News Sharp to launch ultra-mini netbook

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/08/28/sharp-to-launch-ultra-mini-netbook/1

Sharp is set to launch a device which it believes sits between smartphones and netbooks - a 5" touchscreen unit running Ubuntu 9.04.

 

Nice!

I expect this will cost more than the average netbook though, which means I won't be getting one. Low cost is where it's at - you can get a refurbished Aspire One now for just over £100!

 

5" screen? How utterly useless and unusable.

 

it depends really - different users have different needs.

 

Interesting, all depends on how much it costs really but I'm very interested in a device this small.

 

Yup, because the iPhone screen is just awful to use isn't it?

I am failing to see how it could remotely be classed as a Smartphone however without the slightest bit of phone functionality...

 

Why said it was a smartphone?

 

Bit-Tech did:

 

Yes it is.
Useless for word processing or internet browsing (having to zoom in and out all the time). It's only suitable for small specialist apps.
This 5" netbook is too large to be a phone or mp3 player, but too small to be used as a PC. Sure the high res screen will give crisp images, but they'd be too small to be usable. Unless you increase font/icon size etc, but then you'd need a bigger screen to fit them all in.
It would do my head in trying to use it.

 

Ah, I see what you mean. Although arguably you could have made the same point by saying it sits between a Netbook and a cheesecake. It's the computing capabilities of a netbook in something as portable as a cheesecake.

I just got rather excited reading the title thinking of a SIM-enabled mini-Netbook, and was rather dissapointed when it's actually just a small netbook.

 

The only reason we stick with x86 platforms is software compatibility, and this ain't an x86 platform. Perhaps "netbook" isn't the best name for it, as it won't have access to anything like the range of software an x86 device like an Atom. On the other hand, it's not really feasible to make an x86 device with the power to performance ratio of an Arm.

And just to head off the inevitable at the pass - no, you can't just take x86 code, other than in the most trivial cases, and recompile it for Arm. The Linux types will tell you you can, but frankly they can't even make native x86 compilation easy so christ knows what this'll be like. On the upside, the Sharp Zaurus did quite well out of this scenario, but it was certainly a case of hacking software about an awful lot before it'd cross-compile.

P

 

The picture on the right is a pretty dark shade of white.

I completely disagree with Buick. The iPhone/iTouch is not too bad to browse the internet actually. Of course the screen reflects awefully much, zooming can be a bit annoying and Flash would be nice to have but I quite enjoy using my iTouch outside to quickly check my mails and/or certain pages I know are not Flash-based.

This thing [the Sharp ultra-mini-super-portable-hyped-up-marketing-buzz device] will win or die by its price.

 

This is running Ubuntu, there is a rather large repository of apps available preset for this platform so that is a non-issue.

 

I could never use something so small! I'd get RSI in seconds, not to mention I wouldn't be able to 'type straight'... It is quite a funky looking thing though!

 

i guess the smaller netbooks will not cater to all except mostly to those "looky how small and portable my pc is, im uber" lol, a 5" screen is too small for me, and I second that - RSI , for me its one of those cool gadgets a geek could have and show off to their none geeky/techy friends, but for an effective and productive use, id rather go with a larger one

 

PANDORA Cheesecake!!!

 

sorry if Im going that small then Im going with a cell phone with PDA functions lol, nope I think I would go no smaller then my current 10" screen, unless its a screen that goes over my eyes or like that one scientist is working on a screen thats inside a contact lens =p

 

how pathetic would you look pulling that out on the train? you might want some sad violin music playing on its speakers as you set it on the table next to everyone's 15" Sonys, and engrave it with Frank Grimes from the Simpsons. people would laugh at you as you type hunched over on that little keyboard. 10" netbooks are just enough, 12" are just about okay for everyday use.

 

I hope you do realize that it's made for portability? Perhpas for you it may be "pathetic" but, not everyone can fit a 15" laptop in their pants. Even fitting a 10" laptop is a feat.