Faster browsing. New features. New channels.
Good news! Tomorrow, July 26th, we are releasing an update to the litl webbook software to give you more speed and more choices. Some of the improvements you’ll notice right away, and some may be harder to spot - we want to give you a quick rundown:
Faster web browsing
The webbook’s browser is now based on the latest version of Google Chrome for faster and smoother web browsing. Want to try something cool? Check out Google’s new voice search. Go to www.google.com, click the microphone icon on the search bar, and say your search aloud.
See more with TV mode
Now when you plug in your webbook to a TV, we adjust the way web pages display to take advantage of the bigger screen size. We also increased the size of the cursor and provide an extra-large overlay of what you’re typing so you don’t have to squint.
Facebook on your Mediawall
Sit back and enjoy all your Facebook photos in Mediawall, litl’s signature photo channel that turns your webbook into the world’s best photo frame. View your photos from Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly, SmugMug, and now Facebook in a timeline or as a slideshow.
More channels, more web cards
We’ve improved the performance of your webbook so now you can have more web cards and more channels open at the same time.
And speaking of channels, you may even see a few new additions in the Card Catalog. But more on that later.
Watch for the software improvements tomorrow. As always, litl will download and install the updates - automatically, and free of charge. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, it should take five to ten minutes. But it’s totally worth it.
Enjoy!
Ready, set, surf!
Here at litl, we are constantly working to improve the webbook and your experience with it. In our latest batch of updates, we enhanced the browser for a faster, easier web surfing experience.
Most significantly, we are now using the same browser engine as Google Chrome, so you can load sites quicker and smoother than ever. We have also changed the look when you open new web cards to enable one-click access to sites that you have frequently visited, searched, or recently deleted.
We have also done a bit of grooming. So, watch out for some cool, new animations and designs on your webbook. You may experience some delays as the software upgrades, but as always, we here at litl will download and install all of these updates for you - automatically, and free of charge. So sit back and enjoy!
In a Flash
Chuck Freedman, litl's chief developer evangelist, joined Garth Braithwaite, Leif Wells and Zach Stepek last week on their popular RIA Radio podcast.
Listen in as Chuck, Kevin Suttle, and Michelle Yaiser discuss the litl webbook, our upcoming software development kit (SDK) release, and other exciting announcements that we've planned for this week's Flash and the City conference. Let us know if we'll see you in New York!
Download interview MP3: RIA Radio interview with Chuck Freedman 05-2010
Uploading made easy with litl
The litl webbook is an Internet computer, meaning it gets content from the web instead of from a hard drive. Our Mediawall card, for example, streams photos and videos from photo sharing sites like Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug, or Shutterfly. If you lose your litl webbook, you don't lose your photos. It's great.
Of course, users still need a way to get stuff to the web. So we had to find a way for them to get their photos and videos from their cameras online from their webbooks. And it meant doing it the litl way - without folks having to sort through nested folders or filenames that sound like missile codes (CIMG0187? DSC01342?).
Enter our latest update: easy uploading.
Just plug in your camera to the webbook's USB port, and litl opens up a slideshow of your photos and videos. Litl asks if you want to upload them to the web - if you do, it does; if you don't, you can keep viewing the slideshow. That's it. Watch the video to see just how easy it is.
If you are a litl webbook user, we have already updated your software - as usual - automatically and free of charge. We also added some performance upgrades to make your web experience faster and smoother. Enjoy!
Cupcakes and webbooks
We teamed up this week with our friends at BakeSpace to host a fun Boston-area food blogger meet-up.
BakeSpace's Babette Pepaj welcomed our food-loving guests while our Chuck Freedman demonstrated some of the litl webbook's more unique kitchen capabilities. For nourishment, we enjoyed a generous supply of Boston's best cupcakes from Sweet — delicious!
Thanks to all the bloggers who joined us and a special congratulations to Sliced and Diced's Hilary who left with a shiny new litl webbook under her arm. Let's do it again soon!
A winning pair
Last month, in the run-up to our BakeSpace recipe channel launch, we held a “Give a litl Love” contest in which we gave away a pair of litl webbooks — one to keep and one to share. Hundreds of cooks and bakers entered through Twitter and BakeSpace, and we had a blast reading through what each of you planned to do with the extra litl. We wish we could put a litl in all of your kitchens, but, alas, we could only pick one of you!
Our lucky winner is Michelle Lashbrook from Murphy, Texas, and we wanted to share her entry with you:
“Oh *WOW* what a fantastic giveaway!! I'd absolutely LOVE to win these!! I'd share one with my beautiful new daughter-in-law so she, too, could enjoy having one on the kitchen counter while cooking up scrumptious new recipes from BakeSpace!! YUMMY!! 
I hope we win!!”
Congratulations, Michelle! We hope you and your daughter-in-law cook many a recipe with the help of your new litls. And thanks again to BakeSpace for its help with the promo.
litl webbook with big news
We announced some really exciting news this morning!
In a few short weeks, litl will be releasing our first-ever software development kit (SDK). The SDK — a set of tools for software developers — will enable developers outside of our team to create their own custom applications for the litl webbook. Better yet, the SDK will fully support Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, the newest and most powerful version of this popular web platform. Developers can learn more at our resources website and then attend the SDK's official launch on May 14.
If you're not a developer, why is this news important to you?
The litl webbook is amazingly versatile. It goes online like a a conventional laptop and helps you visit your favorite websites with its modern browser. However, it can also stand upright like an easel when its screen and keyboard are flipped around its hinge. In this new mode, users can access web content through custom applications or “channels”. Check out litl’s fun Facebook Status channel as an example. With the SDK’s release, users will benefit from a much larger selection of free and paid channels created by independent developers.
Our planned upgrade to Flash Player 10.1 is also important. Adobe's Flash is a software platform that's popular for adding animation and interactivity to web pages. The web isn't much fun without it! The new version will use the litl's processors more efficiently and will ensure your favorite websites run faster than ever — especially the ones with games and videos. When it's released on the litl, we expect to see improved performance everywhere from Club Penguin and Farmville to Hulu and Miniclip.
And, as always, upgrades like this are done automatically and at no cost to litl's webbook owners.
Let us know what you think — here, by email, or on Twitter. We'd love to hear from you.
litl: sdk & flash player 10.1 on Vimeo
litl: sdk & flash player 10.1 on YouTube
Listen up, NPR fans!
Do you organize your weekends so you don’t miss “Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!”? Have your family’s music lessons taken on a new energy because of “From The Top”? Is “Morning Edition” as important to your morning as your first cup of coffee?
If you’re one of NPR’s 26.4 million weekly listeners, you know the special place their news, talk, and entertainment programming occupies in many people’s hearts and minds. Much of it is gold, pure gold.
And yet, who hasn’t missed a favorite show due to an overly busy schedule? Or wished they could schedule a “can't miss” program for when they had a few moments of downtime? Or wanted to listen to multiple episodes of a favorite show back-to-back?
We’re excited to introduce the latest channel for the litl webbook: NPR Anytime. The channel, available immediately for free to litl webbook owners, provides easy “on demand” access to more than 800 of NPR’s podcasted shows. Users can enjoy shows missed during their live broadcast, create their own custom programming schedule, and, more generally, listen to their NPR favorites when, where, and how they choose.
“Our family has always been fans of public radio, but we used to miss a lot of our favorite shows because we were so busy. Now, if we miss a show, we just use our litl to get caught up. I can also pick and choose what I listen to while I’m working in my home office, cleaning up in the kitchen, or just relaxing around the house,” says blogger and mom Mia Wenjen. “The NPR channel makes our litl even more useful for me and my family.”
Marsha Collier, author and media personality, adds, “I’m drawn to the litl because of its versatility. It does regular web browsing, but I like it just as much when it’s perched upright on my kitchen counter or night table. It’s not just a computer now, it’s also a clock, a web TV, a photo frame, a radio, a Facebook viewer, and even an NPR podcast player.”
What do you think? Will “on demand” access to NPR's shows help make the litl webbook the ideal kitchen computer for your family? Let us know—here, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
The litl webbook operates in 2 modes for maximum versatility. In its unique "easel" mode, users enjoy web content ranging from NPR's podcasts and online photos to web video and news headlines.
Even from across a room, the NPR Anytime channel quickly communicates what show is being enjoyed. By way of the litl webbook's on-hinge scroll wheel or optional remote control, users can pause playback, jump forward or backward, or browse other episodes.
Most of NPR's podcasted shows have multiple episodes available for "on demand" listening. Users can read a description of each show, review what episodes are available, and make their listening selection.
Photo courtesy of frants / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Trademarks and copyrights referenced are the property of their respective owners. No endorsement is implied or intended.
Getting better all the time
Because the litl updates its software automatically, we are constantly making improvements to the litl's performance. Today, we released a new batch of updates that will make the litl's photo and video experience faster and easier to use.
First, we redesigned our signature channel, Mediawall. In particular, we improved speed and made navigation more intuitive when looking through your timeline and albums.
Back in stock
We’re back in stock with a fresh supply of litl webbooks!
Please visit our website, litl.com, and we’d be happy to help you get started. Thanks for your patience.
Perfect in the kitchen
The kitchen is the heart or activity hub of the home for many families. Meals are prepared and enjoyed here, but it's also an important activity center where people dash in and out, plan and discuss schedules, check messages, make phone calls, have family meetings, and so forth.
We’ve never been satisfied with the computers we’ve brought into our kitchens. Invariably, they looked out of place, weren’t useful for everyone in the family, or took up too much precious space. They certainly weren’t fun to use.
The litl webbook may well be the ideal “kitchen computer.” Sleek and modern, the litl looks like it actually belongs in a kitchen, not a cubicle. It’s versatile too: use it with the keyboard and screen and the litl goes online like a traditional laptop. You’ll always have the web close at hand.
For a different experience, flip the screen back around the hinge and stand the computer upright in “easel” mode. Everything from family photos and local weather to an egg timer and breaking news can now be enjoyed from anywhere in the kitchen. Trust us—very fun!
If counter space is in short supply, you’ll appreciate that the litl's easel mode takes up half the space of a traditional laptop. Additionally, the litl’s screen is viewable from a full 178 degrees so you won’t lose sight of it as you move from the sink to the stove and back to the dishwasher. And you won’t be spending time taking care of the litl, either. It’s maintenance-free and is designed to always run quickly and securely.
Can a great kitchen computer get better? We think so.
We’re excited to announce the launch of the BakeSpace Recipes channel. BakeSpace, a 2009 Webby Award nominee for Best Social Network, is a free online community where members post, search and swap recipes, share cooking tips, and socialize with other food enthusiasts. The new channel provides quick and easy access to more than 50,000 member-submitted recipes and is available now at no cost to litl webbook users.
Babette Pepaj, BakeSpace’s founder and CEO, remarks, “We love the concept behind the litl webbook because it’s all about making it fun and easy to enjoy the web. With the addition of the new BakeSpace channel, the litl is now also a great tool for cooking enthusiasts. If you enjoy spending time in the kitchen, the litl webbook could be your ideal computer.”
Is the litl webbook the kitchen computer you’ve been waiting for? Check out our video and let us know what you think.
A litl different from the rest :)
Kevin Schram, reviewer for the technology website "Thoughts from the Sidelines", shared some of his observations about the litl webbook today.
The article touched on many points, but specifically highlighted the webbook's innovativeness ("In a market that’s flooded with cheap, indistinguishable 10-inch netbooks, this new product from boutique startup Litl stands out.").
Great observation, Kevin. We're "pushing the reset button" on home computing because we think today's computers and operating systems are fundamentally a mismatch with how they're actually being used. John Chuang, litl's founder and CEO, described this lack of alignment in an interview with Xconomy's Wade Roush:
"Everything my family uses is on the Web," says litl's CEO, John Chuang. "I have kids from 5 to 13 years old. My 13-year-old has never installed software in her life. Everything she uses is a Web app. Yet she’s using a technology that was completely not designed for that. I thought that was a mismatch."
John continued in the article:
“We didn’t want to build anything that already existed, or something with just marginal improvements,” Chuang says. “PCs have served a great purpose, but we wanted to take a crack at a different type of computer that would be for and of the Net.”
To learn where our passion to build a new and better computing experience - with more than "marginal improvements" - took us, spend a few minutes on our website. We've written extensively about our company philosophy and our approach to both software and hardware innovation.
Thanks for the interest in litl, Kevin. We appreciate it.
Out of stock, but more on the way
The litl webbook is out of stock right now, but we're busy making more.
If you'd like to know when more are available, we've started an email list on our website. Add your email address and we'll contact you.
(While you're waiting, please follow us on Twitter @litl to stay current on our news and announcements.)
2009 Crunchies Awards
Thanks to everyone for their support of our nomination as "Best New Gadget" at the 2009 Crunchies Awards. We didn't win nor did we get a chance to "thank all the litl people", but it was a thrill to be honored as a finalist. Congratulations to the other nominees and this year's winners.
litl heading to CES
Later this week, the litl team will be heading to Las Vegas for CES! For those who will be at the show, stop by the Intel booth for a peek at the litl webbook. Or, e-mail asklitl@litl.com to schedule a time to meet with someone from litl.
Hope to see you there!