One To Watch For In 2025: Tanmatsu

If you’ve used the Espressif series of processors, perhaps you’ll have heard of their upcoming ESP32-P4. This is an application processor, with dual RISC-V cores at 400 MHz, and save for a lack of an MMU, a spec sheet much closer to the kind of silicon you’d find in single board computers with pretensions towards being a mini-PC.

It was announced a year ago and there have been limited numbers of pre-release versions of the chip available to developers, but thus far there have been very few boards featuring it. We’re excited then to note that a P4-based board we’ve been watching for a while is finally breaking cover, and what’s more, you can now pre-order one.

The Tanmatsu (Japanese for “Terminal”) is an all-in-one palmtop computer for hackers, with a QWERTY keyboard and an 800×480 DSI display. It’s designed with plenty of expansion in mind, and it’s got space on board for a LoRa radio. The reason we’re interested is that it comes from some of our friends in the world of event badges, so we’ve seen and handled real working prototypes, and we know that its makers come from a team with a proven record in manufacture and delivery of working hardware. The prototype we saw had hardware that was very close to the final version, and an operating system and software that was still under development but on track for the April release of the device. It will be fully open-source in both hardware and software.

We liked what we saw and have pre-ordered one ourselves, so we’ll be sure to bring you a closer look when it arrives.

3D Printed Case Turns Pixel 6 Pro Into Palmtop

Despite initial interest in the 1990s and early 2000s, palmtop computers never really took off. Realistically most consumers were probably satisfied enough with smartphones as they became more widely available, but those of us who would prefer a real keyboard on our mobile devices are still feeling the pain. Today there are still a few commercial palmtop-like machines out there, but they aren’t exactly mainstream.

Which is why this 3D printed case for the Pixel 6 Pro from [TypingCat] is so interesting. It takes a relatively popular and capable contemporary phone, pairs it with a physical keyboard, and manages to create something that looks quite practical. Thanks to Termux, you can even get a fairly usable Linux environment going on the thing.

There aren’t too many components at play here, but still, we appreciate the fact that [TypingCat] provided links for not only the specific Bluetooth keyboard used, but the fasteners required to hold the three printed parts together. A link is also provided to the Termux-Desktops project, which allows you to get a Linux X11 desktop environment running on Android. It’s not the pocket Linux computer of our dreams, but it’s pretty close.

While the Pixel 6 Pro is a solid enough choice to base this project around, we’re interested in seeing if the community will come up with variants of this case to hold other similarly sized phones. It’s interesting to note that [TypingCat] has decided to use the “No Derivatives” variant of the Creative Commons license for the bottom half of the case. But since the top half is a remix of an existing Pixel 6 Pro case from [JoshCraft3D], it carries a more permissive license and must be distributed separately. Long story short, folks can create and distribute custom versions of the phone-side of this case, but the bottom needs to remain the same.

If you’ve got filament to burn extrude and would rather have a more pure Linux experience, we saw a printable Raspberry Pi Zero palmtop a couple months back that looked quite promising.

Portable Pi Palmtop Provides Plenty

We’ve seen many portable laptops using the Raspberry Pi series of boards in the decade-plus since its launch. The appeal of a cheap board that can run a desktop Linux distro without requiring too much battery is hard not to fall for. Over the years, the bar has been raised from a Pi stuck to the back of one of those Motorola netbook accessories, through chunky laptops, to some very svelte and professional-looking machines. A recent example comes from [Michael Mayer], whose Portable Pi 80 is a palmtop design that we’d be happy to take on the road ourselves.

At its heart is a Pi Zero 2, combining as it does a tiny form factor with the useful power of its Pi 3-derived processor. This is mated to a Waveshare 7-inch display, and in the bottom half of the machine sits a 40% mechanical keyboard. Alongside this are a pair of 18650 cells and their associated power modules. The little Arduino, which normally handles the keyboard, has been relocated due to space constraints, which brings us to the case. A project like this one is, in many ways, a task of assembling a set of modules, and it’s in the case that the work here really shines. It’s a 3D-printable case that you can download from Printables, and it’s very nice indeed. As we said, we’d be happy to use one of these.

Portable computing has come a very long way. Often the keyboard can make it or break it.

The Laptop Every British Kid Would Have Wanted For Christmas 1983

How can we convey to a world in which a 64-bit laptop can be a near-throwaway item, just how amazing a miniature laptop version of the 1980s Sinclair ZX Spectrum could have been? perhaps we don’t need to, because here in 2023 there’s a real one for all middle-aged geeks who had the original to drool over.

8-bit home computers were super-exciting for the kids of the day, but they were in no way portable and relied on a TV, frequently the family model in the living room. It’s safe to say that a portable version of one of those home computers, not in an Osborne-style luggable case but in a clamshell palmtop, would have been mind-blowing, so four decades later we’re fascinated by [Airrr17]’s portable Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

At its heart is a dev board using one of the STM32F4 series microcontrollers, and running the Spectrum as an emulator. Alongside that is an LCD, and perhaps what is physically the best part of this, a Spectrum keyboard complete with BASIC keyword decals, made with large-button tactile switches that have we think, printed paper on top. Add in a small lithium-polymer cell and associated electronics in a cute little palmtop case, and it’s about as good a portable Sinclair as we could have imagined. All the details can be found in a GitHub repository, and as if that weren’t enough there’s an assembly video we’ve placed below the break.

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HP-200LX Runs Website Like It’s The 90s

The HP-200LX palmtop was a fascinating machine for its time, and [Terrence Vergauwen] proves that its time is not yet over, given that one is responsible for serving up the website for Palmtop Tube, a website and YouTube channel dedicated to vintage palmtops.

All by itself a HP-200LX doesn’t have quite what it takes to act as a modern web server, but it doesn’t take much to provide the missing pieces. A PCMCIA network adapter provides an Ethernet connection, and a NAS contains the website content while networking and web server software run locally. Steady power comes from a wall adapter, but two rechargeable AA cells in the 200LX itself act as a mini-UPS, providing backup power in case of outages.

The HP-200LX was a breakthrough product that came just at the right time, preceding other true palm top computers like the IBM PC 110. In the early 90s, it was unimaginable that one could have a fully functional MS-DOS based machine in one’s pocket, let alone one that could last weeks on a couple of AA cells. It didn’t have some proprietary OS and weird ports, and that kind of functionality is part of why, roughly 30 years later, one is able to competently serve up web traffic.

A video overview of the machine and how it all works is in the video embedded below. And if you’re more interested in what an HP-200LX looks like on the inside? This video is all about taking apart and repairing a 200LX.

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IBM PalmTop Running Modern (Modified) Linux

The handheld computing market might seem dominated by smartphones today, but before their mass adoption there were other offerings for those who needed some computing power on-the-go. If a 90s laptop was too bulky, there was always the IBM PalmTop which packed punch for its size-to-weight ratio, and for the era it was created in. [Mingcong Bai] still has one of these antiques and decided to see if it was still usable by loading a customized Linux distribution on it.

The PalmTop sported modest hardware even for its time with an Intel 486SL running at 33 MHz with 20 MiB of RAM. This one also makes use of a 1 GB CompactFlash card for storage and while [Mingcong Bai] notes that it is possible to run Windows 95 on it, it’s not a particularly great user experience. A Linux distribution customized for antique hardware, AOSC/Retro, helps solve some of these usability issues. With this it’s possible to boot into a command line and even do some limited text-based web browsing as long as the Ethernet adapter is included.

While the computer is running at its maximum capacity just to boot and perform basic system functions, it’s admirable that an antique computer such as this still works, especially given its small size and limited hardware functionality. If you’re curious about more PalmTop-style computers, take a look at the first one ever produced: the HP-200LX.

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HPi95LX Puts Linux In Your Palm

A few decades ago, palmtop computers were mostly based on MS-DOS, and while many users tried to mimic the UNIX experience, the results were mixed. Fast forward to the present and business-card-sized Linux computers modules abound. Canadian tinkerer [Rune Kyndal] decided to make his own Linux palmtop by sacrificing an old HP-95LX and replacing the guts with a Raspberry Pi Zero and a color LCD screen. We’re impressed with the rich set of features he has crammed into the limited volume of the case:

Inside View: Everything fits, barely
  • Raspberry Pi Zero W
  • Color LCD, 4.3 inch, 800×480 w/Backlight
  • Capacitive touch screen (not connected yet)
  • Stereo speakers + microphone
  • Ethernet 10/100
  • USB 2.0, 2 each
  • RS-232, DE-9 connector
  • microSD card
  • HDMI
  • IR dataport
  • Webcam (TBD)
  • LiPo Battery w/Charger

One problem that any palmtop faces is how to make a usable keyboard, and HP had one of the better designs. The keys are the same famous style as used in HP calculators. And while no human with normal hands could touch-type on it, the keyboard’s layout and tactile feel was well-suited to “thumb typing”. [Rune] made a good decision by keeping the original keyboard.

While fully functional, this is more of a proof of concept than a polished project. [Rune] primarily used bits and pieces that he had laying around. [Rune] says if he did it again, he would replace all the hot-glued accessory parts with a custom PCB, which is probably good advice. If you want to make your own, check out the project comments for some suggestions.