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Linux + Ipaq + MIT = Project Mercury
NineSeventy writes: "Infosync has a short but interesting article and photographs regarding an 'ueber' PDA project being developed by Compaq and MIT called Project Mercury. Despite being somewhat sketchy, the article explains that this new mobile compututing 'solution' will involve an expansion sleeve, a camera and a 'downscaled version of linux' running the whole thing in place of Windows CE. I want one." There are also some interesting Linux-PDA-related sidebars.
These plans are always sketchy, but I'd love to see a Linux PDA.
More importantly, I'd love to see the software!
Heck, I wouldn't mind having handwriting recognition apps on regular Linux to play around with...
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pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
Oh, I have one (probably more then one). I also know that a few bugs linger after any testing and are only found in real life use. I had one bug stand five years of daily use. It took three years to show up the first time, two more to get enough debug info, and then I fixed it in half an hour.
Or maybe I just don't want to go back to an unprotected environment after so many years of using them...
Well, the one big advantage of Linux would be the new shareware scratchpad scribbling thing couldn't accidentally overwrite my calendar or memo pad info. PalmOS has pretty much no memory protection. Not only no protection, but everything that would normally be stored on the hard drive is sitting around unprotected in RAM (except the small amount in FLASH or ROM).
That's the main reason I haven't written any PalmOS apps. Sure it would be great to have a custom darkroom timer, but it's more important to me that the whole thing not go up in smoke.
The Compaq iPAQ has 32M RAM and 16M flash. It's a real computer. The Agenda device is just a PDA that happens to run Linux.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
Here.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
This is a research platform. The camera is as much to look at the user to see what they're doing as anything else. The accelerometer lets the machine know the direction that it's camera is pointed. The Mercury has an *additional* 32MB flash built into it. And the audio interface / headset jack is an acknowledgement that the output-only stereo headset jack on the iPAQ was a mistake. The iPAQ really needs to have an audio jack which can accept either a 1/8" stereo headset, or 1/16" cellphone headset (mono out, mono in) jack. And it's a dual PCMCIA sleeve, not single like the original PCMCIA product.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
yer, all through that movie you have to appreciate the doublethink exhibited by character played by Alec Baldwin. He talks about being patriotic and at the same time is trying to cover up the fact that the cryptography they are using is weak, something that will ultimately hurt his country. He is capable of using the argument of patriocy and simultaniously being incapable of seeing the obvious flaw in his argument.
How we know is more important than what we know.
This is the first time I have seen a actual picture of the artist mockup that was posted a while back. This thing is pretty cool, from what they are saying. The earlier posting had said compaq was looking more at using Linux for this thing. I am glad to see this addition is being persued. We'll have a handheld with almost as much power as a desktop and that's pretty cool. I am waiting to see if this thing becomes a reality. If it does, I WANT ONE! :) I imagine this thing would be popular with someone like Jenni from Jennicam or one of the other cam girls. Tis is something they/I have been looking for. I would use it for amateur radio SSTV.
Gorkman
I'd love to be able to experiment with programming 3G, gprs and location sensitive devices, but unfortunately these services aren't available where I live (yet). Is there anyway to get around this problem? Simulators perhaps?
"Palm and Handspring pretty much have the PDA market wrapped up."
There's a good reason why, too. The OS's that run on these PDA's are specifically designed to run on PDA's. They're designed to have a small(ish) memory footprint with limited multitasking and maximum functionality. I know in Palm's case, PalmOS is an extremely nifty little OS, and I don't really see what more people could want from a PDA.
Sure, with a Linux PDA you could do all sorts of things. You could run various server daemons, code, browse the web, etc, but why? The majority of stuff you'd be doing would be pretty trivial notes, addresses, appointments: all things that existing PDA's do efficiently enough. (probably more than the bloated (for a PDA) Linux kernel would be)
It looks like Compaq is doing the hardware and MIT is doing the software. They have some extremely ambitious, yet vague, goals for Oxygen.
But what about those of us who just want to run it on the original WinCE?
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
Only money will get the Linux PDA's out there - Wrong.
Agenda's Palm Clone
Sharp
PalmPalm's Phone PDA
VTech's Updated Version
Samsung's Yopy
Lernout & Hauspie's version with Speech Recognition
maybe more?
At this rate, I might as well develop one.
Uninnovate - Only the finest in engineering.
The picture link worked. (kewl!) But the link from the picture to further text revealed:
Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80004005'
[Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver] The Microsoft Jet database engine stopped the process because you and another user are attempting to change the same data at the same time.
Now that's one I haven't seen in before -- at least as a result of clicking on a "read more" link.
Brackets contain world's first nanosig, highly magnified:[.]
The "audio interface with a headset jack" is built into the iPAQ, as is the 32 MB RAM and 16 MB Flash ROM (which they somehow confused with 32 MB "flash ram"). The Linux and X-windows software package is likewise available without this "backPAQ" thingy.
What's the big deal?
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
What do you mean, "that few people will actually buy"? Compaq has sold millions of iPaqs and recenly announced (again) an expansion of manufacturing. They've got a backlog of 700,000 orders at the moment. Every Palm user I show my iPaq to (who has the disposable income) orders one.
Now if only I could take it to work...(Los Alamos doesn't allow items with voice-recording capability behind the fence, which means no iPaq, note-taker, or Furby.)
Learn to spell: nickel, missile, lose, solely, amendment, speech, kernel, probably, ridiculous, deity, hierarchy, versus
See the Unfinished Revolution by MIT PRof Michael Dertouzos (inventor of structured programming) for a description of Mercury and other MIT CS projects.
Those of us working on Linux handhelds have known about it since Jamey started designing it. The main problem with putting it into small-scale production is paying Compaq Research for it. They're not set up to take people's money. Plus, it's not FCC certified since it's not a production device.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
You didn't look far enough.
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#nohup cat
A linux-based PDA, you say?
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#nohup cat
I do believe the biggest problem with the PDA market is that there are tons out there to choose from. Palm and Handspring pretty much have the PDA market wrapped up. Recently we have seen Linux versions out there but the reviews have been less than good. So many bad things why would this one work. I think the biggest problem with a company wanting to get into the PDA market is financing. And with the market financing is about as hard to get as the RIAA to endorse anything that "might" infringe on their profits. By getting well funded organizations into the fray getting a good, stable and inexpensive PDA that runs Linux to the market becomes more of a reality.
I know about the IPaq but I dont like Windows. So I bought a Handspring which I love. The biggest reason for the Handspring was that I needed good applications which is one of the PalmOS based PDA's greatest selling factor. That and the Handspring has the expandable modules.
Linux PDA's will be out in due time. They will be good and they will be inexpensive. The key is we need to get the RD factor funded by a company that wont fold because their stock drops. Only money will get the Linux PDA's out there and able to compete with the current one. Money and Linux, two words that do not usually go nicely together.
Arathres
I love my iBook. I use it to run Linux!
stainless steel