SlashGear Japan
Take some known innovators in the tech world, put them in a room with some felt-tip pens, paper and the command to mash up a few topical niches, and you might end up with the seven-strong group that today announced their intention to bring a Linux-based UMPC to the market in early 2009.
As well as Mozilla, ARM and Samsung, partners include Texas Instruments, MontaVista, Movial and Marvell Technologies – Microsoft, despite coining the UMPC moniker, is conspicuous by its absence – and the device they have in their sights is an open-source version of Nokia’s N800 Internet Tablet. Namely, a compact unit that relies on internet applications rather than demanding standalone software.
“You can attach to the web and do email and browsing without all the baggage of a PC and Windows and Office. There are web-based alternatives to all that” Jim Ready, CTO MontaVista
The eventual result would be a reference platform comprising of chip design, Debian-based Linux distro, MontaVista’s OS, Mozilla’s browser and then integrated hardware management and wireless networking along with a basic set of entertainment software. They expect to finalise the platform’s development early 2008.
One Response to “Mozilla, ARM and Samsung collaborate on Linux UMPC”
Karel Jansens October 4, 2007
In what way exactly are these dudes going to make their stuff more open source than the N800?
Neutral