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  • Author Author: plowe
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The Hackable Tablet: RaspiTab

plowe

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Tablets have been the technology of choice for the general consumer for a number of years now, and with Christmas fast approaching there is sure to be a spike in sales of iPads and Android devices.

 

What if you could choose a tablet that was also Open Source? What if, in fact, you could purchase a tablet that was completely compatible with any software or hardware you created? Well that could fast become a reality following the announcement of a recent Kickstarter campaign that could throw the doors wide open to a whole new generation of tablets.

 

RaspiTab is a 100% hackable tablet, with 7” capacitive touch screen where students and engineers can make their own GUI, implement the small sensor PCB into the hardware and still have a nice box or product to use...and it looks pretty awesome too.

 

RaspiTab, as you may have guessed from the name, operates using the Raspberry Pi Compute Module meaning not only is it fully hackable, it also means owners are not limited to the accompanying Linux OS, it can run any Operating System designed for use with Raspberry Pi.

 

The idea of combining the popular and diverse Raspberry Pi into a Tablet is an intriguing and interesting one, not to mention something that could change the face of mobile devices if it takes off. We’ve seen projects using the Raspberry Pi, a GPS and a touch screen to create a sat nav, so taking a step further to create a tablet is probably the next step down that same path.

 

The Kickstarter campaign is already underway, with the first shipping date being estimated as some point in April 2015. The RaspiTab currently has a long way to go to raise the £125,000 it needs before the 24th December, but now the idea of a hackable tablet has been put forward, it could just be a matter of time before one makes it to market...or at least I hope so!


Check out the Kickstarter page and back the project here.image

 

Main features include:

• Open and hackable! – ALL SW code is OPEN SOURCE

• Raspian OS (or what you like to install)

• Easy 4 screw opening to access internal hardware.

• 2 Internal USB ports (one taken up by removable USB WiFi module) – for Bluetooth, Memory stick, 4G data dongle etc.

• Pin Header with I/O for expansion of small HW solutions made by your self

• G-sensor, accelerometer, GPS, GSM, RFID etc. – ITS UP TO YOU!!!

• 7” TFT screen with capacitive touch

• 5.0 megapixels camera – the well-known camera for Raspberry PI

• 2 external USB ports

• 2 stereo loudspeakers 1 Watt

• Jack connector for external loudspeaker and microphone

• Micro USB for normal charging

• 3400 mAh battery LION – +8 Hours use

• Has a LED lighting which show battery level

• Power management IC (hackable)

• Low power (uses under 15W of power during use, less than 1W during standby).

• Comes with loos WiFi USB dongle

 

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  • in reply to fvan

    Right, the price seems much to steep for what you get. £150 is about $300? That gets you a pretty nice regular tablet. I just saw a basic 7" one advertised at a local store for less than $50 that likely outperforms the pi version too.

    As an experimental device it's pretty cool, but truly open requires that you can replace the pi with any one of the other SBCs available. Not sure if it does that.

  • in reply to shabaz

    The project doesn't seem to be picking up much momentum on KS either. Three days in, and still plenty of early bird pledges available (297/300).

     

    Frederick

  • This could be sold better. As a tablet, it is underpowered, bulky and running a non-tablet OS (Raspbian).

    It is hackable, then until it has a use it is a hackable platform (for want of a better name), not a tablet. It currently does not have a real use if they label it a tablet but it doesn't perform that task well.


    There must be many uses for this (i.e. it is portable, all-in-one, touchscreen... attributes for many uses), but why not target the market(s) for those types of use? If there is a "hackable tablet market", this does not meet that for the reasons mentioned.

    They keep mentioning "it's up to you" in the text, but possibly that's not good enough, some may feel it shows they have no clear idea of the uses (although they may have, it is not apparent to the reader).

     

    Also some tricks have been missed; e.g. CM can accept two cameras, so two could be included (or space for two), for 3D capture, which would have maybe opened up some new uses for it.

    Also, under the main features, it says "G-sensor, accelerometer, GPS, GSM, RFID etc. It's your choice!" which is misleading (not intentionally I expect) - maybe makes people wonder (or at least I did), are any of these included?

     

    Finally, as you may know, RPF is releasing a LCD panel (no fixed date from what I can tell) - probably anyone interested in the hackable aspect alone may be interested.

    That of course makes it hard for raspitab to sell on the hackable aspect alone, when the LCD is a main feature - not saying it is their fault. So they really need to make good use of the capacitive touch aspect - maybe hard with Raspbian since it is not touch-oriented maybe? (I could be wrong).


    Main features include:

    • Open and hackable! – ALL SW code is OPEN SOURCE

    • Raspian OS (or what you like to install)

    • Easy 4 screw opening to access internal hardware.

    • 2 Internal USB ports (one taken up by removable USB WiFi module) – for Bluetooth, Memory stick, 4G data dongle etc.

    • Pin Header with I/O for expansion of small HW solutions made by your self

    • G-sensor, accelerometer, GPS, GSM, RFID etc. – ITS UP TO YOU!!!

    • 7” TFT screen with capacitive touch

    • 5.0 megapixels camera – the well-known camera for Raspberry PI

    • 2 external USB ports

    • 2 stereo loudspeakers 1 Watt

    • Jack connector for external loudspeaker and microphone

    • Micro USB for normal charging

    • 3400 mAh battery LION – +8 Hours use

    • Has a LED lighting which show battery level

    • Power management IC (hackable)

    • Low power (uses under 15W of power during use, less than 1W during standby).

    • Comes with loos WiFi USB dongle

    (Also, in the text above (I made the line bold), it ought to be mentioned that the LCD used is 800x480 resolution which is very low). According to the KS page:

    • 7” TFT-display (800x480) with capacitive-touch