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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. "
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...
You haven't gone to a college bookstore lately have you?
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
That depends whose notes you want to take.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
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.
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...
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!
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...
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.
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.
http://www.elinux.org/wiki/ZipIt useful for anyone looking to hack it
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.
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.
It never ceases to amaze me how many self-declared "nerds", "geeks", and "hackers" completely miss why something is cool.
If you think it's cool because it does wireless IM, and there's something similar at Wal*Mart, so it must be cool too, and it's a lot cheaper, you aren't really a nerd, geek, or hacker.
It's cool because:
That is why it is cool. Not because it does IM.
Your "cheaper one" only does IM, only does one protocol, must be within range of the USB computer that has the base station, doesn't run Linux, doesn't use 802.11, and the reason it's so cheap is due to the fact that nobody wants one. They started out at $100 over a year ago. Now Wal*Mart has them for $15 because they want the shelf space back for products that will sell.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
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 ----