MishMash

First Linux phone out

Gizmodo:

Surely pleasing the Slashdot Set, the first cellphone running Linux is out, at least in Asia. Motorola's A760 looks a bit like an old school Handspring Treo, has integrated Bluetooth, but lacks both a built-in keyboard or even a numbered keypad for dialing (you gotta use the touchscreen for that).

The full article at the Register reveals that the phone runs linux as a core OS, and has a Java framework on top of that, so the presence of Linux is more or less incidental and this is really a win for the Java platform.

Tablets aren't laptops

So why would this 14" beast be

what looks like one of best Tablet PCs yet

It needs to be small, thin, light, cool running, and have long battery life. It needs to work as a pure tablet: a keyboard hidden inside is wasted space and weight.

This looks to me like a laptop with a swivel screen. And that looks to me like a sure fire way of convincing people that tablets are pointless.

*Sigh*.

Uses for picture phones

So who says picture phones are useless (BBC)? Hardly an application which will generate enough revenue for the phone manufacturers and networks to pay for development, but hey, it's a start.