Being the editor of a technologically active website like ours is an interesting job, for you get to know so many new things every single moment. Today we are going to talk about KDE and its Plasma Active UI coming in a tablet computer of its own. But for those of you do not get that here is the backdrop. KDE is an international community of free software who develop integrated set of cross platform applications that run on different kind of operating systems around the world. The company is best known for its Plasma Desktop that forms the default working environment for many Linux distributions. Plasma Active is a graphical environment provided for Tablet PC’s and Nokia N900 kind of devices. Plasma Active serves as base for touchscreen-compatible workspaces.
However, the big news that is coming through is the first hardware that is going to be pre installed with the Plasma Active UI. The name is “Spark” and it definitely signifies the start of a really bigger flame. It sports an open Linux stack on unlocked hardware and comes with an open content and services market. The user experience is, of course, Plasma Active and it will be available to the general public. As far as the spec and features of the new device are concerned there seems to be no doubt that the both the features and the price of the software have been kept very modest.
The device features a 1 GHz AMLogic ARM processor. Mali-400 GPU, 512 MB RAM, 4GB internal storage plus SD card slot, a 7” capacitive multi-touch screen and wifi connectivity – one thing is sure that it won’t be able to challenge the modern day tablet computers with its power, however with the price tag that it bears I can very well be a competition. The tablet will be offered for a price tag of $260 approximately 13,000 rupees in India. Plasma Active being open source software powered by an open ecosystem will of course be open for other device manufacturers to integrate, and the QML-based interface makes it easy for any device manufacturer to differentiate in terms of user experience.
As far as applications and services related to the tablet is concerned work is going on the OwnCloud cloud solution to provide file sync and other similar facilities. The content store will be developed on a different model all together. The store shall offer API’s that can be used to create any front end that uses the curated set of software available on the store. This feature could be used for industries to provide their employees with only material related to their company and prevent malicious use.
So, there it is guys- that is all about the tablet that we have at hand. We hope you loved reading as much as we loved writing this article do not forget to let us know of your opinions about the same in the comments section below.
