Any ingenious programmers want to take a swing at developing a kick ass little remote for HTPC control?

Just read up about this little thing. It's going for $50 at places like Target, and hacking it is actually being supported by the manufacturer.

With a full keyboard including directional pad, wifi and color QVGA screen, it would be the making of a neat little HTPC control project.

http://www.target.com/Z2A-Zipit-Wireless-Messenger/dp/B00115PR2O/sr=1-1/qid=1209333723/ref=sr_1_1/602-3094878-8595003?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Azipit&page=1

http://linux.zipitwireless.com/

-Suntan

Wow... that is really neat! It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Brandon

That could be one of the best things I've ever seen for under $50. Imaging having a remote you could carry to the bathroom and continue watching your movie/tv on. For that price even!

I assume the device can be made to "work" over wifi without activating a paid account. It's an amazing deal just to use as a mini portable wifi music streamer.
If it has enough horsepower to play SD video, that would be a bonus...

Specs:

* All-in-one Wi-Fi messenger lets you play music, instant message and text
* Requires minimum one-year service plan; activate yours at the Zipit Wireless website
* Monthly service plan (sold separately) gives you unlimited instant messaging and texting capabilities with any buddy on any device
* Requires a Wi-Fi connection with either a home network or an open hotspot
* Features built-in protection against messages from strangers, viruses and pop-ups
* Handheld Instant Messaging Device
* Built-In Photo Viewer, MP3 player, Music Player, Internet Radio
* Features: Parental Controls, Built-In Speaker, Audible Alert, Slideshow, Wireless, Keyboard Entry, SD/MMC Expansion Slot, MyFriendz Key to Locate Online Friends, Rechargeable Battery, Instant Messaging
* Modes: Auto Shutoff, On/Off Mode, Volume Control
* Up to 8 Hours of Playback Time
* Intel Xscale PXA255; 300 MHz Processor
* Supports BMP, JPEG, MP-3 Media Formats
* 32 MB RAM
* 802.11b/g Wireless Connection
* 2.9" Screen Size
* 320x240 Resolution
* Color TFT LCD Display
* Additional Features: 2.5mm Headphone Jack, Mini-SD Card Slot, Supports up to a 4GB SD Card, Easy Connection to Any Home Wi-Fi or Open Hotspot, Protection Against Viruses and Pop-Ups, Portable Design, Simple Navigation
* Also Includes Antenna, AC/DC Adapter

I actually heard about it over at the Openpandora forums. Some guys talking about what they should buy and dink around with while waiting for the Pandoras to be shipped.

If this looks entertaining, you guys should really look at the Openpandora website. The people behind it are having a bit of a go getting the things built and shipped to the customers that pre-ordered, but if they actually get it into production and start shipping, it looks to be a heck of a little gadget.

It’s actually intended to be a portable emulation/game playing device, but it would have more than enough to be a good video/home automation system.

www.openpandora.org

-Suntan

It’s actually intended to be a portable emulation/game playing device, but it would have more than enough to be a good video/home automation system.

www.openpandora.org

-Suntan

If all you want/need is a portable NES/GB/GBC emulator that plays MP3's, photos, video, ascii text, etc, this is an option-

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=1GB-DVG-20-BLK&cat=MP3

I just bought one a couple of days ago- hasn't arrived yet.

Plays MP4 video and has a camera and FM radio to boot...


...but I like the design and principles behind the openPandora. I think that it's important to break the x86 monopoly (Intel+AMD) and grow an alternative to the x86 architecture. FOSS/Linux is the gateway to alternative CPU architectures since it's so easy to port to other platforms.

Plus, the concept of peer designed "open source" hardware is Really Important- the days of closed, proprietary platforms like the PS3/Xbox360 are numbered...

I actually heard about it over at the Openpandora forums. Some guys talking about what they should buy and dink around with while waiting for the Pandoras to be shipped.


www.openpandora.org

-Suntan

...I wonder how many patent trolls will come out of the woodwork and shut the openPandora down. Import restrictions could be levied on the device by patent troll companies, or bigger boys like Intel et al for muscling in on their netbook business...


After all, we can't have regular people design a better product now, can we. Just like Big Software like MS want to be the only legal software publishers, Big Hardware/Patent hoarders want to maintain their power, too. Whether its Big Oil, Big Software, Big Hardware, etc, absolute power corrupts absolutely :(

Chill out man.

It’s my understanding that they did do some research unto likely patents and as a result they left some things off (mostly, related to stuff the Nintendo DS does.)

Patents are not inherently evil. I work for a big (and by extension must be “evil”…) company. It’s made up of a whole bunch of regular people (even the CEO seems to be a rather amiable guy) that truly enjoy making quality products for its customers. We have patents that help keep every Tom, Dick and Sally from copying our stuff. It helps us keep food on the table.

It also keeps the company going so that we can work on coming up with new ideas that continue to help our customers better. Something Tom, Dick and Sally are not in the business of doing.

Now, not to get too far off on a tangent, but in a related note. I was an active member on the openpandora forums for a very brief period (before it became completely clear that they were going to be at least a year behind their promised release date) and they are even more against “the man” than some (but not all) of your postings indicate.

There was a specific instance where the creators were tossing around the idea of having the option for customers to pay an extra $20 or so into a kitty that would go towards paying coders to write software that was requested by the community. That way, if a driver for a Bluetooth dongle was needed, but nobody wanted to work on that in favor of working on yet another emulator, they could post money for anyone that was willing to work on it (kinda like big, bad companies do.)

Personally, I thought, hey pay money to coders to get software that was in demand, good idea. I’d pony up a little more for that. The creators also suggested that access to stuff like beta releases, or certain parts of the forums would be made restricted to just customers that paid into the kitty. Most everything would eventually be offered to “the community” but people that paid money would get it first (as I am sure you know open projects have a way of staying in beta for most of their useful life…) Again, I didn’t have a problem with this, if a person pays money to get more/better access to something, nothing wrong with that (again, just like how a bunch of evil companies operate.)

However, the creators insisted that people call it “donations” even though they were going to attach strings to it like “only people that ‘donate’ to this kitty will get access to beta releases, etc.” Now you have a group requiring a payment to gain access to features (just like those big bad corporations do) but they insisted everyone call it “donations” because it fell more in line with “the scene” or “the community.” Further, they were adamant that they would not be “paying” coders but that they would be giving them “gifts” as gratitude because this was an “open” project and the idea of paying people for work went against the morals of “the community.” That’s the part where I lost all interest in that “scene.” If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, etc. etc.

Long story short, “the scene” and “the man” and “the principle of the thing” and all that is all well and good. Most of it is just a bunch of hot air though. No doubt they are working on something that looks to be a very good value, and the ability to modify the software to do what you want without a company coming down on you is laudable, but that doesn’t make this any different than any other human-group activity. They are still just a group of people that have certain predefined desires that they want to have happen and they are relatively inflexible to outside opinions about it. Same as most any “evil” company.

-Suntan

Patents are not inherently evil.

-Suntan


...except all software and "business method" patents ;)

re: chilling out-

Yeah- went a little overboard on that post- too much caffiene this morning, I guess :)

I try to remain factual and helpful in posts, but the abuses of software/method patents are really bothering me (as well as the usual DRM/copyright issues)

I suspect no matter how diligent their patent search, *someone* will probably hit them with some patent/IP issue if the openPandora gets too much attention.

Sorry for the doom and gloom prognostications- just worn from experience in this game...

Two things to keep in mind for patents:

1. - A competent product clearance opinion from legal counsel is expensive, and is not a guarantee that you won't be sued.

2. - Lawsuits are typically very expensive, especially patent cases where a lot of the costs are front-loaded. Patent trolls frequently file flimsy cases, then ask for settlement amount that is a fraction of what it would cost the accused infringer to defend itself in the case (legal fees).

Two things to keep in mind for patents:


2. - Lawsuits are typically very expensive, especially patent cases where a lot of the costs are front-loaded. Patent trolls frequently file flimsy cases, then ask for settlement amount that is a fraction of what it would cost the accused infringer to defend itself in the case (legal fees).

If that's the case, then maybe the openPandora will be under the radar, as they won't have money to pay for IP extortion. IP trolls will move on to easier prey.

The openPandora is a test case to see if community developed hardware is viable...

The openPandora is a test case to see if community developed hardware is viable...

I would argue that the Beagle Board was the test case for that as you can already get those if you so desire. Admittedly a less complicated endeavor, but they are already in production with boards available, whereas openpandora is still spinning its wheels and making pre-order customers dazed and confused.

http://beagleboard.org/

-Suntan

I would argue that the Beagle Board was the test case for that as you can already get those if you so desire. Admittedly a less complicated endeavor, but they are already in production with boards available, whereas openpandora is still spinning its wheels and making pre-order customers dazed and confused.

http://beagleboard.org/

-Suntan

Don't understand why we haven't yet seen HD-capable media center frontends made with the beagleboard, given its hardware capability-

http://beagleboard.org/hardware

Is there a LiveCD/USB stick bootable distro tailored to the beagleboard yet?

..would be nicer with SPDIF out and option for more RAM to run bigger media centers like XBMC. Would be great for a Geexbox, though...

Well, are there any coders around here, or just a place to piss and moan about Microsoft??? :p

As for SPDIF, you could always hook a TBAAM or some other USB audio dongle that has linux support up to it.

-Suntan

... or just a place to piss and moan about Microsoft??? :p


...and Sony, AT&T, Comcast, Adobe, Netflix...:D

Well, are there any coders around here,....

-Suntan

Not that type of code. All my career has been spent doing embedded software for avionics. So Linux coding is completely foreign to me.