In the 21st century, where touchscreen smartphones became very popular, the market occasionally blows a "retro" atmosphere from time to time, such as the Gemini PDA launched by Planet Computers in 2018.
The biggest highlight of this "handheld computer" with a 5.9-inch screen and running Android + Linux dual system is the built-in membrane full keyboard.
Planet Computers claims that the QWERTY physical keyboard is designed to be more flexible in light office scenarios such as replying to emails and editing documents.
In the end, this product received nearly $2.6 million in funding on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, which exceeded the crowdfunding with a 284% support rate.
Now that two years have passed, Planet Computers has continued its idea of the PDA (Pocket Computer) concept and launched a crowdfunding of the new device Astro Slide on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. This is still an Android 10 + Linux dual system and equipped with A solid full keyboard PDA device, but the internal configuration and body design have changed.
Unlike the Gemini PDA, which has a hinged design and can only be used with the keyboard, Astro Slide uses a new RockUp sliding hinge design.
Users only need to slide the machine and hold the screen when they need the keyboard. After covering the keyboard, this device can also be used as a touch-screen smartphone. Of course, if you can bear the weight of the whole machine, about 300 grams.
In addition, Astro Slide is also a 5G device that supports NSA/SA dual band. The processor uses MediaTek's Teana 1000, paired with LPDDR4X 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM storage combination, and supports Wi-Fi 6.
Astro Slide is priced at 819 euros, and the current crowdfunding at Indiegogo is 491 euros. Supporters will get this device as early as March 2021 after the project is successful.
