Jim Lynch: Off the Top of My Head…

What a cool gadget. It’s amazing how so many apps can be put into such a tiny device. :shock:

A French company that claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of portable DVD players has added a unique capability to its medallion-shaped portable MP3 players. New “Z2″ models of Shinco’s “Medaillon” (French spelling) line can be used as USB storage devices that boot PCs into embedded Linux.

The Medaillon Lecteur MP3 Z2 (”lecteur” means “reader”) is available in two models. A €119 model offers 128MB of Flash, while a €159 version includes 256MB of Flash. Both weigh about half an ounce (15 grams), and measure 1.7 inches in diameter (42mm) and 0.4 inches in thickness (10mm), enabling them to be worn comfortably on a chain around the neck, Shinco says.

The Shinux environment includes a variety of productivity and file management applications, including:

* Abiword word processor
* Apache/PHP web server
* Balsa email client
* emelFM2 file manager
* Firebird (Firefox) browser
* GAIM instant messenger
* gFTP graphical FTP client
* GIMP raster graphics
* ginetconf net config utility
* gnumeric spreadsheet
* GQview digital camera interface
* ipfix utility
* Jags network browser
* MPlayer DVD/video player
* Sodipodi vector graphics
* tightVNC remote access
* XMMS multimedia player
* xterm X console

MP3 player aside, I can see something like this as being even more useful than the Linux Live CDs that can be used to boot a PC into Linux. The small size and portability of this make it very convenient. Anytime you need Linux, it’ll be there along with a nice range of applications. Very cool indeed!

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