Another possible e-book device from TechCrunch; mobile Firefox on e-ink
By Paul Biba
Now here’s an intriguing possibility. TechCrunch is designing their own touch-screen web tablet. Here’s what they say:
The idea is to get a new type of device into people’s hands for as cheap as possible (we were aiming for $200, it looks like $299 is more realistic). It fits perfectly on your lap while you are sitting in front of the TV, so you can look up stuff on Wikipedia or IMDB as you channel surf. It plays Flash video flawlessly so you can watch movies and TV shows on Hulu or Joost or wherever. Or listen to music on MySpace Music. Or use TokBox to have a video chat with your parents. Then check email and call it a day. Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Hulu, Wikipedia, Google Docs and Gmail are the killer apps for this device.
Because the device skips the resource-sucking parts of the operating system and focuses on one application - the browser - very low end hardware can be used and still give users a desktop-like Internet browsing experience.
The device is running Ubuntu Linux, so maybe FBReader would work. Read the rest of the article, with lots of details, at the link above. I would be very tempted to buy one. Thanks to reader Michael Harris for the link.
In another piece of tech news, Ars Technica is reporting that Jaya Kumar has gotten mobile Firefox running on an e-ink display. Our Linux gurus might want to take a look at the article. Thanks to reader Tamas Simon for the link.
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