Clio Swing-Top Design May Live Again

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pinaxgroup.com' target='_blank'>http://www.pinaxgroup.com</a><br /><br /></div>"The Pinax Group, Inc. today announced the availability of worldwide licenses for its patented SwingTop® design utilized by the awarding-winning PC companion, Clio®. The SwingTop® industrial design is protected by numerous globally-registered patents. “The Pinax Group is presently in various stages of discussions with several companies worldwide to license our intellectual property related to the exciting SwingTop® industrial design,” said Robert Sowah, The Pinax Group’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our clients have been asking for the next generation Clio® in both a traditional ‘thin client’ format as well as in Windows® XP tablet, Smart Display, and PDA versions. The availability of the Clio® design presents an immediate opportunity for our partners and licensees to introduce mobile computing products that are clearly differentiated from the current convertible product. I am confident that loyal Clio® customers will be very excited to see the next generation of Clio®-inspired products expected to be produced in the near future.” "<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/clio-profile.jpg" /> <br /><br />For those of you that remember the Vadem Clio, it was an amazing device for it's time, but ultimately is was crippled by a weak operating system, lack of applications, and poor hardware. So what was there to like about it? An amazing industrial design! The "swing top" design is incredibly brilliant, and I think it's a far more suitable design for Tablet PCs than the current "swivel hinge" solution. I would love to see the Clio resurrected in some fashion, because with Windows CE .Net on it, a StrongARM CPU, and 64 MB of RAM, this would be a very functional and slick device. I still mourn the loss of the HPC platform as a whole...it was so promising, but the OEMs making the devices kept trying to keep them in a price zone that made them too near the price of a laptop.

[shindullin]

This would be a great form factor for tablet pc's and would give the sony nrv design a run for it's money if it were miniaturized w/ a ppc os. Provided that it didn't cost more than $600 of course. As Jason suggested, the downfall of this product could be it's pricing.

[sponge]

The size for this doesn't seem too bad if it were an ultraslim. Judging from the picture, I'm not sure why this couldn't be a full blown x86 laptop if they wanted to.

[Cortex]

the hinges have to be too thick to support the screen.

it takes up too much space.

the current hinge allows for a smaller footprint.

[RickP in AZ]

I'll take 2:
1 as a 2lbs. subnote PC with 512MB of RAM, 32MB VRAM, and a 30GB HD. Oh and a low power consumption processor... 4 hours of runtime please. Something the size of the Sony SRX(?) VAIO and for $1600. (But I'd probably slap on Linux... They should offer it with a Linux install.)

And the other as a PPC/HPC. Even at 10 ounces it would be acceptable but lighter is better. 4" Transflective, at 640x480, 128MB RAM, CF & SD slots, a big battery, 400Mhz Xscale (but I'd live with a StrongARM... But the battery would have to give me 8 hours and the price of the device would have to be under $600.

Gee, one company could instantly get $2200 just that easily. Man, I'm an easy mark...

[dazz]

I would LOVE to see this device resurface. I doubt it will though. Not many manufacturer will want to also have to pay a licensing fee for the design.

Man, if this had Win CE 4.2, 64megs RAM, the new Intel 400Mhz and a built-in modem I think it would be a GREAT little unit.

I have thought about getting one of these on eBay but I am not crazy about the memory sieve that is Win CE 3. I still use an IBM z50 HPC but would not put out money for something like this if it does not come with CE 4.x.

dazz

[KAMware]

I had two of these and they were great. I never had a computer that drew more attention than this one. I started reading ebooks on it. I was great on an airplane and the crews just luved it.

By the way you can still get them from that link. They are still the same price as when I bought mine, $999. They were on sale not too long ago.

If they would put one of the new XScale processors in it and a few other tweaks I would get another one.

:D

[andrewlwood]

[quote="Jason Dunn"]"For those of you that remember the Vadem Clio, it was an amazing device for it's time, but ultimately is was crippled by a weak operating system, lack of applications, and poor hardware.quote]
So the hardware was rotten, the OS was rotten, and the apps were rotten.

Uhm - why was it an amazing device? :lol:

[Snail]

I love the form of my Jornada 720, and was lucky enough to get hold of a new one for $450, just as they were discontinued.

Now, if HP ever decided to resurrect it, and it ran winCE 4.2, had a transflective screen, and a better software base, I'd get another! (IF it was cheap enough! :wink: )

"Today must be Thursday - I never could get the hang of Thursdays..." Arthur Dent

[Palmguy]

[quote=Jason Dunn]"For those of you that remember the Vadem Clio, it was an amazing device for it's time, but ultimately is was crippled by a weak operating system, lack of applications, and poor hardware.quote]
So the hardware was rotten, the OS was rotten, and the apps were rotten.

Uhm - why was it an amazing device? :lol:

You can blame the software side on Microsoft. It was underpowered, i.e. slow processor, lacking memory, and it had a dual scan screen. The design was/is very innovative, unique, and useful. If it had modern tech such as a active matrix screen, an XScale, more memory, and built-in wireless in addition to the modem that it already had, plus newer software, well, you get the point :wink:

[Felix Torres]

I'm not sure I'd say it was amazing but it was, and is, a fine design and a very useful HPC Pro computer.
I own one.
Still works like a charm.
The only thing that was ever wrong with it was the same thing that was wrong with all HPC pros; the price .
Contrary to myth, the CPU was adequate, the screen reasonably fast and bright, and the OS stable and the apps robust for what the device was intended for.
The problem, as with all HPCs, is they got knocked not for what they were but for what they weren't.
The Clio and its brethren were not Tablet PCs yet that is what most users wanted them to be. Once one got past that, there was much to like and few things to grit your teeth over.

Like:
- First of all the Clio and its twin, the Sharp Tri-pad, were MIPS-based HPC Pro's with 16 mb of RAM, roughly equivalent to a 90 MHz Pentium.
- they had built-in modems but they were software modems and they peaked at 33kbps
- they had both PCARD and compact flash slots but the CF slot was hidden behind the battery
- The screen was a very nice, bright, and uniform 10" display; VGA resolution and passive matrix refresh were the downside
- the keyboard was about 80-some percent size but slightly curved in an ergonomic way thay made users love it or hate it with no middle ground.
- the swingtop system made it easy and fast to switch from laptop mode to tablet mode and gave it infinite viewing angles and a microscopic footprint when typing on an airline tray; the hinge made a great handle and it was comfortingly solid and it gave it a far better balance in the hand than most comparable computers, but it also made the Clio half a pound heavier than most equivalent HPC Pro hardware
- battery life ranged from 5 to 9 hours
- the second-generation version had a faster CPU, more memory, a better video chip and hardware-based screen rotation but by then it was loo late and most HPC Pros were on liquidation...

...Which is how I got mine for under $300.

I used it as an internet terminal and laptop replacement, as a game pad, and above all, ebook reader thanks to the early Mobipocket screen rotation. It is a *great* ebook reader.
I got my money's worth and then some.
About a year later, I got a pocket PC (Jornada 568) and I passed the Clio on to my mother, configured as an ebook reader (she wouldn't touch a computer but the Clio she liked) and, since I more recently got her a dedicated ebook reader (lighter and longer battery life but with less features that she doesn't miss), it is currently serving my sister as a placeholder for a Tablet PC that acts as an extension of her desktop computer to let her run her business on the run, since as a restaurateur she is never actually in her office.
In other words, the Clio is now doing (and very well) what it was created to do in the first place. :-)

So, can the design surface again?
Yes.
It is a natural for Tablet PCs as long as the side arms are made thinner.
Of the current convertible Tablet PC designs out there, the Toshiba seems to be as robust as the Clio and is likewise heavier and bulkier than average but nobody is complaining because the rest of the computer is so overwhelmingly likeable. The Acer approach is lighter but nowhere near as convenient to switch from laptop to tablet mode and I've seen some concern over the long-term durability of the hinge system.

Since Tablet PCs are taking off, it would not be surprising to see at least some of the far east clone vendors adopt the swingtop design for their convertibles instead of having to engineer their own, as long as the royalties are not unreasonable.

However, the design is not at all suited to PDA.
The added size and weight of the swingtop hinges would likely overwhelm any device much smaller than say 8 by 6 inches. For smaller devices, the SONY/Toshiba central hinge is less likely to wear out. The swingtop design shines in larger designs where the weight and repetitive stresses would be dangerous on a single hinge. For PDA and paperback-sized full-computers (yes, they're coming) the SONY NX form factor is about optimal for that size class (but with a landscape folding keyboard underneath); now all you need is to put a real computer in there with a real OS (Hard Drive; Windows, or LINUX, heck even MacOS will do.) >;-)

I'd kill for a full Tablet PC (no compromises!) in that form factor at a reasonable Price.

I figure it'll be a year before we see the first and another year before the price comes down to something around $1000.
2005 should be a vintage year for portable computers. :-)

Anyway, that's my Clio story.
One of these days I'm sure somebody will bring up the ATARIs and then...

[Jason Dunn]

Uhm - why was it an amazing device? :lol:

The concept was amazing, and for it's time, it was decent all aroud - it's just that it never evolved. I only ever had a C-1000, not the C-1050 (I think that was the model) that had a faster CPU, so that might have made it more useful.

[kamodt]

I agree that the Clio design was, and is, very cool. Unfortunately, Vadem couldn't pull off some of the design changes we felt were necessary to make it more successful.

On the software side, our group was under the gun to limit the amount of new development so we focused on making it a better email machine. That's primarily what Jupiter was designed for since that's why people requested the larger keyboard. It was never designed to replace a laptop as that would have been silly.

The Clio could provide 12 hours of battery life (Jupiter's requirement was 10), and it's convertible design clearly won the "coolness" award at the time. If the decision to put all effort into Pocket PC hadn't been made, perhaps Jupiter devices could have improved and continued as an alternative to the smaller H/PCs and fully functional laptops.

BTW, the price target we set was always under $800 as I believed H/PCs could survive at around $500 and I wanted to stay well under the $1,000 "perceived" laptop price-point. The OEMs felt they could get a premium at just under $1k and we couldn't change their minds. They could easily produce them for under $500 and make a tidy margin if they hadn't gotten greedy.

It's good to see something survive from a project I spearheaded. I hope it makes it.

Keith Amodt
Jupiter Product Manager (retired)

[dazz]

HEY!!! I feel like we have a celebrity in our midst.

kamodt, thanks for what I consider to be a great form factor/idea. Like I said earlier, I still use my IBM z50.

:beer:

Darren

[manywhere]

I would like to have the Clio back again, but this time it should fulfill this wish list: :deal:

XScale processor @ 400 MHz or Transmeta Crusoe
65536 colors (or greater)
Who said 64MBs are enough? 128 is the latest word! :D
Bluetooth as standard!
WiFi, mmm... optional?
HPC 2000 OS should also be optimized for the processor also (update Microsoft, update! :roll:)
Lithium Polymer battery
Plug for headphones (I can't remember if the original one included it)

... and *tada* we've gotten the best sub-notebook with the best battery time... or, so I hope :lol:.

Any more ideas before we contact the new manufacturer?? :razzing: