COMPUTEX 2009
By LuYu
I just got back from COMPUTEX 2009, and I managed to dig a few nuggets out of the slag. ASUS refused to show me the Android laptop. This is unsurprising but still disappointing. After seeing all of those annoying “It’s always better with Windows” messages everywhere — yes, the reports are true — it would have been nice to have seen ASUS thank the Linux community a little for all Linux gave them.
Before someone tries to challenge this point, it would be well to remember the OLPC project created the netbook/UMPC market by forcing vendors to compete with a new product, that the original EeePC would not have been possible without Linux, and that ASUS’s (and many other companies’) growth over the last year or two has been almost entirely due to netbook sales. Without Linux, this simply would not have happened, and current desktop sales would count for the whole computer industry.
So, that was disappointing. It was also disappointing to see the absence of any Ubuntu fliers this year. Last year, vendors like Gigabyte were distributing fliers advertising Ubuntu’s advantages over MS. This year, though, they were nowhere to be seen. It looks as though They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have been as effective as the Chinese government at stamping out undesirable information.
The final complaint applies to last year as well: There appears to be very little innovation going on. Open markets and improvements on current designs seem to be flooding the world, the possibilities are endless, and the hardware vendors seem to be hawking devices from a decade ago. I still did not see a single e-reader.
The Nuggets
I did, however, find a few cool devices. The first is a 7″ screen netbook offered by Casing Macron Technology Co. (none of these computers seem to be on their website). It has a MIPS processor (they also have ones with ARM processors), and goes for approximately US$150 to $175. This is not bad for web surfing or e-book reading. It runs Linux of course (or WinCE — XP et al do not run on non-i386 processors). It comes with ABIWord and a couple of other apps. It looks like a nice piece of hardware for the budget conscious or a small child’s first computer.
Casing NPC-401W
The next one is from ASUS. Yes, they are traitors. However, regardless of their wicked conduct at the inducement of They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, ASUS produced a touchscreen netbook about the size of the Eee901 which has a swivel hinge like the XO. It is nice to see more of these, even though the Classmate had it months ago, and the XO has had it for years. It is also nice to see a small Eee again. The newer 10+” screens really destroyed the whole point of the Eee, which is portability.
Normal Swivel
Swivel Screen Rotated
Tablet Mode
On the other hand, the hinge was very flimsy and gave the over all impression of being easily broken. It did not lock into place in any position and was very wobbly when touched. Given that this screen was designed to be touched, this is a bad sign. No one needs the screen bouncing around when they are trying to use it to operate the computer. The hinge on the XO was much more substantial.
The final one is probably the coolest thing I saw at this year’s COMPUTEX: the Nüvifone G60. Unfortunately, it is ASUS, too. I was not able to find a model to play with, but this might just be the Linux phone I have been looking for. It has a large screen, runs Linux, and appears to have all the power and other goodies like WiFi and GPS (Garmin, no less).
Nüvifone
The specs given are as follows:
- Quad-band 2G and Tri-band 3G
- OS: Linux
- CPU: 400MHz TI OMAP 2430
- Display: 480×272
- WiFi and Bluetooth
- MicroSD (SDHC) slot
- Camera: 3Mpx
The screen looked very pretty and bright in the case. I could not play with the OS, so I cannot say whether it is intuitive or not. If e-books can be read on this, it should be a very solid reading platform. It is the perfect size for a phone, but does not lock one into an Apple product and service jail.
Evidently, it was announced back in February, but somehow I missed that one, and it appears Teleread did, too. It should be out soon, so this is one to watch.
Leave a Reply