Topics

1

New products and alternatives / Irex Iliad (pictures Inside)

« on: July 22, 2006, 04:08:49 pm »

Hi,

you might be interested to take a look at

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisp...daysprune=&f=99

to learn more about an E-Ink device which runs on Linux with X-11 and matchbox, uses an xscale processor and seems to be binary compatible to Zaurus.

It's intended purpose is to be used as an electronic reader. It comes with viewers for PDF, XHTML, graphics, text and  APABI (to be continued with updates).

It is also a WACOM pen enabled device, which means that has a touchscreen and a WACOM pen. It can display 16 grayscales with an 768x1024 resolution.

It has integrated WIFI for a conncection to the IREX content delivery system. By using the supplied docking station it can also connect to Fast Ethernet or can appear by USB as a mass storage device to other devices.

It also has a SD and CF slot which can be used both at the same time. It also has an USB connector which can be used to plug USB memory sticks into the device.

So far we have been able to find out the following stuff about the internals of the device:

* X11 with matchbox
* able to run some apps from the Zaurus ARM utils, which leads to the impression, that it is binary compatible to the Zaurus
* USB host and client
* root access through ssh is possible when the network is up (which was initially only the case during connections to the content delivery service but which can now be brought up by viewing and interacting with a specially prepared PDF file)
* browser is minimo

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2

General Discussion / Illiad E-book Reader

« on: May 06, 2006, 04:45:50 pm »

Hi,

In case that you are in search for a big sister to your beloved Zaurus, take a look at this e-Ink device, which will be available in a few weeks:

MobileRead Posting

3

Security and Networking / Network Problem With Cacko 1.23

« on: December 19, 2005, 12:32:21 pm »

Hi,

I am trying to use a Fast Ethernet and a WPA W-LAN access with my C860 an Cacko ROM 1.23. After some trouble I got the WPA and the Fast Ethernet CF card running. While the cards are recognized and running, I got the following problems:

* Fast Ethernet:

Link established but I can only ping my own IP adress. Nothing else can be accessed.

* W-LAN:

The difficult WPA encryption stuff works allright. But the connection is disconnected, because of an DNS error.

I  assume that both errors are resulting from the same problem: I can't get out of my machine. Could someone please enlighten a linux rookie what the problem could be? Thanks!

4

General Discussion / The Ultimate Zaurus Software: Picsel Browser

« on: May 07, 2005, 08:53:02 am »

Hi,

I own a C860 and I wanted to use it as an always be there and ready to use notebook replacement. Which means I always wanted to view PDF, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files without size limitations. Plus I wanted to show large image files and browse the web without limitations.

The Picsel Browser for Zaurus software just does this. Although it is only available in Japan and I did not know too much about it I bought it. As I am extremely impressed by the performance of this little piece of software I decided to write this little review:

What does the Picsel Browser for Zaurus do?
It enables you to view PDF, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Text and Image (including WMF) files. It can also show HTML and Flash files and it can be used as a Web-browser. It runs on the C860 clamshell models (and maybe some others, I do not know).

Where does it come from?
It comes from Picsel Technologies and costs around 100 Euro in Japan. It is available in the Sharp Online Shop.
If you are using a language converted Zaurus, the user interface will also be in English after installation. At least in my case.

What does it look like?
It is delivered and dongled to a 256 MB card. This means that it can only be run with this card inserted in your Zaurus.
The user interface is pretty cool. It relies on icons and miniature views. Except in the preferences menu no text is used. This means it is pretty intuitive to use and looks neat.

How does it work?
Apparently the Picsel Browser renders every file type into some kind of vector graphics. So every file type you open is presented to you in a similar way:

Click onto the file's icon and the document will be displayed completely on your screen. By tapping and moving the stylus the document can be moved like a sheet of paper. The developers even implemented some kind of physics engine. This means that you can actually push the "paper" (=document) around until it stops moving due to some virtual friction. Nice! With some different taps you can use the stylus to zoom in and out of the document. When panning and zooming around a document the render process becomes visible in the form of pixelated aeras. These areas become sharp pretty fast so that they don't prevent you from an efficient use.

Web pages are also like all other supported documents, except that you can click onto hyperlinks and form elements. Text input into forms works as well. Linked files which can be shown by the picsel browser are specially marked on document. Unfortunately no popup windows can be launched. But maybe it can be done and I haven't found the way to do it yet.

If Flash animations are embedded into the web page, they will be shown embedded into the page just like graphics. This way web pages on the Zaurus do finally look like web pages on our - less powerful ;-) - grown up computers. Unfortunately and apparently not all Flash animations can be shown. I also was not successful in interacting with animations. So it seems that interactive user elements (e.g. a button) cannot be accessed in flash animations.

Is it useful?
Yes it is very useful. Even the biggest files are rendered flawlessly and most of the times completely. I produce a lot of PDF-documents intended for print out. They include a lot of high resolution bitmaps. The Picsel Browser just zooms into these bitmaps and shows them in all their beauty. The rendering of the documents is so good that it comes close to a sheet of paper. No artefacts and no pixels around. The developers use an extremely good antialising algorithm. Did you ever imagine that you can actually display and read a whole DIN A4 page on a PDA screen? That's finally possible!

What can be improved?
What I would really like to have:

* search function for text
* being able to comment documents with the stylus
* open popup windows in web pages and save files linked in web pages
* view videos
* being able to use my own SD-card
* support for powerpoint animations (these are rendered into the page)
* a 6 GB microdrive (ok, just a joke;-)

Final Words
The Picsel Browser for Zaurus finally uses the power of the Zaurus to its best. It is the first software I have seen which makes it possible to actually read documents on the PDA screen without getting a headache. It's really cool. Its user interface design and performance is unconventional and welcome in todays boring nofun reasonal world. So if you like a cool software for a cool gadget go get it even if it seems to be a bit expensive! ;-)

As seeing is believing I have created some screenshots and a video clip (7,2 MB). It would be nice if I could attach this clip as well. Thanks!

EDIT:
I deleted the attached screenshots and attached a 5x-speed version of my original review video. In case more attachment space becomes available and someone wants to see it, I can also post the realtime speed higher resolution video.

EDIT EDIT:
Changed title to something more curious. Note: The video file is in MPEG4. It can be shown on the Zaurus using mplayer/kino.

EDIT EDIT EDIT:
Removed some spelling errors and tried to introduce some grammar. ;-)

5

General Discussion / Picsel Browser For Zaurus

« on: April 03, 2005, 05:13:15 pm »

Hi,

I searched the forum (and the web) and couldn't find an answer to the question whether the Picsel Browser for Zaurus can be installed in english language. I also would be very happy if someone could post some screenshots of the application in action and tell us his experience.

In detail I would like to know:

* Does the Picsel Browser feature a search function for Word- & PDF-documents?
* Are all Powerpoint features supported? If not: Which are?
* How is web-browsing compared to Netfront?
* Are webpages with Flash animations rendered correctly?
* Can documents be edited in any way?
* Are there any supplieres different from the Japanese Online Shop?

Apparently it is a unique and powerful application nobody does no nothing about. I would like to change this with the help of you.

Kind regards,
DRDR.

6

General Discussion / Bluetooth News?

« on: October 18, 2004, 05:32:39 pm »

Hi,

1) Sharp offers the 6000 as a business tool.
2) The release of the 6000 with bluetooth will take some time.

1)+2) = Wild Guess:

The 6000 bluetooth version will come with a full bluetooth stack, esspecially including support for headphones. This would finally give us comfortable bluetooth connectivity.

Does anybody know if this guess is too wild?

7

General Discussion / USB Network Problem

« on: October 06, 2004, 03:12:50 pm »

Hi, I use a C860, Windows XP SP2 both equipped with wireless lan connected through a network router to the Internet.

If I connect the Zaurus through USB to my PC, the Zaurus network drive (Samba) can only be accessed, when the W-Lan on the Zaurus is running. Now if I transfer files, packets are sent through USB and received through W-Lan. Using only one network method does not result in any useful traffic.

This problem seems to make it impossible to Sync my Zaurus. It can be synced if a use a PC with Windows XP but without SP2 and wireless lan (but with wired Ethernet access to the same router and the Internet).

Does anybody know how to solve this assymetric communication problem?

8

General Discussion / Windows XP SP 2 Sync Problem

« on: September 26, 2004, 02:17:24 pm »

Hi, I habe two computers running Windows XP. One with the new service pack and one without the new service pack.

My big problem is now, that Windows XP with SP 2 cannot sync anymore with my C860. Instead of showing a progress bar window, a message with an OK button is displayed and nothing ever happens. Without SP 2 everything works fine.

I am using the driver and Intellisync software from the original Japanese CD-ROM. On both computers the USB network is running and working.

Please help!

DRDR

9

Cxx0 General discussions / Buy or not buy?!

« on: September 03, 2004, 12:49:20 pm »

Hi, I am thinking about buying a C860 and I am still not that convinced about it. I would like to use it as mobile assistant for my teaching work.

This means that I want to do the following things:

1) Take notes and use it as sketchpad. Notes and sketches should be archived on the desktop.
2) Read (big) PDF-files (literature, newspaper) and annotate them by using the pen.
3) Document my daily work. This means I need something like a diary which can be exported to the desktop.
4) Run JAVA 1.1 (AWT) applets and applications on the Zaurus. While this should be able on the Zaurus, can applets also be embedded in web-pages and the browser used to display them? Also are applications possible? Do they run in individual frames which can be positioned freely?
5) Capture voice e.g. in a lecture. Does the Zaurus have a built in microphone which is good enough for this purpose?
6) Access wireless lan with IPSec.
7) Emulate a HP48 calculator.
Organize school classes (any software or database like software to do this?)
9) Use the Zaurus for the above tasks during the whole business day (not continously except when taking notes during lectures which can last 5 hours in total).

Do you think the C860 can be used for this with myself being only an occasional linux desktop user? Any feedback is highly appreciated. Thank you!