Android is now being used by different devices including business tablets and smartphones. Sometimes, though, one just need to have a full-fledged OS to get something done. Windows 8 is certainly looking to be a good thing for mobile users with its functionality. SDG Systems announced a rugged tablet with a full desktop operating system: Ubuntu.

The tablet is called Trimble Yuma. It is a slight redesign to the previous Windows 7 business tablet. It has slightly updated specs. The hardware it boasts matches up nicely with netbooks. It is a 7-incher powered with a 1.6GHz Atom processor. It has WiFi, Bluetooth and 32GB or 8GB SSD. It has additional consumer/business oriented features like GPS, dual cameras and SDHC and ExpressCard slots.

As far as ruggedized is concerned, the Yuma looks superior compared to other rugged hardware out there. This tablet has magnesium alloy case to protect it from water and dust. It meets the United States Military Standard for durability and has an Ingress Protection rating of 67.

Last year, it has been reported that Canonical plans to bring the Ubuntu OS to mobile gadgets. It does not appear that SDG Systems is affiliated with Canonical but from the looks of it, it might be actually. Unfortunately, their device has been designed strictly for the business side of things. This baby is priced at $3695.

The Trimble Yuma is indeed a pretty cool device for being almost indestructible with a full-fledged  OS. The KDE Spark tablet is a consumer alternative.

Source: Pocketables

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Canonical is axing off the Kubuntu variation of Ubuntu Linux from its financial aiding. Kubuntu is virtually Ubuntu with a custom version of the KDE desktop environment replacing the Unity user interface.

The move to Unity has been received with controversy. It’s a pretty dramatic change from the traditional interfaces. In the early versions of Ubuntu, the operating system used GNOME as its default desktop manager. Kubuntu was offered as an alternative for the users who prefer the look, feel and apps that come with KDE.

Kubuntu isn’t necessarily going away after Canonical virtually got rid of it. It will be now community supported, like Xubuntu, Lubuntu and Edubuntu, the three other popular variations of Ubuntu.

In other words, it’s just the funding from Canonical that the Kubuntu will lose not its entire life.

You could always build your own version of Kubuntu by installing Ubuntu and then using the package manager to install KDE.

KDE has come a long way in the past years and its developer, Jonathan Riddel, whose work on Kubuntu will no longer be funded by Canonical, mentioned that Kubuntu is no popular enough to justify continued investment.

Kubuntu 12.04 is due to be out in April and will be the last Kubuntu fully funded by Canonical.

Source: Liliputing

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A new cooking assistant in the form of a tablet is coming to the UK in the second half of 2012. The device called the Qooq, has already been well-received in France, will be ready to assist culinarians in British kitchens once an English version of the platform is completed.

Qooq offers a 10.1-inch mineral glass touchscreen with an aspect ratio of 16:9. It runs on a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 dual-core processor. Users can access the Internet through Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity as well as an Ethernet port.

The tablet also comes with 8GB of storage capacity, USB 2.0, and an SD/SDHC card reader. Its special features which make it suitable for kitchen use are its waterproof buttons, splash-proof surface, and non-slip blocks made by Zamac.

Its operating system is Linux, although the software has been created exclusively by Qooq developers. The Qooq software allows users to consult 3,500 pre-loaded recipes from 100 chefs, some of them with videos to facilitate instruction. This number is apart from recipes which may be downloaded from the Internet, which the software also allows.

Users may also use email, access social networking websites, and play music or videos. The Qooq is available in color red, black, and cream.

In France, the Qooq is sold for 349 Euros (£289), but its UK price, which may be different is still unavailable.

via pocket-lint

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The Spark Linux tablet is now available this month for pre-order. The product will ship in May and will have a price tag of $265. In addition, more details have just been released on this device.

The resolution of this tablet was unknown, but now it was revealed that it has a 800 x 480  resolution on a 7 inch display. It also has a 1.3 megapixel front camera for videocalls as well as a 1GHz AMLogic processor with 512 MB RAM and the already classic Mali 400 GPU for its operation. A 4 GB of internal storage is available as well as  a microSD card slot for expanded memory.

Spark tablet is also WiFi capable, so users will be able to enjoy surfing the internet outside their home. Moreover, Spark runs a version of MeeGo Linux, Mer, while the KDE Plasma Active UI layer will be applied on top of Mer.

The Spark tablet is made to be as open as possible so that users can customize their experience however they want. Still, they can install Android on the tablet, if desired. The tablet ships in May, so there’s plenty of time to make plans.

via tabletnews

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Last week, one of the developers of the Spark project introduced the 7-inch tablet that runs an open source Linux-based operating system and an open platform for apps, eBooks, and other digital content. This tablet is basically a rebranded version of the Chinese Zenithink C71 tablet.

The spark tablet runs on 1 GHz AMLogic ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, supported by 512MB of RAM and Mali 400 graphics. The device comes with 4GB of storage and it is expandable via its microSD card slot. It also has a 7-inch capacitive multitouch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution. Other features include a 3MP front-facing camera, USB ports, 5mm audio jack and 802.11b/g WiFi connectivity.

Pre-orders for the Spark tablet will start next week, and the tablet is expected to ship in May. The team will ship the tablet from Europe initially, but orders will be open to anyone anywhere in the globe. The idea is to also find retail partners in the US and other regions. As of now, the tablet will be WiFi-only, but eventually the team hopes to offer 3G and GPS models.

via liliputing

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Aaron J. Seigo has published an idea of a pretty original tablet to be called Aseigo. For only 200 euros, this here is the first tablet that operates with Plasma Active. The device’s name is actually Spark and this slate uses an open Linux stack as well as unlocked hardware, along with open content and app services.

Aseigo runs on 1GHz AMLogic ARM processor and supported by512 MB RAM. The slate comes with 4GB of internal memory, which is expandable via an SD card slot. It also sports a 7-inch multitouch display powered by a  Mali 400 GPU as well as WiFi support.

The content store for this device will offer free books from Project Gutenberg as well as from other educational media. Linux tools will also be provided for free and Aarron J. Seigo mentions the involvement of the entire Plasma Active community in this project.

Orders can now be made online any time soon. However, buyers would have to wait a bit longer before it becomes available.

via tabletnews

Aseigo

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There is a new tablet on the way and it is called Spark. When you first lay your eyes on it, it looks cheap, like Chinese tablets cheap. Spark won’t run Google Android. Instead, it will run an open source Linux-based operating system and on top of it an KDE Plasma Active interface will be running on top of it.

Aaron Seigo, an KDE Plasma Active team member, unveiled the tablet on his website this weekend. The tablet is powered by a 1 GHz AMLogic CPU with Mali 400 graphics and a 7-inch capacitive multitouch display. The tablet also has 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of storage and a microSD card slot.

The Spark is expected to ship soon and has a price tag of €200, or just under $265 US.

It is not the most powerful tablet to hit the market. There are plenty of devices with more memory and storage as well as much faster processors. But Spark’s software is what sets it apart from the competition.

Android is an open source code but Google does not release the code for the new versions of Android. The software is developed behind closed doors and released to the public after the company decides it’s ready. Google does not accept community contributions to the code and the company never released the source for Android 3.0 at all.

KDE Plasma Active is a community-based free software. The development team is working so hard to make this tablet usable as much as possible. There’s going to be a content store that allows users to download apps, free or paid, as well as digital books coming from Project Gutenberg.

The Spark is a must buy for the people who are unto open source and free software enthusiasts at least initially.

The Plasma Active development team is working on a software that is tablet-friendly for a while.

Sources:   Liliputing, Asiego Blogspot

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For cooks with technological know-how, the QOOQ French Digital Cookbook is now available in the market. This handy and useful device is a tablet PC that is ready with recipes. Unlike other devices, however, that are not specialized for kitchen use, this tablet has a water-resistant covering that may be wiped with a cloth by the user if ingredients spill, like water or oil on it. Better yet, to keep it stable on the kitchen counter, it comes with four feet that has rubber and a kick-stand on its back.

On its 10-inch screen with 1024 x 600-pixel display, the user can download recipes and tips for preparing food, a process made possible by the Linux Operating System on which it runs. There is more to the QOOQ French Digital Cookbook, however, than recipes. The user may also use the gadget to run several useful apps such as Facebook, Youtube, and Internet radio. Or, if its extensive database of recipes is not enough, there is also a web browser that can help the user look for more.

It also comes with the standard USB port, a slot for SD cards, an Ethernet port, and headphone jacks so that users enjoy the complete multimedia experience or connect external storage into the gadget. This digital cookbook is currently priced at $399.

via liliputing

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One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is still on the go and in addition to its student-oriented XO notebooks, the organization plans to unleash its own tablet on schools in developing countries.

According to OLPC founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte, XO-3 tablet is ready to ship [after years in the making] and working units will be shown next week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The device features a 1-GHz Marvell Armada PXA618 CPU, and an 8-inch screen with either a Pixel Qi sunlight-readable panel or standard LCD.

The image above is an artist’s concept rendering from the OLPC site, not a photo of the actual XO 3.0, which will be shown for the first time at CES.

“The XO-3 price will be $100 or lower. But this time there are options, so we cannot guarantee the final price,” Negroponte said. Like OLPC’s XO-1 laptop, the XO-3 will be offered as an educational tool for children in developing countries. Negroponte declined to say if it will also be sold at retail.

Besides the XO 3.0, OLPC and Marvell announced that the latest version of its laptop, the XO 1.75, will start shipping in March. There are 75,000 units already headed to schools in Uruguay and Nicaragua. The XO 1.75 will use the same Marvell Armada PXA618  system-on-a-chip processor as the XO 3.0, which will use half the power of the 1-GHz Via C7-M processor on the current-generation XO 1.5 notebook.

Like the tablet, the XO 1.75 will run Linux with Sugar educational software. The notebook will be priced at $175, but it’s unclear whether OLPC will offer the systems to consumers as it did when it released the first-generation XO notebook in 2009.

According to said Ed McNierney, chief technology officer at OLPC:

The tablet provides about eight to 10 hours of battery life, though some audiences may choose a smaller battery capacity to reduce the purchase price.

The internal batteries can be charged by “just about anything that produces DC power,” he said. The charging options include solar panels or hand cranks, and a study is under way to see if the battery can be detached and the tablet powered directly through a solar cell.

“Our ability to accept erratic, variable, noisy power inputs is extremely important to us, and something no other tablet has even attempted,” McNierney said.

The tablet is also available with a traditional LCD screen. But the optional Pixel Qi display absorbs ambient light to brighten the screen, reducing power consumption and extending battery life.

McNierney further said,

Eight inches is the right size for the display because a 9.7-inch display is too big for children to handle, and 7 inches “seems too small to be usable.”

Microsoft’s Windows will not run on the device, only Linux-based OSes, Negroponte said. The nonprofit organization has abandoned its pursuit of Windows for tablets, even though Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 will work on ARM processors. Negroponte has said the tablet on display at CES will run Google’s Android OS.

OLPC is not dependent on a specific manufacturer for the tablet and will work with “whomsoever wants to roll-out the tablet, for whatsoever purpose, at a very large scale,” Negroponte said, adding the objective is to see prices plummet.

Aside from the objective of helping students learn in school, the XO 3.0 will also be used in a study to find out how students can learn from slates. A test group of children in Tanzania, India, and Sierra Leone will have software on their tablets that will record audio and video that researchers can use to study the kids’ interactions with the goal of improving self-directed learning, Negroponte told PC World. The study will be run out of the MIT Media Lab and be conducted in partnership with Tufts University, Newcastle University, and OLPC.

Sources:   Laptopmag, PC World, Netbooknews

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A new Intel Core i-based laptop is available in the market, with Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows. The 14-incher comes with Ubuntu 11.10 “Oneiric Ocelot” 64-bit installed. The laptop also includes a bevy of free applications and an office suite. The notebook can be configured from i3-2330 to i7-2630QM. Customers can also choose 2-8 RAM, and up to 500GB hard drive or 512 GB SSD. There is no information yet about the optical drive. Sadly, only Intel’s HD integrated graphics processor is your only choice in the graphics solution.

The laptop is heavy at 4.85 lbs and has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels and the battery life is rated at five hours. CTL’s MB40U includes a 1.3MP camera, HDMI and VGA ports, three USB connectors, a media card reader, eSATA and optional Bluetooth. The price of this machine is at $449 but can burst into the $1,600 territory with max configurations.

Source: Laptoping

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