Spark tablet pre-order registration is now open on the Make Play Live website.
This is a huge and exciting step forward for the project as it starts to bring our logistics together.
By registering now you will help us gauge initial demand so we can serve that demand appropriately. When order processing open, you will receive an email with the order link and a priority order code which will jump your order to the front of the line.
We will also have a little gift waiting for you in the Make Play Live store. :)
Over the next two months we will be unveiling more and more about Make Play Live on the website. Fun things like the Spark logo and branding will be unveiled; but important information will also start to appear, such as how you can get involved as an app developer, how to join our logistics network on the retail side and further details on our long term roadmap. I'll of course keep you all in the loop here on my blog as things move forward.
Head on over to Make Play Live to register your interest now and help us spread the word around the 'net and amongst your friends. Together we can make Spark a terrific success and show the world how great an open device experience can be.
29 comments:
I'd suggest changing it since "Make Play Live" sounds like a "Make Play" live concert. You know what I mean?
Seaseme Street Live.
Maybe "Make, Play, and Live"?
The website appears to be down. Did we break it?
Or "make. play. live."
I fear the site was just "slashdotted"...
Brake, stop play, down.
yep its down, def got "slashdotted"/"HNed"/"dugg"
Maybe a little unrelated question ... what does the "Spark project" mean for the Plasma Active on WeTab?
Currently the "user experience" is pretty bad (at least on my installation), the biggest problem is the speed and also a little polish is missing.
Will work on Spark also benefit the WeTab or do I need to buy another tablet (Spark) to have a usable Plasma Active experience?
(I am not complaining, just asking what are the plans for other devices...)
and makeplaylive its back
How is this different from http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/16/auraslate-is-an-open-source-android-tablet-for-hackers/
Auraslate is advertizing itself as "openhardware" too
yes, sorry everyone for the outage. cranked up the apache workers and it seems to be doing alright again. too many people hitting it is better than silence! :)
@Djuro Drljaca: we want to see the Plasma Active thrive everywhere. there are limits to what the WeTab can do, be we're committed to improving Plasma Active so that it just gets better and better ... and that includes on other devices.
we continue to use the WeTab during Plasma Active development, and i don't see that changing just because of Spark.
@its me!!!: the main differences are that Plasma Active is not Android, it's a pretty "normal" Linux stack; we have a firm foundation in the community and a commitment to support that community.
i'm very happy to see other open hardware projects out there and wish them all sorts of success.
personally, i don't think Android represents a great future for open, community development, however. it's a walled garden with a single corporate interest controlling it. it has its own funky user space with its own funky version of java.
it would be really cool to see Plasma Active on that device though :)
Since I live in Chile, if I buy your tablet, the shipping costs and taxes would mean that a 200 euro device becomes a 200.000 Chilean pesos (around $400, with conversion). And that's twice the price I must pay to get a Zenithink C71 (importing blues...)
Will you offer the option of a Plasma Active image for the C71, behind a paywall? I want to contribute, but I don't to see most of my money in the hands of the shipping guy.
BTW, by the words of RMS himself, selling Free Software is just fine ;).
It seems there is some issue with spark@makeplaylive.com.
"Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
spark@makeplaylive.com
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 554 554 5.7.1 : Relay access denied (state 14)."
I really hope the spark will take off like a rocket, but I'm interested in a 10" version!
When will that be out? ;-)
(I think a true Linux based tablet is an exciting thing to have competing in apple/google space!)
Cheers
Simon
Congrats from a place far, far away! Can't wait to get back into gear, once returned...
@Pooh2: we're working on our roadmap for further devices. we're focused on getting the 7" device shipping at the moment, but one of my jobs is to keep an eye on the horizon .. so i am :)
demand for a 10" device looks healthy, though, and the 7" device seems to have good market support, so i'm hopeful we can move on the other device sizes and features quicker than i had projected.
still, no firm dates or anything like that .. just that it's on our radar and in our planning.
@Aaron
"it's a walled garden with a single corporate interest controlling it. it has its own funky user space with its own funky version of java."
Actually Android is not walled garden (unless you want to say so, when KDE comes as well "walled garden") and it is not single corporation controlled.
Android is joint effor over 80 corporations and groups of hackers. It is mostly open by development and open by code. Every project needs manager. And every project needs a roadmap at some point of its lifetime.
And Android use Java language, but it is not Java. (Unless you want to say that KDE is as well about fanky version of Java).
Android is just one of the many distributions of Linux OS, same is with Spark project used software system. There is no "real Linux" or any "wrong" or "right" way to offer Linux OS as its source can never be closed because GPLv2 license.
So being little negative and biased against Android is not good for anyone. Google is just the presenter of Android, but Android itself has nothing to do with Google services and applications, they are just separated features what Android manufacturers installs to Android devices if wanted. You can even get Android with Microsoft services and applications if wanted. The common mistake is that people believe (or say) that Android == Google, what just isn't true.
I'm one of the many small contributors to the Norwegian translation of KDE through a joint effort administered by the organization «Åpne kontorprogram på norsk» (started for translating OpenOffice.org).
Is Plasma Active using the same translations, or is there something we need to do in addition to ensure that Plasma Active is fully translated when it becomes available. I believe having a fully translated device, available in both bokmål and nynorsk … it's complicated :-) … will be a feature that scores bonus points among reviewers.
What's with the captcha here… I've had 20 attempts, and although I may have been incorrect a couple of times something weird is going on.
@Fri13: "Android is joint effor over 80 corporations and groups of hackers"
and how many of them have the ability to set core direction? how many can contribute without going through a Google approval? and of those, how many are not A-lister companies at the top of the market share charts?
yeah.
i'd also suggest that 80 is a tiny number. we're already somewhere around a dozen (separate groups / companies, not individuals!) and we're just starting out and have a tiny fraction of the resources of Google.
Android does a great job catering to the A-listers, particularly Google. it's the rest of the world i care about.
btw, can you self-host your own copy of the Android market yet? :)
"And Android use Java language, but it is not Java."
how is that different from what i said? :)
"Android is just one of the many distributions of Linux OS, same is with Spark project used software system"
if we sample the distributions and compare user space and tool chains, we quickly discover Android falls far outside the norm and Plasma Active squarely inside the norm.
"So being little negative and biased against Android is not good for anyone."
being unrealistic about Android is similarly unhelpful. i speak with companies on a regular basis now who have run into brick walls with Android. they deserve a solution, and that starts by identifying what those brick walls are so we can avoid them.
i wish Android success (which it doesn't really need from me: it's wildly successful .. we have a few android devices around the house and love them :) ... at the same time i will remain realistic about it and work on things, like PA, that improve on where it falls short.
@Kjetil Kilhavn: we use the KDE translation infrastructure for Plasma Active. all development happens there.
@aseigo: well said.
Question: Who "all" is Coherent Theory LLC?
Signed up :-) .. I'm hoping I can get my hands on it at some day ... I still don't see the reason for a tablet, but I see the reason for one running plasma active ^^.
This is sooo, sooo cool.
I registered, early before the sever outage. I sure hope that my priority code was preserved in place!!
Excellent work and very exciting.
I would order one, but I need to be certain it works for my usecase:
putting mixxx (or via amarok) on it, and drive my sound system through hdmi out (with music via smb, but that surely will work).
Can you already confirm hdmi music out works (even if video not yet), and if not, what site to keep an eye on to learn about this, so I can order as soon as I know it will work.
@aseigo: demand for a 10" device looks healthy, though, and the 7" device seems to have good market support, so i'm hopeful we can move on the other device sizes and features quicker than i had projected.
Having both is good, but resolution on the 7" could be better too (it's rather minimal on the Spark even though the GPU is quite good, compare it with Nook Color for example).
Hello,
I'm not interested in the current version of Spark but I'm also one of the people interested in the 10" version. What do you think about crowd funding for the 10" version? Would it be a lot of administrative overhead to coordinate that?
Best regards
Martin
Hello. I have zenthink c91 (not c71). Can I install spark binary to it? If yes, where flash instructions?
So exciting! I was forced into buying a tablet and was mad to be getting an android one, now there is light over the tunel!
But, i'm a med student, so i need quite narrow market app, that are mostly available for android or iphone... Will it be possible to install app made for android?
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