Want one!
End of.
How's this for a stocking filler next year? El Reg catches up with Gemini
Production begins in January on the first new computer form-factor since the iPad – Planet Computing's "modern Psion", Gemini. It has already picked up an Innovation Award from the organisers of the International Consumer Electronics Show next month, where a formal launch will take place. And the project reached $1m in …
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 08:25 GMT 6491wm
Re: Want one!
re "not at that price"
Interestingly when the Psion 5 was launched back in 97 it retailed for £439 which in todays money is around $755
Ok so this is no Psion (doesn't run OPL for a start) but boy has it got my juices flowing, in fact guess what I only went & did last night :)
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 16:59 GMT Mark Jan
Re: Want one!
I still use a Psion 3a daily and have almost 20 years of data on it.
It's just a beautifully engineered machine with the only weal link being the hinges, which do need looking after. I actually emailed Planet a while ago whether they'd consider developing an app to port everything from a Psion to the Gemini. I would imagine that people like me still using Psions on an almost daily basis are now, a pretty limited market and perhaps not worth the effort...
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Saturday 30th December 2017 16:32 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Want one!End of.
Which is why it eventually failed.
The series 3 was cheap enough to be kept in pocket but the Series 5 was very expensive and couldn't connect to anything without an expensive serial lead (which quickly became obsolete due to the rise of USB).
If the Series 5 had at least Bluetooth then it would have had much better change of surviving but alas it only had infrared and serial.
It does look interesting though.
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Saturday 30th December 2017 20:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Want one!End of.
Unfortunately, at the time that the Series 5 was being developed, USB was brand new technology (and not at all commonplace, and certainly not for compact portable devices), and Bluetooth was similarly new and shiny.
It would have made sense to have had both on the Series 5mx, but maybe redesigning the circuit board substantially to include these would have been tricky and expensive (although it should still have been done to help with future proofing, but possibly by then Psion was starting to be more interested in how the Symbian world could grow and expand further in mobile phones, with most major manufacturers being very interested at that time).
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Monday 25th December 2017 23:29 GMT Oh Homer
"the first new computer form-factor since the iPad"
Are you saying that the iPad was something other than a tablet, the likes of which have been around since at least Microsoft's Tablet PC in 2002, a full 8 years before Apple finally jumped on the bandwagon, and in one form or another since the late 1960s?
As for the Gemini, as much as I like what I've seen of it so far, it also doesn't even remotely qualify as a new computer form factor either. The form factor is "palmtop", and has been around since at least the 1980s.
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Thursday 28th December 2017 10:14 GMT GruntyMcPugh
Re: "the first new computer form-factor since the iPad"
What you said,... we had a few 'slate' PCs hanging around the office back in the day, so when the iPad arrived it was a bit 'Oh, Apple make them too', and yeah, given the Gemini is a revision of a design,.... it itself is not a new form factor.
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Friday 29th December 2017 10:05 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "the first new computer form-factor since the iPad"
I had a Fujitsu Stylistic Windows tablet PC. It was just the "screen", no keyboard built in* had to use a stylus. I had it for about a year and no one took a blind bit of notice. Soon as the iPads came out - "Oooh! you got an iPad!"
I did get an Apple logo sticker, stuck it on the case and wrote "NOT AN IPAD!" on it.
If I could upgrade it to Win7 from XP (no driver support) I'll still be using it as it was more use to me than an iPad as it had a network, modem and VGA ports so I could use it to test stuff as I was out and about
* did have USB ports and a docking station so you could plug in a keyboard
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Thursday 28th December 2017 10:42 GMT phuzz
Re: "the first new computer form-factor since the iPad"
It's a bit much to claim "the first new computer form-factor since the iPad" when a lot of the appeal of this device is that it's an homage to the Psion organiser.
The fact that it is very much not a new design, but instead a tried and tested one is the selling point.
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Tuesday 2nd January 2018 13:03 GMT Gio Ciampa
Re: "the first new computer form-factor since the iPad"
re: "Microsoft's Tablet PC in 2002"
I think I can go back further even than that - my first "proper" job was at a research lab at the QE/University of Birmingham, where (by the time I left in 1996) we were looking into using kit like this to hook into the Renal Unit pathology system we had developed - the medics would then have access to blood test results and proposed tests to be performed (automatically generated, via a rulebase).
As you'd imagine back then - battery life and connectivity were as issue as I recall, but as a proof-of-concept it worked rather well...
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Saturday 30th December 2017 03:11 GMT Oh Homer
Rear-facing camera or go home
OK, so now I've had a chance to really think about it, this device isn't anywhere near as exciting as I though it would be.
I mean, basically it's just an Android smartphone with a keyboard stuck to it.
No seriously, that's it. Isn't it? If there's significantly more to it then I'm afraid I don't see it.
So OK, there's nothing wrong with having a proper keyboard for smartphones, as long as the actual "phone" part checks all the boxes.
Except this one doesn't.
For a start, where's the camera? I mean the real camera, not the selfie camera.
Also, a dual-display would be good, so you can actually see who's calling without opening the device, and also make calls with an external touch dial pad. The second display wouldn't have to be full size, just big enough for a dial pad and maybe two status lines. Relocate the speaker and mic to the back somewhere, while you're at it, so this thing can actually be used as a phone, without having to play the iPhone 4 Twister game.
Other than that, yeah, pretty good, but honestly I think their money would've been better spent by just developing the keyboard itself, then selling it as an accessory for any phone. That way they wouldn't have had to pointlessly reinvent the smartphone, and I wouldn't be expected to shell out £/$ 600 for yet another Android device I don't need just to get a proper keyboard.
Executive summary: this is a £/$ 600 Psion keyboard screwed onto an Android phone.
I'd buy the keyboard for £30. Max.
Let the downvotes begin...
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Sunday 31st December 2017 01:53 GMT DJO
Re: Rear-facing camera or go home
OK, so now I've had a chance......
More than Android, runs Linux too
Rear camera is an optional extra ($49)
Lights in fold can be programmed to show caller or whatever, not perfect but better then nothing.
Mic and earpiece are already on the back, button on side for answering so you don't need to open it to use it as a phone.
The USP is that it's a fully functioning Linux computer with a decent keyboard and a phone too.
By the way a separate keyboard for a phone in this style wouldn't work because the centre of gravity would cause it to topple backwards and a keyboard pointing upwards is not a lot of use, this device has the battery in the base so it doesn't fall over. An external keyboard with an extra battery might work but I'm not sure if people would want another heavy item in their pockets.
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Saturday 30th December 2017 16:23 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Want one!
I still have my old Series 5.
Hmm... why haven't I kept using it....
Oh wait, the screen that's unreadable in sunlight or inside or everywhere. And the pen that would stuck and the microswitch that I removed to repair my dad's Series 5S which kept telling him that the compactflash-slot door was open and...
Hmmm... I'll guess I'll just wait and see.
Perhaps as someone mentioned it would have been better to sell the keyboard as an add-on for existing phones.
Also why Mediatek? Aren't they the absolute WORST with regards to open-source (e.g. for Linux drivers)? Somehow it just feels a bit fishy...
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Friday 29th December 2017 19:18 GMT werdsmith
Re: Resistance has finally gone
I held back because of previous indiegogo disasters. I'm happy to pay the extra 100 or wait for an improved V2 as I would like linux and was disappointed with their focus on Android.
Also author, I'll take the feel of the Toyota over an Audi or Merc any day. I want it to keep working for years.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 12:29 GMT RockBurner
Re: Linux
I too would rather it was a full-on Dual-boot, rather than Linux-on-Android.
That said - I can see WHY they'd go for LoA. It means the device will still function (easily) as a phone - I can imagine anyone buying the 4G version will expect it to replace their phone as well as their netbook.
Personally I'd prefer a phone that does it's job as a phone, alongside a mini-laptop that functions fully as a mini-laptop.
that Agenda software does look nice I have to say - I like the way it mimics an old-style paper diary in it's layout, some older fogeys like myself will appreciate it.
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Tuesday 26th December 2017 11:27 GMT Lomax
Re: Linux
> Personally I'd prefer a phone that does it's job as a phone, alongside a mini-laptop that functions fully as a mini-laptop.
Check out the Pyra, successor to the Pandora; not only fully open source (including the hardware), but made in Germany and equipped with a full complement of ports. https://pyra-handheld.com
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Friday 29th December 2017 10:53 GMT Pedigree-Pete
Organiser anyone?
@ RockBurner. Totally sympathise. Anyone else have Thredz Organiser? PP
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwib5rnjhq_YAhXJoqQKHWmaCSIQFgheMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FIBM_Lotus_Organizer&usg=AOvVaw0xO16wTRdKVCAZArUnwLNK
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Friday 22nd December 2017 16:07 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Linux
I backed them based on it being dual boot Linux, as I'm only bothered about having the Linux on there... Want it for on the go Linux hacking and development. Already have my phone for android.
I'll be slightly annoyed if they switched dual boot for Linux on android, but thankfully I don't think that's the case... That's an additional option.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 11:44 GMT MrRimmerSIR!
Ordered
Two things I wish it had, which have stopped me from ordering up to now:
1. Backlight on the keyboard (would be so nice if the letters would light up like my HP Envy laptop, rather than glowing aroud the keys).
2. Mediatek SoC... AFAIAA, they have not released all kernel source code under GPL, which stuffs up custom ROMs and future versions of Android.
Nevertheless, we'll see what happens. Thanks El Reg!
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Friday 22nd December 2017 13:50 GMT DJO
Re: Ordered
Backlight is a bit tricky:
Stick a LED under each key and the battery life is dramatically cut. - Unacceptable
Using a diffuser plate under the keys depends on the keyboard design and would add at least an extra mm to the thickness - Unacceptable
Run a fibre to each key from a single light source , too fiddly and fragile and would be prohibitively expensive to make - Unacceptable.
Add an alpha emitter and some phosphor to the ink on the keys, cover with a clear lacquer - This would probably work and not be too expensive but would never get regulatory approval.
What would probably work is to stick an UV LED in the top 2 corners of the display pointing to the keyboard and add some phosphor to the ink.
In reality the keyboard is so close to the screen unless you have a really dark screen it will bleed enough light onto the keyboard to render a backlight largely unnecessary.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 20:03 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Ordered
> What would probably work is to stick an UV LED in the top 2 corners of the display pointing to the keyboard and add some phosphor to the ink.
I think this is one idea that needs to be quietly shelved, for the sake of mankind (or at least office coworkers).
https://sciencing.com/kind-stains-black-lights-detect-5045775.html
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Sunday 24th December 2017 08:19 GMT Christian Berger
Re: Ordered
"Stick a LED under each key and the battery life is dramatically cut. - Unacceptable"
Actually no, if you that you can radically reduce the brightness of every LED and therefore radically reduce the power you need to drive it. In essence it doesn't matter how many LEDs you need, what matters is the total amount of light you need.
The Pyra, for example, uses a middle ground. It uses some LEDs for the keyboard, with a diffuser in between.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 13:52 GMT Charlie Clark
Re: Ordered
Given the distance from the sceeen I suspect a backlight isn't strictly necessary. I don't think the Psions had one and I don't think it was an issue at the time.
Personally, I don't care too much about the SoC. Unlike so many box shifters Planet has a vested interest in providing a good after-sales experience for this product. The discussions so far relating to the Linux port indicate that those who really need a unix in the pocket will get everything they need. However, loads of Linux-numpties seem to focussing on whether their particular whatever will be available. Not difficult to understand why the Linux market has never functioned in that respect: people seem to want everything but are not willing to pay for it: teenage hobbyists.
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Sunday 24th December 2017 00:24 GMT Martin an gof
Re: Ordered
I don't think the Psions had one and I don't think it was an issue at the time.
Given that the keyboard on my 5mx was good enough to touch-type, I never felt the lack of a backlight. Also, of course, the screen itself was never the brightest (even with the backlight) so the tendency was not to use it in pitch black!
M.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 16:25 GMT harmjschoonhoven
Re: Dvorak keyboard
A Dvorak keyboard layout is fine. But stick to one keyboard layout. Years ago I had a Z-80 with a hand-wired Dvorak keyboard. That worked fine over the weekend, but on monday I had to retrain to the company QWERTY layout. AFAIR the Dvorak layout was tested on an American warhip where all keyboards had that layout with great succes.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 20:38 GMT ThomH
Re: Dvorak keyboard @harmjschoonhoven
I think you've fallen for a common piece of propaganda; the Navy has no record of the trial, and Reason magazine (though, warning: libertarians, so with their own bias towards proving that markets work) sought a copy they managed to obtain it only from an organisation called Dvorak International and noted that:
(i) it has no listed authors;
(ii) it discards out of hand two prior studies that seemed to have the opposite outcome;
(iii) does not fairly compare the QWERTY and Dvorak results it contains, picking alternative summarisations for each that produce better numbers for the latter;
(iv) the Australian Post Office test of Dvorak, which is much better documented, found no improvement;
(v) the Navy experiment was conducted by: Dvorak himself (!); and
(vi) when the study was repeated after the war by the General Services Administration, they got exactly the opposite result: QWERTY was the better layout.
So they concluded that the idea that a worse standard defeated a better one here seems to be a myth. I can see why Dvorak should be better, with most of ETAOIN SHRDLU on the home row (though I don't know what 'L' did to suffer its banishment to the far corner of the keyboard), but it sounds like the empirical evidence might be a myth.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 22:09 GMT handleoclast
Re: Dvorak keyboard @harmjschoonhoven
Upvoted for "ETAOIN SHRDLU." Some of us remember the old days of typography. Others (like me) just remember reading about the old days of typography. Well, I did actually see a typecase in use in a working environment, but I was too young at the time to bother noticing the arrangement of the letters, and wouldn't have figured out why they were arranged that way if I had noticed.
Bonus points if you can name one of the SF authors who used ETAOIN SHRDLU in a story.
Actually, my increasingly faulty memory tells me that one of those SF authors used it in two very different stories. Google confirms one of them, but not the other (which wasn't SF, although it read most of the way through like fantasy). Extra bonus points (and mystery biscuits) if you confirm that memory.
Ob trivia: ETAOIN SHRDLU approximates the order of frequency of the twelve most commonly-used letters in English, so were arranged in that order on a Linotype machine, which meant authors with a background of journalism and/or printing used them in a story. Those relative frequencies makes it a good strategy to use them in that order if you're playing hangman.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 23:28 GMT Mephistro
Re: Dvorak keyboard (@ Handleoclast)
Back in the seventies or eighties, there was an "AI"* program that was able to carry out orders and make descriptions and predictions, in the limited context of a universe populated with basic geometric shapes, and it's name was SHRDLU.
*I was able to code a passable clone in my Commodore 128, hence the comedic quotes around AI. 8^)
Edit: There is a reference in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHRDLU .
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Friday 22nd December 2017 23:50 GMT handleoclast
Re: Dvorak keyboard (@ Handleoclast)
@Mephistro
You'll find there is also a Wikipedia entry for EATOIN SHRDLU, giving its origins.
It seems that the Linotype keyboard has inspired a few things. Whether directly or indirectly is hard to determine. Your "AI" program may have been named directly (as Wikipedia claims) after an obscure typographic fact of Linotype keyboards but may actually have been named (based indirectly on Linotype keyboards) after an SF story by Fredric Brown with the title "ETAION SHRDLU" about a Linotype machine that exhibited AI.
30 {even more obscure journalistic convention]
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Wednesday 27th December 2017 18:37 GMT onefang
Re: Dvorak keyboard
"A Dvorak keyboard layout is fine. But stick to one keyboard layout. Years ago I had a Z-80 with a hand-wired Dvorak keyboard. That worked fine over the weekend, but on monday I had to retrain to the company QWERTY layout."
That's why I'd like a hardwired Dvorak that's pocket portable, just plug it into what ever random computer I have to sit in front of when out and about. Having it's own screen and CPU running Linux makes it useful on it's own. If it doesn't already have one, I'm sure I could whip up a "make this a USB keyboard" app. I've written USB keyboard firmware in the past.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 12:40 GMT Anonymous Coward
...like an old Nokia N 810 then?
That was the best gadget I've ever owned. A Nokia N810 with 2018 specs, with phone, better camera and a version of linux would just tick all the boxes. This Gemini thing looks to be close.
I ran a webserver, PHP and MySQL from one of those - so I could work from my car when I had hours to kill waiting for the wife to finish shopping :)
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Monday 25th December 2017 09:34 GMT Ogi
Oh wow, memories. I had three N810s (two in use, one spare), then a N900 (and I would still be using it if it didn't stop booting for some reason). Proper Linux on them, with the build chain, so you could (and I did) compile programs on it, and because you had a standard X server, you could run any Linux software on them, even open office.
I had one as a combo LAMP server for testing/debugging, with svn repo, DHCP and DNS. I could connect to it via ad-hoc wifi and work away where ever I was (usually via the other N810).
I had another as a portable desktop, and set up the X server to accept remote connections. I could also forward specific applications via SSH X forwarding. So in addition to using it as a portable machine, I could hook up to a network and use it as a desktop PC via a thin client.
This was really powerful, long before the masses were talking of being able to plug a phone into a screen/keyboard and have a full desktop, I already had it running and usable. Even the slow 802.11b wifi was adequate for basic terminal server use (don't go watching video over it). And because they didn't mess around with the Linux OS much, I could have all the desktop Linux software on it with no modification.
Not to mention I could code in any Linux supported language. I hacked Perl/Python/PHP and C on it merrily.
The N900 had a smaller keyboard, which I didn't like much (I prefer the N810 form factor, fits better in my hand) but they added a phone, and the SMS and phone apps could be called via the terminal, so I made little scripts, things like automatically sending "Happy New year", "Merry Christmas" bulk SMSes to my contact list, Also scripted a few "Happy Birthday" auto texts, and would pipe the fortune program to SMS for certain people so they got a "fortune of the day".
Once my N900 died, I had to go with Android. Android has ever since been a poor replacement, a reminder of how far backwards we went with flexibility, power, hackability and freedom. I tried the chroot Linux on it, but it always seemed unreliable, bug prone, and not worth the hassle of hacking it together.
I never had to worry about My Nokias spying on me, or shoving ads down my throat, but it is a constant (and increasingly difficult) task ripping all that crap out of Android to make it usable (but still not an OS I would trust with sensitive data). It is getting harder and harder to be able to reflash ROMs, unfortunately.
That is why This Gemini has held my interest for so long. It is like the next incarnation of the Nokias I had (and going further back, to the original Psion, Jornada 720 and the Libretto 20). I have already decided to get one, but will probably wait until it hits production before I purchase it. The first piece of tech I am quite excited about in a while!
Oh, and Merry Christmas to all of you :-)
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Friday 22nd December 2017 13:48 GMT anthonyhegedus
Two things stand out as speed bumps along the way to getting this accepted, by me at least:
1. If I'm on the phone, I like to be able to quickly glance at a message coming in, or a call waiting. With this device, you have to open it up to check the screen. A really minor point I know, but it did occur to me that it might make it slightly awkward.
2. It's a device for communication. So why no front facing camera? The rear-facing camera I can see as maybe optional, but I like to make video calls to people sometimes. Seems like a serious omission to me.
But apart from that, the convenience of the form factor and keyboard built in probably does over-ride those two points I made. The USP of this device is the form factor. It doesn't actually do anything my phone can't. It's like a Nokia Communicator, but modern.
I used to own a Psion series 5 mx and it was an excellent tool at the time. The form factor was amazing even in 96. The ability to carry just one device for simple note-taking needs to be emphasised or it won't sell though.
I know someone who used a 5mx until last year for taking patient notes - he's a psychiatrist - and he loved it. Only problem was getting the notes off the thing. He has hundreds of files, and each one needs to be tediously exported to word, one at a time.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 14:09 GMT RNixon
When I first saw this I thought it would be a good companion to a smartwatch. The watch makes up for the lack of an external screen by showing notifications and having convenient music controls and such.
There is a selfie-cam in it, specifically for video calls - they've demo'd that at a few events.
I have one on order, and plan on replacing my Blackberry Priv with it. The only thing that concerns me is using it for navigation - some sort of fairly funky dash mount will be needed, I think.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 15:12 GMT John Smith 19
" like to be able to quickly glance at a message coming in, or a call waiting. "
Umm.
The lights on the front can be customized for whatever.
I'd expect you can set them up for caller on hold, text, IM
Wheather you can flag individual numbers as "High Priority" PHB/Dealer/BF/GF/Legal married partner, is another matter.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 14:00 GMT Charlie Clark
Thanks
Dear Andrew,
a quick note of thanks for pointing this product out early in the year and providing updates. Such a refreshing idea in this age of identikit smartphones. Kudos to Planet for their openness about design and development. I'm looking forward to receiving my Gemini fairly soon but would point out to any potential customers that all Indiegogo is somewhat risky: you might end up empty-handed. This is not to suggest that Planet is anything other than serious, just that you have virtually no recourse if things don't work out.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 22:13 GMT handleoclast
Re: Thanks
Sheesh, am I that drunk? Already?
I could have sworn I just saw somebody thanking Andrew Orlowski for one of his phone(ish) reviews. I must have stumbled into a different universe when I staggered to the toilet. Back in my old universe, Andrew usually gets slagged for his phone reviews. :)
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Wednesday 27th December 2017 18:44 GMT yourtechjohn
Re: Terminal
It'll have a pair of usb c ports. I've already seen usb-c to db9/rs232 serial port cables (Tripp-Lite makes one).
You can boot directly into linux, or run linux on android. There's also serial terminals apps for android itself, though I've never been too impressed with those. However, that might be because I usually don't have a good keyboard on android. My main use of android serial has been by connecting to a bluetooth serial port attached to a raspberry pi. It's kind of fun to have a headless pi, pull out your phone and watch the pi boot up, then log in and get it working with wifi in a new location.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 15:15 GMT John Smith 19
Interesting display. But not a word on the elephant in the room.....
Batteries.
One of the nicest things about Psions were they could run off regular batteries.
I know. Consumer expectations...Can act as a phone as well..
So any word on battery life (with or without phone option)?
Any word on battery replaceibility?
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 13:22 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Interesting display. But not a word on the elephant in the room.....
> Removable Li-Ion 4220mAh battery
This is "removable" in the sense that "you don't need to take it to a shop to get it replaced", but not in the sense of "you can carry a spare one and swap it on the go". It involves pulling off a ribbon cable I believe.
However, they do plan to make a clip-on battery expansion pack.
One of the reasons for the size chosen is that there are limitations sending anything much larger through the post.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 16:14 GMT Charlie Clark
Re: Interesting display. But not a word on the elephant in the room.....
Comparison with a Psion isn't really realistic because full-colour screen as opposed to passive LCD and radios. But the spec suggests that the device should be good for at least a day's real work: ie. at least several hours with the keyboard. Should outclass a lot of other devices with similar size but the productivity boost is the real winner.
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Thursday 28th December 2017 10:06 GMT Piro
Re: Want one ... but will it sell?
I would imagine the exact opposite will happen with regards to price if it fails: I reckon it will rise sharply as it becomes a collector's piece, a unique device with a following.
Just look at the Motorola Photon Q, a phone from 2012 that is STILL today in 2017 the best landscape slider that exists. People still mod these to include a SIM slot (it was only available on one network, with an embedded SIM).
It's just getting slow with the newer OSes and bloated websites of today with its dual core 1.5GHz Krait and 1GB of RAM.
If there continued to be more phones like it, it would have basically no value today. The Gemini fills a slightly different need, since it is much larger, but I feel like for most people who wanted a phone with a decent keyboard, it's going to be close enough/be the only modern alternative anyway.
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Monday 1st January 2018 04:31 GMT nautica
Re: Want one ... but will it sell?
"...I can't think of any Penguinista who wouldn't want one of these..."
Are you prepared to 'root' the device?
Would you know how to 'root' the device?
Neither can I think of any "penguinista" who wouldn't want one of these, as long as it were a TRUE LINUX DEVICE, and not something that runs Linux under Android.
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Friday 22nd December 2017 21:01 GMT Tom Paine
Stupid ****ing IndieGoGo code
I rushed straight over tonchipbin $25 but the sodding IndieGoGo backend rejects my perfectly accurate postcode, probably because it's \w\w\d \d\w\w and they are fuckwits who think all UK "zip codes" start with two letters and two digits. Sorry chaps, I'd like to help, but you evidently picked a shit crowdfunding site.
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 13:35 GMT Doctor Syntax
Re: No double-quote or period keys?
"Am I just overlooking them, or are the double-quote and period keys actually missing from the keyboard layout?"
Presumably double-quote is where it normally is, shift-2. Is that the period on the / key? Confusing if it is. But for something intended to run Linux where have \ and | gone?
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 09:54 GMT Anonymous Coward
delivery and customs to the UK?
This is a worthy upgrade to my trusty 9210i which is looking very battered these days. How much would delivery to the UK cost and what would customs charge? Do recall being stung £150 by customs for an mp3 player I ordered in 1992. Isn't there some kind of trade deal with the US now or am I in the wrong part of the wrong timeline.
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 12:34 GMT Doctor Syntax
Re: delivery and customs to the UK?
"How much would delivery to the UK cost and what would customs charge?"
From Companies House:
Name & Registered Office:
PLANET COMPUTERS LIMITED
228A HIGH STREET
BROMLEY
ENGLAND
BR1 1PQ
Company No. 10468629
I don't know of any customs barriers between Bromley and the rest of the UK but with things going the way they are anything could happen.
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Saturday 30th December 2017 22:52 GMT werdsmith
Re: delivery and customs to the UK?
I don't know of any customs barriers between Bromley and the rest of the UK but with things going the way they are anything could happen
I don't think 228a High St Bromley is anything other than a registered office address provided by a firm of accountants above a Domino's Pizza shop.
But the prestigious address at Blandel Bridge House, Sloane Sq. SW1 might be getting warmer.
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 12:09 GMT gurugeorge
Sorry but I will not buy this as
1.it doesn't have FaceTime and isn't made by Apple. How do you get AppleCare on this if it's not made by Apple.
2. I can't see an apple logo, so I can't use iMessage
3. How do you connect to the App Store without Apple?
4. I won't be able to use all the amazing Apple technology like airplay, CarPlay, airdrop etc. Honestly I'd rather spend the $400 on Apple AirPods so I don't need a cable. Yes you can get better rated Bluetooth headphones for a fiver but what's the point if it's not Apple
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Saturday 23rd December 2017 21:28 GMT Joe Gurman
Erm, "inside pocket?"
Perhaps I'm not sufficiently familiar with the language as spoken in Blighty, but does that refer to the inside of a man's suit or sport jacket pocket? If so, where do women and men without such attire put the device when not using it? There is a reason the smartphone (range of) form factor(s) took off, isn't there?
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Sunday 24th December 2017 10:42 GMT The Infamous Grouse
I've had one of these on order since the Indiegogo went live, my reasoning being that even if it fell short of its goals there's nothing else remotely like it on the market. But with each iteration they seem to bring it even closer to my ideal vision for a 21st century Psion, and now that I can see how visually similar the custom calendar app is to EPOC Agenda (still the best PIM I've ever used) it's almost perfect.
Of course as with any crowdfunded project there's always the chance we've been snakeoiled, and that the whole thing will collapse at the eleventh hour, and I will live with that constant possibility until the day it arrives or is officially killed off. But at least I can be reasonably sure that if this thing gets delivered it's going to be amazing.
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Sunday 24th December 2017 18:29 GMT Will Godfrey
Very Interesting
If it can run purely as a Linux device I'm in. It seems exactly what I want as a general purpose personal assistant (without any stupid AI).
Also, being dextrously challenged with fat dry fingers, touch screens are virtually unusable for me - indeed such a 'smart' phone was the only electronic device I ever lost my temper with.
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Wednesday 3rd January 2018 14:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Very Interesting
Am wondering how/if the phone will work when Linux is booted.
Quite probably not at all, but there is a chance that either libhybris/halium or plasma will eventually make it work (links on page 3 of the article).
Otherwise, there's a reasonable chance that at least it would work as a built-in 3G/4G data dongle, and you can run Skype or Hangouts on top of that.
Running a Linux chroot userland on top of the Android kernel is probably the path of least resistance though, for having a Linux system with full phone functionality.
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Monday 25th December 2017 17:41 GMT Anonymous Coward
Looks like one of the devices Nokia would have made
Had it not been led astray for a few years by Microsoft during the so-called 'strategic partnership' under Stephen Elop.
I would imagine it running Meego, before transitioning to Android.
Side note:
I wish the manufacturers wouldn't be so snobbish about certain features e.g. FM radio, IR blaster, 3.5mm audio jack, dual SIM, removable battery etc. I know you want the device to be slim and sleek, and minimal bezels are the fad now.
But sometimes you just need to get back to basics.
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Tuesday 26th December 2017 16:37 GMT Adrian 4
Re: Looks like one of the devices Nokia would have made
Have you considered that killing that line of very usable devices from a popular and well-known manufacturer was not the fallout of Elop's mission but the point of it ?
Of course, as always, Microsoft couldn't provide an adequate replacement for what they destroyed.
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Monday 25th December 2017 18:19 GMT Mage
Remember the Nokia Communicator N9200?
Nokia could have done this 10 years ago. But the people doing Communicator, S80 / Crystal etc lost politically to the dead end S60 and they made the E65 and then 5800. Blah.
There were other gadgets like this 10 years ago.
Is there a market AT THAT PRICE, or do we just need a decent clip on for a smart phone that can be USB hub and accept charging and be a decent QWERTY. Why is every small Bluetooth keyboard garbage? I've only ever found one decent small keyboard, which was USB for a shelf on 19" rack to have mouse space. A slightly smaller Folio USB keyboard is nothing like as good yet still far better than the BT keyboards which have rotten action, sleep too soon, take too long to pair or wake and usually have no way to type accented letters on UK or US layout.
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Friday 29th December 2017 12:04 GMT DJO
Re: Right to Left language use? Not according to the Welcome Screen
As that's in software I would think they want to get it working properly L to R before working on R to L.
The bulk of the interest has come from UK, USA & Japan which are all L to R. The first batch is going to backers and if there are no R to Ls in that selection there's no point in wasting too much effort to get it into the first batch however I'd be very surprised if that wasn't sorted by the time it goes retail.
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Wednesday 27th December 2017 12:00 GMT Craig McGill 1
Gemini will ship in 30 flavours - are they mental?
That seems a tad extreme - the variation and complexity there is surely OTT and will give them manufacturing grief...
(I always liked the Sony consumer kit trick of a base model, base model plus £50/£75 and then a third model at £50/$75 above that - was simple and you knew the differences.)
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Thursday 28th December 2017 10:01 GMT Piro
Re: Almost there
Fighting cameras? Not sure that's a feature I needed.
If you meant 'dual' cameras for stereoscopic imaging, I think that's a waste of money.
Waterproof, nah, it'd probably wreck the keyboard feel. Stylus? Maybe, no Bezel? Not critical, but a nice to have, although some space alongside the screen for decent stereo speakers would be more useful than eliminating all the bezel.
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Wednesday 27th December 2017 23:03 GMT depscribe
Blackberry isn't Blasckberry anymore and doesn't support anything running the Blackberry OS. Apple has taken a wicked authoritarian turn that puts MSFT at its worst to shame. So I really hope this takes off, for two reasons:
1. Otherwise I'm out $450 (including shipping to the U.S. from, I guess, Mars).
2. What else is there? This is the only new phone/PDA/palmtop for grownups I've seen in forever.
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Friday 29th December 2017 01:42 GMT tcmonkey
If this had released a little earlier, I would have been very tempted. In the end I bought a GPD Pocket, which is a little larger but is x86 based and thus will run practically any modern OS one chooses to throw at it (dual boot full Windows/Linux in a palmtop form is very nice).
All this being said, I am absolutely in support of these guys for keeping the Psion dream alive. I was rather sad when they stopped making devices.
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Tuesday 2nd January 2018 09:53 GMT BinkyTheMagicPaperclip
Open hardware?
It looks really good, but the sticking point is how open the hardware is. Anyone dropping money on Android based hardware should ask what the plan is when the manufacturer stops supporting it.
I don't want 'Linux on Android' - I want to be able to boot a bare metal OS, and very preferably without firmware blobs, so that at some point e.g. BSD can run on it.
I loved the Psion hardware, but it isn't the 90s any more, and connectivity/security is important. I want this to be a computer, not another phone which becomes unusable after two years due to a lack of updates.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
