Solu - A new breed of computer
 

On October 15th, in San Francisco, Solu will announce a change in the way the world thinks about computing. We are reshaping how devices and people coexist in the connected world. We aim to alter the course of an entire industry with a unique approach and unique technology.

http://www.solu.co/


(Solu means unit or cell in English.)

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Not info what it is yet :(

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I bet its skynet

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Stopped reading at that point, clearly that guy has been adversely affected by the Steve Jobs RDF.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I was a bit skeptical at first but then I noticed that the Solu CEO looks like a water goblin. In the world dominated by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and Michael O'Leary, that alone is a sure ticket to the top.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Probably just like those folks from Solu. The video from the Solu site is very nicely produced and interesting but its entire purpose is to feed the hype.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Gizmondo Two!

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I wish that Gizmondo Two was a reality though :(

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

1st- Not only is this dew-ware (I wouldn't quite call it vapor-ware as that would indicate the process of evaporation...an actual process...this hasn't even gotten off the ground, grass or leaf yet to "become" vapor...
so ...dew-ware seems more apt)

2nd- "This is the place to discuss alternative operating systems, desktop environments, and operating system emulators.."
quote...
how exactly is this applicable to our devices?
I ask our moderators that this thread be moved to it's appropriate sub forum...
new tech...
new devices...
latest whatever...
competitors...
wherever it really belongs.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I'll admit it... I lol'd.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

There seems to be an interesting collection of ex-Nokia, ex-Ericsson and Finnish tech company personnel though or is that like expecting an Australian soap opera that doesn't have the same actors from Neighbours in it?

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Looks like some type of handheld PC that will be released on Kickstarter tomorrow
https://www.thunderclap.it/en/projec...w-what-solu-is

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

http://thecrowdfundingcentre.com/?pa...ect&id=50C9B6#
The Kickstarter page will have more details in the following hours :
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...d-of-computing

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

OS doesn't seem to be open source and everything is stored in the cloud with monthly subscriptions. Retailprice €449 with 6 months of subscription and now €299 on Kickstarter.
Not impressed.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Aptly named product ...
since the cost and subscription as t-b pointed out...
means...
It's definitely going "Solu" ...
as in Solu ...without me.
:D

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I like what they have done. Would have definitely hoped more information in the kickstart page. There was a vague mentioning of Android app, but nothing else about compatibility or what the OS is based on. I guess Linux is a safe bet. Also nothing on what the fee will be.

If they are thinking that their main source of income is going to be those fees I am a bit skeptic of the funding model. Actually very skeptic.

But as always, I love it when someone is trying to really shake existing foundations and think differently. To take something we already have, have vision how it could work better and really go for it.

I am backing them up and ordering one.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Linux is right bet.

"Soluja avaruudessa – ja linux!

Solun käyttöjärjestelmä on linux."

http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/ta...laiset-6058214

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

The idea di per se is not bad and interesting, but sorry, I'm not a big fan of cloud-computing and -storage.

Edít: And what's the cost of subscription after the includet period?

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Because try as I might, I just cannot see anything shaking foundations:

• A small, cube-shaped computer? Tick, seen dozens of those.
• A thin client with no storage and all data in the "cloud"? Yawn. Back in the 1970s, those were called "terminals" connected to a "mainframe". In 1990s, they were called "network computers". Nowadays, the same idea is back again. Nothing is new, only the name.
• A new company coming up with a lot of hype and hardly any details? Yeah, right, I haven't seen that one before!

So, please, pray tell me. What is so foundations-shaking about yet another one?

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Only use I see this for in its current iteration would be for people that do not require a lot of stuff or are not power users.

Good idea, not sure about the execution quite yet, not fully sold. But I do applaud them for attempting something a bit different than a desktop OS and for stating a number of times "offline" because that'll remove some concerns initially.

All in all, we're overdue for a computing renaissance. Perhaps this can be tweaked to fulfill more than what we've just seen.

Interesting, but not for me.

Dear lord, pichlo you just reminded me of the days I had to administer WinNT Terminal Server and the terminal clients, as well as my Citrix days too... ugh.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

i'd rather just use a plain ol' laptop/desktop/compute stick with local storage and a crashplan subscription.

We're still just repeating a cycle of store local, store remote (mainframe), store local (desktop), store remote (cloud - god i hate that term), ... All it will take is one incident and the shift will be towards pushing NAS or some variation on that more. Especially when 8/10tb start becoming cheaper and more readily available.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I consider myself to be a bit more open minded about tech like this over here, but I really do struggle to find use cases for it.
Could haul it between uni and home for different teamwork assignments. I can't quite see it as a dedicated box to connect your TV compared to the vast amount of devices already out. I could of course do all above, but I already do that with my macbook. It might offer easier connectivity to TV possibly, though I wonder how those Android apps will work on it.

Device itself looks nice is the best I can say.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Well, I am old enough to understand that yes-no arguments based on purely personal opinions on yet released devices on internet forums are rarely fruitful, but I will try :D Only from my personal point of view, however.


A small, cube-shaped computer? Tick, seen dozens of those.

I have seen many small cube shaped computers also. Never one with newbie programmable touchscreen, however. But yes, there are many of those. And I have seen many of these used in ordinary peoples home. Quite often they are running OS X or windows. I think I might even have seen one Web OS.

A thin client with no storage and all data in the "cloud"? Yawn. Back in the 1970s, those were called "terminals" connected to a "mainframe". In 1990s, they were called "network computers". Nowadays, the same idea is back again. Nothing is new, only the name.

There are also many devices connected to the cloud. There are even OS's like Googles Chrome and several others that yet/still have not that big names that are cloud based OS's. No argument there. I have tried several of them. Never have I seen one in the wild to be used by some random fellow. There are also cloud services that flawlessly integrate to, say, windows 7 for example. Like the Dropbox. So yes, there are many devices, services and applications that are already connected to cloud.

A new company coming up with a lot of hype and hardly any details? Yeah, right, I haven't seen that one before!

I am sorry, was this meant as an argument of mine or in general? Hopefully not as mine as I did not make anything this kind. I see no reason to answer to this even if you pray it from me.


Soooo, in general I seem to agree with you, but yet I think that they might have shot in shaking the foundations and you think they have nothing. Well, we could both be right and wrong, maybe even in the same time. I will try to make my point with short story that I think everyone here will know.

Back in the days I was talking with several Nokia engineers in a room. We were talking about iPhone and I think it were N95 ( someone can check if the years match). I was representing sales and marketing point of view and they the HW. I got crushed. There were absolutely nothing that iPhone could do better besides zooming from their view. Everything the iPhone could do N95 already did and had done. Touchscreen was old news, true internet browser was old news, having great design was old news, technical specs were not anything special.

I had to say yes to all of their arguments. And when I said Yes, but everything put together like this, is what the consumer wants. I was not believed and thankfully it would not have mattered if I were. I would feel really bad now but we were only soldiers and cannon food. My conscience is clear :D , but we do know how this story goes on.

Consumer success is never "only" about the technical capabilities or about being the First. It is about getting it right for your targeted marked, among other things. I believe that personal computers, operating systems and devices are slowly coming to their next evolutionary step. I have absolutely no idea what it will be. It probably won't be Solu, but there is always the possibility. Their product is different than that of HP, Dell, Apple or their OS as heavily Cloud leaning solution is different than OS X, Windows, general Linux Distro. Also their revenue modeling is somewhat different.

Only from my personal view, that I like to express here, I want to believe in companies and individuals who try something new. Being it totally new from scratch, being it putting together elements other have developed but not tried together, or being it only new kind of philosophy to do ordinary tasks. I personally believe that there is the chance of shaking the foundations.

Just as a note. I don't want to start further argument on this. This was only my POV and others are as good or bad. But I feel that when someone prays for answer everyone needs to answer.

P.S. I am no smart or wise man, but I have sat and listened to many have conversations and arguments. I have also spoken with really old people. Throwing age-card is never a sign of a gentlemen/fine lady, but a sign of poor judgement and arrogant mindset.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Totally agree with you on this one. Imagine it being an inexpensive little box that all students would get on sign in day. Could maybe really give boost to team and group assignments. Probably impossible because of money issues and there are already competing solutions for that.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Some more details on the Solu computer:

• The operating system is Android/AOSP (source).
• The subscription cost is 20EUR/month (source).
• It has 32GB of internal storage.

I have to say I like their business model of selling subscription on Kickstarter. Customers are pretty much buying (for 300-350USD) their way to a walled garden where they have to pay monthly fee to use the device they have bought for the price. It's quite a bold move by the company and I honestly give them props for that. Seeing how they passed 50% of their goal in the first day, it only confirms my feeling from when the campaign started that 200 000USD (~600 subscribers = 12 000EUR/month) is quite a low target which they may later regret.

That was a pure business view. What do I think about it as a potential customer? I will not buy it for obvious reasons (Android, walled garden, cloud, touchscreen as a mouse, etc.), but as their Kickstarter is so low (~600 users), I would be worried about the ecosystem with such a small community, which would also prevent me from buying it at this point.

It looks exactly like OUYA - a powerful Android device with a nice skin on top of AOSP - and I don't think Android is anywhere near to be ready for desktop computing, just as it wasn't ready for gaming in OUYA's case. And just like OUYA, it's biggest problem will be finding software for their store.


We'll see. I really liked their initial video (with the rap poetry), but this product is not for me.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

That sounds familiar ;)

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

This has gimmick writ large all over it.

On a more substantive level of criticism ... not a good choice to base their platform (presumably for the next good while) on 32bit ARMv7. I'm assuming they got a good deal on unsold inventory of Tegra K1 (non-Denver).

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I'd be very surprised if Solu is still a thing in 2 years time.

As a portable device, it lacks any sort of 3GPP connectivity (GSM/GPRS/UMTS/LTE) so it's not going to replace your smartphone.

As a desktop, it requires a keyboard and monitor for docking. People that already have these, already have a desktop too with an OS far more capable Android (and in many cases, it will have better hardware too). It remains to be seen what they've done with their OS to set it apart standard Android. Their concept of "projects" sounds like KDE Activities which I still haven't found a use for that suits my work flow.

Outside of the office, desktop computing is practically dead for most ordinary people (non-geeks). This won't make it into the office as it lacks the proprietary software that businesses seem to love. I can't see that it offers anything compelling enough to convince many people to buy one for personal use.

On top of all these problems, they expect users to pay a subscription of €20 a month. If they're lucky, they might find a niche market for this device.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

The whole thing smacks of being a vehicle to advance the careers of those concerned ... demonstrating their ability to design and launch a product and software. Not to actually advance said product into a viable ecosystem.

I give it 8-18 months.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Such pessimism... somebody had to think about bringing a mobile OS (Android) to the desktop and do it in a way that would be modern and scalable enough and offloading the need for storage on the device to the cloud much like many are doing now on their mobiles...

I personally wish them luck. I see the above points; but hey... stuff has to start somewhere right?

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Pessimism? Yes, but I like to think of it more as realism. :p After all, 90% of start-ups fail. It's not product I would ever purchase but I don't completely dismiss the idea. I'd I love to be proven wrong as I think it's great that they have their own vision and are challenging the norm. I think this is very brave of them and I wish them well but it's a tough market to break in to. Sadly, for the reasons already stated, I just don't see it happening.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

This might be targeted at the "i-folks" and become very popular, but most communities I feel related to - as this one - are more about freedom, privacy and open standards. Unfortunately that is still a minority, the average consumer just doesn't seem to care about that.
So I have my doubts about this product even if it might become something interesting - and even if they release the source of SoluOS (if they do they will certainly get a thumbs up from me though). How reliable will a paid for cloud-service be in the long run when it is not commercially successful?
We have seen Google closing down perfectly fine services because there was not enough interest, not because it was bad.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I like the hardware design and I like what I've seen of the UI so far.

Microsoft makes most of their money nowadays from Office subscriptions. If these guys hope to survive, they need to be clear about their monthly subscription costs. If Joe Public are already paying $99 a year for an Office subscription that also gives them 1TB of cloud storage then these guys need to come up with something that can compete. Finland's F-secure already tried the cloud storage business with Younited and failed.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Depends... to me it looks like platform for using virtualized apps where actual processing is done on more powerful hardware and on-prem device is merely for controlling those apps (montlhy subscription-model points towards that direction). Such technology has been around for a while and Nvidia has been active in developing technology to offer great deal of GPU power virtualized (AMD also published their offering for GPU-virtualization, but it's technically different from Nvidias take). They also promote the idea of cloud gaming, where you can play your favorite game using HW resources from remote data center. This way the HW you use doesn't mean that much. Another plus is that even the apps may be more or less platform independent as they are not bound to end user device and OS.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

I don't see this as the case. This is for a totally different crowd, a bit more savvy.

Making money out in the open (meaning via opensource) is hard. Having everything out in the open means that you've embraced the community but I'll be honest; that really doesn't mean too much of anything to the bottom line a lot of the time. May create great participation, add to the feeling of community, might even extend the life of the product.

But this is a community of folks that don't really get along about much anything. So to open something, you end up creating a situation where you hope adoption rates include the early adopters and contributors to the casual users that actually have disposable income and carry your product into something that lasts longer than your initial marketing campaign.

But that's my take. A lot of wondrous things happen in the FOSS side of things; but a lot of nasty **** happens too.

I'm the weird guy that actually liked Google Wave (I know Apache has it now) and some others that have gotten killed off... oh well.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

@JulmaHerra,
You may have hit the nail on the head. A small device as a thin client in a platform-independent way is a factor I missed. I agree it may have some really valid uses and can ever future-proof your purchase. You do not need to upgrade every few years, the server does (and your subscription covers it). If done cleverly, your device can 'run' Windows, OSX, Linux or Future OS 9000 simultaneously, without having to reboot.

Still, it is not something I would call revolutionary, groundbreaking or shaking foundations. The terminals of the 1970s did exactly the same thing, as does anyone using one of many remote desktop solutions today.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Offline use of virtualized apps (in a meaningful way) would not be possible on a platform like this, right?

Interesting concept this Solu, not quite sure what to make of it...

Cloud based... still not sold on this, though we are becoming (being forced really) more dependent on it as time passes. Honestly, give me a mobile device that size and specs, and I want linux on it - not Android based, not ChromeOS, etc, but a desktop OS that is open, secure and portable (I can choose free, cloud based apps already).

What bugs me the most, with the specs below, is battery life. If the main purpose of the Solu is to change the way we work (bye bye computers and apps?) and make it hassle free (good luck with that!), and the screen is used as a touchpad when connected to a monitor, battery life probably won't be stellar.

* Screen - 1440 x 1440, 450ppi with an edge to edge touch
* 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
* Battery - 1200mAh

Wish them all the best, but not my cup of tea (yet).

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Hard to say, as we don't have the details. It should be possible, but to what degree... that's the question.

It's one take on trend of everything being sold as a service.

Re: Solu - A new breed of computer
 

Has there been any revolutionary, groundbreaking and foundation shaking innovations in last ten years? Usually things described like that are merely new implementations of already existing technologies and ideas.