Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

A surprise move from Sharp: the long-awaited (by some) successor to the Zaurus, a new clamshell "MID" running Android, with a beautiful 5" 960x480 screen, a Snapdragon CPU and plenty of goodies:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/30/s...au-to-android/

Engadget goes "meh", which is a pretty good omen in my book :-)

Also there will be a "developer-friendly" version dubbed DK01 where the OS is replaceable. Maybe we will see Maemo, Mer and/or Meego on it ?

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Some beautiful things happenning in 2010.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

OMG, 960x480 screen isn't a myth...

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

That's a step in the right direction. Hope to see Sharp back on top soon! Long live the Z.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Just incredible. The Zauruses were obviously very ahead of their time. Good to see Sharp back in the game. I am definitely disappointed that it comes w/ Android 1.6 this late in the release cycle. Looks like a great candidate for a MeeGo port. In the parlance of George Bluth, "Have you seen that screen, you could hump that screen."

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

My thoughts exactly.

It's unfortunate that http://www.oesf.org, the last home (I knew of) to the Zaurus user community, suddenly disappeared a week or so ago...bad timing ! :-)

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

4GB of internal memory is not excited...

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

How Android closed driver can be used in MeeGo?

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

with T-Mobile USA 3G, full voice/txt capability, and an upgrade to Android 2.1, I'd be all in.

That's almost exactly what I want in a phone. 4-5" screen, lots of resolution, 5 row qwerty. About the only thing missing is either an E-90 type dual screen, or an HTC-Universal type swivel screen.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Now that's unexpected. Good to see Sharp is thinking ahead, though I shudder to think what they'll want as a premium.

Entirely possible, if Sharp is open enough with the drivers.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Well, I do recall Sharp ’not getting it’ with regard to binary drivers in the Zaurus days :( And folks, this is a MID, no voice, just data (might both be an advantage and a disadvantage depending on what you’re looking for). As for storage, 4GB looks tiny compared to the N900s generous 32GB, but in Android land, that’s considered plenty.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

well, if it can do video calls, it probably has a mic and a speaker... and with a headset, it can probably be used with Google Voice... so, it may be data only, but it still might be up to the task. Again, just need T-Mobile USA 3G on it.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

if this was a slider instead of clamshell i'd be a winner for me

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

This would be totally awesome with Ubuntu running on it :D

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Wow noce to see Sharp back in the game - after they quit with the Zaurus line and went backl to the edictionarries only for quite some time.

I guess this is where most companies falter - the software side.
Sharp had great hardware in the Zaurus (for its time) , but on the software size quile Qtopia was good - they couldnt carry it forward.

Now with Android all these companies (Motorola included) are getting a new lease of life - since they dont have to worry about the software side.

And this is where I applaud Nokia - in pushing an open source Mobile OS forward - it is a difficult task - the Zaurus being a testatment to that.
And if the new Sharp devices can run Maemo / MeeGo some day - all the more a sweet victory. I loved the Zauruses in its time (still have my Zaurus C750) and Maemo now.

Oh that news about oesf.org being down and out is bad news. They were the last standing champions of the Zaurus.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

How t he hell do you make a phone call with this thing lol.Is there an external screen or phone call or you'll have to use it like a laptop holding it like in the picture to answer the phone call?

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

There seems to be a phone-looking button on the top-left of the keyboard and this article talks about "talk time". Personally I don't care if it supports voice or not, as long as it doesn't sacrifice too much in order to fit into the "phone" mould like the N900.

The keyboard layout also looks much better than anything available on Maemo devices so far, though some choices seem awkward (eg Tab on the Q key and ESC on the right side). Is that a trackball near the top?

I'm already sold on the form factor, the questions remaining are whether it will be open enough to run a real OS and whether we will be able to get it in the western world for a reasonable price.

Hey, there are "proper" netbooks out there with half that. Don't ignore the microSD slot either.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Without getting lost in terminology, I mean it’s not a put-to-your-head-and-talk kind of device. No arguing on the importance on a nice big keyboard, though.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Hell no :-)

The entire point is that it's NOT yet another phone-type slider... it's a rare example of a return to the glory days of clamshells, a form factor that is seldom "done right", but that many who knew the HP LX, Psion and Zaurus devices still regret...

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

The thing is, it's not a phone :-)

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

That's what headsets are for

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Indeed. Either they didn't "get" the open source and community-building side of things, or they didn't have the will to make it corporate policy, like Nokia did.

Unfortunately, Android is a very ambiguous beast where openness is concerned, IMHO.

That is my hope, yes. The commercial impact would probably be marginal, as Sharp usually doesn't market theses devices outside Japan. But it would be a tangible signal of what Meego is all about, and would send a strong signal to others...

Well, there was no advance warning, so it's still not clear to me if it has been shut down intentionally or if it's a problem with the lease on the domain name having expired (it's happened before :-). Maybe there's a chance it will reappear...

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

I am a Zaurus user, SL-5500 and then SL-C1000.

This would have been incredibly desirable 5 years ago but the clam shell form factor is now so archaic that it would a PITA to use. Either make it a slider keyboard or a tablet like the C1000.

The screen is beautiful and seems to be multi touch with pinch and zoom which kind of makes the trackball feature a bit redundant.

Also there is a front facing camera for video calls.

Check out the videos and info here
http://translate.google.co.uk/transl...n&hl=&ie=UTF-8

This could be a winner for me were it not for that clam shell.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

zenwalker?

anyways, i would not mind seeing a version without the mobile radio.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

@tso unlikely since this is based on the Snapdragon which contains both apps core and baseband

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

i didnt know snapdragon had evdo built in.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Actually I quite like the look of that, approx Psion 5 size replacement, sounds good to me. I wonder if it has a GPS and digital compass.....?

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

well heck, indeed it does:
http://www.qctconnect.com/products/snapdragon.html

and by the looks of it, the QSD8650 and the more recent dual core QSD8672 actually supports both EVDO and HSPA, so i guess it mostly comes down to the available antenna, and software.

if sharp is smart, they will make a export model available with drivers installed that enable the HSPA part of the snapdragon.

or maybe we will see conics.net or similar do that for them, tho that will probably apply a premium :(

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Fat chance :-(

Better chance :-)

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Some good news about oesf.org for those interested:

http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?p=39543

It is indeed a DNS problem (again). There is a potential workaround if you're not going through a proxy.

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Update: oesf.org is back, alive & kicking :-)

Re: Sharp IS01: the Zaurus is back, sort of...
 

Like has been said, the world is awash with sliders. Who needs another one?

Everyone said the HTC Universal would have been a much better all-rounder if it had a front mounted keypad and secondary display. The whole world is mourning the lack of a Communicator from Nokia since the E90 was discontinued.

The Toshiba G910 was a good idea ruined by poor firmware and abysmal support.

There is much demand for a well thought out clamshell. It makes the device rugged for life on the road with that precious display safely out of harm's way until you need it. But it is difficult to get right.