Archive for September, 2007
Give 1 Get 1
When I first suggested the idea for the Redux Model 1, several people recommended that I start from an existing platform, instead of building the device from scratch. Among the suggested candidates, the OLPC XO came highly praised, especially from my friend Darius Clarke. Unfortunately, it was not distributed to the general public, therefore could not be used as sacrificial starting point. With the recent announcement of the Give 1 Get 1 program whereby you can buy two XO laptops for $399 and have one donated to a child, this situation has changed, and we are seriously considering using Negroponte’s marvelous little machine for our Mini Tablet. [Continue…]
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User Replaceable Battery
When working on a mobile device’s industrial design, one of the most critical decisions one has to make is how to package the battery. Do you make it user-replaceable or not? Do you encase the battery’s cells into a rigid plastic package? Do you require the use of a screw driver to replace the battery? These are the types of questions that have to be answered, and here is our take on it for the Redux Model 1. [Continue…]
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Storage Requirements
Out of the box, the Redux Model 1 will offer limited built-in solid state storage, possibly no more than 1GB. This will be plenty enough to store the operating system and a fairly decent set of applications, but content will be stored on removable SD Card media. There is a simple reason for this: plummeting prices for NAND memory. [Continue…]
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Usage Scenarios
One of the challenges in creating a new form factor for a mobile device is identifying usage scenarios that can best take advantage of the device’s size, weight, controls, and user interface. There is more art than science in conducting such an exercise, and gadgets often end up being used in ways that had never been anticipated by their designers. Nevertheless, guessing such usage scenarios is always fun, and here is my first crack at it for the upcoming Redux Model 1. [Continue…]
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Think Not So Different
If we are to believe Apple Insider, Apple might be working on a device strikingly similar to what we are up to with the Redux Model 1. If that were to be true, it would be a fantastic validation for the form factor we are proposing. Borrowing from some original artwork designed by audiopollution (I hope they don’t mind), here is a first artist rendition of what the Redux Model 1 might look like. [Continue…]
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Web Conferencing Camera
Originally, we did not want to include a camera in the Redux Model 1, mainly because most of its target users already own a camera phone. But after some discussions, we got convinced that integrating a low-resolution camera next to the tablet’s screen for web conferencing would not be a bad idea. If there is a way to do it without requiring dramatic changes to the Neo 1973’s PCB design, we might as well go for it. [Continue…]
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From Vision to Execution
Eight years ago, I moved to the United States with one goal in mind: building the first open source transactional workflow platform. I had drawn its architecture on a napkin — literally, and found some people on Google who could help me put it together. Today, Intalio released Intalio|BPMS 5.0, or what I really consider to be the first working implementation of the original vision. While I will keep the full story of this incredible journey for future articles — or a book maybe — I would like to share some of its highlights with you tonight. [Continue…]
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What’s In The Box
As the specifications for the Redux Model 1 are converging toward something realistic, we are now thinking about the whole product, including documentation, packaging, software, and web services. Here is an introduction to packaging, and an overview of what you should find in the box when you receive your device. [Continue…]
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iPhone Redux
When the iPhone was unveiled back in February, Steve Jobs claimed that it was years ahead of the competition. Most agreed, and many started thinking about what could make the iPhone even better. How could we out-do Steve and his team? The answer came two weeks ago, in the form of the iPod Touch. [Continue…]
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Form Factor Evolution
Now that we have a suitable candidate platform for the hardware side of the story, we’re allowing ourselves to become a little bit more creative with the form factor for the Redux Model 1. We’re testing our ideas with different users, showing them sample devices like the HTC Advantage or the Sony Reader, and gathering invaluable feedback along the way. Here is what we’re learning. [Continue…]
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OpenMoko
Looking for a way to build the Redux Model 1 around the iPhone or iPod Touch allowed us to appreciate the benefits of leveraging an existing platform instead of starting from scratch. Nevertheless, this can only work if the platform is open enough, which the iPhone or iPod Touch are not, making it very difficult to build what we really want. An alternative approach would be to start from an open platform, and the best we could find so far is OpenMoko, and the Neo 1973. [Continue…]
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Breakthrough and Setback
No matter how hard I tried, I could not convince myself that yesterday’s concept for the Redux Reverso would fly. Whatever we end up doing, we need a multi-touch screen on the front of the Redux Model 1, which means that we need a way to propagate user inputs back to the built-in hand-held, be it an iPhone or iPod Touch. With that in mind, I kept looking for a solution, and got a breakthrough earlier today while taking a shower. Watch out, this is getting pretty wild! [Continue…]
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Redux Reverso
The idea of designing the Redux Model 1 as a mere shell wrapped around an iPhone or iPod Touch is getting me more and more excited, and I had a hard time finding my sleep yesterday night. What was keeping me awake was the fear that we could not propagate user inputs back to the hand-held. If so, the design would fail. When something gets in the way, don’t fight it, just go around it. Could we apply such thinking to the problem at hand? If getting user inputs back to the hand-held is not possible, could we do without user inputs altogether? This is where I got another epiphany, and finally fell asleep. Sweet dreams… [Continue…]
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Bring Your Own iPhone
Following yesterday’s article, my friend Darren suggested that it would be great if our Mini Tablet could run the Mac OS X operating system. I could not agree more, and this got me thinking. The only way one can legally build a computer around Apple’s proprietary operating system is by building the computer around an Apple Computer, like Axiotron did with the ModBook. So what if we built the Redux Model 1 around an iPhone or iPod Touch? [Continue…]
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Form Factor
Following our suggestion to develop our own device for next year’s conference, we have been receiving quite a bit of feedback. Most people who know a thing or two about hardware design are essentially telling us that we are a bit crazy, and should modify an existing design, instead of trying to build one from scratch. But some folks who understand what we are trying to achieve and have done it before have already started to work on possible scenarios. There is not much we can share at this point, but things are encouraging enough to keep the dream alive. In the meantime, we’re trying to refine our thinking about the device’s overall form factor. [Continue…]
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Redux Model 1
For the first Office 2.0 Conference, every attendee, including the press, was given an iPod nano. For the second, everyone got an iPhone, at the exception of the media. For the third one, we will attempt something that has a very low likelihood of success: building our very own device. [Continue…]
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The second Office 2.0 Conference is just over, and it’s time for a debrief. Overall, it was a success, and we received some amazing feedback about it. Attendees had a blast, sponsors got lots of traffic, and the press covered it extensively. Awesome! Now let’s review what worked, what could have been improved, and what failed miserably, in order to make next year’s show even better. [Continue…]
