Videos of SkyTone's Android netbook appear online
Learn more about the Google-based mini laptop
When the Android-based SkyTone Alpha 680 tablet netbook appeared last week, we were disappointed to see that the pictures didn’t reveal anything about how Google’s OS looks and feels away from a mobile phone. But now we have two demo videos.
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The Alpha 680 videos, split into an eight-minute “part 1” and three-minute “part 2”, guide you through exactly how Android looks and is used on the tablet PC.
For example, you see a stylus-wielding hand rifling through and selecting from the OS’ various icons, using a web browser and operating an Excel-esque spreadsheet.
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Since the SkyTone Alpha 680’s initial appearance, it’s been reported that the machine will sell for roughly $250 (£171/€192). An exact European availability date's still somewhat hazy. ®
COMMENTS
Slow maps
Very sluggish loading of that sat view on the maps. Seems like loading it over a GPRS connection, or maybe that's what they used!
The stylus navigation around the maps seems awful. A lot of tedious scratching about to scroll the map a short distance. I think a touch screen without stylus could work better especially with two finger support. With fingers you just have better gesture control.
@Frank - Hobbyist Production?
Kinda says it all about open source really.
Who cares
Does anyone care what the OS looks like? The price (as currently speculated anyway) is only a shade under the cheapest Atom-based netbooks, so unless the battery life is stunning (like 12 hours of continuous use or something), I couldn't care if the OS looks as good as Lucy Pinder's tits, I'd rather buy a netbook with a proper CPU and OS. I say this advisedly because I briefly owned a skytone-manufactured MIPS-based netbook, and the battery life was about 90 minutes - I punted it on ebay after two weeks.
Hobbyist Production?
How much does it cost to hire a professional presenter? I'm wondering. Someone who practices before the presentation, speaks in complete sentences, has at least an idea of what they are going to do and doesn't seem slightly surprised at what they see on the screen. Is it that difficult to organise and pay for a well presented demonstration?
