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Review of the Cybiko Xtreme
Levendis23 writes: "We've just posted our latest review: the Cybiko Xtreme. Pretty slick little gadget, with RF networking and ability to set up bluetooth-like clouds so that other units can talk to each other, play games, or swap files. You can can even use another unit at as a repeater to bounce your message to another unit out of your range."
Just a couple days ago my father related to me how he was telling his students about Fidonet - sending a message across country by having it hop modem'd servers in the good ol' days - and the kids saying "Why not just use the internet?"
So having these little babies spread across a country could easily lead to a "Cybiko across America", eh? An alternative to the U.S. gov't filtering all our packets? Hmmm...
Since the article is long on hype and thin on substance, here are some details:
2 NiMH Rechargeable Batteries - Not Removable
Power Adapter
USB
Installation CD
I don't have the hardware specs on the new "Xtreme", but here is the previous model:
CYBIKO COMPUTER MODEL CY6411.
Hardware specifications
Main Processor: 32 bit, 11 MHz Hitachi H8S/2246
Coprocessor: Atmel AT90S2313, 4 MHz
RAM: 512 KB
Flash disk: 512 KB, extendible up to 1 MB
LCD display: 160x100 dots, 59x40 mm, 4 level grayscale
RF transceiver: RF2915
Expansion cartridge slot: 68-pin
PC connection socket: RS232 serial port
Size: 5.7" x 2.8" x 0.86"
Weight: 4.3 oz
Software specifications
Operating System: CyOS v.1.2
Software: CyOS v.1.2 compatible apps
Communication Protocol: CyDP x.30 (Cybiko RF Digital Protocol)
Dynamic Wireless Local Network: automatically provided by CyOS v.1.2 and CyDP x.30
RF communication features
Frequency: 902-928 MHz
Number of channels: 30 digital channels
Communication Rate: 19200 bps each channel
Transmission and Receiving Range: 150 ft. indoors, 300 ft. outdoors (environment dependent)
Max. online Cybiko units: 3000 (100 units on each of 30 channels)
The Gardener
--
I had one of the original "classic" cybiko's. Why did I have it? Because they gave them away by the boatload in a contest on their website where everyone who signed up won one pretty much. A lot of people who got them took them right back to Best Buy/CompUSA/Staples/Toys R US etc. and got themself a $100 return credit. I wonder how many of these give-aways they're including in the "half a million" they claim they sold.
.com/tech company down the tubes. Their new one seems pretty nice though, the size was one of the kickers with the original, maybe they'll make it this time.
That aside, it was really a pretty neat toy for any one in school still. It was no PDA, but it wasn't meant to be one either. They eliminated features that you can live without in a device targeted towards school kids (touch screen, high res screen, size, etc.) and they added some really nice features (wireless networking which could chat, play games, check email, etc). It would supposedly automatically network with nearby Cybiko's so you could chat, and play games with them, and if one of them was plugged into a computer, you could use that one to access the internet to check email and stuff, though I dunno how well these things actually worked as I never met anyone with one besides me.
I was a little surprised these things didn't catch on more. I'm guessing that's why they gave so many away, because this seems like the sorta thing with a critical mass. On its own, it sucks (not much fun to chat with yourself), but the more people who have it, the better it becomes. Add in the school mentality of the more people who have it, the cooler it becomes as well, and I thought this thing had a lot of potential if they could have gotten the spark started.
But in their giveaway they screwed up big time by not including an age limit at that time, so the wrong people ended up with these things, and those people took them back to the stores, thus taking away even more sales for them! I'm surprised to see that these guys are still around, I was sure at the time after that mistake, and giving away 1000's of these things that surely they would be just another
Though this also seems like exactly the sort of thing where just as it starts to get popular, school administrators will start banning it, so I don't think they're out of the woods yet......
I can't wait for the day when this sort of technology (the ability to communicate with/through other units) comes to the PDA. Palm Pilots and Visors are on just about every desk here at the office and the ability to schedule meetings, send messages and (play games) over wireless would be very useful and widely used.
Wooden armaments to battle your imaginary foes!
Specs are on the web site...
http://www.cybikoxtreme.com/support/specs.asp
http://windows.scares.us
Don't forget, AOL is directing the development of the Cybiko. The Cybiko will be AOL's Palm Pilot.
Look away from the light.
Software Wars
Said you can now get a MP3 player with purchase of a cybiko extreme. It plugs into the expansion slot. It also adds the SD/MMC slot and can take cards of any size. Not a bad idea to get sales going! The more Cybiko's the better.
Gorkman
Damn, now that you're onto us, we'll have to start encrypting those major business networks that run on Cybiko power! The world is no longer a safe place! Hackers now have small devices capable of sending wireless signals....
A quick perusal of their website doesn't reveal any thing that would allow someone do their own coding. Toys like this are only worth having if they are hackable :). Anyone know of any projects to hack them or provide dev. tools.
You can get the development tools and documentation from the Cybiko web site. They've been available for free right from the start.
I used to be active in the cybiko community. Here are some links:
www.cybla.com
www.cybimunk.com
www.devcybiko.com
Hope you find these useful
I'm a bit skeptical about this. I had the VTech "phones" expecting to talk with all sorts of people and exchanging voice mail with other people, but upon buying 2 of them, I quickly realized they had almost NO range whatsoever. Boy did I feel ripped off.
Are these "compatable" with the older cybiko?
Specifically in wireless connectivity and data sharing.
That is a very important issue.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I bought a couple of Cybikos a year ago. I felt that they were actually pretty good value for the money but I could see where there were some shortfalls and I predicted that it wouldn't be long before they released a new version with some of the better features. Cybiko denied they had anything planned and a lot of people said it wouldn't happen but *smug*.
Seriously though, these are cool devices. The SDK is open and free although documentation was a little lacking last time I checked. There is a whole host of games and apps for them (as with the palm) and a thriving developer community. Also, one of the coolest things is that if you have two of these things, you can use one as a tunnel, connect to your PC and have wireless internet on the other one.
I was planning on writing some apps for mine but unfortunately, events overtook me this year. Now they have this new one out, I shall have to have another look (I hope the Xtreme has a serial port like the classic)
Rich
Before you jump to any conclusions as to who "controls" Cybiko, find out all the investors, who owns what percent, and what shares have voting rights.
Not only that, but whenever you connect it to your PC to load stuff on it, the software sends your personal information to the Cybiko site. It also apparently collects information on Cybikos it communicates with and sends THAT as well.
...phil
"For a list of the ways which technology has failed to improve our quality of life, press 3."