Gdium
Encyclopedia
The Gdium is a subnotebook / netbook computer produced by EMTEC
. The Gdium product is distinguished by its unique Loongson MIPS
processor and the use of a USB key as a primary storage device. The Gdium netbook is marketed as an interface device to the Gdium "learning community" -- a website that provides hardware support, MIPS
builds of Open Source
software, Linux
computing tips, and educational resources targeted towards teachers and students within the K-12
demographic.
Loongson 2F MIPS
microprocessor
and uses a proprietary form-factored USB key, called the G-Key, as its primary storage medium. The G-Key, which fits in a specially designed USB slot recessed within the unit, is available in 8GB and 16GB capacities. The key generates no noise, and is less susceptible to mechanical shock damage than hard drives. It also includes an SD card reader, which provides support for MMC, SD and SDHC cards as supplemental storage.
The Gdium uses Mandriva
as its sole operating system
and boots in approximately 30 seconds. The desktop uses the Metacity
window manager with a lxplanel and idesk-based interface. Like most modern Linux distributions, Open Source
software applications such as OpenOffice.org
, Mozilla Firefox
, Thunderbird
, and The GIMP
are included in the default installation. Microsoft Windows
, OS X, and Ubuntu
are incompatible with the unit's MIPS
microprocessor
architecture.
The EMTEC Gdium Liberty 1000 specifications are as follows:
EMTEC
EMTEC is part of the Dexxon Group headquartered in Gennevilliers, France and markets consumer computer data storage products and other computer related consumables. Dexxon Group's North American subsidiary, Dexxxon Digital Storage Inc. is located in Lewis Center, Ohio. EMTEC evolved from BASF...
. The Gdium product is distinguished by its unique Loongson MIPS
MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. , formerly MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., is most widely known for developing the MIPS architecture and a series of pioneering RISC chips. MIPS provides processor architectures and cores for digital home, networking and mobile applications.MIPS Computer Systems Inc. was...
processor and the use of a USB key as a primary storage device. The Gdium netbook is marketed as an interface device to the Gdium "learning community" -- a website that provides hardware support, MIPS
MIPS architecture
MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
builds of Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
computing tips, and educational resources targeted towards teachers and students within the K-12
K-12
K–12 is a designation for the sum of primary and secondary education. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where P–12 is also commonly used...
demographic.
Technical overview
The EMTEC Gdium Liberty 1000 is built on an STMicroelectronicsSTMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is an Italian-French electronics and semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.While STMicroelectronics corporate headquarters and the headquarters for EMEA region are based in Geneva, the holding company, STMicroelectronics N.V. is registered in Amsterdam,...
Loongson 2F MIPS
MIPS
MIPS may refer to:* Maharana Institute of Professional Studies, an institution in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India* Mansehra International Public School and College, in Mansehra, Pakistan* Material input per unit of service, an economic efficiency indicator...
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
and uses a proprietary form-factored USB key, called the G-Key, as its primary storage medium. The G-Key, which fits in a specially designed USB slot recessed within the unit, is available in 8GB and 16GB capacities. The key generates no noise, and is less susceptible to mechanical shock damage than hard drives. It also includes an SD card reader, which provides support for MMC, SD and SDHC cards as supplemental storage.
The Gdium uses Mandriva
Mandriva
Mandriva S.A. is a publicly traded Linux and open source software company with its headquarters in Paris, France and development center in Curitiba, Brazil. Mandriva, S.A...
as its sole operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
and boots in approximately 30 seconds. The desktop uses the Metacity
Metacity
Metacity was the window manager used by default in the GNOME desktop environment until GNOME 3, where it was replaced by Mutter. The development of Metacity was started by Havoc Pennington and it is released under the GNU General Public License....
window manager with a lxplanel and idesk-based interface. Like most modern Linux distributions, Open Source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software applications such as OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org, commonly known as OOo or OpenOffice, is an open-source application suite whose main components are for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. OpenOffice is available for a number of different computer operating systems, is distributed as free software...
, Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
, Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
, and The GIMP
GIMP
GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux.In addition to detailed image retouching and...
are included in the default installation. Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, OS X, and Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
are incompatible with the unit's MIPS
MIPS
MIPS may refer to:* Maharana Institute of Professional Studies, an institution in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India* Mansehra International Public School and College, in Mansehra, Pakistan* Material input per unit of service, an economic efficiency indicator...
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
architecture.
The EMTEC Gdium Liberty 1000 specifications are as follows:
- Screen size: 10" (254 mm)
- Resolution: 1024 x 600
- CPU: 900 MHz 64-bit Loongson 2F by STMicroelectronics
- Operating system: Mandriva G-Linux
- Video chipset: Silicon Motion SM502 (16MB dedicated video memory)
- RAM: 512MB DDR2 (supports up to 1GB, not user upgradeable)
- Primary Storage: 16GB to 32GB USB G-Key (removable)
- Webcam: 0.3 or 1.3 Mpx
- Keyboard: 240mm long and 96.8mm wide.
- Wireless LAN: WiFi 802.11 b/g
- LAN: 10/100 Mbps
- Battery: 5000 mAh / 2.5 hours (some users report ~30 minutes)
- SD / SDHC Card reader
- 3 USB ports available: 2 standard USB 2.0 and 1 USB 2.0 for the G-Key
- 1 VGA ext 15pin D-sub enabling 1280x1024 external monitor resolution
- Speakers/headset Output: 1 port for 3.5mm audio jack
- Microphone Input: 1 port for 3.5mm microphone jack
- Dimensions: 250 x 182 x 32 mm
- Weight: 1.2 kg
Starting phase
- Gdium was originally planned for release in September 2008, but after multiple hardware and software glitches attributed to poorly managed contracted laborOutsourcingOutsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
across France and China , the product was delayed until end of February 2009 for its soft launch. Gdium's soft launch was on the Belgium market and received a mild user acceptance. - The target price of the Gdium at Euro 379 makes the Gdium an expensive and poorly valued netbook given its modest hardware, short battery life, and incompatibility with Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. Analysts have wondered if a market actually exist for it. - In North America, the Gdium can be found for about US$ 280–370 as of 9/2009
- Developers with a project can get the same hardware for 250€ through the OLPH program.
External links
- Home page of the project
- Gdium, another Eee PC competitor
- One Laptop Per Hacker program from Gdium (links to wiki, forum, planet and more)