Talk:Compulab EM-X270

From Openmoko

Revision as of 08:22, 8 November 2007 by Hns (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

open-source drivers

is there any word on the openness of drivers? a big part of the appeal of the neo is that the majority of the drivers (where legal) are open-source. any widespread adoption of these modules will probably stall straight away if there are no open drivers/useful documentation available myfanwy 00:59, 7 November 2007 (CET)

They provide the Angstrom Linux which is based on Open Embedded. So I would assume that drivers are the standard drivers of the Linux kernel. Well, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and GSM may only be available as (USB) serial data interfaces to some black-box modules. hns 17:37, 7 November 2007 (GMT)

looks like the wi-fi driver will be binary only: [1] that page has more info on drivers, etc. for the cm-x270 (similar to the em-x270) and other compulab boards myfanwy 23:25, 7 November 2007 (CET)

Last I checked, the wifi was non-functional under Linux. Unfortunately, that suggests that it doesn't have open drivers, but perhaps it was only a temporary situation. wisp 19:20, 7 November 2007 (CET) -- apparently I was wrong. Support is now planned for December http://www.compulab.co.il/x270em/html/x270-em-os-support.htm wisp 19:35, 7 November 2007 (CET)

At least GPS and GSM are indeed serial data interfaces but not black-box modules. I have added the link to the data sheets (which include the AT command set) on the main page. hns 17:37, 7 November 2007 (GMT)

emulation

in lieu of developing on actual hardware, an emulator would be mighty useful. does one exist for the compulab hardware? is it much of a process to put one together? myfanwy 01:22, 7 November 2007 (CET)

Case

The device is a "pure" module with everything except a case. To get one, we will need

  1. someone who can make a mechanical construction
  2. someone who can nicely design it (and decide about colors, materials, haptics)
  3. someone who can produce low quantities at a reasonable price (< $50 per units)

Ideas? Proposals? Links? Friends? Volunteers? hns 17:37, 7 November 2007 (GMT)

What would really be the best is if we could find a company who built a touchscreen phone based on this (with case and all) - purchase and reflash :) wisp 19:41, 7 November 2007 (CET)

Sparkfun.com are set up for making cases.

There's also ABS Protytpes

Ponoko

Rapid Object

Rapid Prototyping New Zealand

Red Eye RPM myfanwy 03:24, 8 November 2007 (CET)

small quantity order

There are a number of resellers, including one in the US who will deal in small quantities, as found on Contact us. Is anyone interested in contacting/negotiating with them? Dr. Schaller? myfanwy 02:41, 8 November 2007 (CET)

I have been in contact with the one responsible for Germany/Austria. They just act as a sales agent and handle the import - but it does not change the sales policy. I.e. you still have to be a company and order an evaluation kit and have the price scales. So the approach is to have Handheld-Linux Shop to work as an intermediate to collect individual orders (worldwide), keep away warranty issues etc. from CompuLab and issue a single order towards CompuLab. So if we split up this into many resellers with small quantities, the price will not go down. hns

that's a bit shitty - they're not playing easy are they. one would think they don't want to sell any anything. well, i dug a bit and it appears we at least don't have to buy an eval kit for 2000 if we claim non-commercial as seen here myfanwy 08:09, 8 November 2007 (CET)

discussion mailing list

Is there a mailing list where we can better handle discussions for this project? Adding text here is fine but it is quite difficult to track changes and updates. hns

Personal tools

open-source drivers

is there any word on the openness of drivers? a big part of the appeal of the neo is that the majority of the drivers (where legal) are open-source. any widespread adoption of these modules will probably stall straight away if there are no open drivers/useful documentation available myfanwy 00:59, 7 November 2007 (CET)

They provide the Angstrom Linux which is based on Open Embedded. So I would assume that drivers are the standard drivers of the Linux kernel. Well, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and GSM may only be available as (USB) serial data interfaces to some black-box modules. hns 17:37, 7 November 2007 (GMT)

looks like the wi-fi driver will be binary only: [1] that page has more info on drivers, etc. for the cm-x270 (similar to the em-x270) and other compulab boards myfanwy 23:25, 7 November 2007 (CET)

Last I checked, the wifi was non-functional under Linux. Unfortunately, that suggests that it doesn't have open drivers, but perhaps it was only a temporary situation. wisp 19:20, 7 November 2007 (CET) -- apparently I was wrong. Support is now planned for December http://www.compulab.co.il/x270em/html/x270-em-os-support.htm wisp 19:35, 7 November 2007 (CET)

At least GPS and GSM are indeed serial data interfaces but not black-box modules. I have added the link to the data sheets (which include the AT command set) on the main page. hns 17:37, 7 November 2007 (GMT)

emulation

in lieu of developing on actual hardware, an emulator would be mighty useful. does one exist for the compulab hardware? is it much of a process to put one together? myfanwy 01:22, 7 November 2007 (CET)

Case

The device is a "pure" module with everything except a case. To get one, we will need

  1. someone who can make a mechanical construction
  2. someone who can nicely design it (and decide about colors, materials, haptics)
  3. someone who can produce low quantities at a reasonable price (< $50 per units)

Ideas? Proposals? Links? Friends? Volunteers? hns 17:37, 7 November 2007 (GMT)

What would really be the best is if we could find a company who built a touchscreen phone based on this (with case and all) - purchase and reflash :) wisp 19:41, 7 November 2007 (CET)

Sparkfun.com are set up for making cases.

There's also ABS Protytpes

Ponoko

Rapid Object

Rapid Prototyping New Zealand

Red Eye RPM myfanwy 03:24, 8 November 2007 (CET)

small quantity order

There are a number of resellers, including one in the US who will deal in small quantities, as found on Contact us. Is anyone interested in contacting/negotiating with them? Dr. Schaller? myfanwy 02:41, 8 November 2007 (CET)

I have been in contact with the one responsible for Germany/Austria. They just act as a sales agent and handle the import - but it does not change the sales policy. I.e. you still have to be a company and order an evaluation kit and have the price scales. So the approach is to have Handheld-Linux Shop to work as an intermediate to collect individual orders (worldwide), keep away warranty issues etc. from CompuLab and issue a single order towards CompuLab. So if we split up this into many resellers with small quantities, the price will not go down. hns

that's a bit shitty - they're not playing easy are they. one would think they don't want to sell any anything. well, i dug a bit and it appears we at least don't have to buy an eval kit for 2000 if we claim non-commercial as seen here myfanwy 08:09, 8 November 2007 (CET)

discussion mailing list

Is there a mailing list where we can better handle discussions for this project? Adding text here is fine but it is quite difficult to track changes and updates. hns