Archive for the ‘Linux’ Category
Recently we featured Qtopia Linux flavoured PDA OS offerred by Trolltech. One of Trolltech corporate customers utilizing Trolltech’s Linux technbology is Sharp who has been producing great Linux-based PDAs in the market for quite some time.
Overall
Zaurus is Sharp’s popular Linux-based range of PDA and one of the leading Linux PDA offered by Sharp is Zaurus SL-C3100, which is an update of Zaurus SL-C3000.
Interestingly, Zaurus SL-C3100 is a second hadrdrive-based PDA by Sharp, with 4GB comes as standard. Sounds very familiar to Palm’s LifeDrive 4GB that we featured here before.
The built-in Flash ROM had been upgraded 64MB up to 128MB which is great for running applications software faster. In terms of software upgrade, more Japanese-language are added, a reflection of Sharps strategy for its target Japanese consumer market.
The rest of thew features are the similar as Zaurus SL C3000.
At the time this model was launched, most online stores were sell the SL-C3100 for $900, compared to Palm’s 4GB-equipped LifeDrive sells for about $500, mainly due to its status as imported product from Japan.
Specs
XScale PXA270 CPU at 416MHz
640×480 transreflective touch screen, 3.7″ diagonal, backlit
4 GB internal hard drive (3.6 GB formatted, 2.9 GB available as shipped)
128 MB SDRAM (for running applications)
16 MB Internal Flash (for storage of OS [?])
USB host capability, albeit not well supported
Weight 298g, Size 128×87x24 mm
Compact Flash (CF-II) and Secure Digital (SD) expansion slots
Infra-Red port
3.5mm stereo audio out, plus small built-in speaker
Landscape/Clamshell or portrait style, hot-switchable
Full QWERTY keyboard with bonus Japanese characters
Operating System: Linux kernel 2.4.20 from Lineo
Graphical User Interface (GUI): Qtopia 1.5.4 from Trolltech
Suite of Personal Information Management (PIM) applications
Hancom Mobile Office
Broad compatibility with established Sharp Zaurus software base
Yes, PDA operating systems are not just about Palm OS and Pocket PC. Linux can also run on PDAs. Leading the pack in Linux-based operating system for mobile devices is a Norway-based high-technology company called Trolltech. Its flagship product, Qtopia is an innovative Linux-based solution that allows efficient creation of mobile and embedded devices.
The Qtopia 4 Series, the latest generation Qtopia product family, is a robust and proven development environment, which is inherited from Trolltech’s leading application framework, Qt. Just like any other open software product, full source codes and documentation are available allowing developers to easily modify Qtopia and integrate other technologies to create distinctive software application for their own devices.
Qtopia is used in many hand held devices developed by various technology companies such as Sony, Motorolla, ZTE and Sharp just to name a few. Type of devices running Qtopia includes. but not limited to, mobile phone, globalk positioning system (GPS) and of course PDAs.
We shall look into some of these Linux powered PDAs in our future reviews, so stay tuned. Read more about Qtopia and Trolltech here.