Time For Sharp To Take Next Step?, OQO, FlipStart, Tigit, Dualcor cPC Options

[gr8ful]

I'm just trying to stir up a little friendly discussion on the future of the Zaurus handheld and get your thoughts on whether Sharp is now playing catch up in light of the newly released or soon to be released HandPCs (OQQ, FlipStart, Tigit & Dualcor cPC).

Some of these offer an impressive set of specs, especially the Dualcor cPC. I know, their price is impressive as well and not in a good way. Each has their good points and bad, but all suffer from one problem that is the same (wrong form factor). I believe Sharp has the best form factor for a device that is a PDA/laptop replacement device. The Zaurus has the best screen and keyboard combination available in a handheld that size.

Here's my main question, is it time for Sharp to move away from embedded Linux and build a device more on par with those above that will run a standard distro of Linux? If they were to step the Z up to another level, what specs would this device need in order to produce an acceptable reponse time and user experience?

Because of the increase in processing power and decrease in power consumption of the next generation chips, not to mention the low cost of memory, I believe it may be time for a next generation Zaurus that is a "TRUE" laptop replacement device that fits in your pocket.

What do you think?

Nate


P.S. Attachment contains the specs of the devices mentioned above.

[gr8ful]

Couldn't seem to get my attachment to work.

[attachment=1708:attachment]

[bluedevils]

I think the zaurus needs to get smaller (760 or 700 size) to keep it out of the market for those machines. The cXXXX and 6000 are too large for the non geek people.

I think the ultra portables will come down in size to compete with those other devices. I'd rather carry my sony t series than deal with the heat and battery life of an oqo. Look at the size of the toshiba ultra mini laptop.

[km2783]

Don't hold your breath on the FlipStart. Their site has said "next year" for at least 1-2 years now.

[Meanie]

Most of those new handhelds are vapourware or crapware.
They don't exist, will never exist or are utter crap. They may have good looking specs, but their implementation and/or design is terrible. no proper usability studies of the ergonomics of those devices have taken place, battery life sux. heat, noise, etc... give them another 3 years and they might come up with something proper if they havent blown their fundings yet and are still alive.
Seriously, Sharp never claimed their Zaurus to be a mini laptop, we just pushed it to its limit to make it one because it is so well designed and had a lot of legroom, whereas these other companies do claim to be laptop replacements.
Sharp's problem is that they can develop better hardware but on the software side, they have problems keeping up to date. Their implementation of Qtopia is ancient as is their kernel. However, in order to retain backwards compatability with the established software base, this would had been the cheapest solution for them. Sharp just doesn't know how to make software which is the case for most hardware vendors. Maybe this is why they've decided to partner with Microsoft for their new mobile device which is against the previous trend since most mobile companies had rejected MS as their platform but things may be changing again with MS pushing their new OS heavily and Java slowing down on their J2ME momentum they had in the past.

[adax]

From the amount of talent I've seen on this board, I'm not sure that software would be a real issue...
if sharp were to build a fantastic new Z then all they would have to do is donate some to the right people (maslovsky etc.) and the OS would be built for them.

Drivers may be an issue to begin with, but starting with a linux base on the 2.6 kernel should make things a little easier.

once the OS is in place they could bundle as much open source software as could be converted with the unit and ship a full user friendly system.
maybe even with a sharp feed for online updates.

hardware wise the 3100 looks ok, but connectivity needs to be dragged upto date with wifi and bluetooth as a bare minimum, gps and some kind of 3G connection as a bonus.

i wonder what the power consumption of a cell processor is?

[gr8ful]

Most of those new handhelds are vapourware or crapware.
They don't exist, will never exist or are utter crap. They may have good looking specs, but their implementation and/or design is terrible. no proper usability studies of the ergonomics of those devices have taken place, battery life sux. heat, noise, etc... give them another 3 years  and they might come up with something proper if they havent blown their fundings yet and are still alive.
Seriously, Sharp never claimed their Zaurus to be a mini laptop, we just pushed it to its limit to make it one because it is so well designed and had a lot of legroom, whereas these other companies do claim to be laptop replacements.
Sharp's problem is that they can develop better hardware but on the software side, they have problems keeping up to date. Their implementation of Qtopia is ancient as is their kernel. However, in order to retain backwards compatability with the established software base, this would had been the cheapest solution for them. Sharp just doesn't know how to make software which is the case for most hardware vendors. Maybe this is why they've decided to partner with Microsoft for their new mobile device which is against the previous trend since most mobile companies had rejected MS as their platform but things may be changing again with MS pushing their new OS heavily and Java slowing down on their J2ME momentum they had in the past.

Meanie, everything you just stated is what prompted me to ask the question, "Is it time for Sharp to take the next step?".
1) Everyone of the HandPCs I listed, pale in comparison to the ergonomic design of the Zaurus Clamshell. Sharp could stand to tweak a few things, but there is no better form factor out there.
2) Though it is true that the Zaurus was not originally intended to be a mini laptop, is not this eventually where the market is going? The traditional PDA has all but disappeared and has been replaced with smartphones, PMPs (Archos, etc), or ultra-mini laptops. People want more funtionality than a traditional PDA can provide.
3) Sharp is one of the best hardware companies around, but is a dreadful software provider. All the more reason to step the Zaurus up to run any standard Linux distro and tap into all of the open source software that is available. Sharp would only need to create special software to ensure funtionality (drivers, etc).

Also, I think Sharp can come in significantly lower than the price point of these devices, because Sharp has already recouped much if not all of their R&D costs and manufacturing set-up costs.

I would love to have my Zaurus running Ubuntu or Suse and if I wanted to have that PDA feel, what about running the embedded software through emulation? If I have the horsepower to run a full Linux Distro, it should be able to emulate our current environment at equal or greater speed.

Nate

[rokugo]

"whether Sharp is now playing catch up in light of the newly released or soon to be released HandPCs (OQQ, FlipStart, Tigit & Dualcor cPC)."

Sharp has already left the international PDA market. So what's there to "catch up" with?

The software that comes with the C3100, ie golf score-sheets, multimedia dictionaries, train schedules, Business English lessons etc, gives us a very good idea of the Zaurus' intended market: the Japanese business executive/salaryman.

So let's be realistic, your average salaryman is not going to wonder whether his Zaurus can run Ubuntu or Suse.
But he is wondering why the Zaurus (still) doesn't have built-in wifi, a smaller form factor and better PIM software like what the Palm PDAs have. This is the more obvious "next step" Sharp needs to take in terms of improving the Zaurus line. Why Sharp hasn't done so...

For those of us here looking for super-ultra-tiny laptops from Sharp, they're already available since a year ago- the Moebius-Muramasa :
http://www.sharp.co.jp/products/pccv50f/pc-cv50.html
http://www.akihabaranews.com/revue_27.html