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Handhelds Software Hardware Linux

AMD Moves Closer To Linux PDA 123

Posted by simoniker from the portable-penguin-power dept.
Ryan writes "Mobilemag is reporting that AMD has advanced the prototype design of their current Linux-based PDA handheld, adding full-screen video capabilities, and completing work on the device's battery charger. The device is based on AMD's 400MHz Alchemy 1100 processor." However, "AMD has yet to find a hardware maker that has committed to bringing the Alchemy-based reference design to market as a commercial product."
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AMD Moves Closer To Linux PDA More

AMD Moves Closer To Linux PDA

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  • phear. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:16PM (#7088054)

    Acronym Overload:
    AMD to announce ETA for OEMs on GNU/Linux 400 MHz PDA RSN.

  • Article text (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    AMD Inc. has begun showing an updated reference design for a PDA running the Linux operating system to hardware makers, according to a company executive.

    The announcement brings the reference design one step closer to availability as a commercial product.

    Based on AMD's 400MHz Alchemy 1100 processor, an early prototype of the PDA reference design was demonstrated in August by the company at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

    Since then, AMD has advanced the prototype's design with the ad
    • "It's certainly at the point where we can go hand to this to an OEM," Pompa said, adding that AMD is currently working on improvements to the design's power management capabilities

      "however, by the time he gets it back to the office, the batteries are dead."

  • Those seem cool... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Doesn't_Comment_Code ( 692510 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:16PM (#7088061)

    as long as I can use a command line instead of that pen thing.
    • The Zaurus allows you to do that. I use the command line more than the gui on my SL-5500.
    • The damage Palm did to the general publics' perception of the usefulness of the pen interface is truly sad.

      I know the Apple Message Pad (A.K.A Newton) was overpriced and that Apple was not responsive to user demands. However, they clearly showed that the pen interface could be more than just effective. The Newton OS showed that the pen interface could be clearly superior in many cases. Now, nobody in their right mind would even consider taking notes to a lecture on a pen based device or mini keyboard de
  • Portable Handwarmers, yay! Now I don't need to buy any more mittens.
    • Yeah, but these will be a lot clumsier when they're pinned to your sleeves!

    • Re: I love you, AMD (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I honestly don't understand why this is rated "funny". Not only is this joke old, but AMD chips have been *less* power hungry than the competition (i.e. Intel) for a long time. Even more so with the next generation (AMD64 vs. P4EE/Prescott).

  • Reminds me of IBM's PPC motherboards (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    By the time anything like them hit the market, they were nearly obsolete.

  • AMD? Overclock! (Score:4, Funny)

    by eaglebtc ( 303754 ) * on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:18PM (#7088083)
    Remember to bridge the L1 and L2 gaps. Then you'll need to slap on a Zalman copper heatsink or a Vantec aeroflow on the back of the PDA. How's that for overclocking? Now you can put in your contacts and record voice memos even faster!

    And it's Linux...so why not run a server?

  • Yay for AMD (Score:5, Funny)

    by obsidianpreacher ( 316585 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:21PM (#7088114)
    Well, that's great and all, but can it run ...

    Oh ... it can.
  • Are they also working on Palm/Windows prototypes?

    I would love more Linux based palm-type devices, but what is so special about OpenPDA? Why is AMD only messing with Linux? If they are really looking for customers for their new palm-proc, shouldnt they be shopping it as OS independant?
    • I think the main reason is that alchemy is MIPS based, while vast majority of pockepc's are ARM-based, palms are moving from m68k to ARM, symbian hasn't even seen on a non-ARM platform. So while theoretically you could run pockepc on a alchemy board, you still won't run all the nice ipaq apps on it.

      On the other hand, recompiling Linux apps for alchemy/MIPS is very trivial.
      • Funny that once upon a time, most PocketPC/Windows CE devices were MIPS based, and a few were SH3/SH4 (Hitachi) based. So much so that MIPS was virtually synonymous with Windows CE device. Now that there are several ARM and StrongARM flavors out there, that seems to be the CPU architecture of choice; even Palm has seen the light, and uses the ARM architecture (although only the ultra-high-end Palm devices get the StrongARM -- the rest get the TI OMAP chip, which has a little less horsepower but has a buil

  • Portable XviD player? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Sheepdot ( 211478 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:23PM (#7088143) Journal
    AMD sees the ability to play full-screen video as a key feature of the PDA reference design, Pompa said, demonstrating the design's ability to play full-screen video on a 320-pixel by 240-pixel screen with no screen artifacts and without the assistance of a graphics processor.

    Am I reading this properly? Can this thing play highly compressed AVI files or is this some sort of video compression specifically for a PDA?

    What about XviD?

  • Jeopardy (Score:5, Funny)

    by happyfrogcow ( 708359 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:23PM (#7088146)
    I'll take "PDAs You'll Never See Again" for $500, Alex...

    oh wait, that was last article

  • Looks great (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ianoo ( 711633 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:25PM (#7088166) Journal
    Sure, YALPDA, but it looks as though it's as capable as any of the others out there. I see it runs Qtopia too... sensible choice considering the large number of people developing for it (and its various forks, in case Trolltech ever trys to call in fees on the technology, but I doubt they'd be stupid enough to do this!).

    This appears to be becoming almost a "de facto" standard for PDA development. The useful thing though, when compared to PPC or POS is that it doesn't really matter what hardware it's running on, so unlike Microsoft or PalmSource, companies won't have their exact hardware specifications dictated in advance.

    Hopefully this should lead to some real innovation (and looks like it already is) rather than heaps and heaps of PDAs that look and work exactly the same just because they run the same operating system, even right down to the number of hardware buttons they happen to have. I've always considered this a little silly.
  • I think its great that someone out there is taking another look at the PDA world... If we start thinking that Windows for PDAs is the only thing out there, then we are only exploring a small portion of this universe.

    Also, there are literally millions of programs I would want to put on my linux based PDA... just think... a mobile version of the GNU C Compilier. That would make my lifetime.

    I'm just waiting for the day my friend's windows based PDA gets a blue screen of death. "Where's the CTRL + ALT + DEL!!
  • Seriosly folks, how many Linux PDA's do we need. I mean we hear stories about them ALL the time and then they vanish. The problem is that they go away and the people who got them are now stuck with a PDA with no future upgrades. Maybe AMD can support such a device but I doubt it will be profitable. How many people here actually would buy this thing when it came out? I would not because I dont need one and the last PDA I bought I never used because it was bulky and hated carrying it around, I dont carry anyt

    • Re:Another Linux PDA. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Dielectric ( 266217 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:31PM (#7088231)
      The sneaky thing is that it will run WinCE as well. That just doesn't get mentioned because this is Slashdot after all.

      AMD wants to make chips, not finished consumer hardware. This is a reference design for an ODM or OEM to pick up and run away with. It's basically a "Here you go, market this and build it yourself, then buy the processor and the flash memory from us. Love ya, AMD."

      So, basically, if someone in Korea took the hardware design and optimized it for a small form factor, you'd get what you want. Don't be looking to AMD for it, though.
      • >
        sneaky thing is that it will run WinCE as well

        Yes... sad. Remember the Itsy? Digital had this cool GNU/Linux prototype in their labs for years, when Compaq bought them it was launched running MS WCE, named iPaq...

    • Re:Another Linux PDA. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:36PM (#7088289) Homepage Journal
      The point of a linux PDA is that you are never stuck with no upgrades. It's running linux! You have the source! You can personally update it. Meanwhile an assortment of tiny linux distributions are being quietly pieced together to unify all of these PDAs.
    • Seriosly

      There. I've stopped reading your illiterate garbage.

      • How can I write something illeterate garbage if you stop after the 1st word. So I misspelled it, I am not a spelling teacher. I was hoping that you would be a little smarter and figure it out.

        Arathres

    • Seriosly folks, how many Linux PDA's do we need.

      Enough that someone finally makes the one that I want. I haven't seen it yet, but there have been a few that come close.

      The problem is that they go away and the people who got them are now stuck with a PDA with no future upgrades.

      That problem applies to all hardware. Are you suggesting there is no longer a market for personal computers, either? ;-)

      the last PDA I bought I never used because it was bulky and hated carrying it around, I dont carry anyth

    • The AMD reference design may not make it in the long term but it is still significant news. It's quite possible that a few years from now, the only surviving PDA designs will be generic, Linux-powered platforms made by all sorts of no-name factories in China, India, etc. If the software is free, the hardware is more likely to standardize and become a commodity, much as the PC did. I hope this happens and we'll see $25 PDAs that do just about everything the average person needs. Too bad for Palm and MS;
  • When using your AMD based PDA at the campgrounds, always practice safety. Surround your PDA with rocks to keep the fire from spreading. Be sure when you're done with your PDA to put it out with a bucket of water and make sure it has stopped smoking before you leave the area.

    Remember what Smokey the Bear says. Only you can prevent your AMD based PDA from starting a forest fire.


  • It's running the same Qtopia, the same Java, and the same Opera, it looks like a Zaurus, but with full screen video capabilities, and AMD inside. Is there something I'm missing? Oh, other than the Zaurus having the built in keyboard?
  • Alchemy-based? Does that mean some medieval folk at AMD put some copper and lead powder together in a conical flask and boil it in an attempt to make Gold and they ended up with a reference design? On a seperate note; the AMD device [mobilemag.com] reminds me of Dell's recent Digital Music Jukebox [gizmodo.com]. The oblong buttons along the bottom and the white rounded rim certainly have a similar appeal, although both lacking the style of their rivals (the iPaq and iPod respectively).
  • and complete EVERYTHING to make it work and find a Taiwanese manufacturer to make it, then sell it on its own website. They'll called it the AMD Store, start the AlchemyTunes online music store (MP3 downloads WITHOUT DRM), and make it a competitor to the iPod. Also, it could come with AlchemyMovie, a built-in camera for making and storing videos, like amature rockets (http://www.gbrocketry.com/). It should come with a wireless internet connection, for hosting a wireless website (damn near impossible to t
  • ... Let's see, it's handheld, has an AMD processor, and will probably fly of shelves. What should they call it? Hmm.. how about... FIREBIRD!
  • Include a sensor for detecting pda movement in 3 dimensions. It would make a simple and yet very innovative input device.

    They sell sensors:

    http://www.ballsemi.com

  • Reads Like Dot-Com Vaporware :) (Score:3, Insightful)

    by johnthorensen ( 539527 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @04:49PM (#7088408)
    I've taken the liberty of performing a little editing (i.e. replacing "AMD" with a fictional dot-com "Handtasia"...how much does this sound like something we've heard oh so many times before...

    Handtasia has begun showing an updated reference design for a PDA running the Linux operating system to hardware makers, according to a company executive.

    The announcement brings the reference design one step closer to availability as a commercial product.

    Based on Handtasia's 400GHz FoolsGold 11000 processor, an early prototype of the PDA reference design was demonstrated in August by the company at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, alongside offerings from 1,376 other Linux handheld vendors.

    Since then, Handtasia has advanced the prototype's design with the addition of full-screen video capabilities and has completed work on the device's battery charger, said Phil Poma, vice president of marketing for Handtasia's Personal Connectivity Solutions Magic Integration Synergetic group, in an interview on the floor of the local CompUSA here last week.

    "Sears really helped us out on the battery charger issue. Looks like Diehard doesn't just know batteries - they make a quality 12 volt charging product. We're also pleased at a recent discovery that removing the back cover and laying the LCD on an overhead projector gave a nice full-screen picture. My son Billy thought he would be fired for dropping the prototype and breaking that cover off but we just approved a nice stock-option package for his brilliant idea. Between Sears and Billy, it's certainly at the point where we can go hand to this to an OEM," Poma said, adding that Handtasia is currently working on improvements to the design's power management capabilities such as a bundled 2 KW Honda gasoline generator that will allow you to use the product virtually anywhere.

    The FG11000-based PDA runs Vaporwerks Corp.'s Linux-based OpenPEEDA software suite, which includes an embedded Linux kernel and a range of software, such as applications for playing music and video files. OpenPEEDA also includes Trollbridge AS's UtopiaMUD multilingual user dungeon, Diva Software ASA's Diva Web browser, and full support for XML, Enterprise Resource Management, Wi-FI, .Net, P2P, B2B, P2B, B2P, SOAP, DDC, Java, J2ME, plus many other buzzwords.

    Handtasia sees the ability to play full-screen video as a key feature of the PDA reference design, Poma said, demonstrating the design's ability to play Jenna Jameson's latest DVD, converted to MPEG1 on a 320-pixel by 240-pixel screen with no screen artifacts and without the assistance of a graphics processor.

    "If you're really going to use this as a multimedia device, you have got to have the ability to play porn and still be able to see the pink parts. We're talking major hard...ware," Poma said.

    Video capabilities aside, Handtasia has yet to find a hardware maker that has committed to bringing the FoolsGold-based reference design to market as a commercial product. But Poma said hardware makers have already shown interest in the reference design.

    "We're showing it to our customer base, and have gotten good responses from Joe that works down the street at Frank's Liquor. We're a little worried about his production capacity, but I think that's something that can be worked out with a little more venture capital," Poma said, adding that one "hardware maker" had been given a prototype to show to a customer at the gas station next to CompUSA last week.

    • Er heh (Score:2)

      by oGMo ( 379 )
      I've taken the liberty of performing a little editing (i.e. replacing "AMD" with a fictional dot-com "Handtasia"...how much does this sound like something we've heard oh so many times before...

      So you argue that this is dot-com vaporware, because by replacing key terms with a fictional and cheap-sounding words, it looks like dot-com vaporware? ;-) You realize this is like the textbook definition of a Straw Man argument right?

  • 400 Mhz processor, 320x240 screen... I wonder how long this thing will run without a recharge.
  • If they could show the same usefulness as the graphing calculators then i would consider buying one. The price would need to be less than $150 .
  • Personally, I see nothing I like on this reference PDA from AMD. The case is so ugly you'd think someone at Dell *designed* it. It runs Linux. Great. How much money did AMD waste on this when Intel and TI have a lock on this market? IBM has already shown a reference PDA for Linux based upon PPC architecture and we still haven't seen one PDA from an actual manufacturer come across the assembly line based upon it. Granted, the PPC chipset is probably the best idea for a PDA and its too bad the genuises
    • Had you bothered to research it, you'd see that the plastic is irrelevant, that it does run PocketPC, and that reference designs make the world go 'round.

      The Alchemy/AMD design group is completely separate from the x86 group. The design motivations are completely different. Move away from your PC and realize that hundreds of times more embedded processors are sold every year than PC processors. AMD still ships 186 processors by the millions, while the retail boxes sit on store shelves.
      • "Had you bothered to research it, you'd see that the plastic is irrelevant, that it does run PocketPC"

        Yes, but I stated PocketPC AND Palm OS.

        "The Alchemy/AMD design group is completely separate from the x86 group. The design motivations are completely different. Move away from your PC and realize that hundreds of times more embedded processors are sold every year than PC processors."

        Yes, I understand that. However, PDA's today generally run on ARM based chips, whether they are provided by Intel or TI, n
    • The case is so ugly you'd think someone at Dell *designed* it.


      It's a reference design. It's not supposed to compete with the snazzy design that their customers will create, just show the design engineers how the thing goes together.

  • Need... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Greyfox ( 87712 ) on Monday September 29, 2003 @06:22PM (#7089289) Homepage Journal
    2 weeks battery life minimum.

    A "Keyboard" of some sort. None of that graffiti crap for me.

    EMACS.

    No, this isn't a troll. Emacs does everything I need it to do. Seriously. It's got all the PIM functionality in a well-integrated set of programs and it's easily extensible. And the MIT remembrance agent [remem.org] is way cool. Nothing else I've run across comes remotely close to its functionality.

    The Sharp Zaurus was pretty close to my needs except that the battery life really sucked.

    • The PDA you are looking for is a psion 5mx + cf memory card + psilinux [sourceforge.net]. They're no longer in production, so look on ebay.
    • 2 weeks battery life minimum.


      Why? In everday use you would put your PDA in to the charger ever day. So why 2 weeks? for those treks through the wilderness? In case you get stranded on a desert island? Yeah right....
      • No I wouldn't. I keep the damn thing in my pocket most of the time. I almost never put it in the charger. And it's inconvenient to pack the charger when I go on vacation. I already have an inconvenient PDA, my laptop. And it already runs EMACS. If a PDA can't offer me benefit over that, I'll just stick with the laptop.

        • No I wouldn't. I keep the damn thing in my pocket most of the time.

          Even when you sleep? It really doesn't take that much effort to put it in it's charger at the end of the day. And I bet the charger does not take that much space, so taking it with you on vacation is not really a problem.

          But hey, if you want a PDA with two weeks of power (is it just me, or are these demands getting more and more ridiculous? Next year people are propably insisting that PDA's must have "immersive, 100% realistic virtual-re

  • The Linux PDA vendors just don't get it. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Dump Trolltech's Qtopia and Java. When are the PDA vendors going to understand that I don't want either of them. What I want is a Linux PDA with:
    • X-Windows (for local and remote $DISPLAY)
    • CPU with floating point (maybe a Transmeta?)
    • 802.11b

    Basically what I want is a miniature desktop that fits in my pocket. Heck, if I could run X11 just fine on a 25 MHz 68030 Sun 3/80 then it should scream on a 400 MHz RISC chip!

    At the last Linux World Expo in SF I asked an AMD rep about the Alchemy chip, unfor

  • A beowulf cluster of those ;)

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