Apparently it’s nostalgia week in the mobile tech world. Ars Technica decided to take a trip down memory lane by remembering the Apple Newton 30 years after Apple announced its first handheld. While the Newton was widely considered a flop, maybe it was just ahead of time. We certainly now live in a world where handheld computers (also known as smartphones) as virtually ubiquitous.
Meanwhile, a system dump from one of the first Android phones provides an early look at what Google was working on before its smartphone operating system was even optimized for touchscreen devices. And while Microsoft has shifted its focus for mobile devices in recent years to developing apps for Android and iOS, it turns out that an old Windows Mobile PDA can be surprisingly useful as a modern device… if you keep your expectations low.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.
One person’s guide to using a 2003 Windows Mobile PDA to browse modern websites, access email, sync Google Calendar, sync data with Windows 10, and even chat via WhatsApp and watch YouTube videos (by downloading them first). https://t.co/Yj0zRcP9jv pic.twitter.com/rUqSEIOU5E
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 29, 2022
A new system dump from a very old phone (the 2007 HTC EXCA300/Google Sooner) lets you explorer one of the earliest publicly available build of Android from back when it was made for phones with keyboards. https://t.co/hBY1nbZhx2
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 30, 2022
The Apple Newton was announced 30 years ago this week. In many ways the handheld computer was ahead of its time. In others, maybe it wasn’t ready for widespread use. But maybe it paved the way for the iPhones and iPads to come. https://t.co/OF0FXS4C4z
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 30, 2022
Dell Optiplex 3000 Thin Client is a compact, fanless PC with an Intel Jasper Lake processor (Celeron N5105 and Pentium N6005) options), up to 16GB of RAM, and 32GB eMMC flash plus (with an option for a 256GB SSD). Available now for $705 and up. https://t.co/yG7aOTzT1D
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 30, 2022
Signs point to the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro having the same display specs as the Pixel 6 series (2400 x 1080px / 90Hz and 3120 x 1440px / 120 Hz, respectively). https://t.co/6zIfRtOe8n
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 29, 2022
Honor 70 5G smartphone features a 6.67″ 120Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 778G+, up to 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, 54MP primary, 50MP ultrawide, and 2MP depth cameras, and a 4800 mAh battery with 66W fast charging. https://t.co/D1Be21Gar5
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 30, 2022
Honor 70 Pro and 70 Pro+ have MediaTek Dimensity 8000 and 9000 chips, respective. Both have 6.78 inch 120 Hz OLED displays, up to 12GB RAM, 4500 mAh batteries with 100W charging, 54MP primary, 50MP ultrawide, and 8MP telephoto cameras. https://t.co/acvPDFLVGu
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) May 30, 2022
Final part of @khadas_official VIM4 Amlogic A311D2 SBC #review with #Ubuntu 22.04. #linux #arm #benchmarks https://t.co/JNSNatwsu4
— CNX Software (@cnxsoft) May 29, 2022
It’s been quiet from our end for a while, but we have been very busy! We’re still working very hard to make #LuneOS (#webOS based) a fully open-source OS daily driver! What have we been up to? #Qt6 migration, replacing QtWebEngine with LG’s Chromium, Waydroid & more! Stay tuned!
— webOS Ports (@webosports) May 29, 2022
Development of @Nemomobile in moving forward also in May https://t.co/cJ4iHVqY2O pic.twitter.com/OoOdGVqDOd
— Jozef Mlich (@xmlich02) May 27, 2022
Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.
If they want these thicker camera modules they should just make the whole phone thicker to accommodate and make the camera flush with the back of the phone.
Oh man, that HP iPaq brings back so many bad memories of trying to make it work for something other than basic (very basic) note-taking and checking a calendar. In comparison, my now-deceased MessagePad 130 seemed years/decades ahead inspite of some of its shortcomings (battery life for one).
It’s interesting that the majority of early hand-held devices worked SO HARD at installing a keyboard. The Blackberry and the early Amazon Kindles as well as the Pocket PC. The Newton was odd because it lacked keys.
I think it was Palm that changed things.