[Arm-netbook] gnu discussion regarding tablet, laptop and phone hardware

[lkcl luke]

bari i cc'd you on the original message, so you'd know what was going
on: please don't reply direct to it, keep replies to arm-netbook so
that if people are interested they can cross over, here, and carry on
the discussion here instead of overwhelming an already very very
extensive discussion.  thanks!


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: lkcl luke <luke.leighton at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 12:20 AM


On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 6:59 PM, Werner Koch <wk at gnupg.org> wrote:

> Okay.
>
> Picking the easiest target: Shall we define the next goal for the GNU
> project to create a usable ebook reader?

 the functionality of a tablet is pretty much the same as that of an
ebook, with the exception that the screen takes vastly less battery
(just to change pixels, not maintain them).  a laptop is something you
can actually... like... type on? y'know?

 tablets kinda get _both_ disadvantages.  right now, demand in china
for tablets is dropping like a stone.  my take on this is that "The
Fad" is now over.  everyone's got one, and they're sick of it.  they
now know that they've been conned: they can't do serious work on it,
and have shoved it on the shelf or given it to the kids, who do
nothing more than watch films, listen to music and surf for porn on
it.


>  Free hardware [1] and
> software, available at an affordable price (~500EUR/~600USD),

 that's.... you can get a hell of a lot done for $600.  the rhombus
tech project we're aiming at the $120 retail price range.  for a 10in
laptop.

 i investigated the cost of converting an existing casework (x86
laptop), 14in or so, into an ARM-based laptop.  i was quoted *only*
$USD 2,000.

 additionally, there is someone on arm-netbooks called bari (allo
bari!  please don't reply to this, let's keep it to arm-netbooks ok
and ask people to discuss there) who would be willing to do a
conversion of the beaglebone "open schematics" to EOMA-PCMCIA format
*if* there are enough people willing to say "yes i'd like an FSF
Hardware-Endorseable CPU Card, even though the CPU maxes out at
720mhz".

(sparse) page is here: http://rhombus-tech.net/am335x/

if there are _really_ people out there who would be willing to pay
$600 for such a device, it would probably only take about 20 such
people, and you'd have the first prototypes probably in about 2
months.

i'd not investigated - much - ebooks, so i'd need to get back to you
on pricing of screens etc.


> pre-loaded
> with the Gutenberg archive and the GNU manuals, and distributed trough
> regular hardware channels.  That will show whether there are enough
> freedom loving people who buy that device and support the goal.
>
> If turns out as a success, a next version can be sold much cheaper.
> With the experience gained in such a project, we could move on to, say,
> a tablet.

 negotiations with factories, we're quite a long way already on the
Rhombus Tech Project, and it has just reached a critical stage where
one factory has committed to working with us.

 can i possibly advocate that anyone wishing to discuss this in depth
review the arm-netbooks archives, join that list, and engage there?
the goals of the Rhombus-Tech project encompass this and other ideas.

 http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/pipermail/arm-netbook/


>
> Shalom-Salam,
>
>   Werner
>
>
> [1] To be realistic, we would need to use an off-the-self UMTS modem
> module.

 these are expensive ($70 in reasonable volumes, $95 or even more in
small volumes), but yes it's a "Good Plan" (tm).  there are a couple
of options:

 1) the best i could find is the Telit UC-864G (and its companion CDMA
alternative).  the company telit have a policy of making documentation
available.  this module was what was used to create the Flow G1 and
G1.5.

 2) a mini PCI-e form-factor device that uses the USB2 PCI-e
extensions (spare pins).  basically, it's a PCI-e form-factor but does
*not* use the actual PCI-e pins, it just uses USB2 on the spare ones.
the lowest-cost device i could find after 3 months of research was the
Huawei EM775, but i think i was superceded or discontinued, so the
other option is the EM770 which is still available.

 3) USB dongle modems.  they're very much lower cost, easy to get hold
of but they... *sigh* you need to be careful which one you pick.
they're quite large; most of them are SIM-locked; the ones that do
"software-based voice" over a USB channel are often locked (disabled!)
on a *per-vendor* basis.  i.e. although the firmware and hardware
*could* do voice over USB, the bloody idiot phone companies ask the
hardware supplier to switch *off* voice capability!  plus, they are
often really really large.  if you tried to make space inside a case
for one of these, it would look stupid, and nobody would buy it.

there may be more options now (at reasonable prices): i haven't
investigated modems for over a year, but i spent about 4-5 months
researching the options.

i _did_ however find that qualcomm the f******g bastards charge
*everyone* about $USD 15 for patent licensing on 3G.  and i mean
*everyone*.  without exception.  the only reason why USB dongle modems
are so cheap is because the vendor eats the cost even of the hardware
including the patent licensing fees and SIM-lock the device, safe in
the knowledge that they're going to get you on the 3G usage monthly
charges.

l.