NanoNote is like my second chance at a Zaurus clamshell

I’ve never seen open source hardware target the mainstream until the OpenMoko team partnered with FIC to release the Neo 1973. Before that, it was just about all hobbyist electronics kits or Verilog code for FPGAs. Oh, and 3d printers, which are awesome. Yesterday I found out about the 本 (běn) NanoNote, an open palmtop.

I was only a little surprised when I found out that Qi Hardware, the company behind the NanoNote, was founded by former members of the OpenMoko team. They’ve already made commitments to copyleft software, community driven software development and upstreaming their Linux improvements. This gadget is particular intriguing to me because I did a fair bit of OS coding for school using OS/161 as a basis, which has a 32-bit MIPS kernel. I might actually be able to contribute to the OS. If not, I could certainly contribute to application development.

This device, with its 32 MB of RAM, doesn’t take aim at the netbook market so much as the gadget market. Think Sony Mylo, or GP2X, or the Nokia Internet Tablet series. It’d be a welcome replacement to my Nokia 770. For one thing I imagine I’d be able to IM a lot more easily with it.

What’s possible? Hard to say. Even for a thin client the machine is very limited. Don’t expect to be able to view websites as well as you can on your iPhone. Do expect something a lot more hackable than a PDA. I missed out on the Zaurus clamshells that I wanted so badly in 2005, but I might save up to grab one of these NanoNotes. Maybe not the 本, maybe I’ll wait, but I would love to play with one. The 本 will ship in fall. I hope that Qi releases their projected price soon.

Take a look at a list of the Zaurus software index for ideas of what’s likely to hit the NanoNote first. My guess is an emulator will be the first port, probably for either the NES or the Commodore 64.

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5 Comments to “NanoNote is like my second chance at a Zaurus clamshell”

  1. fanoush 19 August 2009 at 6:24 am #

    “I imagine I’d be able to IM a lot more easily with it.”

    Well there is already existing product Zipit 2 targeted for IM which is also hackable, runs linux, has wi-fi, is otherwise similar and is cheaper than Ben Nanonote ($45 vs $99). Ben Nanonote – too little too late. Maybe next device.

  2. Ron K. Jeffries 11 October 2009 at 1:21 am #

    while Zipit2 is an interesting device, that $49 price requires a one year service agreement at $20/mo so teh real cost is $300

    qi-hardware has not yet set price, but my guess is around $99, no service plan. [10 Oct 2009]

    It looks like their first version may have 64MB of RAM.

    They already have OpenZim running, to allow offline browsing of Wikipedia. The system on chip (SoC) is quite capable, as it has a LOT of goodies built in. strong video support, for example.

    This will be a hackers delight. Lots of good stuff can grow from the qi-hardware NanoNote copyleft hardware seeds.

  3. fede 17 March 2010 at 4:10 pm #

    The lack of wifi capabilities is a deal breaker for me.

    Anyway it’s still a step in the right direction

  4. Ben Nanonote with WiFi | Stochastic Geometry

    [...] Ben Nanonote looks like it might be a very interesting part of the fringe indeed. It’s small, but has a physical keyboard (humans like haptic interfaces [...]

  5. frankie 11 April 2010 at 9:39 pm #

    This thing is much shinier and prettier than the z2, but the zipit has wireless, and the scene has really blossomed of late. Multiple userlands are available and you actually can get them for 50 bucks without a service plan.(it even has perl now ^____^) I respect the “Start small” Idea that qi hardware is working with, but I tend to agree that lack of non-usb connectivity is a little underwhelming in todays connected world. I just hope by the time they get around to wifi and bluetooth, they’ll have kept the clamshell form factor. Touch screens are alright but you gotsta have the keys!


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