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back to article Freescale to show ARM-based net tablet design

Chip maker Freescale has launched a reference design from which ARM-based handheld internet tablet can be forged. The basic spec incorporates a 7in, 1024 x 600 touchscreen, Flash storage, SD card expansion, Bluetooth 2.1 and 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity. Freescale - formerly part of Motorola - has put in a battery that, when …

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  1. Mage Silver badge
    Alert

    Not just Duration

    Licence costs?

    Mobile phone gear is expensive licence costs. Hence a cheap reference design won't include it. Unless it's a Qualcomm or Broadcom reference design.

    If the iTablet / iSlate is as locked to iTunes as is suggested, it might be ARM rather than Atom based. I doubt Apple will want people to buy it and put XP, or Linux (Android, Moblin, Maemo or Ubuntu flavours) on it and break link to iTunes.

    Arguably the iPod was about using iTunes to sell iPods. But iphone & iTouch would seem to be about more control and making money from iTune Apps.

    Add periodical subscriptions to iTunes for iSlate.

    It depends on Price, 3G bundling and extra bells & Whistles as to the future of Arm MIDs / tablets and netbooks that are not phones in your pocket.

    Archos have now 3 generations of "tablet" Media players from 4.8" to 9" sizes. They appear to have switched from Trolltech's QT and Linux to Linux+Android. Perhaps for App Store revenue and continued lock down with Nokia having bought Trolltec and wanting open devices?

    I'd take MS (WinMo/WinCE or XP), Moblin, Maemo, Unbuntu or even Gentoo in preference to vendor Locked And MegaCorp controlled Android or iPhone/iSlate perversions of OSX

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Heart

      lol

      " I doubt Apple will want people to buy it and put XP, or Linux (Android, Moblin, Maemo or Ubuntu flavours) on it and break link to iTunes."

      lol, you're funny!

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  2. richard 55
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    Where's the 3G HSDPA?

    What are they thinking?

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    1. James Hughes 1
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      What is it about the phrase...

      "reference design" you didn't understand?

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  3. Tom 7

    So this will do everything I want

    but because it doesn't automatically come crippled with bank account (or battery) draining apps the above posters think it wont be of use.

    Why do some people think portable devices need to be 'owned' by a provider?

    I'll take at least one I can buy it outright and not be tied to some stupid package/provider like the Iphone or BlackBerry

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  4. Anonymous Coward
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    Why does everything...

    ...have to be a bloody phone!

    If it's cheap enough, then it could be a photoviewer, VSCC (tm), media player, receipe book, notepad etc etc...

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    1. Gulfie
      Reply Icon
      WTF?

      You can't see?

      'Anywhere' connectivity enhances the device capabilities. I had an iPod Touch and loved it - except that if I wasn't in range of an open (to me) WiFi hotspot it turned into just a big MP3 and video player (OK, this was before apps). More connectivity = more flexibility and therefore more options for use.

      But make it optional. I like the Linux option in particular.

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  5. captain veg Silver badge

    So basically it's a Nokia N800...

    .. with a slightly bigger screen.

    When did Android stop being Linux?

    -A.

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  6. Havin_it
    FAIL

    /facepalm

    Mr Smith, as I'm sure several people will have already pointed out, Android *is* Linux. To suggest otherwise (as you've done twice in your text) plays into Google's hands by making it easier for them to distance themselves from the responsibility they owe to the software that underpins these big plans of theirs, and to the people who wrote it. The majority of ordinary people will assume instinctively that Android is something that clever Mr Wonka & Co. invented all by themselves, and I doubt there will be much effort spent in Mountain View to disabuse anyone of that notion.

    Believe me, I am not about shoving Linux advocacy down people's throats, but Linux's whole ecosystem deserves to benefit from the increased recognition that triumphs like Android have earned it. Frankly, for a tech rag this is a pretty poor factual slip.

    On-topic for a moment, the tablet spec looks rather appealing to me and I hope some good manufacturers who give a shit about build quality will run with it (without jacking the price above £125-150 if possible, please). Whatever OS it comes with is probably not a big deal to me; if it doesn't do things how I want it to, I'll stick *another* version of Linux on it =)

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  7. John Smith 19 Gold badge
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    Looks quite good. But you can't click on the poicture

    It would be good too take a closer look at those interfaces. Also is there a minimum level of memeory spec'd for this?

    Not with those interfaces and a wireless router I think VoIP should be possible. No phone needed in house.

    Who (if) anyone actually uses this reference model is another matter but I like it.

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  8. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    "odd, perhaps, given the close association between ARM processors and smartphones."

    Not odd, perhaps, given how maintaining phone ability on a tablet computer would drain the battery in a couple hours.

    There is much, much more to be obtained from ARM than just phones. Just because Microsoft can't port their useless OS to this architecture doesn't meant it's just for phones.

    and as mentioned above, it will be running Linux no matter what. At least for now.

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