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View Full Version : ipod-touch like device for ubuntu/linux?



comethalley
February 26th, 2010, 08:14 PM
I have to admit, I kind of loved my ipod touch. It was relatively cheap, portable, and so easy to just pull out of my pocket and look something up on my web. I just hated how apple was sooooooo restrictive. I felt like a criminal just for jailbreaking my own device so I could customize it and stuff. Plus, I've heard ipods are crazy to use w/ Linux. I've just made the switch to Ubuntu, and I definitely don't want to go back. So my itouch just died. I was wondering if anyone knows of something similar that's more open - I actually don't care about playing music or games, I just want something pocket sized (without a phone contract) that surfs the web and costs 150-300 dollars. The more extra features/power, the cooler.

wildman4god
February 26th, 2010, 08:45 PM
I hear phillips is working on one that runs android and has a 3.2 inch screen, no word yet on pricing, launch or even it's name.

BuffaloX
February 26th, 2010, 09:11 PM
What about the SmartQ 5 MID?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26366

It's often shown with a pen, but it works fine with a finger too, judging from the many YouTube videos.

comethalley
February 26th, 2010, 10:43 PM
Thanks!
I'll look out for the phillips device!
I've heard of the smartq 5, and from what I've read the reviews are pretty negative...??? Have you heard better things about it? It is pretty cheap!

BuffaloX
February 27th, 2010, 12:59 AM
Seems the SmartQ5 has some problems with software not quite ready yet.

I mistook it for another device I saw about a month ago, that was also Arm and 5" and available in USA, but now I can't find it. #-o

darrenn
February 28th, 2010, 05:58 AM
Found it! Wasn't looking for it but im sure you will definitely be interested in this.


iLet Mini HAL

Shipping 1 March 2010 $199

Specificatiions

1. CPU: VIA ARM with Freescale MX Integration 600MHz

2. 7" TFT LCD TOUCH SCREEN /Resolution: 800*480

3. Multimedia Codes: Supports MP3/Audio Format ,AVI, Motion JPEG/Video Format supports word docs, excel, powerpoint,youtube, games, several video formats,ePub, text, html eBook formats,

4. RAM: 128MB DDR2

5. HARD DISK: 2GB NAND FLASH, Supports to 32GB Flash or 250GB USB

6. Communication: Ethernet 10/100M, WIFI:802.11B/G, 3G USB optional

7. Ports list:
SD x 1(support up to 32G HCSD)
USB x 2
Stereo Audio out x 1
Microphone in x 1

8. Audio: High-Fidelity stereo speaker output

9. 16 hours activive battery - 72 hours standby

10. Software: Ocean Android OS (Upgradable) plus Many Pre-Loaded Apps

11. 10GB Cloud Storage via Halerons iConnect

Colors: Black or White

Software: Android Apps. Free Apps at iConnect




http://haleron.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=20&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=63&vmcchk=1&Itemid=63

comethalley
February 28th, 2010, 11:11 PM
Wow, that does look awesome!:p

oleink
March 26th, 2010, 12:16 AM
the smartq v5 may have fixed the bugs for the most part and you cant argue with ubuntu mid!:popcorn:

NightHawk877
March 26th, 2010, 02:28 AM
Have you looked at Cowon's S9, D2 or Samsung's YP-P3? I have the D2 and a friend of mine who owns an iTouch was impressed with my D2 when Rockboxed it. All three devices are compatible with Linux as they are MTP/UMS compliant.

Austin25
March 26th, 2010, 02:46 AM
I use a home-brewed ds, but a Pandora (http://www.open-pandora.org/) would be perfect.

oleink
March 26th, 2010, 03:40 AM
Check out archos! Archos 5 is a beast. Also a company I've been following for a long time is creative labs but they haven't used their new lab enough yet. Check out the zii egg it is very similar to the ipod touch but outdoes it 10fold. Also there are rumors of something from sandisk called the sansa tap

oleink
March 26th, 2010, 03:45 AM
Oh and google "umpc" and "mid" and you can find alot more

teKro
March 26th, 2010, 05:08 AM
I was thinking of saving up for a 64gb iPod touch but after looking at the Archos 5 and the Zii Egg I am probably going to go with one of those since all I really wanted the iPod for was to upgrade from my 2gb 2nd gen iPod nano and to surf the web.

Lightstar
March 26th, 2010, 06:33 AM
I'm shopping for the same kind of device.
So far, Archos 5 Internet Tablet is the one that caught my interest, but it's kinda expensive.

I wish the zii egg would come out.

madjr
March 26th, 2010, 09:28 AM
What about the SmartQ 5 MID?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26366

It's often shown with a pen, but it works fine with a finger too, judging from the many YouTube videos.

i think is pretty cool it comes with both ubuntu midd and android, you can really do anything with this

havent seen anything bad in the videos

not bad for the price

madjr
March 26th, 2010, 09:42 AM
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32827

oops , this one is the one with android, linux mid and even win ce

oleink
March 26th, 2010, 03:27 PM
I agree with madjr. It is quite a good device and the bugs are fixed compared with just the 5. The 5 had firmware updates that fixed the bugs anyway but the v5 should work no problems out of the box:popcorn:

oleink
March 27th, 2010, 03:42 AM
Also the archos 4 is coming out soon. Pretty much the archos 5 but .6 inches smaller and it should be around 150 bucks hopefully. They were saying its expected next month but idk if itll be that soon

macogw
March 27th, 2010, 04:18 AM
I just want to address "ipods are crazy to use on Linux."

No, they're not. The older stuff all works fine. The iPod Touch and iPhone should both be supported by 10.04.

oleink
April 1st, 2010, 10:16 PM
Also there is a lot of stuff "in the works" I list seven of them in the community cafe

cprofitt
April 1st, 2010, 10:17 PM
not sure if anyone mentioned the Zii Egg yet

http://www.zii.com/Developer/Landing.aspx

doorknob60
April 2nd, 2010, 03:12 AM
I just want to address "ipods are crazy to use on Linux."

No, they're not. The older stuff all works fine. The iPod Touch and iPhone should both be supported by 10.04.

This, I've been successfully using my iPod Touch on Arch for at least a month now. Yeah, there's probably better and more open source friendly options out there, but it's hard to argue with all the selection of games on the App Store (and jailbreaking makes them....well....more easily available...). But I know the Android marketplace is quickliy becoming a major competitor to the App Store, and Android can run on anything, so watch out for any Android devices of course (I know I will be) :)

oleink
April 11th, 2010, 02:50 AM
Personally besides the ipod touch i really prefer sansa for simple music listening. The ipod touch is a fail for music but the zii egg is amazing