Comments on: #007: Great gadgets!

By: And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here ?

And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here ? — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:36:13 +0000

[...] Into the blue again after the moneys gone We can expect to see more new and interesting devices come out. Of course slaking the thirst of the gadget beast is all but impossible but it will always be there seeking new toys for the old boys. As usual however will be problem of interoperability and the fact that the manufacturers and vendors will invest time to ensure functionality with XP and Vista but will most likely need to be cajoled into functionality with Ubuntu Linux. I would like to see 2007 be the year when vendors look to open source as a means to add a unique selling point to their product rather than an afterthought. [...]

By: Laurent GUERBY

Laurent GUERBY — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:50:26 +0000

Recommended reading: Dr. Ari Jaaksi, Nokia’s director of open source at Nokia on Building consumer products with open source at LinuxDevice:

http://linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7621761066.html

“Nokia launched its first Linux and open source based product, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, and the http://www.maemo.org community web site in 2005. Internet tablets are a new kind of mobile internet devices and the community web site supports application development on these devices. These initiatives provide Nokia with an open source based software platform for handheld devices. This article discusses our experiences of using Linux and open source at Nokia[...]“

By: Maurizio Colucci

Maurizio Colucci — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:57:11 +0000

Don’t forget the fingerprint reader. It is invaluable for logging in quickly. Under linux it would be even more important because the password is also asked after login.

By: Ubuntu-blogi » Arkisto » Uutisia ja lainauksia, viikko 49

Ubuntu-blogi » Arkisto » Uutisia ja lainauksia, viikko 49 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:01:02 +0000

[...] “The smart phone. The digital camera. GPS devices. And many, perhaps most, of these new devices can and do run Linux. Free software in the embedded market is becoming a commodity, in the same way that MS-DOS and then Windows made the PC a standardised software environment.” -Mark Shuttleworth analysoi blogissaan Linuxin mahdollisuuksia sulautetuissa järjestelmissä (esim. älypuhelimet ja musiikkisoittimet). (lähde: http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/71) [...]

By: Laurent GUERBY

Laurent GUERBY — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:56:12 +0000

I recommand the maemo approach choosen by Nokia for its Nokia 770 Internet Tablet : the core is (debian)Linux/X/GTK, Nokia engineers provide guidelines (“hildon”), documentation, source code for most of the sotware and some level of support to the developpers around it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_770

Big official releases seem to happen twice a year, but there’s a continuous stream of free software being ported to it (sometimes developped specifically), see:

http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalog2006

It seems reasonably successfull.

I bought a bluetooth GPS device and installed “Maemo Mapper” (application specifically developped by a volunteer, not a port), downloaded a few maps out of google and it just worked.

Just yesterday, thanks to the Canonical team having fixed:

https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/vino/+bug/70986

I installed a port of a VNC viewer, also installed openvpn on my Nokia 770 et voila, everywhere I get wifi, I get secure VNC access to my ubuntu desktop at home through my Nokia 770.

By: miraceti

miraceti — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:18:47 +0000

Just to reply to Metro:
I read today that Yellow Dog Linux has a version that will run on the PS3 using kernel 2.4.20. It would certainly be interesting to see how the cell processors perform in Linux http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/news/2006/2006-10-17.shtml

By: Trevor Turton

Trevor Turton — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:02:50 +0000

There are a large and rapidly growing number of electronic gadgets in pockets and purses, and mobile phones lead the way. Mobuntu sounds like a timely idea. But KDE and Gnome are far too large and slow to implement on current mobile technology, which leaves the question of the user interface wide open. Browsers clearly have a large role to play because so much content and function is locked up in HTML. Ten years ago Netscape had dreams of making their browser the desktop, but it didn’t happen. WAP sadly didn’t deliver on its promise. Opera Mini (http://www.operamini.com/) does a great job of delivering the web to the mobile via a small Java midlet (about 100Kb), but the hard work of decoding raw HTML is done by a Nokia proxy server, which renders it down to a much simpler, more regular form that the mini browser presents. It works well, but this approach debars secure communication because Opera’s proxy sees everything. If Opera persists in allowing their mini browser to access SSL websites, they can expect a lot of impressive resumés from organized crime.

I think that the next big thing to facilitate access to remote services from mobiles will be the humble IM client. There is an excellent open standard for IM (http://jabber.org/). On mobiles, IM communication is charged at data rates, a tiny fraction of voice or SMS rates. Chat is handy but rather limited, but the Jabber protocols include a host of handy optional extensions such as images, crypto, compression, and data forms. IM servers are small and simple enough that any business that currently operates a web server could complement it with a secure IM server. The Wildfire IM server’s executables, for example, total less than 1MB (http://www.jivesoftware.org/wildfire/). Jabber data forms are just about as capable as HTML forms, and could be used to deliver just about any business transaction that is currently offered via HTML forms. Jabber forms don’t do AJAX, but AJAX is a clumsy work-around to reduce the impact of synchronous communications that browsers impose on us. The Jabber IM protocol provides an open, near-real-time communications channel with both client and server push. Jabber extension include support for IP telephony (http://www.newtelephony.com/news/69h131350387011.html) and lots of other cutting-edge modes of communciation.

Linux is the obvious choice for the kernel. IM clients have been written in C or C++, but there are already a large number of open source IM clients written in Java (http://www.jabber.org/software/clients.shtml), and Java, at last is also open source. We have lots of nice options open to us. In essence, IM is giving us a second chance to invent the web, and this time the standards are being developed by the user community rather than a bunch of meglomaniac companies bent on out-innovating their competitors, and ultimately, their customers.

By: Lesley Clayton

Lesley Clayton — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:17:28 +0000

I know that great gadgets definitely define my life – not because they are in fashion and look great on skin, but because they serve a purpose and make my life work better! I fly and I believe that every girl pilot needs some seriously hot side-kicks, like a multi-function cell, laptop, PDA and not to mention GPS garmin – easy cockpit. It also allows me to file flight plans and receive updated info when frequencies or TMA rules change. Most of my connected stuff is windows with a little sun, symbian and others so I would like to experience more OS. The embedded market is fascinating and has many benefits for keeping people safe and for rescue purposes – like transport tracking techno, but unfortunately their is always the flip side and the need arises for stronger encryption, renewed privacy policies and legislation!

By: Andreas Nilsson

Andreas Nilsson — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 22:45:58 +0000

The 770 is a great little machine running Linux and a lot of GNOME tech.
It would be great if Canonial could put some effort into making my Ubuntu install out of the box work better with my 770 device.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 22:06:02 +0000

Just support OpenMoko

It uses apt-get, runs the 2.6.18 Kernel, and is already being developed. What more could you want?