Simputer Available?

Anonymous Coward writes "The Simputer (marketed by PicoPeta, the inventors and manufactured by the Defence Electronics PSU - BEL) has a website now and is available for sale (including outside India). Some pics can be found at the picture gallery. This story has been discussed a few times before here at /. here, here and here. Of particular note are some of the features, notably the device goes beyond the typical handheld/PDA and has some brand new innovations. For instance, it uses accelerometers to sense motion and this is used to give commands to the computer (for instance, to zoom a picture, you just have to move the Simputer towards you and to turn a page, you flick it like you would turn a page for a book. Also has an integrated smart card reader plus writer, very useful for several business applications."

I hear

Simputer is planning to outsource the tech support to America because it's cheaper. I bet people in India won't be happy about that.

Over-correction

Although I don't have the problem yet, many old folks have problems focusing at certain distances.. this causes them to move paper or a PDA back and forth.. which would zoom/shrink. They aren't necessarily zooming, so much as finding a focal point... this might lead to some serious over-correction as you try and find a usable size and focal point. hope you can turn it off.

Re:Over-correction

I was thinking the same thing, but I also had another concern ...how much did it cost to implement that feature? I have done some robot building in my day and pretty crappy accelerometer costs 25 - 40$.

Re:Accelerometers @ ~$15 retail

pretty crappy accelerometer costs 25 - 40$

You can get a 2-axis Analog Devices accelerometer kit for $19.50 for the Mark III mini-sumo robot at The Mark III Store [junun.org] (scroll down a page to the "Accelerometer Kit"). There's a handful of discrete components, and this is essentially a retail price, so figure $15.

The part is actually a MEMS device, so figure 1) a manufacturer can probably buy it at half that price in volume, and 2) there are cheaper non-MEMS devices available on the market.

Re:Over-correction

Fsck the PDA, I like the teenager [amidasimputer.com] in the first pic.

Amida: "I know this is a bad neighborhood and you are not wearing much, but we need you to pretent like you are using the product and you would do this in your free time."

Re:Over-correction

I think that gallery would be a hell of a lot more useful if it showed pictures of the device itself rather than grandpa in his pyjama's [amidasimputer.com]. Why not show what's happening on the screen instead of models posing with the thing in their hand?

Vehicles

Accelerometers sense motion to zoom, eh?

They had BETTER have an option to turn that off, or else it sure would make using it on a bus interesting.

I'm sceptical about...

accelerometers. seems like an over-engineered solution to trivial problems, and it's easy to imagine it being more annoying than useful e.g. when looking something up while walking.

look at the modern mobile phones e.g. Sony Ericsson P900 5-way jog-wheel, that's an excellent example of innovation - very simple and very effective.

Re:I'm sceptical about...

The accelerometers are not intended for the user. They are for the benifit of the Simputer so it realises when it has been dropped or flung in the direction of a wall by an irate user and has time to say its prayers

/.ed

Original site has no cache: However, here is the A google cache of simputer.com [google.co.th]

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For those of us who don't know what a simputer is

My guess is that it stands for SIMple+comPUTER

From the Google cache: [216.239.57.104]

What is a Simputer?
Bridging the Great Digital Divide

The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man.

It has a special role in the third world because it ensures that illiteracy is no longer a barrier to handling a computer.

The key to bridging the digital divide is to have shared devices that permit truly simple and natural user interfaces based on sight, touch and audio.

The Simputer meets these demands through a browser for the Information Markup Language (IML). IML has been created to provide a uniform experience to users and to allow rapid development of solutions on any platform.

PDA accelerometers for scrolling patented

Whether you think this should be a patentable idea or not, using accelerometers to scroll a PDA display has been patented. I wonder if Simputer will be getting a "cease and desist" letter in the mail. Of course it's possible that they have already licensed it from the patent holder.

Patent number 6,466,198:
"View navigation and magnification of a hand-held device with a display" [uspto.gov]

The patent holder is called Innoventions [rotoview.com]

Hot Chick

...well, it's mostly /.'ed, but i saw the first shot of the hot girl using it as an mp3 player and i don't care what it is, i neeed it.

i need the hot chicks. Come on, this is slashdot, you were thinking it too.

Re:Hot Chick

To quote from the simputer site :

http://www.amidasimputer.com/tour/stop4.php

"Along with a chikki, you can play hours and hours of CD-quality music "

So, Im not sure I read the advert correctly, but it sounds like you DO actually get a Chikki with each simputer.

Either that, or they are available for purchase direct from the site. (Chikki may be available for purchase online, pursuant to the governing laws of your State)

Some Linux PDAs never hit the market

Congratulations to Amida, you made it. There are some Linux PDAs, which where announced, but never became available for sale. See this survey about Linux on PDAs [tuxmobil.org].

Behold the power of the Simputer

webserver! Buckled to it's knees with only 20 /. comments....

This accelerometer thing...

sounds like an answer to a question nobody asked. Or is it just me?

Seems like a dead end to me

I tried to contact the simputer folk on 3 different occasions to license the design to no responce. For being an "open" platform, the docs and schematics are similarly locked-down making it impossible to even do a review.

I don't get it

Why is this the right type of computer for India? What is wrong with desktop PC's? We all know that a laptop costs way more then a desktop, and a tablet PC costs way more than that. This simputer sounds alot more like a tablet PC than a desktop, so I would guess it's cost would be similar.

Shouldn't the overriding factor for underdeveloped countries be the cost? Not portability and gee-whiz features like zooming by acceleratometers?

Re:I don't get it

Perhaps the reason you don't get it is because you're just making wild guesses without bothering to try find out any facts? It currently costs Rs.17000 (~$377) and is expected to cost about Rs.9000 ($200) when mass-produced. Even at $377 it costs way less than high-end PDAs

Try guessing a little less, and obtaining a little more information next time.

death by snusnu

"For instance, it uses accelerometers to sense motion and this is used to give commands to the computer"

This does not simpute. Simputer will return after deciding your punishment.

mitch

When can we get an official unit measurement?

I hereby propose one: the comment. A comment is the unit measurement of how fast a server can be swept over by the Mongol-Tartars. [slashdot.org] Used to describe how quickly something gets slashdotted, though not limited to slashdot itself. Eventual spread to other areas is encouraged. See also: FWICE!

example:
"Man, that was only like 10 comments before my AMD Palomino core with no heatsink melted the motherboard."

connectivity

bluetooth certainly adds cost to the computer, but i wonder why such technology wasn't built in, or capabilities for it added--card slot of some sort. if i recall correctly the cost was supposed to come in around 4-5 hundred dollars, which isn't bad at all. i'd love to see a review of the software--and hardware. it looks pretty polished.

Good for research in India

Since their site is overwhelmed with hits, thought I should start this thread. This is good for research in India. We have all known that India is now a major player in the outsourcing market. With many other institutes also setting up R&D units in India, India's contribution to the world of research and technology will increase. This project came out of IISc - Indian Institute of Science , Bangalore and is a major step forward in the research to commercial movement in India, an area which the USA has mastered and is really good at.

Some notable features

For those who can't access the site because it is /.ed or do not want to read the site in the ususal /. tradition, here is a summary of major features
1. Runs Linux
2. Can connect to Internet though a regular phone line or CDMA cellphone
3. Has 2 USB ports built in
4. Has a inbuilt voice recorder
5. Aslo works as a MP3 and movie player(combine with the USB storage and ...you get the idea)
6. Has lots of inbuilt apps including internet browser, email, accounting and a panchanga ( Indian calender system used to figure out auspicious inauspicious days) etc.
7. Can wrie in multiple languages using a "bhasha" notebook software inbuilt and a special keyboard.
8. Gesture input using a inbuilt accelerometer

Other benefits
http://amidasimputer.com/benefits/
And you can buy it from here:
http://www.amidasimputer.com/buy

Re:Some notable features

The item that seems most interesting to me, and the one that makes this device something between a lightweight desktop and a PDA, is the combined fact that

* it has 2 USB adapters
* the USB code is based on a freely available kernel

There are some devices that have USB, but most of them only act as a USB _peripheral_. This can be a USB _host_. While it might seem more useful to use CF or SD for storage needs, the use of USB opens up the possibility of using lots of peripheral devices not usually open to PDAs, especially since designing drivers for Linux is generally understood.

slashdotters are very stereotypical..

Why is it that roughly 80% of the initial posts involve some sort of derision of this product? It is a computer built in India and its made to be simple yet slashdotters automatically start associating it as something cheap or stupid. Grow up people. Indians have just as much a right as anyone else to pioneer in the field of technology and they did not fucking make fun of you idiots during the dot-com bubble so don't bash their innovations.

No I am not from India. I live in North America and I am a starving coder also. I just have respect for development of technology no matter where it is made.

How about this Simpleputer?

Ya know I saw a Leapster [amazon.com] at a local big box store. It can do color and decent sound via Flash 5 [actionscript.com] and uses normal batteries. Plus the Leapster costs less then half of the price of the Simputer.

When the Simputer was first announced it was a great idea, cheap portable computing. Now I can get alomst the same thing as a toy.

MySQL strikes again.

I find it very funny that people want to use MySQL anywhere, when most of the /. effect victims fall prey to it. Even /. itself...

Sex-Toy Mods

For instance, it uses accelerometers to sense motion and this is used to give commands to the computer ...

Great for sex-toy mods!

from the FAQ's

6. Q: When will the Simputer be available?

A: If all goes well, by March 2002 you should be able to buy one of them.

I guess all didn't go, "well."

The SimPuter

Wow. When I first read the headline, I thought Maxis had released a computer complete with all the The Sims expansion packs. I sure would buy one of those for my mom, just to shut her up whenever something stops working; just run recovery.

You knew it was coming

to zoom a picture, you just have to move the Simputer towards you and to turn a page, you flick it like you would turn a page for a book

One-handed photo enlargement, huh? one-handed next-pic viewing? very nice...

Oh wait, did I say pic? I meant page. ya, page.

Might be a "jerky" experience though...

Can you imagine

Can you imagine using this contraption in a car or on a train? Hit a bump, and the damn thing starts zooming in and out, flip through pages, and all sorts of crap.. take it on a roller coaster and it'll format the hard drive on the loop de loop.

10 Simputer Innovations

Since the site is getting /.ed (just got this error- Warning: Too many connections in /var/amidasimp/includes/connectdb.php on line 4 Cannot Connect to MySQL), I decided to copy and paste from my browser cache:

Why Amida? - Innovations
Power and Simplicity Built-in
The Amida Simputer was built on the premise that a computer is more useful when if it is easy-to-use. To achieve that simplicity however, our engineers have toiled hard. And, introduced a number of innovations, so that you (the user) can have the most versatile, most mobile personal computer in the world. Here are the top ten innovations:

Doodle n' Mail: Amida allows you to scribble on any screen using a stylus, and email it. is the world's first instance of any computer (handheld or otherwise) permitting annotation on every screen

Flip Flip Motion Sensor: Amida is the world's first and only computer that responds to your gestures - eg. you can turn the pages of an e-book with a flick of your wrist

Indian Languages: The Amida Simputer allows you to work and play in the language of your choice

Amida Chikki: Easy way to carry programs, music, movies, pictures...

Connectivity: Amida is the world's first handheld computer to have two USB slots (master and slave. Helps it work well with a range of other devices - Reliance CDMA phones (for Internet connectivity), PCs, digital cameras etc.

Pocket Hercules: The Amida Simputer combines portability and power in a manner that no other handheld in the world does. Check out the specs

Simplicity: The Amida Simputer includes a number of innovations that makes computing simple and enjoyable. If you want to work (and play) with consummate ease, then the world's easiest-to-use computer is for you!

Auto Updates: If you need to update your Amida Software, all you have to do is, open an application called Package Manager, connect to the Internet and tap "Update" - no "Install Managers", no visits to showrooms!

SmartCard Reader / Writer: The Simputer is the world's first computer to have an integrated SmartCard readr / writer. Use it for identification, sharing and security

Personalize: Amida lets you transform its appearance to suit your unique tastes and needs

Amida as coffee-maker: No, Amida does not do this. Not yet, anyway!

This looks very good

I don't know if this thing will survive (I've got an Adgenda VR3 and a Vtech Helios lying around here somewhere) but it looks like a great product. I really like the "paper" thing they have. I wish I had $300 (plus shipping, etc.) to get one of them. Unfortunately I'll be lucky if I can pay rent next month.

Okay so what hapeens if I...

shake it up and to get a feature to work. I do that with any malfunctioning handheld device.

Great looking Amida

http://amidasimputer.com/gallery/

Absolutely beautiful! Unbelievably flat front side,
with unreal curves along the back and sides. Very
very attractive.

I'm moving to India! Then I'll be all for outsourcing with my new, erm, Amida... using hottie...

Capabilities

Unless I missed it, the SIM-better-than-a-com-PUTER is missing a few capabilities i.e. 32MB storage + 64MB RAM is pretty low for a PDA these days, particularly when also being used for MP3. - I didn't find anything about flash expansion - Shouldn't they consider using a micro-disc such as those provided on certain high-end MP3 Jukeboxes supporting 1GB of data? Connectivity - Looks like it's all through wires (USB/Serial) to each device, or Ir, what about: - Bluetooth - Wifi No support for MS applications like Word and Excel, or I assume opensource equivelants. Being a new operating system, we now have to wait for the wealth of utilities/applications we use everyday on our PDA's to be ported i.e. I use mym PDA for astronomy apps.

second-guessing interface?

For instance, it uses accelerometers to sense motion and this is used to give commands to the computer (for instance, to zoom a picture, you just have to move the Simputer towards you and to turn a page, you flick it like you would turn a page for a book.
Does this remind anyone else of the radios in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? It'll be guessing at everything that happens as an input, and be completely unuseable.

Detailed Analysis of the Simputer

http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~joyojeet/Simputer-CP .doc

Re:Not quite...

Price is on the frontpage (right hand side) in rupees (9950 to be precise)

Re:Zoom function

to zoom in you move the simputer closer to you ..

you can rotate the display by holding the simputer and twisting your wrist ...

if you toss the simputer directly above you its homing technology will cause it to fall back down towards you ...

and it will automatically shut itself down once the battery is dead ... how convenient.

Did you read the article?

I know few people read the articles, but why don't people read the articles before they complain about the article's percieved lack of information?

Try the buy link [amidasimputer.com]. Or just compare models [amidasimputer.com].

And next time, make sure you read the article and not just the Google Cache when somebody says a website was updated.

Re:Not quite...

The FAQ says about 9000 rupees. Doesn't seem like that great a deal personally...

Re:does it run linux??

It would seem from the FAQ that it doesn't run anything else!

Actually, they want to release the hardware specs under a GLP type license.

And apparently, as you are a /.er, you already know whether or not it can be used to create a Beowulf cluster!

Re:does it run linux??

Yes [simputer.org]

Zoom-Zoom

I believe moving towards you to zoom in has already been implemented at the physical layer, but they can't claim the laws of Physics as a feature.

The feature may have some interesting effects, with the optical zoom interacting with the on-screen zoom.

But as someone mentioned, a jolt on a bus could appear to jiggle the view window over an unmoving "document" -- the same could be done with the Z-axis, so a jolt toward you could reduce the image so as to keep the apparent size the same. (not that the screen has enough resolution to make the reduction optically perfect)

However, motion sickness is caused when the visual movement does not match that of the inner ear. I wonder how an unmoving object would be interpreted; maybe those with head-worn displays have some experience. (The reaction apparently is because many poisons cause visual distortions, so the resulting nausea is intended to trigger vomiting and remove any poisonous material which is still in the stomach.)

Re:site (OT)

sadly im not trolling. I wish i was though.

Re:does it run linux??

shouldn't the question be: Does it run windows??

and who modded parent interesting??