Author Topic: Any News For The Next Zaurus? (Read 37042 times)

gr8ful · « **Reply #15 on:** October 19, 2005, 10:24:28 am »

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I would hope that all these rumours are false, andÂ no new model will be coming out in the near future.
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I have to ask what might seem a strange question: Why did you buy the 3100? Was it because it fitted your needs, or was it because it was seen as the "ultimate" PDA by some yardsticks?

If it was for the first reason, then don't even worry if a new version is brought out: your 3100 still does exactly what it did before the new model was announced and developers will still be finding ways to make it do quite frankly incredible things.

If it was the second reason... Well... There'll always be something around the corner that's cooler or better spec'd. That's Moore's law and progress for you.

I do understand your concern, as does every consumer. I saw the backlash that happened when Subaru announced that their newest STI Impreza would have a 2.5 litre engine - all the premium buyers had bought a special edition WR1 last year that was promised to be the "ultimate impreza". And it was. At the time... Look at Canon with their digital SLRs, or Apple with the ipod range.

Sharp will keep innovating in the market in order to get people to upgrade and increase their revenue. Personally, I applaud them for this: at least we have the option of an upgrade, whereas users of Microsoft HPC2000 devices (Jornada 720, 728) have no upgrade path...

Which would you prefer?

Sorry if this sounds confrontational, it's really not supposed to be but it is addressing a fairly emotional topic . I bought my SL-C1000 because it met my needs, yes, but undeniably because it is cool and different too and I also reckon there's another top end model around the corner (or certainly within a year) that will be better for me than the 3100 is.
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Good point, but I think there is another element here that GadgetGuy mentioned that is important. Newer models tend to divide the developer community, which we depend upon heavily, for ROM upgrades/fixes, software, etc. If a revolutionary platform emerges by year-end and a good portion of the developers shift their focus to the new device, then the former devices are left in suspended animation in their current states.

I agree, that if you bought it and it fits your needs now you should not have too many gripes. But many of us also buy for the future potential that can be realized by industrious folks such as the OZ team, pdaXrom team, Cacko team and others.

I do believe it is time for Sharp to raise the bar in hardware specs and the OS (2.6) and I hope they do it all in the next model release and get it over with.

lardman · « **Reply #16 on:** October 19, 2005, 11:48:35 am »

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Newer models tend to divide the developer community, which we depend upon heavily, for ROM upgrades/fixes, software, etc. If a revolutionary platform emerges by year-end and a good portion of the developers shift their focus to the new device, then the former devices are left in suspended animation in their current states.

Well this isn't what happens with OpenZaurus development, in fact it tends to be the other way around - as these new devices are expensive, the majority of development continues on the cheaper/older devices; even those which are really quite old (5000D/5500) are still supported actively.

In general I suppose that eventually some devices may lose support because there are so few people using them that porting/testing features to/on them runs out of developers, etc., however I wouldn't expect this for a while yet.

Si

GadgetGuy · « **Reply #17 on:** October 19, 2005, 12:27:47 pm »

I have bought my C3100, because I wanted
- the ultimate micro laptop : and I got that, no doubt
- the "newest model out there" - and I was hoping to have that, a bit longer than a couple of months ( and I know, new models are coming, of course. But a new model, about 6 months after the previous one is a little bit unusual for me).

Most importantly however, I was hoping the continued support of people like Anton Maslowsky and Meanie.

Meanie appears to focus on the newest and best, and Anton too ( he is short of releasing the Cacko rom for C1000 and C3100). ( I am not really familiar with OpenZaurus yet)

If I C4000 (or C5000 or whatever) would come, I am quite positive, that the support from people who often get the latest and greatest would diminish. And since I cannot get the C4000 myself (at least not in the next year to 18 months or so) - I was hoping that the current Cxx00 series would remain the "latest and greatest" for a little while...

bluedevils · « **Reply #18 on:** October 19, 2005, 02:07:32 pm »

Again, I think you are wrong. People still port to the previous generation clamshells and the 5x00 while moving onto newer machines. As long as there are people to test it, it shouldn't be a problem. There are plenty of 750/760/860 users out there and plenty of 1k/3.1k users as well. The people who might have a more difficult time are the 700/3000 and possibly 6000 users as they have a smaller user base and their device hardware are different from the mainstream. My guess is that whatever they might rollout in November will be only for the early adopters so you have until next spring/summer before the real replacement shows up.

chiark · « **Reply #19 on:** October 19, 2005, 02:10:46 pm »

I see what you're worry is now, but I wouldn't worry on the device being unsupported real soon: Anton is releasing 1.23 for the 7xx/860 as well as and 1000/3100 and I can't see him dropping support for this series soon.

The 3100 is a superb device and, no matter what comes after it, you've bought a cracker of a PDA . Glad you didn't take my post as a flame, either - re-reading it, it could have come across a bit judgemental, so sorry for that.

pgas · « **Reply #20 on:** October 20, 2005, 06:32:21 am »

Sharp w-zero3 on akihabaranews

"we get a 3.7" screen, Wireless LAN, an Intel PXA270 416MHz, 128Mb Flash memory, 64Mb of SDRAM, but also telephony functions in this one thanks to the W-SIM technology (an improved version of the SIM)." qwerty keyboard

But not linux....

http://www.sharp.co.jp/ws/

chiark · « **Reply #21 on:** October 20, 2005, 07:29:57 am »

Blimey, I'm surprised on two fronts: first off, the WM5 thing, but secondly/// that thumb-board! It didn't work for BSquare with their power handheld, it doesn't seem to be working for OQO, but sharp chose that over a clamshell?

Mind you, if they'd have launched a WM5 clamshell they'd be right up against the HTC universal.

Fingers are crossed that Sharp do something with the Zaurus line!

tg · « **Reply #22 on:** October 20, 2005, 09:01:16 am »

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Sharp w-zero3 on akihabaranews

"we get a 3.7" screen, Wireless LAN, an Intel PXA270 416MHz, 128Mb Flash memory, 64Mb of SDRAM, but also telephony functions in this one thanks to the W-SIM technology (an improved version of the SIM)." qwerty keyboard

But not linux....

http://www.sharp.co.jp/ws/
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What started out as a nice seasonal thread suddenly turned into worst nightmare. Sharp took 2 most attractive features (linux and clamshell) from best device they ever designed and released this? After this I don't believe we will see continuation of zaurus line - at least not with linux. I guess it's time to go and pick up a few 3100's while they are still around (or wait for Jobs to release some small osx based clamshell).

bluedevils · « **Reply #23 on:** October 20, 2005, 10:11:07 am »

so trisoft or streamline,

should we be buying up hordes of 3.1ks or is the linux zaurus going to continue and some of us can buy the more expensive new ones?

gr8ful · « **Reply #24 on:** October 20, 2005, 10:14:49 am »

Quote

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Sharp w-zero3 on akihabaranews

"we get a 3.7" screen, Wireless LAN, an Intel PXA270 416MHz, 128Mb Flash memory, 64Mb of SDRAM, but also telephony functions in this one thanks to the W-SIM technology (an improved version of the SIM)." qwerty keyboard

But not linux....

http://www.sharp.co.jp/ws/
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=100147\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

What started out as a nice seasonal thread suddenly turned into worst nightmare. Sharp took 2 most attractive features (linux and clamshell) from best device they ever designed and released this? After this I don't believe we will see continuation of zaurus line - at least not with linux. I guess it's time to go and pick up a few 3100's while they are still around (or wait for Jobs to release some small osx based clamshell).
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=100172\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Hold on now! Sharp's a big company and can support more than one flavor of handheld device. Besides, the Zaurus is the King of PDAs in Japan and many use it for the extensive dictionary, which this does not have.
I think the Zaurus line will still be maintained and this is just Sharp's attempt at getting a piece of the the convergence/smartphone market.

TsingTao · « **Reply #25 on:** October 20, 2005, 10:16:18 am »

Looks like I might have been right. Whithout flexing my imagination too much I can see this thing being the result of a board meeting about 'what we should do to the Zaurus next...' at sharp HQ..

But this new device won't necessarily canibalize the Z line.

Though it wouldn't really surprise me...

cesarcardoso · « **Reply #26 on:** October 20, 2005, 10:20:56 am »

Hm. This looks SO HTC... maybe Sharp OEM'd from them.

tg · « **Reply #27 on:** October 20, 2005, 11:48:22 am »

Quote

Quote
Quote
Sharp w-zero3 on akihabaranews

"we get a 3.7" screen, Wireless LAN, an Intel PXA270 416MHz, 128Mb Flash memory, 64Mb of SDRAM, but also telephony functions in this one thanks to the W-SIM technology (an improved version of the SIM)." qwerty keyboard

But not linux....

http://www.sharp.co.jp/ws/
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=100147\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

What started out as a nice seasonal thread suddenly turned into worst nightmare. Sharp took 2 most attractive features (linux and clamshell) from best device they ever designed and released this? After this I don't believe we will see continuation of zaurus line - at least not with linux. I guess it's time to go and pick up a few 3100's while they are still around (or wait for Jobs to release some small osx based clamshell).
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=100172\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Hold on now! Sharp's a big company and can support more than one flavor of handheld device. Besides, the Zaurus is the King of PDAs in Japan and many use it for the extensive dictionary, which this does not have.
I think the Zaurus line will still be maintained and this is just Sharp's attempt at getting a piece of the the convergence/smartphone market.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=100184\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I hope you are right but doubt it. I can't believe Sharp will maintain zaurus for dictionary only - I mean how hard is it to add dictionary to this new device?
I know zaurus is popular in Japan but am not sure what is the main reason - is it really because of dictionary or is it because consumers are sophisticated enough to prefer linux to windows (I am affraid if your answer is dictionary then any good reason to continue the zaurus line is gone).

chiark · « **Reply #28 on:** October 20, 2005, 12:34:37 pm »

Another pondering: Microsoft has apparently changed the licensing restrictions and a few other things for WM5... Perhaps Sharp is putting a toe in the water rather than a wholesale migration?

Has anyone translated a press release from Sharp yet? Has there even been a press release?

tg · « **Reply #29 on:** October 20, 2005, 01:31:10 pm »

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Another pondering: Microsoft has apparently changed the licensing restrictions and a few other things for WM5... Perhaps Sharp is putting a toe in the water rather than a wholesale migration?

Has anyone translated a press release from Sharp yet? Has there even been a press release?
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Here is some more (sickening) info about this.

[a href=\"http://www.techweb.com/wire/hardware/172302655]http://www.techweb.com/wire/hardware/172302655[/url]

News:

Author Topic: Any News For The Next Zaurus? (Read 37042 times)