The litl webbook is a webbook developed, marketed, and sold by litl LLC. The webbook features the ability to stand upright in an inverted-V position and a cloud-based operating system called litl OS.

Origins

Litl's CEO John Chuang, also co-founder of Aquent, has said that the origins of the litl webbook lay in his observation that while his family was increasingly using web applications, their home computer was made for pre-web scenarios.

Engineering partners

The industrial design of the litl webbook was made by Fuseproject with engineering design by MOTO Development Group. The FIC manufactures the device.

Operating system

Litl OS is a cloud-oriented operating environment of the Litl webbook.

User interface philosophy

The litl OS interface removes several conventional elements of general-purpose desktop environments. Litl states that a set of principles were developed to guide the design of the interface, including using a rule that any computer task that had the word "management" next to it was removed.

User interface structure

Litl OS's user interface utilizes graphic elements called "cards" to organize browsing sessions and content instead of the tabs and menus found on conventional desktops. Flicking through cards in an inverted-V position is done using a blue-colored click-wheel (called the "litl wheel") on the litl webbook or remote control. The card concept, easel mode and general usage of the interface are demonstrated in litl's videos. The interfaces to some web content are also customized by litl or third parties to integrate with litl OS and are referred to as litl channels. Litl OS's optional display method for RSS feeds is also referred to as a "litl channel". Customizations and settings are minimal in keeping with the design goals of simplicity and ease of use.

Software details

The underlying operating system is a mobile/embedded distribution of Ubuntu provided by Canonical. The user interface is written largely in Mozilla's dialect of Javascript using the gjs binding to access GNOME and Clutter UI elements. litl automatically performs nightly software updates, and the OS stores browser cards, web channels, settings, and contacts online at Amazon S3 using a web service running on Google's App Engine and the Django framework. Open source components of the operating system's source code can be obtained on DVD from litl.

Specifications