ubuntu-us-ohio team mailing list archive

[Jacob Peddicord <jpeddicord@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been looking for a tablet for a couple of months now, and saw
this one pop up today. It looks decent, and the $350 is reasonable,
but I'm not sure how much it will be able to compete with the $250
Galaxy Tab 2 (and somewhat the Kindle Fire). If they actually license
Google Apps (Gmail, Maps, etc) for the tablet then it could sell well,
otherwise if it's just AOSP Android it'll probably be more of a
developer toy. Not really a bad thing. Personally I'm going to keep
waiting.

Also, it's Saturday morning already? Yikes.

On Sat, May 19, 2012 at 12:07 AM, Stephen Michael Kellat
<skellat@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Good Saturday morning team!  Anybody have thoughts on the news below?
> Either sound off on-list or call 702-714-0397 to leave a voicemail I can
> play on LISTen.  Text messages should go to 440-361-0947.
>
> SMK
>
> ----- Original message -----
> From: Daniel Clem <clem11388@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: ubuntu-tablet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Ubuntu-tablet] Zareason is making a 10 inch Open Tablet called
>       ZaTab!!
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 23:50:41 -0400
>
> Firstly, sorry if this is a repeat message, I tried sending once, but
> was with an email that wasn't registered on Launchpad. So I don't think
> it posted properly. I hope it doesn't bother the moderators.
>
> Most likely alot of the people on this list have already seen the
> article on OMG!Ubuntu. But Just wanted to put the info about it here
> also and link to the ZaTab page.
>
> ARM A8 Cortex CPU @ 1.2Ghz (Single core)
> Mali400 GPU (Handles 1080p, 3D games etc)
> 1GB DDR3 RAM
> 16GB internal storage
> 9.7? (1024×768) capacitive touch-screen
> 14 hour* battery life
> Front and back cameras
> Metal-back casing
> Weighs 630 grams
> Wi-Fi
> Headphone, MicroSD card, 2x microUSB ports, and 1x microHDMI port
>
> Link to the ZaTab page: http://zareason.com/shop/zatab.html
>
> And its only $349. Much cheaper than the Transformer is (we are talking
> new hardware, not refurbished) And this would be entirely open. Zareason
> offers it with NO Operating System at all, or with Android 4.0.3. They
> actually state on the page,
>
>    "Some manufacturers consider "root" to be a four-letter-word. We
> don't. The ZaTab is an open device. The bootloader is unlocked. Root
> access is available. We welcome the community to develop custom ROMs and
> port other Linux distros to the ZaTab."
>
> What more could we ask for?? Yes the CPU is single core, but Ubuntu is
> native code and doesn't need as much power, and with the Mali400 GPU
> being as powerful as it is. The CPU only being 1.2 single core would be
> just fine. What ya say guys?? :-D
>
>      P.S. Side note for those that might be concerned about the Mali400
> using a proprietary driver, this is the same GPU as in the Vivaldi
> Tablet. There is a reverse-engineering project to get a full driver
> stack for the different Mali GPU's (they are said be to very easy to
> write for due to their logical and simple design) and if the Ubuntu team
> got together with the reverse-engineering dev's and the (Vivaldi Tablet
> dev's to help with testing) then the Mali GPU's could be the best ones
> on the market for Open Hardware. And the Mali's are used in SOOO much
> hardware, from dirt cheap chinese tablets, up to some high-end Samsung
> smart phones (different spec's of course, but would only be tiny
> differences in the drivers) So having great open source drivers could
> really open up so many possibilities for the hackers out there that love
> finding and playing with new open hardware. Just a bit of a side note :)
>
> Link to an article about "Freedom based" Open Source Mali drivers:
> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=arm_mali_reverse&num=2
> <http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=arm_mali_reverse&num=2>
>
> --
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>
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-- 
Jacob Peddicord
http://jacob.peddicord.net/
https://launchpad.net/~jpeddicord