ThirdPipe Assisted by Open Source

Tomorrow at approxmaelty Noon ThinkgOS will debut its 2.0 verison of gOS @ CES. Yes the OS that powers the Everex designed WalMart debuted $199 PC. PCBurn has the skivvy –

LOS ANGELES, California-January 3, 2008-Good OS, the open source startup that introduced gOS, a Linux operating system with Google and web applications, on a $199 Wal-Mart PC last November, today announced that gOS Rocket will debut Monday, January 7 at 11:30 a.m. at the exclusive press preview, Lunch@Piero’s, during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and online at www.thinkgos.com. Rocket is packed with Google Gears, new online offline synchronization technology from Google that enables offline use of web apps; gBooth, a browser-based web cam application with special effects, integration with Facebook and other web services; shortcuts to launch Google Reader, Talk, and Finance on the desktop; an online storage drive powered by Box.net; and Virtual Desktops, an intuitive feature to easily group and move applications across multiple desktop spaces.

gOS Rocket introduces gBooth, the first of many web apps to come specially customized for gOS. gBooth is powered by gOS spin-off, meebooth, a browser-based web cam application that makes it fun and easy to capture photos, add special effects, and share across Facebook, YouTube and other web services. To introduce a gOS compatible web cam, gOS and meebooth partnered with leading web cam manufacturer Ezonics to create the “gCam,” a web cam compatible with gOS and gBooth.

So what’s new? Well this time out ThinkOS is partnering with Ezonics and meeBooth to provide a web based webcam called gBooth. Webcams on Linux are not for the faint of heart for the nontechy end user. To have the capability built in and web based is a treat. The other neat trick is that gOS has GoogleGears enabled. This permits the end user to work on their online files offline.

So how does this help the ThirdPipe space? Its the ‘juice’ that demands broadband. gOS’s applications are on net. So to have a rich experience requires DSL at a minimum. That’s the demand side. The supply side is giving the end user a simple OS that is bulletproof and a on net service base they do not have to update. Total trouble free operation. Nor can the price points be beat.

Could it be better? You bet! What if ThinkOS in a new round, after CES partnered with Meraki? Loading WiFi drivers in Linux is not easy either, even for a tech head like me. You wrestle with LSPCI modules and validation routines. Not for the Ma Fricket crowd. It would be so sweet if the gOS system recognized that it was in a Meraki enabled environment — turn key.

What much of the tech industry is aware of but appears unable to address is the very fact that most users now view the PC not as a computer but a communication device. In that role a $1500 investment is a ridiculous use of capital. That role is best suited for a < $500 device. That's what the role requires. gOS/Everex/WalMart is addressing it. Meraki might be a player here as well. San Fransisco will be the test.

PCBurn article.
Ezonics website.
ThinkgOS website.