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Gameboy Advance Users to Get Bluetooth Internet
AEton writes "According to this Extremetech article, X-Tra Fun has developed a Bluetooth module for the Gameboy Advance which is expected to ship by Christmas 2003. The $49 module includes Bluetooth connectivity, although a cellphone or other Bluetooth device with Internet access is required to use the Internet, and it comes with an embedded eCos Linux kernel with a Web browser and 255 pages' worth of cache. A $99 upgrade adds a Secure Digital card slot and a dongle!"
It will be interesting to see if this works with nokia's bluetooth phones. My experience with them, and a number of google hits suggests that nokia bluetooth only talks reliably to nokia bluetooth
Will this device allow unsigned code to run on the Game Boy Advance system?
Will I retire or break 10K?
Is there a linux distro that runs on Gameboy? I'd like to have swarms of little Gameboys in a cluster ;)
meh
...for all those n00bs who can't get past the first level... easy GameFAQs access!
When you don't have a leg to stand on, don't even get up.
eom
Finally, porn on the gameboy!
Thank Jebus.
eCos is an embedded kernel that was developed by Cygnus, now owned by Red Hat. However, it is NOT a Linux kernel (although the userland tools are probably all GNU).
Wil
wiki
Just looked at the demo. The interface looks rather... painful. Give me a PDA any day.
This is good and all....but I want a keyboard if I'm going to be surfing around on it as much as I do.
Okay, why you would want to browse on your gameboy vs. your PDA or cell phone is beyond me. For the same cost you can get a device designed for wireless web access, with much better UI and button layout. The main advantage I see in this technology would be for wireless multiplayer games, and they have zero developer support for that. According to their website, they are taking applications from developers. Without some seriously good game support, no one is going to buy this.
I don't see this being purchased by more than just a few hobbyists who love to use Linux on weird platforms.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
There is another Internet OS that currently is being ported to the GBA called Contiki. It currently features a lot of what it to be expected of a modern OS such as multitasking, TCP/IP support, web browser, screensavers, etc. Still, it only requires no more than 50k and ought to be a lot faster than eCos.
So now we can have Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, and geeks can get a tan!
Nothing from nowhere I'm no one at all
If you want to do business stuff (such as Internet, in this case), get a Palm Pilot or something.
(Just my 2 cents)
I call bullshit on this one. Granted, it may be *more* secure than standard 802.11, but calling it secure as though it's spy-proof is utter nonsense and should be prohibited by law.
Nothing ticks me off more than intentional marketing tricks and lies to sell products that don't work as advertised (like Kia and Hyundai cars).
XFI is committed to building the world's largest and safest mobile wireless online community for children. I can just see it now, some developer walked into the executives office with a circle on a piece of paper...
But anyways, but what about me??? What about support for more advanced applications like gcc and perl. You never know when inspiration hits. Also with the nifty backlight on the GBA SP, this would be rather nice for coding on the shitter.... but then I'd need a bluetooth foldout keyboard for efficiency.....
.: 2+2 = PI SQRT(1+N)
Yet there is still no option to get a 1/8" earphone plug to enjoy those games / web pages silently? Imagine getting on Hamsterdance by mistake and everyone looking at you?
In Canada, we don't fancy things like socks
I'm am very disappointed by the widespread misuse of the term "dongle".
A dongle is a hardware security device to prevent software piracy. It plugs into your PC's Parallel port. It was named after its creator, Don Gall.
I mostly blame Xircom for propagating this mistake. They advertise a PCMCIA network card that "eliminates the dongle".
Just because it DANGLES, it doesn't mean it is a DONGLE.
is a Bluetooth access point. How about the UWG: http://www.wirelessnetworksinc.com Anybody used it?
How am I supposed to enter URIs and fill out forms on this thing? If the system is the same as for entering names in games, it's going to take a loong time. But you could always make a page with all your favourite links, I guess.
Then again, maybe you won't be able to access any other sites than theirs anyway : "X-traFun, Inc. (XFI) is committed to building the world's largest and safest mobile wireless online community for children. Through the creation and development of innovative wireless Internet-safe products, we provide children with fun, easy-to-use, and meaningful tools for their education, entertainment, and exploration of the 'Information Superhighway' in a safe and secure environment."
Aargh...quoting the article: "Embedded in the module is an embedded eCos embedded Linux kernel..."
The interface sucks. It looks like something from the earlie nineties internet. Cyan is sooooooo 1992!
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance, that's why we might as well take our time...
I thought Bluetooth had a very limited range? doesn't make sense to use Bluetooth unless there are many access points.
I read the article; it said "Embedded in the module is an embedded eCos embedded Linux kernel" -- but it's quite likely that author Mark Hachman doesn't understand this discrepancy. Sure fooled me. If you're concerned about the misattribution, he's probably the person to contact about it -- again, that's Mark Hachman, Mark_Hachman@ziffdavis.com.
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
With all the add-ons (attached to cell phone, dongle etc.) I have a mental image of this all looking something like that bug removal device from The Matrix. You can probably even plug it into the car cigarette lighter...
Freedom: "I won't!"
$49, $99,. hmmm how much is a Gameboy Advance these days. $69.99 on amazon.com.
:)
$217.99 total.
For a little more, you'd be better of with the Zaurus SL-5500. If you have the Gameboy Advance already tho, it might be worth it. Gonna be a HUGE annoyance browsing without a keyboard and backlight screen.
Plus Doom look so much better on the Zaurus
when I saw that many "embedded"s in one sentence, I should've known he was off his rocker.
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
FINALLY! I can win in an online game.
I challenge any of those 14 year-old kids who own me in CS to face me in . . . Tetris!
Muwahahahaha!!!
How cool...I can setup a wireless lan to my Laptop and setup and setup my new $700 dollar blue tooth enabled Ipaq to take forwarded packets from the bluetooth on the Laptop -- and then forward the packets so I can browse the web in real style on my Gameboy. Cool -- Every generation gets you a smaller screen and less disk space.....Now only if I could forward the packets from my gameboy to my cellphone....Hot damn -- I need to get me one of them new fangled blue tooth enabled cellphones...and then the circle of degradation and the quest for the smallest screen and suckiest input method will be complete.
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
As the (corrected) story now states, I believe I accurately quoted Kramer that eCos was in fact a Linux kernel. However, either he or I was wrong, and the story has since been corrected to reflect that fact. I appreciate the "open source fact checking", even though the mistake shouldn't have been there in the first place.
And the embedded information about the embedded embedded eCos kernel embedded in the GameBoy has since been dis-embedded, in an attempt to clarify the embedding wording. (*ahem*)
Make affiliate bucks
Without the backlight screen, I might just be able to read games.slashdot.org without getting a headache!
This is gonna be great!
Knew there was a reason I kept mine laying around.
That equates to roughly 18 pictures of color pron!
bsd and LUNIX are the same THING!!! AHAHAH!
Go eCos! The little OS that could...
The OS is well-written. Best use of C++ templates I've ever seen...
Q. When will the X-traFun cartridge be available for purchase by consumers?
A. Q1, 2003
By my calculations, Q1 2003 is already over.
Furthermore, the top of the web site proudly displays both the GBA and the GBC logos, although the FAQ states it's a GBA-only product.
The 'developers' section contains no useful material of any kind, and the 'click here to upload your software applications' link is broken.
Are we supposed to take this product/company seriously?
They had this device displayed at the Bluetooth SIG booth at WinHEC. I noticed that the implemenation of the browser was very small. It had email, calendar, and even said "you've got mail". It has a class 1 device which gives it a long range, but will chew up the battery. It is a cool idea to make the GBA wireless, but you can't play Nintendo(r) games over the device which means no kid is EVER going to buy it. Face it... Bluetooth := IR ;
Now imagine... A beowol * the slashdot gods send a bolt of lightening and -- fizzle*
A $99 upgrade adds a Secure Digital card slot and a dongle!"
Its not so bad that I am bought and sold, but that I am not even sold alone, I am bundled with something else.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
Actual quote from an 8 year old GBA player:
Dammit! I was just about to catch the last pokémon, when all of a sudden the screen started flashing and it said "If this banner is flashing, you've won!" So I pushed A, and it closed, then something that looked like a window popped up and said my computer is broadcasting an IP address! Haha those fools, I'm not even on a computer, and I don't gotta pee! So I pressed A and closed it. Then after that I saw a girl spread her legs, and that's when my Mom took away my gameboy, and now it's illegal to own one in 48 states.
Pff, what are you talking about? They came out with Myst in 1991!
a DUMB american.... HAHAHHAHAA, dumbfuck
GBA SP has a frontlit screen, otherwise the LiIon inside it would last about 4 hours with the light on, and horribly wash out the colour compared to when it's off.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
OT? Perhaps let me reword the question more clearly:
Will it be possible for a purchaser of this device to write a computer program designed for the GBA platform and then use this device to run said program on a GBA system without having the specific program approved by Nintendo or by the manufacturer of this device?
Will I retire or break 10K?
this is a device made by a third party, not nintendo. nintendo doesn't usually go for such ineligant solutions to a nearly non-existant problem unless they are going to also sell you the phone component...
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
Actually, most people call what your're talking about a HASP, not a dongle. And you Don Gall thing? Anybody who bought that... I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you. tool.
You may disagree, but to be blunt, you're wrong. -tgd
Typing URLs on a GBA will be interesting, what with the two buttons. It might almost work if you live in Bosnia or Barbados.
Why do people continue to immigrate to America and leave Europe?
Pretty soon the EU will consist of eight women, four cats, and a blow-up Guiness toy.
well of course i cant see many people using it for browsing, but this opens up the entire possibility of multiplayer gaming, which would be better than cell phones or PDAs
the only thing needed is a X byte header with a Nintendo(TM) logo in place. (or the code won't be run)
there's been lotsa discussions on this from day on in the GBA scene and most people refered back to the classic accoladeVSsega case. (or was it acclaim?).
bottom line was, sega's logochecking locked out competing products to be run and accolade was given a free waive to go on doing the games.
i think it's in the interoperability clause of some law. however i have no idea how recent (read dmca) laws has affected these rights or the fact that you'd be redistributing their logo without consent if you're to sell something. but i'm really unsure what weights heavier.
most people refered back to the classic accoladeVSsega case. (or was it acclaim?).
Read the opinion here: Sega v. Accolade
Will I retire or break 10K?
Hmm this is strange, because when I coded that little gba app, I didn't have to do anything with a logo of any sort, but like I said it was an emulator that I was testing this on, as I did not have a kart writer.