$300 Cordia Tab will run desktop Linux and MeeGo
Back before iOS and Android became popular, there was a company called Nokia that made mobile devices. Although these devices have now fallen out of style, their Maemo and MeeGo mobile operating systems still have a following. An apparently dedicated member of this following has decided to get the OSes on some modern hardware by making a Maemo based tablet called the Cordia Tab.
Because the device itself is the brainchild of a single person, it is based on currently available hardware. This means it is hardly cutting edge, but it should still have sufficient power. So, behind the 7-inch 1024 x 600 display, you will find an 800 MHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, and GPS. Rounding out the feature set are a front facing camera, HDMI port for video out , and a USB host port.
Of course, the real reason I am excited about this tablet is the long list of operating systems it will support. It's default OS will be a variant of Maemo, but the creator intends for it to be compatible with all manner of Linux based operating systems. This means that users would be able to run full-fledged Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Nokia's MeeGo OS, or even a version of Android.
In a tablet market dominated by Android and iOS, a different operating system is quite refreshing. I am excited about trying MeeGo on a tablet, and the potential to have a tablet with a full desktop OS is certainly intriguing. However, common sense (and the current state of the market) say desktop OSes belong on desktops, while tablets need simple mobile operating systems.
Despite this, the Linux geek side of me wants to pick up one of these right away, but do you think users really want a full OS on their tablets?
[Cordia Tab Official via Techonia]
