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Hackers Get Android Running on Real Hardware
nerdyH writes "Google's Android stack for Linux phones has been successfully hacked onto several actual hardware devices, including Linux-based Sharp Zaurus PDAs and a high-end development board. Google's preview release of Android last fall included a software emulator based on Qemu, but you can't beat real target hardware when writing applications for devices, because emulators may not accurately reflect real-world performance. Plus, it appears that Android's modern UI could really breathe some new life into lots of Linux-friendly hardware with ARMv5TE or better cores."
Now I love the idea of stackable androids, but what are we really talking about here?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Too bad that Android SDK defaults to QVGA .. most Android apps are going to work best in QVGA (320 x 240).. not other resolutions like VGA or higher that are better for convenient web browsing. I doubt there will be VGA or higher Android phones anytime soon .. So the platform will not go too well. It sucks cause I had hope for it.
But does it have an emotions chip?
Kilroy was here.
Timothy, you have no idea how true that is. The headline even made me read the fucking summary! Well, just the first line anyway, but you get the point.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
Every time I see some cool new announcement for Android I think we've got a cool new robotics development and then I realize it's just a cell phone. I bet they're going to come out with a new product called Flying Car and it'll just be an mp3 player.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
This is a very impressive thing, not just because it makes it easier to test, but more importantly because it promises to allow the same distro scheme used by mainstream linux on cell phones. some may see that as a downside, but if it does develop I think its just one more reason to support open, upgradeable platforms.
I hope that it will be able to replace windows mobile on my HTC device soon (the O2 XDA, not sure exactly what model that would be). I am sure that the actual hardware of the phone is not too bad but things are just so slow.
Like TFS says, it is great to have something to run on older hardware, especially with the way the phone market works these days trying to get you to do upgrades as often as possible, most of the time unnecessarily. How many don't just want a phone to use as a phone? I know my grandfather wouldn't mind having a special stripped down version of Android with only basic functions and if I can pick up an old used phone that most people think is outdated to run it on that would be perfect.
Google would work together with OpenMoko / aka Freerunner. The OpenMoko release date gets pushed back every few weeks, they could use some serious help.
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As a fan of SciFi, I always love the "mad hacker" who takes a bunch of old parts and kludges together something interesting. We are a long way from that... We have always had PCs. You buy them with an MS OS and you can re-purpose them into Linux devices of various types.
But I love the idea of taking older form factor cell phones, which are really abandoned tech, and wiping out the older operating environment and replacing it with Android. It's not quite the way the built R2D2 in star wars but it's a step in that direction.
- liberating commodity hardware
- installing commodity software
- creating something interesting and useful.
http://www.hawknest.com/
Do you have any idea about the rarity and expense of small VGA resolution LCDs? There's a reason most mobile phones don't have a lot of pixels.
No, an Android threesome is not a p2p network.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Where's my flying robot that follows me around everywhere. They promised us a Moon Base, Flying Cars, Flying PDA's, And Android chicks...since the 60's. And all I have to show is this POS iPhone. Blah!!!!
I really hope my next phone runs Linux!
would be interesting to see this on an N800. It already runs Linux as its base OS and has a nice 640xsomething screen. Now the things are dirt cheap since the launch of the N810 it's the kind of thing that could push me into getting one, so I could play with Android a bit.
I, for one, would be delighted if I could figure out a way to put Android on them.
It's an excelent phone and it's perfect for that emergency SSH when your laptop batteries are dead, but the PDA side sucks incredibly.
http://www.dieblinkenlights.com
Likewise the N95! Beautiful hardware and more than capable, but symbian really is a stinking load of horse shiv.
(ducking dictionary)
I don't therefore I'm not.
Yep, they promised 40 acres and a flying car, and they haven't even shipped an affordable personal jetpack yet... and they had THAT in "Lost in Space"!
Yeah I don't think so. Maybe about 1 mill of these devices would be the half the pwr of a Beowulf.
While you use the Java language to program Android, it doesn't actually use a JVM to run the code. Instead, Android uses it's own VM called dalvik that uses a different byte code than the JVM. Java class files are converted to Dalvik bytecode on the desktop.
Maybe the Dalvik VM would be an easier port.
At some point, somewhere, the entire internet will be found to be illegal.
Can /. agree to use "Google Android" or "gAndroid" or "Google's Android" or "Google's Android Phone Platform" (GAPP?).
Recently I just assume when I see "Android" on Slashdot it's a reference to Google's Android, but the first few times I was tricked.
... it gets I/O bound!
Engineering is the art of compromise.