Einstein at SNUG

Published by

Adam Tow

February 22, 2005

We had a small group at the Stanford Newton User Group meeting tonight, with only Flash, Peter, Dave, and myself in attendance. I demoed the impressive Einstein Newton Emulator on my G4 PowerBook. Paul has been doing some optimizations on the emulator and has it running a bit faster than when I first tested it. On a Dual-2GHz G5 PowerMac (thanks to Steven, it seems to run about half as fast as a Newton MessagePad 2×00!

On my PowerBook, it’s running about 4 times slower than an MP2x00, but it’s still faster than an eMate. Paul has some more tricks up his sleeve, and I no doubt expect the emulator to run as fast or faster than an MP2x00 in the coming months.

Something that’s cool about the emulator is that you can specify the screen size. Newton enthusiasts will note that most Newtons had a screen resolution of either 320×480 or 240×320. With Einstein, you can specify a virtual Newton with a screen of 800×600 or 640×480!

Dave showed his Tungsten T-5 that he just got a few days ago. It makes me think that this is what the Newton would be like today. Of course, it would have merged with the iPod to be an uber-MP3/PDA/telephone converged device!

Apple’s rumored to have new iPods to announce on Wednesday. Gotta check out the web site and all of those Mac fan sites! I ended up ordering a 512MB iPod shuffle the other day. It should arrive sometime next week; once I get it, I’ll turn my attention to mounting it onto my road bike with the PodWave speakers.

4 responses to “Einstein at SNUG”

Yos

February 24, 2005

Hi Adam,
I tried Einstein on my iMac-flatpannel 800Mhz and the sound was a little bit cracky.
How did it behave on a Dual-2GHz G5 ?
I mean, opening sound, scrub sound or extra drawer sound and so on.

Thanks for nice photos.

—
Yos

Reply
Adam Tow

February 26, 2005

Yeah, the sound component of the emulator still needs some work. There are apparently issues with the portAudio code that Einstein is making use of.

Reply
Elias Safatli

February 28, 2005

very interesting reading.
thanks.

Reply
Tam Hanna

March 15, 2005

Hi,
I hope that you can still remember me-I am the one who bought your Palm Vii….
It is still working fine and is demoed every now and then at the local PUG…
It is always fine to see people discussing PDA’s altough I still can’t understand whats the big thing that the newton has to offer…
Best regards
Tam Hanna

Reply

Adam, here

Welcome to tow.com, my home on the internet since 1995. I’m an indie software artist and creator of apps such as MixEffect, MsgFiler, AlbumFiler, Wipe My Screen, and more. I’m also the producer and co-director of Autumn Gem. Enjoy your visit here!