You'll recall, wise and knowledgeable as you are, that we weren't exactly
bowled over by
Sharp's keyboard-equipped PC-Z1 portable when we got to play with it at
IFA last year. Coming back for another bite at the cherry, the Japanese company has just announced the NetWalker PC-T1, which does away with the disappointing keyboard but retains the crazy pixel density (1024 x 600 resolution on a 5-inch display) and
Freescale i.MX515 CPU of its predecessor. Also on offer are Bluetooth and 802.11b/g wireless options, Ubuntu 9.04 as the OS, and USB and MicroSD ports for a nice bit of expandability. An Anglo-Japanese dictionary comes pre-installed plus you'll get access to Sharp's e-bookstore, which has over 25,000 titles on offer. Of course, all that good stuff is tempered by a mediocre 6-hour battery life and a ¥47,000 ($510) price tag. Look for this MID archetype to hit stores in Japan next month.
posted April 19th 2010 4:27AM
Yummy
Looks interesting, but a full OS on a 5" screen with this resolution??
@Atkins It's a normal Linux (not crippled buy the manufacturer), so you can get another GUI. I think that the GUI from the Ubuntu Netbook Remix would be perfect, because it is well suited for small screens.
Kudos for Sharp for using a proper Linux. Ubuntu has the great advantage of the huge software repositories (think iTunes, but order of magnitude better). There are applications for almost everything there. Plus, most of applications are open source, so porting them from x86 to ARM is no brainer.
I think that I am going to buy it if they release it in Europe. It will be perfect for giving presentations (open office), net browsing and as an ebook reader. However, it would be better if they would fit Pixel Qi display in it. Hope Pixel Oi will enter the market soon, because I expect a lot from them.
@stoffer Oh, I admire the effort, and the Linux is great, but can we have a little bit bigger screen? It would be nice for sketching.
@Atkins Bigger, Pixel QI screen, Ubuntu Netbook Remix GUI and I am sold.
@Atkins
Resolutions are important for displaying Japanese letters. Kanjis needs lots of dots.
@Atkins One of the best MID devices i've seen. Reactions-- http://j.mp/sharp-netwalker-series
Looks good but not liking the stylus, resistive screen, big chunky bezel and price.
@OCEAN CLAK
Not liking the stylus?
I think Styli are going to be the next big thing in touch screen computing. Precision input! No more hitting the wrong thing with you big fat fingers. Accurate drawing and handwriting.
I don't know why they didn't think of it sooner.
@OCEAN CLAK
Some of us happen to like using the stylus, contrary to jobsian belief
I love Japanese tech. Now I wish Sharp released some of their phones worldwide!
Since when was 6 hours mediocre?
@Extinction I was thinking the same thing. If you really need to compute for longer than that at a stretch you probably need a real computer and AC power.
And even at that, with a single battery swap you can have 12 hours of use. How big of a hassle is swapping a battery ONE time in a 12 hour period ...
The res is good enough for 5" display. And a solid Ubuntu 9.04 but, no cam? ....ouch!
Its a MID life crisis.
@genomecop
Really! I read this, and went "...this is the cause of our English language degradation"
I'm just waiting for the moment Sharp is going to team up with the Android camp... please oh please!!!
They have the best built phones/devices in the world. I was faithful to them for years until I got my Nexus One.
They couldn't wait a month for the LTS?
And on the cool tech in
Center screen on the MID
And Sharp's puttin' it on wax
It's the new style
@Anticrawl
4 and 3 and 2 and 1
And when NetWalkers on the net
You other slates run.
@MrCheeks
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5930/brofist3536544.jpg
Amazing, no-one mention "can it run flash?" So we can start WWIII all over again.
@cdf74dc9 isn't it pretty obvious that it does? there might no flash for Linux for ARM from Adobe, but there is Gnash and you can compile it yourself for any processor architecture. That is the advantage of having the program source code - you are not tied to a single platform.
You lost me at $510.
@Showbiz
Ha ha... but they lost me at "You'll recall, wise and knowledgeable ...". Obviously not meant for me, moving on.
They Blew it
@Edobe
that's what she said.
UMPC all over again
Looks exciting actually and I think it promises much more than iPad.
Could someone put a DIRECTIONAL PAD on the left, and 3-4 BUTTONS on the right?
Is that so hard? Made this, and you get the best homebrew portable game device ever.