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That page basically tells me nothing. Terrible. The Kickstarter is a bit better: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-a-new-breed-of-computing ht

by morsch 11y ago

That page basically tells me nothing. Terrible. The Kickstarter is a bit better: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-a-new-breed-of-computing https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-a-new-br... I guess the formula is: tablet(-ish) computer extensible to desktop mode × subscription model × offline-enabled cloud apps × SDK with revenue sharing. It's not terrible, but a huge list of hurdles and unanswered question come immediately to mind. Here are the tech specs, fwiw: Screen - 1440 x 1440, 450ppi with an edge to edge touch External display - support for up to 4K monitors Processor - 2.3GHz NVIDIA 4-Plus-1™ quad-core ARM® Cortex™-A15 CPU™ Graphics - NVIDIA Kepler™ GPU with 192 NVIDIA CUDA® cores RAM - 4GB LPDDR3 Cache capacity - 32GB Connectivity - Dual-band 2x2 MIMO WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and USB Type C Battery - 1200mAh Dimensions - 102mm (4.02in) x 102mm (4.02in) x 13mm (0.512in) Operating System - SoluOS

jobvandervoort 11y ago
It seems suspiciously cheap at 450 euro retail.
- umsm 11y ago
  Their subscription model is where they may make their money.
- morsch 11y ago
  Not really. The Nvidia Shield tablet[0] seems to come with comparable hardware (bigger screen, same Tegra K1 CPU/GPU, less memory). You can buy one for $200, today. It doesn't come with wood trimmings, though. [0] http://www.gsmarena.com/nvidia_shield-6601.php http://www.gsmarena.com/nvidia_shield-6601.php
Gonzih 11y ago
why do the call internal storage "cache capacity"? or is it space not used by os that cloud services can reuse as a persistent cache?
- Jonanin 11y ago
  Likely because it's a cloud-based operating system where local storage is only used as a cache of data in the cloud.
- Tuna-Fish 11y ago
  Because you cannot make the choice to store something in internal store, it's automatically managed by the OS. The backing store for everything is the cloud.
mattlutze 11y ago
The storage for the filesystem is supposed to be cloud-focused, so we're going to be sending a lot of content up and down all the time. I wonder why not an 802.11ac radio then, and only n? Also, am I wrong in feeling like 1200mAh is small for a mobile computer battery?
- timecube 11y ago
  1200 mAh is miniscule. They must've meant 12000 mAh or something else altogether.
- puzzlingcaptcha 11y ago
  Especially with Kepler onboard.
- alexanderfinn 11y ago
  For 802.11ac - we really wanted to have it on board but there are technical issues with antenna design especially with the compact case Solu has. As a small startup company we just could not afford the time and money needed to solve this. For that reason it is limited to 802.11ac for now and 802.11ac is on out roadmap for the future. Our early prototype devices allow about 2 hours of active work on battery but we are also actively looking into improving the battery without compromising on the size or weight of the device. Disclaimer: I work for Solu.
elnygren 11y ago
From what I've seen/heard the OS itself is built on top of Linux and Android and apps can be developed with the HTML5 stack (and I suppose with Android's tools ?). The main problem with this project is that the SoluOS itself is mainly a UI/UX innovation, but for some reason they had to provide HW and OS too. Why can't I install this on my Mac/Linux laptop ? the main idea in SoluOS is that apps, files, etc. should be organized in "projects" instead of them all just being there in the same Applications folder and files in Documents or whatever. It makes switching between projects easy - imagine having "project environments" where all the correct files and apps are easy to reach. ps. I'm not affiliated with them but being Finnish and in Comp. Sci. I kinda couldn't have gone without noticing these guys in the tech scene over here :)
- kaj_sotala 11y ago
  > The main problem with this project is that the SoluOS itself is mainly a UI/UX innovation, but for some reason they had to provide HW and OS too. Why can't I install this on my Mac/Linux laptop ? I wonder if the whole hardware part might be just a marketing thing. Tangible, pretty-looking products are easier to get people enthusiastic about and preorder than "we're offering a new kind of cloud service you can run in your browser". Possibly they mainly just intend to use this to generate a bunch of publicity and hype. Then after a while unveil their browser interface that you can use on any device, and get to market that separately as something new and totally exciting that opens up the system for more people, pulling off another hype wave that might work better than if they'd gone with the software-only approach right from the beginning.
  - alexanderfinn 11y ago
    While there is some truth in what you are saying, i.e. it is much easier to convince people with beautiful hardware device, that is by far not the main reason for Solu to build its own hardware. The thing is that user experience is not just software thing, you interact with computers using hardware and software. Software only solution would not allow us to build something that would fit our vision. Disclaimer: I'm an engineer at Solu.
vomitcuddle 11y ago
Okay, let me try to break through the reality distortion field: it's an Android-based tablet, with a custom Android UI skin, a 1:1 aspect ratio, custom app store with a Spotify-like subscription service for apps (they don't mention any third-party developer support), integrated cloud-storage probably with a custom SDK that developers have to use AND as is common with many Android-based Kickstarter projects - hardware specs that will likely be outdated by the time the device ships (May 2016, assuming no delays). I don't think the apps actually run in the cloud, it sounds like they're just regular Android apps that use their cloud service for storage. There is nothing revolutionary or special about this. It's a tablet with a weird screen, spotify for apps and integrated cloud app backup. The rest is all marketing bs.
- morsch 11y ago
  I'm sceptical as well, but I tried to stick to a neutral presentation. Regarding third-party devs, this is what they say on the Kickstarter: As an added benefit we're providing talented developers with the opportunity to make a living out of their great apps by sharing a portion of the monthly fee with them. I take that to refer to third party devs, and not their own developers (presumably they consider those talented), although that would be pretty funny.
codeisawesome 11y ago
Thanks for cutting through the BS, it was suffocating to read the page with the heavy-metal level density of buzzwords.
kaj_sotala 11y ago
If they were focusing in that part, I think the revenue sharing + cloud combo could open totally new opportunities that would also justify the investment in a custom OS. I'm thinking of something like a return to the Unix philosophy. Piping together stuff from grep to cat to whatever is pretty great, but mostly only useful if you're dealing with text-ish files. We don't have much in the way of small tools that would be similarly designed for being chained together, but which would work well for say video files. In part because you'd want better OS-level support for that kind of information sharing (though maybe on 'nix you could just pipe stuff from one application to another?), but also to a large part because you'd need to have people making tools that didn't do much by their own and then convince users to download them and build stuff out of them. And telling people to "download this program which doesn't do much by itself, but which is useful if you download some other programs and then combine them" is hard. People want to minimize the amount of hassle, so mostly people bundle lots of different features into a single application that you can just download once. On the other hand, if you had a platform where everything ran in the cloud, and there was no need to separately buy, install, or download things... if any application could call any other application made for the platform, then you could just start making your little specialized programs and making them available for anyone else to use. Any user might chain several of them together, or a programmer making their own application could use them as part of their application, maybe as easily as calling a library. That could open up huge possibilities. With the revenue sharing, there would even be a financial incentive for people to make small tools that were maximally useful for everyone, even if they mostly remained invisible for normal end-users. That said, I'm seeing nothing in Solu's public presentation suggesting that they'd have thought of this angle, or would be invested in it. Which is a pity.
- alexanderfinn 11y ago
  Solu OS allows applications to share some of the data thus applications become much less siloed comparing to the other mobile platforms. Our vision is actually very similar to what you are describing - applications need to collaborate on the data and we are actively looking into options to promote this approach to application developers.

by morsch 11y ago

jobvandervoort 11y ago

It seems suspiciously cheap at 450 euro retail.

umsm 11y ago
Their subscription model is where they may make their money.
morsch 11y ago
Not really. The Nvidia Shield tablet[0] seems to come with comparable hardware (bigger screen, same Tegra K1 CPU/GPU, less memory). You can buy one for $200, today. It doesn't come with wood trimmings, though. [0] http://www.gsmarena.com/nvidia_shield-6601.php http://www.gsmarena.com/nvidia_shield-6601.php

Gonzih 11y ago

why do the call internal storage "cache capacity"? or is it space not used by os that cloud services can reuse as a persistent cache?

Jonanin 11y ago
Likely because it's a cloud-based operating system where local storage is only used as a cache of data in the cloud.
Tuna-Fish 11y ago
Because you cannot make the choice to store something in internal store, it's automatically managed by the OS. The backing store for everything is the cloud.

mattlutze 11y ago

The storage for the filesystem is supposed to be cloud-focused, so we're going to be sending a lot of content up and down all the time. I wonder why not an 802.11ac radio then, and only n? Also, am I wrong in feeling like 1200mAh is small for a mobile computer battery?

timecube 11y ago
1200 mAh is miniscule. They must've meant 12000 mAh or something else altogether.
puzzlingcaptcha 11y ago
Especially with Kepler onboard.
alexanderfinn 11y ago
For 802.11ac - we really wanted to have it on board but there are technical issues with antenna design especially with the compact case Solu has. As a small startup company we just could not afford the time and money needed to solve this. For that reason it is limited to 802.11ac for now and 802.11ac is on out roadmap for the future. Our early prototype devices allow about 2 hours of active work on battery but we are also actively looking into improving the battery without compromising on the size or weight of the device. Disclaimer: I work for Solu.

elnygren 11y ago

From what I've seen/heard the OS itself is built on top of Linux and Android and apps can be developed with the HTML5 stack (and I suppose with Android's tools ?). The main problem with this project is that the SoluOS itself is mainly a UI/UX innovation, but for some reason they had to provide HW and OS too. Why can't I install this on my Mac/Linux laptop ? the main idea in SoluOS is that apps, files, etc. should be organized in "projects" instead of them all just being there in the same Applications folder and files in Documents or whatever. It makes switching between projects easy - imagine having "project environments" where all the correct files and apps are easy to reach. ps. I'm not affiliated with them but being Finnish and in Comp. Sci. I kinda couldn't have gone without noticing these guys in the tech scene over here :)

kaj_sotala 11y ago
> The main problem with this project is that the SoluOS itself is mainly a UI/UX innovation, but for some reason they had to provide HW and OS too. Why can't I install this on my Mac/Linux laptop ? I wonder if the whole hardware part might be just a marketing thing. Tangible, pretty-looking products are easier to get people enthusiastic about and preorder than "we're offering a new kind of cloud service you can run in your browser". Possibly they mainly just intend to use this to generate a bunch of publicity and hype. Then after a while unveil their browser interface that you can use on any device, and get to market that separately as something new and totally exciting that opens up the system for more people, pulling off another hype wave that might work better than if they'd gone with the software-only approach right from the beginning.
- alexanderfinn 11y ago
  While there is some truth in what you are saying, i.e. it is much easier to convince people with beautiful hardware device, that is by far not the main reason for Solu to build its own hardware. The thing is that user experience is not just software thing, you interact with computers using hardware and software. Software only solution would not allow us to build something that would fit our vision. Disclaimer: I'm an engineer at Solu.

vomitcuddle 11y ago

Okay, let me try to break through the reality distortion field: it's an Android-based tablet, with a custom Android UI skin, a 1:1 aspect ratio, custom app store with a Spotify-like subscription service for apps (they don't mention any third-party developer support), integrated cloud-storage probably with a custom SDK that developers have to use AND as is common with many Android-based Kickstarter projects - hardware specs that will likely be outdated by the time the device ships (May 2016, assuming no delays). I don't think the apps actually run in the cloud, it sounds like they're just regular Android apps that use their cloud service for storage. There is nothing revolutionary or special about this. It's a tablet with a weird screen, spotify for apps and integrated cloud app backup. The rest is all marketing bs.

morsch 11y ago
I'm sceptical as well, but I tried to stick to a neutral presentation. Regarding third-party devs, this is what they say on the Kickstarter: As an added benefit we're providing talented developers with the opportunity to make a living out of their great apps by sharing a portion of the monthly fee with them. I take that to refer to third party devs, and not their own developers (presumably they consider those talented), although that would be pretty funny.

codeisawesome 11y ago

Thanks for cutting through the BS, it was suffocating to read the page with the heavy-metal level density of buzzwords.

kaj_sotala 11y ago

If they were focusing in that part, I think the revenue sharing + cloud combo could open totally new opportunities that would also justify the investment in a custom OS. I'm thinking of something like a return to the Unix philosophy. Piping together stuff from grep to cat to whatever is pretty great, but mostly only useful if you're dealing with text-ish files. We don't have much in the way of small tools that would be similarly designed for being chained together, but which would work well for say video files. In part because you'd want better OS-level support for that kind of information sharing (though maybe on 'nix you could just pipe stuff from one application to another?), but also to a large part because you'd need to have people making tools that didn't do much by their own and then convince users to download them and build stuff out of them. And telling people to "download this program which doesn't do much by itself, but which is useful if you download some other programs and then combine them" is hard. People want to minimize the amount of hassle, so mostly people bundle lots of different features into a single application that you can just download once. On the other hand, if you had a platform where everything ran in the cloud, and there was no need to separately buy, install, or download things... if any application could call any other application made for the platform, then you could just start making your little specialized programs and making them available for anyone else to use. Any user might chain several of them together, or a programmer making their own application could use them as part of their application, maybe as easily as calling a library. That could open up huge possibilities. With the revenue sharing, there would even be a financial incentive for people to make small tools that were maximally useful for everyone, even if they mostly remained invisible for normal end-users. That said, I'm seeing nothing in Solu's public presentation suggesting that they'd have thought of this angle, or would be invested in it. Which is a pity.

alexanderfinn 11y ago
Solu OS allows applications to share some of the data thus applications become much less siloed comparing to the other mobile platforms. Our vision is actually very similar to what you are describing - applications need to collaborate on the data and we are actively looking into options to promote this approach to application developers.