OSNews reviews the Litl Webbook, an Atom mini-notebook with an innovative convertible form-factor and a custom, web-centric Linux-based OS. (Includes video review). Update: Turns out that Havoc Pennington, proponent of the Gnome Online Desktop, now works at Litl. No coincidence.The netbook phenomenon, particularly the non-Windows netbook, is a trend most welcomed by OSNews staff and readers alike. Many of us had high hopes that Linux netbooks would be a vanguard for increased us of non-Windows OSes by regular people. Our hopes were mostly dashed, thanks to a one-two punch: first, the netbook manufacturers displayed a lackadaisical attitude toward the installed OSes and software in general, resulting in user experiences running the gamut from poor to disastrous, and Microsoft’s savvy move to sell Windows XP licenses at cut-rate prices for netbooks, eliminating Linux’s inherent strength as far as manufacturers were concerned. What needed to happen, we noted then, was for someone to take the software seriously, and deliver a non-Windows desktop or laptop computing experience that’s superior, particular for a novice computer user, to using Windows.
Now, we’re all following the news of Google Chrome with bated breath, largely because we know that Google has the resources and the talent to get the experience right, and if they succeed, it will open the floodgates to inexpensive, user-friendly Linux-based computing for the masses. But while we’re all waiting to see what Google comes out with, other people are already there. One of these is Litl.
The Litl Webbook is a very cool-looking laptop/easel convertible form factor with a wholly unremarkable 1.6GHz Atom built in, with 1GM RAM and 2GB flash memory. It’s a true Netbook, á la Google Chrome, intended to access the web and web-based services exclusively. It also has some very cool custom software to enable common household tasks, such as viewing personal photos and videos, and data views that are particularly conducive to countertop use, such as the clock and weather report features.
When you turn it on, you don’t get a desktop, but rather a set of “cards” displayed on the screen, which you can rearrange, add, and delete. If you select a web site as one of your cards, in laptop mode it’s just like reading it in a web browser, but in tabletop mode, it’s displayed as a spare rendition of the site’s RSS feed, sort of like a news ticker, I guess. Likewise, the Flickr card will let you manage your flickr account in laptop view, and show your photos as a slideshow in tabletop format. The Facebook card is even more whimsical. It displays your friends’ status updates as a speech bubble being spoken by stick figures bearing your friends’ profile pictures for heads.
All the eye-candy aside, the Litl suffers from the perennial problem plaguing non-PC computing devices: it sacrifices full PC functionality for simplicity. The Litl Webbook can’t do many of the things that a real PC can do, including working with local documents of any kind, saving files to local disk, editing photos or video outside of the limited tools available as web apps, installing non-native apps, etc. The iPhone proved that a simplified environment could work for an everyday computing device, but the iPhone is way more flexible, customizable, and expandable than the Litl is.
What the Litl does have, that any other currently-available computing device does not have is an absolutely foolproof and maintenance-free experience. If you are satisfied with those few functions that the Litl does enable, then pretty much no matter what you do, you’re unlikely to be able to render the Litl inoperable, become infected with a virus or trojan, lose your data due to a hardware failure, or do any of the other things that novice computer users do. You won’t need to get ripped off by the Geek Squad if you own a Litl. OS and all software updates happen automatically, behind the scenes. If your Litl gets lost or destroyed or fails and you get a new one, all your configuration is saved over the network, so your new Litl will be set up just like your old one. Even hooking the Litl up to a TV is easy: there’s an HDMI port.
Even the warranty is set up for absolute peace of mind: they offer a two-year “unconditional” satisfaction guarantee. If your Litl breaks or you decide you don’t like it during a two-year period, they’ll replace it or refund your money, with free return shipping.
In short, the Litl is seemingly designed to solve one very vexing problem for tech-savvy people: what computer to give your computer-illiterate family member who you fear will be constantly calling you for tech support if you set them up on a cheap Windows machine. One of the coolest features of the Litl is even optimized for just this scenario. You can link two Litls together, so that one mirrors the other. So if you set up photos on one, they’ll be displayed on the other as a slideshow. In other words, Grandma can see your photos, just by setting the Litl on her counter when you come to visit. She doesn’t even have to touch it.
But here we arrive at the problem. The Litl is the perfect answer to a very small problem, and as the world’s population becomes more computer-savvy, and the average full-featured desktop OS becomes more reliable, that problem becomes smaller and smaller. And if the Litl were a $200-300 “toy” laptop, I might be tempted to give one to my mom and dad. But the Litl costs $700. Not only could you buy two top-end netbooks for that amount, you could get a very good full-spec cheap laptop. That’s even within striking distance of Macbook money.
In conclusion, I love the Litl for what it represents: a serious effort to make a foolproof, pleasant-to-use networked computing device. Litl’s dedication to aesthetic beauty and stress-free computer ownership is admirable, and I hope they survive long enough to evolve their product offering and produce Webbooks in large enough quantities to compete head-to-head with Windows netbooks. But until they’re $300, I won’t be buying one.
The Litl Webbook is available at Litl’s website for $699 plus shipping.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/with_bated_breath
It is with bated breath, not baited.
Thanks. How careless of me!
I can’t speak for David, but my breath is lined with salmon filled bear traps.
Now, we’re all following the news of Google Chrome with bated breath, largely because we know that Google has the resources and the talent to get the experience right, and if they succeed, it will open the floodgates to inexpensive, user-friendly Linux-based computing for the masses. But while we’re all waiting to see what Google comes out with, other people are already there. One of these is Litl.
Okay, but the keyword here is Linux-based. In another words, there is very little “Linux” in Google Chrome.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) also this dashes the hopes of seeing “Linux” on netbooks.
Even the word “webbook” implies a scary prediction for the future where the issues involving privacy, DRM, and operating systems are all embedded in the same space.
Edited 2009-12-30 06:37 UTC
There’s much more Linux on Chrome OS and Litl than in, say, Android. Any contributions targeted at improving Chrome OS will directly benefit Linux.
To get back on topic, the most interesting thing about Litl is probably their extensive use of Javascript for desktop programming; you can read up on that and more at
http://cananian.livejournal.com/
I am little lost.
When Google develops the main platform of Chrome OS — web-based closed proprietary Google apps and related services — this benefits Linux how? When people use Google docs instead of OpenOffice or Abiword, Linux will benefit how? Where are exactly Google’s big contributions to the community?
Or could it be that you just see this through rosy glasses as there is the word Linux involved? “With Linux you can not do wrong even if you do wrong things via it and for it“.
In order for hardware to work with Chrome OS, you need to have Linux drivers for everything (and since it uses X, graphics needs to work with Linux as well). This is an incentive to OEMs.
Likewise, improvements to Chrome-the-browser are directly usable on Linux desktop.
Except that — and mark my words for this — I am willing to bet that once Google maintains that proper stable kernel API/ABI, you get more binary blobs, not drivers and code to be merged to the Linux kernel.
No, sir, this one will not try to support every piece of hardware there is.
Mark my words also when I say that things like Intel Pulsbo are going to be supported, but no, not in the terms you and I like.
Healthy skepticism, that’s what I’m asking. And that’s what is really need in the tech-world.
This I can believe.
Edited 2009-12-30 17:07 UTC
As long as you view Linux as a window manager with a desktop metaphor running on top of X and providing conventional office suites, the results will always be disappointing. Windows owns that market and always will. It’s not a bad thing. That paradigm basically reached a pinnacle with XP which is why we’re seeing very little movement from that OS to others including the newer offerings from Microsoft.
Contributing to the conventional parts of the Linux desktop is respectable and it helps to provide something usable for people wanting alternatives to Windows right now, but it does very little to push Linux forward in the grand scheme of things. GNOME, KDE, Fluxbox, OpenOffice, Abiword, etc. are fine pieces of software, but they are simply not going to be drivers for success.
What things like ChromeOS and the Litl are doing is trying to provide something different– to open people up to the possibility that there are better ways to interact with a computer than desktops, windows and file hierarchies. This is where Linux truly has a chance to shine and I find these things exciting.
Let me repeat: I am little lost.
This argument is too easy to debut by pointing out that Windows 7 is selling well.
See, this is part of the problem. The people who want Linux to “succeed” no matter what costs are going to destroy it.
All cool, but no matter where we come from, basically we can agree with at least some fundamental points raised by FSF and related parties. No matter if you are a FSF member and a avid GNU supporter, a BSD enthusiastic, or a Haiku devotee, you can agree that computing should generally be open — or say “hackable” — at some fundamental level.
But now these people pushing for Linux as a gateway to the Cloud are willing to toss all that away. See, no matter how much I tried, no matter how much I paid, no matter if I was Torvalds himself, I can not go and hack Google docs or Twitter. They remain so tightly closed that the term “proprietary” is merely a bad joke.
The litl is pretty cool, but the price is just unbelievable. Classic case of a bunch of engineers getting together to make a cool piece of kit, and not even taking 5 minutes to ask the question of what market they’re going for or what price that market might tolerate.
How could you possibly go through all the steps of bringing a product to market and getting it manufactured without thinking about the most important part?
Maybe they just might target those that have money to spend on yet another gadget besides their HD TV’s netbooks, notebooks and smartphones?
Something that has a cool design, is easy-to-use and allows you to show off with all your pictures, Facebook accounts, … without having to boot a laptop.
Sounds ideal for some hip people in their 50’s or early 60’s that have enough free time (due early retirement or a part-time job and no kids to take care of) and money…
This choice also makes sense business-wise:
– smaller volume
– higher margins
– less competitors that can work cheaper than they can
– …
Would be nice to know what resolution the screen was at, or the battery life.
Hi, thanks for reviewing our product!
It’s worth pointing out that the functionality of the litl webbook will expand through our growing channels platform – we are releasing an SDK so anyone can develop litl channels. Channels are customized-for-litl versions of webapps and content.
Price: check out our 12.1″ WXGA LCD 1280×800 – it’s the best on the market for its class and is incredibly bright with a 178-degree viewing angle. It’s not cheap and it does impact our price, as does the low travel scissor action keys. This is a quality device. We don’t really see cheap small netbooks as in the same category.
We do see our webbook as a premium designer device and it’s for the home, not road warriors – hence our focus on easel mode and channels.
@cb_osn: thanks you’ve hit the nail on the head. The desktop metaphor that Windows etc still uses arose in pre-web times. Litl is all about a simpler interface which is web-driven instead of hardware driven.
Follow us on twitter.com/litl, see http://blog.litl.com
or email [email protected] if you have questions.
Will you ship to europe?
Thanks for mentioning the screen resolution. I neglected to mention in my review that the monitor is far superior to what you’d normally get on a cheapie laptop.
Way over-priced IMO, especially since I can nearly get a refurb MacBook for that, or a Thinkpad R series running Ubuntu.
I just don’t see the value in this at all. If I want something small, an Acer Aspire One 11″ runs Ubuntu 9.10 absolutely beautifully, and costs all of $350.
I wouldn’t even buy a full laptop for $699 these days!!!
The Litl webbook shows some interesting concepts, but as a stand-alone product, with little in the way of an active developer community, this is a product is destined to be a one-trick pony, and an expensive one at that.
The cloud storage idea only works in reality if you have an always-on internet connection, like a mobile phone. Wifi ties you to home and a handful of other locations, which renders the webbook useless for most of the time if you carry it around.
Even as a device targeted exclusive to home use the webbook is lacking:
– The screen doesn’t flip over quite far enough to consider using it as an eBook reader
– It can play high quality video, but from what sources? Can you watch movies from Amazon or Netflix? Stream video from your Slingbox?
– Is there an App to play music from a daap or UPNP share? Does it have Bluetooth so you can playback through real speakers?
In my opinion, it would have served Litl better to develop only the software, and pitch it to the likes of Sonus, SlimDevices/Logitech and boutique home fidelity equipment makers.
But even in this niche segment, better alternatives exist. Google’s Android can (besides handsets) already be found in the Nook eBook reader, various media tablets and some GPS devices. Moblin is an attractive option as well for similar devices, more so if it also ran on ARM processors.
Palm also has a window of opportunity to capitalize on WebOS, by licensing it to other equipment makers (think MP3 players, netbooks, cameras, game/education consoles).
I have no idea where Litl fits in with all of this.
..It wasn’t $700. I could swing $400 or so. I’d probably actually get one. Not as a laptop/desktop replacement by any means, but an awesome “appliance” to leave in the kitchen or living room. I don’t like how people are trying to push EVERYTHING onto the web, but web devices and services do have their place and something such as this would be awesome as a guest computer and a quick internet portal.