
Solu - Social Computer - trueduke
http://www.solu.co/
======
morsch
That page basically tells me nothing. Terrible. The Kickstarter is a bit
better: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-a-new-
br...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-a-new-breed-of-
computing)

I guess the formula is: tablet(-ish) computer extensible to desktop mode ×
subscription model × offline-enabled cloud apps × SDK with revenue sharing.
It's not terrible, but a huge list of hurdles and unanswered question come
immediately to mind.

Here are the tech specs, fwiw:

    
    
      Screen - 1440 x 1440, 450ppi with an edge to edge touch
      External display - support for up to 4K monitors
      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
      Cache capacity - 32GB
      Connectivity - Dual-band 2x2 MIMO WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and USB Type C
      Battery - 1200mAh
      Dimensions - 102mm (4.02in) x 102mm (4.02in) x 13mm (0.512in)
      Operating System - SoluOS

~~~
mattlutze
The storage for the filesystem is supposed to be cloud-focused, so we're going
to be sending a lot of content up and down all the time. I wonder why not an
802.11ac radio then, and only n?

Also, am I wrong in feeling like 1200mAh is small for a mobile computer
battery?

~~~
alexanderfinn
For 802.11ac - we really wanted to have it on board but there are technical
issues with antenna design especially with the compact case Solu has. As a
small startup company we just could not afford the time and money needed to
solve this. For that reason it is limited to 802.11ac for now and 802.11ac is
on out roadmap for the future. Our early prototype devices allow about 2 hours
of active work on battery but we are also actively looking into improving the
battery without compromising on the size or weight of the device.

Disclaimer: I work for Solu.

------
Paul_S
Looks like a movement and not a hardware product. The first thing they say is
that there are people who will disagree and that's a good thing because it
means they're doing something great and innovative. There are other possible
reasons.

IMHO they are selling hype and not a computer, as evidenced by the fact that
all technical details are vague and buried.

The more I read the more I doubt this is even real. All development is done
behind closed doors, even their forum is hidden and accounts manually
activated so you can't see what's going on.

~~~
unixhero
Nothing wrong with stealth mode.

~~~
Paul_S
Not when you're selling it. It's ridiculous to sell something without any
specifics.

------
jackgavigan
Here's the Kickstarter: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-
a-new-br...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676993694/solu-a-new-breed-
of-computing)

Here's a very critical review from a BBC report who was at the launch:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34549042](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34549042)

~~~
aikah
> In a huge hall in San Francisco, with free drinks, food and a fella playing
> an organ, the Solu team boldly declared the end of computing as we know it.
> Apple and Microsoft, they said, should watch out.

Well ,these folks are bold, at least.

Good luck.

------
sspiff
If you could hack this and run Linux on it and tinker, I'd buy it.

For the intended purpose, it seems like a terrible idea. An entirely new
ecosystem bootstrapped by an unknown new player with very vague marketing-
speak all over the site. A subscription based computer with no community,
developer ecosystem or ability to anything people want to do that couldn't be
done better on existing platforms.

------
mwill
Cool looking device, I'm not convinced it's totally revolutionary, especially
with Microsoft's mobile offerings now, but the killer difference will likely
be the software, especially if the offline/online syncing works as promised,
and the interface is as slick and it looks in the concept video.

>For a fixed monthly fee, you, as a Solu user get all the storage and apps you
need

This, along with what's said in the video, is sort of saying to me that the
only apps available on Solu will be those made by Solu itself, or those made
for free, as the video implies 3rd party developers are not able to sell
software for Solu? I'm assuming the OS is walled in.

It may be DOA for many people if 3rd party developers can't release their own
software.

EDIT: Seems it runs Android underneath the slick shell, from the kickstarter:

>We are working with a number of development houses to bring their
collaborative tools to Solu, but we also support legacy Android apps.

~~~
Gravityloss
Are there other tablets with external display + keyboard + mouse attachment
possibilities where you can run bash and shell scripts (not cygwin)?

~~~
83457
Not that I know of but I have no idea why not. Ubuntu for Android was a
project started 2 or 3 years ago which was based off of the concept of being
able to boot up Ubuntu from a powerful phone. The Ubuntu Phone is supposed to
have desktop interface but I think they are still working on it. I think some
phones do provide a "desktop android" type display when you connect to monitor
but haven't seen much about that lately. Not to say it is easy but I'm
surprised this isn't widely available yet as I expect many tech people at
least would take advantage of it.

~~~
jerf
@&#&!@)(@'in phones is what. Specifically the cellular radio components; put a
cell radio in a device and suddenly you are hardcore rammed into proprietary
software land. The halo seems to extend even to tablets that don't hook up the
cell network since all the hardware still sources from phone-land.

I'd rather have open software slowly and even ungracefully get phone
functionality merged into it, but that's basically not possible, so instead
we've been forced to go the other way, laboriously, slowly, and largely
unsuccessfully trying to open hardware and software up that is starting from a
position of totally proprietary.

This is one of the most frustrating development to me of the past ten years.
We've made huge strides towards proprietary, locked-down hardware, because of
cell phones, even in systems that don't use them. I'd love something like the
Ubuntu phone, at least in principle, but it's swimming upstream against some
very strong currents.

------
PopeOfNope
After watching the kickstarter video, I think it's terrific if they can pull
it off.

This is their killer feature: A computer where you don't have to do backups,
don't have to set up a new system when you upgrade, don't have to worry about
losing any of your data? Just buy a new machine, login and BAM! You have the
same environment you had on your other machine? Yes, please!

But, I do have concerns. Chiefly, I don't see how this product could ever
generate a profit. Storing every user's data on the company's servers at all
times can't be cheap. That's a lot of data to store per user. The subscription
fee would have to be massive to cover the overhead. And then there's the apps.
The lack of individual app pricing isn't going to make developers eager to
make apps for this device. It also cuts out a potentially lucrative source of
revenue for the company.

------
dharma1
I was watching a video yesterday of the founder giving a talk in August, I
think it's pretty impressive what they have done in a year with a small team.
[http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2015/10/video-hardware-vs-
soft...](http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2015/10/video-hardware-vs-software-
product-management/)

I think they should release more details of the OS. Is it Linux with some
Android runtime like Jolla, or AOSP fork?

I just don't personally know if I could stomach a UI that looks like a shroom
trip, but maybe it feels good when you're actually using it. At least it's
different

I saw another cloud based android phone recently, Robin -
[http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2015/09/ex-android-and-
htc-...](http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2015/09/ex-android-and-htc-
employees-launch-robin-a-cloud-first-smartphone/). Call me old school but I am
not sure I want cloud as the only storage option, definitely not from a new
company who might not be around in a years time.

~~~
alexanderfinn
Solu OS is a forked AOSP underneath with a completely reworked UI. But we also
have pretty significant changes at layers of the OS to support some of our
unique UX practices and deep cloud integration. As for the cloud concern - you
own your data and being a Finnish company we take this seriously. The device
itself has a local storage (32Gb in the early prototype, would be increased
going forward) but it is being transparently integrated with the cloud storage
so that you never run out of space thus we call it "cache". Solu also would
allow you to back your data up to the other cloud storage providers (i.e.
dropbox, google, amazon, or even your own internet-connected NAS device) as an
option.

------
ceeK
Glanced down the website and although it looks cool, I didn't get what problem
the product actually solves, or why I'd want to have one.

~~~
mjfl
> Our entire ecosystem is built around the way people work and play today,
> allowing you the freedom and flexibility to get things done wherever you
> are, whenever you need them done.

Seriously, what does this even mean? It is absurdly blatant, generic, and
cliche marketing-speak. It sounds like they just covered a raspberry-pi with
pretty lights and connected it to facebook.

------
devit
Looks like it's an Android derivative tablet with a Spotify-like subscription
model for software including their own cloud services (which seems mandatory)
and a custom UI optimized both for tablet and external screen usage.

Some of these things might be interesting, but I'm not sure how they'll manage
to market it and who would be the target market.

------
Gonzih
I failed to understand anything specific from their page. All feels buzzwordy
without much concrete information. I'm very curious what is soluos. I'm
assuming that it's some kind of linux, but what is on top. What does it mean
to be "cloud connected os"? How open will be os? What is toolkit for app
developers? Is it android or something web based or something different?

I'm very curious about the project but at the same time a bit sceptical based
on the information they currently provide about the project.

PS. soluos sounds is very close to solusos - old linux distro that was
maintaining legacy gnome2.0?

PPS would love to run a linux on a tiny portable device like that.

~~~
elnygren
You might want to think it as "SoluOS". Solu a is the Finnish word for "cell"
(as in the cell in biology) - the team behind this is from Finland.

I totally agree with you on the lack of concrete info. From what I've
seen/heard the OS itself is built on top of Linux and Android and apps can be
developed with the HTML5 stack (and I suppose with Android's tools ?).

To be honest even after seeing some private technical demos, I was still left
quite confused...

The main problem with this project is that the SoluOS itself is mainly a UI/UX
innovation, but for some reason they had to provide HW and OS too. Why can't I
install this on my Mac/Linux laptop ?

~~~
alexanderfinn
Your question actually contains a bug portion of the answer :) User experience
is not limited to the the graphical user interface, it involves all the
aspects of a person interacting with computer and its infrastructure. This
involves hardware and software. We could've done it with just software
(although it's not just UI, we had to significantly change OS internals too)
but that wouldn't allow us to achieve our vision of human-computer
interaction. Disclaimer: I work for Solu.

------
kozukumi
So what makes this any different to all the other Android based mini
computers?

All I can see is a mind-map like interface and a montly subscription cost to
use "any" application in their store/eco-system.

------
khgvljhkb
Looks super cool, but except for being all about

* cloud

* social

* on-demand

* social

what is it good for? What's the point? Was hard to find any real information
on this beautiful website.

~~~
eljimmy
The idea behind the computer seems like a cool idea, but the implementation is
going to make adoption very very difficult.

They claim to support Android legacy apps. What if you need to use Photoshop?
Or some other Windows-based application like Excel? Can you install open-
sourced apps like GIMP? Or Roll up a VM? Is there a shell? What kind of
applications does it come with natively?

They really don't give much information at all. I'm not sure who their target
market is but I am guessing it's geared towards people who just browse the
internet, watch videos, stream music, send emails, etc. Why would you pay a
subscription for that? I can't imagine large numbers jumping on for this
kickstarter other than someone looking for a new toy to burn some money on.

I think they're trying to solve way too many problems at once. Seems like
they're trying to create an entirely new ecosystem amongst the likes of
Windows, OSX, or Android, but they're eons behind in that race.

The UI seems pretty neat, I wish they had more examples of usage.

------
staticelf
I don't like the idea of a subscription model. I generally do not try to have
too many subscriptions because the cost tends to increase while the value
tends to decrease.

------
eivarv
This looks exciting, but as morsch said, the homepage is not very
informative/clear - the kickastarter is better in this respect.

The concept kinda reminds me of Ubuntu for Android [0], except for running a
custom OS on quasi-artisinal custom hardware.

The fact that "developers get monthly revenue based on app usage" sound like
an exciting twist, but how will Solu avoid the pitfalls of this model
(exemplified by artists on Spotify and alternatives)?

The project environments sounds really intriguing to me, as task focused
design and interfaces is something I'm currently working on in different forms
(terminal, web browsers, OSes) myself. If anyone knows of any other good
examples of this (applications, papers, whatever), please let me know!

Nitpick: the quote "Solu’s UI [...] mimick[s] the functionality of your brain"
sounds pretty dubious.

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_for_Android](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_for_Android)

------
stinos
_It was built around collaboration and the ability to split your life into
multiple projects._

I fail to understand what this means (after all it does sound like promoting
some kind of schizophrenia) - does it mean it's just another kind of agenda or
todo-app? I kinda like the device in general but I'm not sure anyone is
waiting for this. I might be wrong though. Also the wording is a bit weird -
at first sight 'splitting your life into projects' sounds feasible but I'm not
really buying it. I think my life is one big project and doubt that will
change. And yes there might be subprojects (dunno, say
wife/sports/hobbies/job/diferent projects at the job/friends/family/...) but I
just don't see how I could split this up to 'manage' them (which is what I
suppose the phrase means?) as they are entwined and tend to overlap both in
time and space. Or maybe I am just overthingking it :]

------
Paul_S
"The software industry is broken and we have the means to ﬁx it.

Up until now, developers have been forced to either charge huge fees from a
handful of enterprise clients or ask for pennies from individuals. We replace
these outdated business models by charging all users a small monthly fee"

And split the money how? This solves nothing.

~~~
elnygren
yeah, they will need to be really careful with incentives.

For example, if money is given based on how much people use the different
apps, there is a large incentive to do very simple apps that have a high ratio
of people using them vs. short time to dev the app.

So maybe trivial mobile games like 2048 and the like will flood their store
and complex software like Photoshop won't ?

------
umsm
Both at the beginning and at the end of the kickstarter video, the founder
expressed how people don't think this sort of device can succeed.

Does this mean that there was a lot of resistance from investors and beta-
testers?

~~~
jerf
They're invoking the "spunky underdog" memeset, that's all. If you support
them, you too can be a spunky underdog. This marketing maneuver is often
successful in created a small core of very, very passionate supporters who
essentially take the project in as part of their personal identity. On the
positive side, you can get some serious evangelists and big spenders if you
succeed. On the risk side, if a project does flounder, such supporters will
support a product well past the point where it is obvious to everyone else
there is a huge problem, and then once they finally realize it has failed,
turn on the project like jilted lovers. It's a high risk, high reward
marketing move.

I say this neutrally, describing both the possible positive and negative
outcomes of the move. I have insufficient information about the product in
question to have a specific opinion on which outcome is more likely, beyond
the observation that this is high risk in the general sense.

------
p4bl0
The business model (spotify for apps) is quite scary privacy wise, there is a
lot of ways to mess up with something that should monitor users activity so
closely. And I guess the code won't be open source and auditable.

And except that there is nothing new about this product (but that has already
been pointed out in many comments already).

------
kanche
What are these [0]? They are there where they mentioned Solu OS in the website
also in the kickstarter page/video.

[0]
[http://www.solu.co/css/svg/OS_round.png](http://www.solu.co/css/svg/OS_round.png)

------
pythondz
Are they trying to re-invent smartphones (or tablets) ? Sorry but IMO it seems
useless and irrelevant mainly because of Cloud services => it will become
rapidly personal (netflix, spotify, solu accounts...), no way I'll give that
to a friend

~~~
oneeyedpigeon
I assume they're trying to create a new product category - certainly from
their bluster, that's true! To be charitable, I think there's definitely a
smallish market for portable desktop devices that can be used on the go.
Currently, the closest we have is a laptop + dock, which is ok, but this
product - this new category, at least - has the advantage that it's much more
portable and neater, whilst doubling up as an input device. That last point is
its best innovation, IMO. True, such a device won't be as useful on-the-go as
a full-blown laptop, but for basic email, web-browsing, etc. (i.e. tablet
functions) it could be OK.

------
amelius
I don't understand the branding. The name "Solu" sounds like "Solo", which, of
course, is probably generally perceived as the exact opposite of "Social".

~~~
dblock
Americans :)

That's Finnish for "organic cell".

------
dblacc
Is this proposing a spotify like royalty payment to software developers on the
platform too then ? Seems like a bad idea.

------
tmikaeld
It fells like the Ouya console story all over again, except with an even more
closed walled garden.

------
unixhero
Congrats to the team. Met you at Assembly.

------
chazu
> Computer as a service

Next up: Breathing as a service.

~~~
listic
It better be a really good one. (Swim without the fear of drowning? Smoke all
day and never die of lung-related problems?)

