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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
...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.
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.
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
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.
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."
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
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*)
Without the backlight screen, I might just be able to read games.slashdot.org without getting a headache!
This is gonna be great!
That equates to roughly 18 pictures of color pron!
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?
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.