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We have been doing video over ADSL for over 3 years now, it rocks. Basically you do OC-x connection every 20000' to a remote and feed the home phone, dsl, and 2 (or more) streams of video from it. All from a podunk rural co-op phone company.

No offense calling your baby klunky. My point is that the iPod is almost like a fashion accessory these days. Even my wife, who doesn't care 2 shits about technology, could spot an iPod 100m away.

Also, the article you mention is from someone that does NOT want to be recogonized by their iPod.. I would guess that's the minority.

Regarless, I would go with an Archos like device myself... of course, I'm too lazy to carry around a phone AND a mp3 player... That's why I'm waiting for the king-of-all-devices

well, it's coming. see cnet news for some details on a new motorola model.

someone here mentioned that this question was kind of off topic since the topic was tv over ip, but in reality i don't think so given that sbc is first and foremost a phone company. they can hook up your wlan phone over their dsl line, then sell you a cellular account to run the phone when you are away from home.

Product info

How to find it in the future :-)

I want to carry a phone, organizer, web browser, organizer, music player and camera around at all times, but I don't have a car and I hate carrying a bag. I want one device to do all those things that fits comfortably in my pocket and doesn't look stupid when I'm talking on it.

There's no reason to believe that those features can't be combined in a phone-sized device, and my current phone (Moto mpx200) does all of those things except the camera. And my dream device isn't far off.

http://ruggedpower.motorola.com/ Our local PD has them for detectives. Heavy, but nice feature set.

I have one; as many people mentioned, the tech is /great/ with a headset. Sadly, the current version of the phone appears to be pretty cripped, limited to DUN and headset -- my Palm T2 doesn't talk to it yet, though there are rumours of an upgraded f/w for the V710. The phone is also, compared to the GSM BT, a touch bulky, but not enough that it's an issue for me. YMMV. There's a HUGE discussion on this thing over at Phonescoop.

However, living in NM AND with a job that requires me be outside of Abq/SF/Las Cruces enough, I can't effectively use a GSM carrier. Combined with corporate choice of VZW as a carrier and the cheap in-network stuff, I'm just happy to get SOMETHING with BT.

And, as mentioned earlier, it's great just for the headset. At least, to an admitted gadget freak like wot I am.

Or why not just let a phone play a 10 second or so clip of an MP3?

My phone ,Motorola V600, does have this. I have about 6 megs to play around with... And the sound quality ain't half bad either!

I'm holding out for the Motorola MPX...it's has an amazing design...it can fold as a clamshell cell phone or it can fold like a sidekick (with landscape viewing) when you want to do webbrowsing! AND it is a phone, bluetooth, and wifi, and 1 megapixel camera (with flash). I hope my wait is worth it (the hp63xx just came out with a traditional pda design through t-moble and it has all the same features--but the camera is vga: but the mpx designers need to be rewarded for the clamshell to landscape design!!) As far as I can see, the Treo doesn't have wifi!!

But if you want to talk drool-worthy phone, take a look at the Moto RAZRV3

I mean yeah, I guess it'll make phone calls and stuff, but good lord. Nice match for a 17" Powerbook...

m-

Check out their new RAZR V3 as well ...

First, the full Apple statement, since it's not referenced in the summary:

"We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and other laws. We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real's Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods."

- Regarding the DMCA: you can't fault Apple for using a law on the books - passed by Congress (unanimously by the Senate), and signed into law by President Clinton - to protect its own business interests. If you don't like the DMCA, or aspects of copyright law in general, work to change the law(s), but don't fault companies or individuals for conducting themselves within the bounds of those laws while they are in force.

- What Apple says regarding breakage is true. Some might argue that any breakage would be intentional; however, you can certainly also agree that otherwise benign changes to the iPod or its firmware may indeed break Real's reverse engineering. Intentional or no, this would still leave customers who have purchased songs via Real out in the cold, which ultimately, to the average customer, reflects poorly on Apple and the iPod (moreso than on Real). Does Apple, or its customers, really want an environment where any changes to the iPod to add functionality or features can break customers' music that they've ostensibly legitimately purchased?

- The word "hackers" was successfully co-opted long, long, long ago ("a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system"), so don't fault Apple's (currently correct and appropriate) use of the word, and save us the tiresome lectures.

That said, yes, Apple could sublicense Fairplay, as they have done with Motorola. But still, it means both parties must agree, and doesn't excuse Real.

Others remember the continued arrogance and mistakes regarding OS licensing long ago. "Apple could potentially become the Microsoft of online music," they say. But this could only potentially happen by cannibalizing iPod sales. The iPod would be akin to the "PC"; the iTunes Music Store would be "Windows". (Remember: Microsoft never made computers). But for Apple, the iTunes Music Store is a break even proposition: its sole purpose from a business perspective is to drive iPod sales and adoption, and, to a lesser extent, adoption of other Apple products. Apple's iPod and hardware margins are to-die-for in the computer industry, while the iTunes Music Store, even after having sold 100 million songs, only recently made a "small profit". Additionally, Apple maintaining control over the whole process from end to end is one of the things that makes the iTunes/iPod experience so friendly and pleasing. This may no longer be true with other manufacturer's products.

I'm not arguing against for or against licensing here, only pointing out that it's more of a difficult situation than people make it out to be. The iTunes Music Store and the iPod, for Apple, are inextricably connected, at least currently. Allowing the iPod to work with other online music stores can be argued to hurt Apple's iTunes/iPod strategy, while allowing the iTunes Music Store to work with other players definitely hurts iPod sales. Sure, you can make all sorts of contrary arguments, but there are valid arguments just as contrary to those. All that said, Apple

Because you can't just make one cell phone. You gotta customize it for Verizon, for USCellular, for Alltell, and more, and that's just in the US, and just the CDMA market. What about GSM? What about GPRS? Trust me, you can't just make one cell phone and expect vendors to just let it on their networks.

As for memory, that's at a premium to keep costs down (insert common sense here). However, get a phone like the Motorola V710 with SD card support.

Press Release from Motorola

Yes, I understand that might be considered karma whoring, but at least it's informative. Enjoy.

-s4xton

The Motorola MPX definitely looks like my next phone. The release date of "Second half 2004" is a little vague. (Though not as ambigious as "When it's done"). Can anyone pin down a release month or even quarter?

The Motorola MPX definitely looks like my next phone. The release date of "Second half 2004" is a little vague. (Though not as ambigious as "When it's done"). Can anyone pin down a release month or even quarter?

You may even save a few $$$!

I can't recommend anything for Windows, but @ centericq has support for RSS feeds (and a whack of LiveJournal support, not to mention irc/ICQ/ypager/MSN plus some other protocols I don't use, and it's text-based).

Unfortunately, I haven't been successful in getting it to send newsitems via e-mail (although I did succeed with all the chat protocols), so I have a crontab running @ rss2email. (the reason I like sending all this via e-mail is because I have a @ Motorola T900)

The root cause is definitely the RF transmission, or a system directly related to it, although I don't have the entire lab's worth of resources I'd need to determine the exact mechanism.

There's no interference if the phone is quietly switched on and not sending to the network, even if you're playing games or something on it. It only appears during radio transmission, either during a voice call or during the few seconds it takes for an SMS to transfer. I generally know an SMS is coming in before the phone does - the sound is quite distinctive.

The web page I wrote was intended for an intelligent layperson, so I deliberately omitted abstruse discussions of the various RFI-related mechanisms that might be at work.

You're probably right about the GHz frequencies as such, but the bursty nature of the transmission is another thing entirely. I suspect that it embodies the audible frequencies I hear as interference in what one might call unintended modulation.

A hi-fi enthusiast once told me that he can hear SMS arriving on the hi-fi downstairs with the phone upstairs, almost certainly for the same reason. This Motorola link has sound samples, for anyone who wants to know what these things sound like.

I have a moderate hearing loss, and have found that using cellular phones with my hearing aides is nearly impossible. I look forward to this technology and hope that it will eventually lead towards my being able to use my hearing aids and cell phone simultaneously. There are a few things that I have found work moderately well to compensate for the interference. I have a clamshell cell phone, a Samsung x-427. The clamshell design helps keep the antenna another couple of inches away from the hearing aide, and its enough to make a conversation tolerable. My old phone was a non-clamshell Nokia, and its interference was horribly bad. My hearing aids also have a background noise canceling feature that, when I turn it on, takes out quite a bit of interference. Unfortunately it also makes understanding conversations harder. I am left with having to take out my aids completely to talk on the phone. its quite annoying. For those of you who wonder exactly what the interference sounds like, check out http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/acces sibility/hearingAid.html there are a few .wav files on this page which sound very familiar to me. Imagine those sounds blaring over every conversation on your phone. It gets to be where you just cant tolerate it anylonger. To my knowledge, only Nokia has an attachment for their phones to allow for use of the Telecoil. Information is at http://www.nokiaaccessibility.com/loopset.html. If anybody out there has used one of these, i'd love to hear your testimonial on how they work... Garth

even though a consumer may be happy with their current product, they just have to have the most up-to-date, shiny, feature filled version of whatever it may be (cell phone, camera, pc, etc)... - are you sure that's everyone you are talking about? I am not even sure that's the majority. When it comes to cell-phones I prefer to stick with the older simpler model to all of the feature creaping contraptions that I see mostly teens use nowadays. I would have still be using my old Samsung from 4 years ago, but it just did not have good reception any more.

Leaving aside a few bugs in Motorola's bluetooth implementation, it seems to me that there's not much difference between a true wearable and a phone that you never have to take out of your pocket.

Simon

of course, I wear a lot of cargo pants, and I only got the V600 because my nokia 9290 died and I couldn't get hold of a 9500, so I'm probably not a good test case

See this USA Today story for more details.

you are forgetting that the phone manufacturers also make the cell towers that the telecommunications companies deploy.

If you can get Splinter Cell on your phone, that means there are developers at the phone manufacturer that are working on that, rather than making the whole system better.

oh, and as an aside, why in the blue hell would you want to be in an "immersive" 3D environment on a 1.5 inch screen? That's more worthless than wanting to watch a movie on your phone!

Modern technology could improve the precision. Put a gps device (something like this ought not be too expensive in that kind of volume.) in it which would cause it to drop when it reaches a certain region. Calculate where the winds will take it depending where you release it.

Or do it on the really cheap and have some sort of string or something which would weaken over time and cause the payload to drop, after roughly the right amount of time.

At the very least you could VASTLY increase the number of balloons which made it to North America.

I would not be surprised if you could pick your target within 100 miles, if you were really careful.

Considering the low cost and low risk of this approach, it could very well be worthwhile.

Try this on for size: a chemical laden balloon launched from a suburban area, carried by the prevailing winds into downtown until it smacks into a building, or some timer set to go off at roughly the right time (what, an hour or so), drops the payload. During a major event, of course. (New Year's in a major city. You could do it at night.) You could do this and not even come close to being caught. You'd probably have to release a few to hit the crowds with just one, though, even if you had figured out where it would go.

• A cache model in which there is one cache for instructions and another cache for data is called a "Harvard-style" cache. This is the model assumed by the PowerPC Architecture, e.g., in the descriptions of the Cache Management instructions in Section 3.2, "Cache Management Instructions" on page 16. Alternative cache models may be implemented (e.g., a "combined cache" model, in which a single cache is used for both instructions and data, or a model in which there are several levels of caches), but they support the programming model implied by a Harvard-style cache. The processor is not required to maintain copies of storage locations in the instruction cache consistent with modifications to those storage locations (e.g., modifications caused by Store instructions).

That's the point here. The PowerPC does not guarantee that self-modifying code will work. There's a long discussion of how to do self-modifying code in section 1.8.1 of the architecture manual. This is mainly for debugger support.

Given this instruction/data separation, it's not surprising that the PowerPC architecture defines a no-execute bit (it's bit 61 of each page table entry). Unfortunately, not all PowerPC models implement it.

NAND Flash is what's making this possible. It's denser and faster than NOR Flash.

If you haven't heard of MRAM, that's definitely another technology to be on the lookout for. According to IBM and Infineon Technologies, it's supposed to start shipping this year.

Basically, it has the density of DRAM, 15ns access time, and doesn't loses it's state even when powered down.

Google turns up some articles: here, here, and here.

Someone should have told Motorola that.

According to Motorola, the 7457 running at 1GHz dissipates less than 10 watts (8.3 typical, 11.5 max). By contrast, your 400Mhz powerbook dissipates 3.29 watts typical, 7.43 max. Of course Apple runs their 7457 chips at 1.33 and 1.5GHz, because speed seems to sell more than battery life.

If you bought a newer battery for your powerbook, you would see it last a very long time -- they upped the wattage of the titanium powerbook batteries with each rev., and it got fairly high at the last rev compared to the first one (original ones were 50 watts, the last rev of the pbg4 batteries were around 65 watts).

According to Motorola, the 7457 running at 1GHz dissipates less than 10 watts (8.3 typical, 11.5 max). By contrast, your 400Mhz powerbook dissipates 3.29 watts typical, 7.43 max. Of course Apple runs their 7457 chips at 1.33 and 1.5GHz, because speed seems to sell more than battery life.

If you bought a newer battery for your powerbook, you would see it last a very long time -- they upped the wattage of the titanium powerbook batteries with each rev., and it got fairly high at the last rev compared to the first one (original ones were 50 watts, the last rev of the pbg4 batteries were around 65 watts).

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

I think anyone who is anyone who knows anything about 16bit MCUs knows about the Motorola HC12 family and it's 8bit predecessor the HC11. The HC11/HC12 is well supported by GCC, binutils and friends (also check out http://www.gnu.org/software/m68hc11/) which is also nicely packaged under Debian/GNU unstable and testing.

HC12/HCS12 devices are extremely easy to debug and develop software for. There is a fantastic Java-based simulator here. If you don't have dev tools that natively understand Motorola's BDM (Background Debugging Module) protocol, you can use a second HC12 configured as a "pod" device interfaced via BDM pins to the target, which will get you a very powerful interactive debugging console via DBug12 (example session here).

I've been doing a lot of work with the 9S12DP256 device. It has 256KiB FLASH, 12KiB SRAM, 4KiB EEPROM, 112QFP, 16 10bit A/D channels, CAN, 2xSCI, 3xSPI, etc etc. and clocks up to 25MHz.

Although HC11s are cheap and easy to come by in 1off quantitites from various retailers, the only HC12s most have available (such as Farnell) are the newer HC9S12 devices such as the one I've just mentioned.

What's the problem with this? Well on paper, nothing. These are extremely powerful devices. I'm going to use the MC9S12A64 in production; these are just $9.80 USD from Arrow.

The problem is that what with the HCS12 core and the family's peripherals being relatively new, Motorola Semiconductor is restructuring (renaming to Freescale Semiconductor), there are a godawful huge number of bugs. The most crippling being so far, SCI interrupts being basically useless (can only rely on having one INTR configured), not to mention PLL config deficiencies, BDM defects, etc.

It isn't too bad if you read the erratta sheet FIRST before chasing your tail and banging your head off the desk.

From the HC11/HC12 GCC port pages, here's a list of tested evaluation boards. Of these I've worked with the Technological Arts Adapt912, which, whilst a fine board, is quite expensive.

For a HCS12-based device (actually uses the same IC I've discussed), check out the Adapt9S12, but again at $159 USD it isn't cheap. The best bargain I've found is the MiniDragon+ which actually has more packed on the PCB than the Adpat9S12 and is $89 USD for students/schools/hobbyists. And at still less than the Adapat9S12 price is the super-deluxe-mercedes decadance model the full Dragon12 evaluation board, with on-board LCD, 2xRS485 sockets, 2xRS232 sockets, 7segment displays, speaker, IR, etc.

I can highly recommend the evbplus.com (aka Wytec) boards, but in doing so I must disclose that I have recieved the MiniDRAGON+/Dragon12 (fr

Also I think that the PowerPC compares quite well with some chips from IBM, the Athlon compares well to certain chips from AMD, and the micro-n-SP is equivalent in power to several chips from SunPlus. :-)

reference

"Freescale's scalable PowerPC SoC platforms are supported by its Metrowerks subsidiary"; "Freescale Semiconductor, Inc [...] a subsidiary of Motorola, Inc [...]"

And for another opinion: reference

"Metrowerks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Freescale, which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Motorola"

must learn to feed links properly

freescale is a subsidiary of motorola, here is homepage for coldfire.

If it's not on-board support, than what's different about the HCS08's versus any other MCU? Why mention it at all?

I can sympathize. I own a Nokia 3300, Nokia 3595, and Motorola V400. After a signifant trial period with each, I now use the 3595, which though it has less features, is the best performing, most durable, and easiest to operate.

However, I do want a Nokia 6820 if they are ever available for Cingular GSM service.

No, they don't. Most inexpensive pagers are one-way. The two-way pagers are significantly more expensive, at least for the equipment. Local or regional service is cheaper for one-way pagers, but two-way pagers are less expensive for national coverage. The reason: a two-way pager "checks in" with the local system, so the page is only broadcast in one location, vs. throughout the entire US.

I have a Motorola Talkabout with Skytel service. I probably won't carry it much longer, as US-wide SMS service is finally becoming reliable enough that I can depend on it for messages.

Incorrect. There are a number of single-chip GPS solutions (here, (here, and article here), that are being integrated into GSM phones. There have been substantial problems reaching the FCC E911 requirements using only EOTD (Enhanced Observed Time Difference). And then there's the problem of those areas serviced by only a single cell, where the best location estimate only narrows the position down to an arc up to several miles long with radius x in one sector of the cell. Like long stretches of rural interstates, for example.

That's not to say that GPS-based solutions aren't without their problems. Picking up a GPS signal indoors in a steel-framed building is a substantial challenge, even with assisted GPS (where the cell system itself provides additional timing information to improved signal acquisition).

Does anyone own a Motorola A760? Anyone know what markets it's available in? Judging by the specs, I'd buy one if I could. Any good/bad experiences with it?

NexTel is the innovator of the "Push to talk" cel phone (something Verizon (vodaphone) has copied in some parts of the US)

They use yet another tech (aside from AMPS/TDMA/GSM/CDMA) called iDen (integrated digital enhanced network I think) that motorola came up with.

Their first phones were, quite apropriatly, referred to as "Bricks" (the old Ericson 888 world is stylish in comparison) but nowadays they're much better style-wise. They were really popular in replacing licensed and unlicensed handheld radios in construction/warehouse biz, and then got picked up on by the ISP folks (which is how I got my experience with them) and others who need a quick communication method.

The push to talk is charged at a much lower rate than normal minutes, and works mostly nationwide (if you believe the adverts). Of course being PTT, there's not "ring" or "accept" phase, so the phone just starts yapping when someone pushes a button. You can do point to point or point to multipoint messages.

I haven't had a nextel in about 5 years so some of my observations might be outdated, but while the PTT worked well, they had a bad habit of dropping calls on cel hops.

Hope that helps. Motorola's iDen site is here

Is the POWER/PowerPC platform not open? There are other companies that make (slow!) Apple processors as well. So just what the hell does it mean when /.ers say something is propietary? Maybe this age old jibe is just geek for- "I can't build it from scratch." Just how bad of a thing is that?

Wow.

This looks almost like the transition between terrestrial radio voice communication (eg. CB, local-service, emergency) and it's evolution in trunking. Thinking in terms of servers to radio channels, a lot of people are trying to access the same information on limited channels, and this is opening up more channels.

Ooh! here is another one. Do they have radio repeaters that are capable of routing like the 'intarweb'. Yeah, that would be hella-cool!

pffffttthppth

- Just last year they reached core speeds they promised back in 2000 (or was it 1999?).

- PCI support was two years late (or was it three)?

- Power dissipation has been higher than expected.

- Some clock speeds require you to run a different voltage, while other other clock speeds don't work at all (if you use certain clock multipliers).

We still actively design in their parts because they are a perfect fit, but we don't trust them to deliver their next feature on time (last Oct they promised the 8270 and related devices would be in production by December... here we are in March and now they are promising May). I hope they can get their act together, cause when they finally release a product, it works like a hose.