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$99 Linux Handheld with WiFi for Instant Messaging
An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com has an interesting write up about the new Aeronix Zipit instant messenger appliance. It is intended to free up a family PC from IM chatting teens. From the article: "the Zipit is based on a Cirrus EP7312-CR-90, an SoC (system-on-chip) with an ARM720T core that clocks up to 90MHz. This chip is supported by several Linux distributions, including FSMLabs's real-time RTLinux." At $99 (cheaper than many textbooks and graphing calculators) it could even be good for classrooms. With that 802.11b WiFi, I think this might be a perfect note-taking computer for students in lectures. "
Sure, the wifi is cool, but let's not kid ourselves, wifi is compeletely unnecessary for note-taking.
I am curous specifically for programs like Epocrates and other medical software that u can get on other handhelds.
With the new epidemic of cheating via txt, I doubt we will see these little devices in the classrooms for tests.
I think i would rather spend the extra $$ and get something like a treo that has a phone feature, and if i am not mistaken the os on them is linux based. Also there is a wi-fi card for a tungsten palm that can be hacked to work on the Treo 650. But this is pretty cool for people on a budget.
-- Yes, I work for the government, and yes I am watching you.
While it does look like a nice device for chatting I cannot see it doing much more. The idea of taking notes on something that small is impossible for most classes where you are moving pretty fast. I ended up getting a laptop with a full size keyboard so that it would be easier to type.
I am all for little devices running linux but I do not see this exact device being used for anything like textbooks. With a lot schools (high school and college) implementing WIFI it will however be a great distraction from what is being taught...
99 bucks is cheaper than *many* text books? Come on. Sure, there are *some* that cost more than that, but not *many*...
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
It looks fisher pricey. Despite the well-spaced qwery keyboard, I think you can only thumb-type with those hard rubber keys.
For $99, this thing is a good way to experiment with embedded linux for those who are interested. I haven't gone out to get one myself, but I've seen one with a serial header soldered on (for flashing the ROM with better linux goodness than what is provided). It's rather small, has a wireless connection, and has decent battery life.
The downside to the whole thing is that the device does not fully conform to the LGPL (there's some issue surrounding linking), but most of what they've used is available
Read this story ages ago on linuxdevices.com.
l
/. tell me WiMAX is a "disruptive technology"?
l
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4557745057.htm
What's next? Will
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3095094669.htm
What's wrong with taking notes in class using a pen and paper? If anything, it is probably quicker than trying to use one of these little doodads.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Yahoo, MSN, and AIM only? I'd like to see some kind of ad-hoc IRC capability.
In reply to your journal entry, its probably because you have the ability to think somewhat independently, have a heathly streak of pessimism, and may speak up against the /. groupthink where it is clearly wrong.
As any team or community increases its diversity, its value-added in any area decreases if all members like to be seen to have their say. That is the case of Slashdot.
Just wondering.
--
RumorsDaily
There's a wiki dedicated to the ZipIt located here that contains useful HOW-TOs explaining how to install Linux on the thing... Myself and several others have written up tons of instructions on how to hack this thing. For example, I use my ZipIt as a wireless SSH client (the OpenZipIt firmware includes dropbear ssh...), and also to play streaming MP3 radio (groovesalad is nice...) It's a really cool device, and there's a ton of hacking potential...
I've been waiting for a really cheap device (like this one) that will act as a wireless SSH client! Sweet!
Meh.
ledgiable text! every try to reed an engineers scribbles?
Take a look at any MSN/Yahoo/AOL clone application for example. MSN changes their code, Trillian/GAIM/etc catch up and release a patch.
You can't have that nearly as much with a mobile device. I'd imagine there's a licensing issue with Microsoft's protocol for example as to keeping it tight and protected so that others can't get at it.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
eom
The Luddites were ahead of their time.
I love the Treo 650, it really is an awesome device.
However
The "WiFi" hack made the wifi card work, but only just barely, and it completely destroys the ease of use of the machine because it requires resets and some manual intervention to enable and disable it. For all intents and purposes, its not worth it. Especially since the 650 does cellular data at 3G speeds, so its not a big deal to simply use the net.
Further, PalmOS is headed towards being linux-based (and thank god! Its like OS9 now, with resets instead of bomb icons). In the future then it should be like Mac OSX - easy to use (for its form factor) but rock-solid when it runs 3rd party apps.
At this point in time though, it is most definitely not unix-based and personal experience indicates that there is no memory protection. That's what explains why the Nintendo Emulator (yeah, on my phone, and it works!) crashes the phone frequently when I exit it (luckily the reset only takes 5s, so its worth it...)
Hehehe. I generally enjoy the /. crowd, desite groupthink, so that is why on my journal I was wondering why the bad karma.
Charles Jo
Does anyone know of a similarly priced/featured device that supports IMAP? Seems Instant Messaging alone will get you a fairly restricted market, but if you added mail into the equation, you'd be in good shape.
__________________________________________
Take comfort in your ignorance.
Grandmaster Plague
It looks to me like a Blackberry Wannabe. This is not a notebook PC by any stretch of the imagination.
Oh well, what the hell...
Although it seems that the company has created an interesting linux based device, from reading some of the linked pages it seems it has a few flaws. The foremost being that the company isn't fully embracing the open source nature of the devices operating system. Apparently they have chosen to make it more difficult to develop for the unit by encrypting their firmware updates. Even worse, until they were asked to, they neglected to make the GPL and LGPL licensed software they used in their device available.
Post apocalyptic gaming goodness
...does it run opensolaris?
Haha, it seems on seeing my post someone went and modded my others of the week (not that they were very meangingful)! Karma is easily lost and gained, I've gone from 'Bad' to 'Excellent' too many times to recount, and have given up caring.
He's joking, right? On that little keyboard? I've used little keyboard devices before, they work for some things, but taking notes on it (quickly most likely too) would be hell.... I'd just spend a couple hundred more for a old craptop if I needed something to do that that badly..... Or a cheap PDA and keyboard....
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
the Treo runs Palm OS. they are supposedly moving Palm OS to a linux core, but it hasn't happened yet.
From TFA:
"Aeronix Inc. originally did not post any of the GPL and LGPL source code used in the Zipit. After we confirmed that they used Linux, we politely asked that they comply with the license terms. I am one of the copyright holders in the code they use. I am pleased to see that they have at least posted pointers to the tools they used. They are still in violation of the terms of the LGPL for glibc."
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
or does this screen look a little too much like a happy face that apprears when a certain other OS boots.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Old news. www.linuxdevices.com
Because I have low karma, I need pills.
This looks like a nice form factor to be a remote for a freevo or jukebox system with the right software. And the price is right to play around with. Much more reasonable than buying a Zaurus or something to use as a remote. It looks pretty tempting. Linux. WiFi. Flash-able. Under $100. Very tempting.
I would like one with a color screen. My job requires me to travel to some really out of the way places, and my cell phone has wireless internet. With a full Qwerty keyboard and a decent screen, I could get on mapquest, but the ultra thin laptops I could hide under my seat cost way too much. Anyon know of a gadget like the one in the article with a color screen and a USB port?
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
This is just a sign of things to come. With a MMC or CF card slot and less intentional crippling, this would be a better buy than a $80 stand alone music player. Cheap, multi function wireless devices based on free software will soon flood the market. Some of them might even look nice.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
If I whipped out a laptop during a one-on-one or two-on-two interview with some lawyers, business owners, accountants or any of the other types of clients that I meet during the course of my job, they would instantly get distracted and likely pissed off as well. And then they go on to hire another consultant. Besides, any intense discussions get non-linear very quickly.
/. regarding the use of laptops for taking notes is that "hey, it's on a computer, so I MUST be doing something sophisticated!!!...drool"
Sorry, the only excuse I've heard throughout numerous threads on
A set of notes is not a final product. It's something to be used in support of writing papers and taking tests. Moreover, they're not supposed to be a record of what the prof literally said (tape recording lectures are even more useless)...they're supposed to be little pointers to the ideas you're picking up from the lecturer while engaged in the act of paying attention.
There is room for a computer, however. What I'll do, for example, is review my notes and, in my own time, type up a summary of what I've heard and keep that for my records.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
So you're more comfortable with p&p. Nothing wrong with that. Nor is there anything wrong with other people using the technology they are comfortable with.
What is wrong is people getting all righteous about other people who want to do things differently.
It needs a browser and email client.
And it needs to come in BLACK. It will still look like a GBA SP, but at least the color won't make you throw up.
http://www.elinux.org/wiki/ZipIt useful for anyone looking to hack it
or does this screen look a little too much like a happy face that apprears when a certain other OS boots.
TFA:Seems that this device, which appears to be aimed at a market of teens for chatting, is not ready to be sold for that purpose.
One look at the bug/wish list at http://www.elkgrovewireless.com/zipit will show you that.
It will also remind many of us of the Audrey -- 3Com's very clevery attempt at a similar type of device that did a LOT more than chat and still didn't sell.
Granted, their device was around the $300 range (now you can get them for about $50 on eBay), but it had a 640x480 screen and full web browser and contact management which even sync'd to your Palm.
This ZipIt has only a B&W screen, lower resolution than my PDA, and although it may be open source it has a very limited feature-set out of the box. That will change, but how many teenage chatters will figure out how to update the kernel as hacks become available?
-David
I don't think you can use a microphone with this one. Anyone knows a cheap wifi pda for VoIP ?
I have one of these little darlings, and in addition to helping on the devel front I have done quite a bit of truly productive work actually using. The linux devices article was, quite frankly, the best starting resource to date for anyone wishing to obtain and play with a Zipit. Prior to it, there were no concise collections of relevant links. Do stop by the wiki, as it is currently under construction and showing some good progress.
For the curious, a brief overview of impressions and capabilities:
Also included are non-GPL'd bootloader, audiodriver, and the zipit messaging application.
As-is when purchased, the device is indeed running linux natively. The appropriate drivers and programs are brought about with a few init scripts, all transparent to the user. The zipit messaging program is a rather large 1.6ish megabyte arm binary which includes framebuffer, embedded audio, some decent graphics, and generally stable performance. NOTE: The zipit messaging binary is statically linked to glibc, therefore containing GPL'd code, yet Aeronix has thus far refused to release the code for this program!! If this bothers you (as it should), do something about it. At time of writing, the current firmware does not support the playing of streaming audio, though it is promised in a future upgrade.
On the devel front involved in hacking the zipit, thanks go to Aibopet and Ken McGuire primarily for their work in deciphering the process by which the firmware operates and updates. The yahoo community by which much of this work has been accomplished, has also produced an OpenZipit linux "distro" of sorts. It is superior in several ways to the stock Aeronix linux distro; indeed, McGuire from the abovementioned yahoo group has rewritten the audio driver to perform much better than the supplied driver. Streaming audio via madplay and freebase is indeed possible, and having played with it myself, does truly function well. While a bit underpowered for some uses, the processor has quite enough power to decode mp3/ogg audio (if you want to whine about processor speed, go get a laptop; the zipit is not for you). Others in the group were instrumental in tracing gpios and adding a serial port for troubleshooting. OpenZipit includes, among others, madplay, freebase, dropbear ssh, and the busybox versions of (b)ash, vi, ftp, telnet, etc. Please see the yahoo message board and the wiki for more information involving OpenZipit and its specifications.
From a user standpoint, the zipit is quite useful. One of my specialties is in wireless networking and wireless security; the zipit is quite good for a handheld auditing tool. (a port of kismet is in the works, for those of you that are interested). The range and robust nature of the wifi chip has never failed to surprise me: it has better range and sensitivity (perhaps not on paper, but indeed in use) than many of the most popular wifi cards available (orinoco, senao). Additionally, with the dropbear ssh client, any open (legal) wifi signal is a free ticket to your box of choice for console based applications. Battery life is an astounding 6+ hours. The 2mb ROM is too tiny for much in the way of userspace apps, but as the device is built for wireless connectivity, ssh serves as a gateway to most applications you mig
If you are typing your notes, you're doing it wrong.
Notes are supposed to be quick and dirty. Pen and paper are the best tools for note-taking, because you can cross things out, draw arrows, underline important ideas...all of which are impossible to do (in real-time, anyway) if you are typing.
A computer isn't the best tool for every job, guys.
400mhz or so.
Motorola IMFree Handheld Instant Messenger Kit for $19.99
Local walmart has the same on sale for $15...
i went from "good" to "bad" for asking why someone put linux on their mac mini, even when i specifically emphasized i wasnt trying to troll them . guess there's always going to be the zealots who cant help applying their own agenda to modding.
While posting a couple links to linuxdevices.com and saying the current post is old news may be true, it doesn't make it informative. The links didn't add anything new to the current discussion and neither did the comments.
I am not in anyway affiliated with Max Cannon
Has anyone looked into what type of capabilities this would have for a cheap wardriving machine? Also... what about getting support up on it for a location based instant messenger like Meetro. That would be the killer app for this thing.
What about a VNC for this puppy? It seems like a nice thinclient. You could surf the web using Firefox while using the restroom, eating breakfast, or while out at the pool. That'd be worth the $99 to me.
Does it support WEP-128 so it can be used with at least a minimally secured access point? I don't want to open myself up to wardrivers just to let my kids IM from the backyard.
It just occured to me (yeah I know people have probably realized this for years now) that Linux's most effective means of entry is in areas where it is the most invisible. The consumer doesn't care as long as it works ... whatever it is. The people spending money only care that it's as inexpensive as possible and sells as much as possible.
The lure of Linux embedded in devices is irresistable. Most stand-alone devices don't need to be "compatible" with other things so outside of adjusting to this "foreign" development environment, there's not much reason to use anything but the free environment that Linux stuff offers.
So I'm thinking that the more Microsoft targets these areas of the market (home appliances) the more I see that Linux is already beating them to the punch. But I wonder how this will help in getting this edge as leverage into the desktop? I wonder if, by the time it happens, the desktop is a thing of the past? I'm doubting that the desktop PC/workstation will ever be a thing of the past in the office... and by extension, that it will ever expire at home.... well anyway... just random thoughts.
Obviously, this serves a niche, but it does not include me.
My teens each has a PC of their own, with all the chat software they want on it. And since I bought them used, they are not much more than 99$ specially when you factor in that they do their homework on it as well.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
Um, remember the AIM Personal Messenger? They really went far didn't they? And let's talk about cheating, you really think (even with the size of university classrooms, an instructor wouldn't notice this on your desk and you typing into it... c'mon
Based on the links in the article, the software is quite functional in entering WEP keys, manually entering 'hidden' SSIDs and entering a manual IP address if DHCP is disabled.
(I've never seen Linux wireless so easy to use, heh)
That is so funny. Maybe we're not part of the in crowd... yet. I notice that our thread has been modded down to the last.
Charles Jo
That is interesting too but that means that the system is not working and needs to be improved.
Charles Jo
That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.
Sounds good.. I wouldn't mind getting one for that price, seems like a good way to keep logged onto messenger all day, and if you get bored with it you can turn it into a handheld SSH client or something.. Or even X!
:(
The only thing is.. where do you buy these in Europe? They only seem to be available in the US
Woohoo! Someone gave me an Insightful point. My fortunes have changed. I should go buy a lotter ticket.
This reminds me of something completely unrelated: we should create a game within Slashdot. For lack of a better name, I am using Cubicles & Coffee Breaks. For those interested, please join me here:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/cncb/
Charles
unpretentious signature
Charles Jo
Slashdot claims to be "News for nerds"... But publishing news that were well, news back in October 2004. I mean that's one year to have something on a slashdot page....
Just crap really.
Geesh thats what i call multitasking... ( and wasting a lot of time ).
But, in all seriousness, how 'open' are these things? Is it practical to convert it into some sort of cheap wifi terminal?
Sure a PDA might be better suited, but this does have a keyboard.. and is pretty cheap.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
This might make a cheap little 'terminal' to access your home machine via your local free wifi point..
Too bad the screen is a bit small, and B/W.. Hard to find anything that isnt color these days..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I saw this at the Kahului Walmart a couple of months ago, where they were evidently trying to clear them out at $35. Worth it just for the wifi access point, if it's not too locked down. I had looked over the hacking sites to see if the client device could support Jabber IM s/w, and it seems plausable.
Luke, help me take this mask off
There are a handful of devices out there that you can use to find 802.11 networks. None that I'm aware of though will print out SSID, signal strength, channel, and encryption status though.
I'd pay $100 for a device that could list all nearby networks and print them on a nice little screen.
Even though they didn't include one, you can add your own backlight to the zipit. Makes it much more useable when using the thing anywhere other than in direct sunlight.
add your own backlight
I think the whole mod system is insane quite frankly. I usually tweak my settings so I can see all the posts and post anonynously, and it's fascinating - about 10% of the posts that get modded down are retarded stuff like "first post". The rest is people who have views that disagree with the mainstream, but aren't otherwise objectionable. Suddenly the people who get +5 insightful for posting pro Linux gossip look like the cheerleaders they are.
Hey, you realise that we're sitting at the slashdot equivalent of the D table
And put that way, you suddenly realise why moderation is so offensive.
Why doesn't somebody just come up with a sub $99 handheld linux box? I mean, it would for a really niche market, but you could probably sell thousands of them to that market.
Meh.
4. Add a serial port and you might even have a fun little toy for packet.
:D
Good call! Instant packet-to-802.11 bridge!
+++ATH0