments in online document editors like google docs (plus that way, they're saved in a place you can access from other computers too).
We'll have some more videos up on the site soon that will help explain how the litl handles the tasks you are asking about.
All the best!
Annie
lame and gay. Net books are lame and gay. I understand that a lot of the stuff that we do has something to do with the internet, but to make a product that only does things on the internet and is a piece of crap to begin with is near pointless.
$600 for a "webbook" that can't play smooth youtube through HDMI.
HI Mmalsed
"you're trying to redefine the laptop which has all the things that people (including my mom and my grandmother, and she's OLD) know and are used to"
There are plenty of people out there (not just older ones) who are flummoxed by the complexity of contemporary computer interfaces. These all have their roots in the pre-web early 1990s. Engadget readers tend to be geeks and thus probably can't remember a time when they felt this way. Look how much information (for eg) Windows bombards you with. Interminable reminders about this and that: "Your antivirus is our of date". Look at the complexity of the all the settings, the shear size of program menus. If you're 83 and all you want to do is see your great grand kids photos, do you really need all this stuff? We think not. What you need is a simple web interface that optimized your high quality screen area and makes sharing your photos trivial. What you need is to never have to bother with antivrus updates or software updates of any kind.
You just need it taken care of, you don't even want to know about it. Enter litl!
Windows. Mac. Gnome are all good for what they are intended to do: provide control and an environment in which to run complicated local applications. Increasingly, as the web becomes the computing platform of the world, you don't need to run or control local applications. And if you do, you already have your regular laptop to do that on.
In a world where internet TV is growing exponentially, you want your netbook and your tv to be the same thing and provide a decent viewing experience. Through our Easel mode and hi quality screen we're doing just that.
Actually, litl gives choice in the market.
Right now, there are a lot of operating systems that let you do everything nine different ways. Those who crave customization are all set.
However, there is a very large group of people out there who don't care about every option and preference. These people say "Choose for me, don't make me decide." These people are not "old" or "ignorant" or "illiterate." They choose to have other interests than computers. They probably already have a PC. But they need a machine for everyday utility. A machine to do what people spend 90% of their time doing - email, web browsing, and photos/videos.
Litl represents a different option for people. Simplicity, ease of use, OS out of the way, yet full access to application controls.
And frankly, though our initial target market won't notice (nor do we want them to be bothered by this stuff), litl is among the most modern OSs out there. Our server-side OS services give us some nice advantages that you can't get from a local processor based OS (sharing, syncing, backups.) Also, because we designed our UI for a spectrum of connected devices (not a particular device) we can deliver content ubiquity within the same experience.
looks like those girls are saying I'M NOT LOLI