14 DAY TRIAL // Some of you might remember that back in 2012 a group of enthusiastic developers introduced the Spark tablet project, which should have been based on open source software.
Shortly after the launch, the tablet was re-branded as the Vivaldi, and a year later it received a hardware upgrade too. Nevertheless, the device failed to make an appearance on the market.
The same dev team also introduced the Improv modular-ARM computer in November, but taking into consideration recent developments, it appears the two devices will never ship out to backers of the project, suggests Phoronix.
The idea behind the project was a laudable one. The team aimed to create an affordable, open device that didn't have to rely on proprietary, closed-source software like the products offered by most brand vendors.
Last year, the Vivaldi team partnered up with the developers of the EOMA-68 platform, which deliver the EOMA-68 cards – ARM-based units that function thanks to an Allwinner A20 processor and offer support for Linux-based OS-s like Debian.
So the plan was, the Vivaldi tablet would get its life-juice from the EOMA-68 cards. However, comments from project leaders and community members on the Make Play Forum and ARM Netbook mailing list seems to suggest we can kiss both the tablet and the board goodbye.
Nothing is 100% certain at the moment, but the scenario looks like this. It seems like there weren't enough Vivaldi pre-orders, for the developer team to be able to maintain the contract with the Chinese manufacturer.
Nevertheless, the possibility that we’re going to see a device powered by the EOMA-68 arrive in retail, still exists, but it’s probably not going to be the Vivaldi tablet or Improv board.
Maybe the problem is the Vivaldi tablet arrived a little ahead of its time. We’re saying this, because some recent open-source projects have been doing just great.
The first Novena laptop units are expected to ship out to early backers in January.