After Astrohaus reignited interest in the writing appliance (or “writerdeck”) with its first product, the Hemingwrite, it took a stab at a clamshell variant with the less expensive and less stylized Freewrite Traveler. Now, the developer of the open source Zerowriter writerdeck (which competes more directly with Astrohaus’ Freewrite Alpha, itself an homage to the Alphasmart digital typewriters that drove interest in writerdecks), is launching the Zerowriter Fold. Unlike other products with Fold in its name, the Zerowriter Fold is simply a clamshell device and has a 6″ e-paper display that does not fold. However, it does feature a customizeable keyboard and a lower price than the Freewrite Traveler. The Fold also competes with the King Jim Pomera, the only version of a long-running line of Japanese writerdecks tailored for the U.S. market. While also far pricier than the Zerowriter Fold, the Pomera is much thinner and offers more robust word processing than the Zerowriter or Freewrite products that are optimized for producing drafts versus final works. Not interested in getting a dedicated device for distraction-free composition? Consider installing WriterdeckOS on an old laptop.
Focus
The Lenovo G02 is a retro handheld with questionable lineage
Lenovo, ever a company to push form factor boundaries, has made the biggest push in the Steam Deck-like handhelds with the Legion Go series. Those powerful products, designed to run the latest games, command premium prices. Not so for the Linx-based G02, which is more in the tradition of a Game Boy than a Nintendo Switch, or at least modern portable game devices from companies such as Ambernic (such as the recent RG Rotate) and Miyoo that come with thousands of games playable via emulation. Despite some lapses in the device’s polish that would be uncharacteristic for a Lenovo device, AliExpress has anointed the G02 with an official brand badge, which has led to speculation that it is from a company licensing the Lenovo brand for a Chinese market product.
Some Mighty bad news for Spotify subscribers
The first Mighty player, which launched a decade ago, answered the question of what the iPod shuffle might have become if Apple had allowed it to work with the Apple Music subscription service. The clippable device allows users to download playlists for distraction-free, offline listening. Mighty started off supporting Spotify and then added support for Amazon Music. That was a particularly good move in hindsight as Spotify service changes are forcing Mighty to end support for the leading service next year. (It’s not the first playback device that Spotify has hung out to dry.) Mighty says that its working on new ways to keep its users awash in audio.
reMarkable gets back to basics with Paper Pure
After the release of its much-improved second generation “paper tablet,” reMarkable pushed into the high end with the color-capable Paper Pro and then downsized into a unique “reporter’s pad form factor with the Paper Pro Move. The reMarkable Paper Pure returns focus to some of the device’s core promises — freedom from distraction and a smooth, lag-free writing experience — at a lower price. reMarkable supports popular third-party cloud services for storage and offers a workable limited sync solution without a subscription to its Connect service. Handwriting conversion requires a subscription, but the company now supports up to five devices per subscription after previously raising the ceiling from one to three. The company’s accessories have always been top-notch. While it has rolled out sleeves in green, pink and a dark blue, there’s no mention of compatibility with the keyboard accessory that worked with the reMarkable 2.