I originally posted this under a different forum, but I hope it gets more notice here.

Have a look at this astronomy application...

http://edu.kde.org/kstars/embedded/

Think it is the tarred source code, but not being a developer I just don't know.

Can anyone tell me if this has been taken any further by anyone? The screenshots look like a 5500/5600 was being emulated, and I wonder if the problems with performance would apply to a 7XX or 8XX?

Any help would be appreciated as this software on a handheld would be amazing!

Hi,

I compiled this embedded version and tried running it on my 5500 and it (as expected) ran into memory limitations and seg faulted. On something with some more memory, it might be ok, but having seen the desktop version of kstars, there's a heck of a lot going on in the app and it might be too much for the Z.

If you're interested, the OpenEmbedded folks have a .oe for it (so that it's built in their build system without any manual patching, etc...) I'm not sure what it'd take to get it to actually run (and stay running!).

jason

That sounds interesting. I can see why it would be a lot for the Z to handle, but I'd like to see my C860 try first.

Unfortunately I am not particularly clued up on compiling so I may have to wait...

I don't know about Kstars but have a look at Solun' (at http://killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=474). It does most of what Kstars advertises (although less spiffy) and fits on a Z (SL5500).

Yeah got it... and on my mobile phone too. But it was better on my old psion. I want something that maps stars to a greater depth. Greedy, see?

Have a look at 'Personal Sky Chart' on ZSI. There is a trial version that shows stars down to mag 10. This works fine on a SL5500.

Hi!

Interesting, although I'm not very interested in the starts app, what I AM interested in is the APP the guy used to emulate a Z on a PC.

Does anybody know what this application is and if it can be downloaded anywhere??

Thanks!!!

There's no Z emulator, only a framebuffer emulator which means you have to compile apps for the desktop and it will only run under Linux. It comes with the Qtopia SDK.

Its called qvfb and it doesn't emulate the Z, it runs x86 compiled qtopia apps in a qtopia server on your desktop. Apps compiled for the Z will NOT run in this.

But it does let you see how an app will look on the Z (or any other qtopia device)

Have a look here for how to set it up

Stu

Thanks for the info Stubear!