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Author Topic: Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone  (Read 29652 times)

ev1l

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #75 on: June 13, 2005, 10:09:23 am »
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back to the thread's original topic -- I finally managed to do a test of battery life using my 5500. With the RTM 8000 and an SD card in, logged onto the network doing GPRS (running IRC all the time, i.e. sending a few frames every couple of minutes), no backlight, processor underclocked to 162 MHz the unit lasted almost exactly 10 hours running off a fairly new internal 1100 mAh LiIon battery (an EN-EL5 compatible battery modified to work with the Z).
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=83859\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
That's pretty good actually. What the autonomy on a modern mobile phone with GPRS on 100%?
The clamshells come standard with a 1800mAh battery, too

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So that should give a rough guideline as to what can be expected. Turning the display off completely on a regular basis will most likely add a bit more time, but all in all performance is roughly the same as second generation GSM mobiles
On the clamshells you just close the lid and the screen goes off, so it's quite easy to save power. The problem is that there is no dynamic frequency-management, so you'd have to set it back up when you open the lid anyway  

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So unless you want to really deprive yourself, using a Z as a cellphone doesn't really seem like a sensible option, even though the result isn't nearly as bad as some people have suggested in this thread.
Especially since the sound in/out is on the card itself. And the apps are not integrated with the phone capability (yet?).
When do we start porting the 2.6 kernel to the HTC Universal?
« Last Edit: June 13, 2005, 10:09:59 am by ev1l »
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chrget

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #76 on: June 13, 2005, 04:20:49 pm »
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What the autonomy on a modern mobile phone with GPRS on 100%?[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=84080\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
Good question, never did use IRC on my mobile for that amount of time, but chances are it will still be quite a bit more than what a Z could offer even with an 1800 mAh battery. Of course that kind of comparison would be extremely unfair to the Z -- one would rather have to compare it to devices like the MDA, which IIRC aren't too hot when it comes to battery life as well.
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On the clamshells you just close the lid and the screen goes off, so it's quite easy to save power. The problem is that there is no dynamic frequency-management, so you'd have to set it back up when you open the lid anyway   [div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=84080\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
Well, I'm sure an appropriate applet could be written to handle that.
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Especially since the sound in/out is on the card itself. And the apps are not integrated with the phone capability (yet?[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=84080\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
The latter could probably be fixed quite easily by doing some sort of add-on to KA/PI. As for the card having its own audio circuitry, well, that is somewhat annoying, I guess. But I'm sure it's something one can get used to.

But ...

creating an application/applet that provides the full functionality of a current generation phone would be a lot of work. We're not only talking dialing numbers, but also sending and receiving SMs and, possibly, MMs. The latter would, at the very least, mean implementing the entire WDP/WSP/WTP stack and building some sort of glue code so you could feed the resulting data to Opera and/or OM/PI as well as VLC or MPlayer. And the end result would still not be very nice. And writing an integrated app that 'does it all' would be a huge project, even though there are a lot of usable code fragments out there.

All that seems like way too much effort for a phone that, in the end, won't even last 24 hours.

Best regards,
Chris.
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ev1l

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #77 on: June 15, 2005, 06:16:18 am »
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On the clamshells you just close the lid and the screen goes off, so it's quite easy to save power. The problem is that there is no dynamic frequency-management, so you'd have to set it back up when you open the lid anyway   [div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=84080\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
Well, I'm sure an appropriate applet could be written to handle that.
Sure, but as usual, someone's got the write the damn thing first.

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Especially since the sound in/out is on the card itself. And the apps are not integrated with the phone capability (yet?[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=84080\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
The latter could probably be fixed quite easily by doing some sort of add-on to KA/PI.
Same here.

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But ...
All that seems like way too much effort for a phone that, in the end, won't even last 24 hours.
Too much work for whom?
The main reason I don't believe in the Z as a future-proof system is simply the lack of a decent software stack based on device integration (instead of trying to teach you English). It could have been an MDA-Universal 2 years before HTC even had a chance, but everyone dropped the ball on the software, and now we're stuck with a semi-braindead device
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guylhem

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #78 on: July 12, 2005, 04:11:02 pm »
Hello

Got a new release much more reliable. It can receive and make calls and hopefully survive a suspend.

I need testers with various zaurus and gsm cards. Please contact me my PM or at gmail.com.

Thanks,
Guylhem
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speculatrix

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #79 on: July 13, 2005, 12:52:04 pm »
funnily enough, my app to do zaurus dialler (really an excuse to learn QT and linux serial programming) almost does something now. I've been more focussed on an SMS  terminal than voice.
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Gemini 4G/Wi-Fi owner, formerly zaurus C3100 and 860 owner; also owner of an HTC Doubleshot, a Zaurus-like phone.

guylhem

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #80 on: July 13, 2005, 06:00:51 pm »
Hello

Getting the first version working was not the real problem. Making the thing robust and portable was :-) Hopefully now a ring doesn't crash it, it doesn't leak memory etc.

Now we plan to support configurability (ex: don't even bother ringing when this number calls) multiple calls , sms and multiplexing (the hardest part - to allow voice and data operation at once)

Maybe we can do something together for the SMS functions ? That would be very welcome...
Do you have something ready, or at least a suggestion of features ?

Guylhem
« Last Edit: July 13, 2005, 06:09:36 pm by guylhem »
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chrget

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #81 on: July 14, 2005, 01:33:25 am »
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Maybe we can do something together for the SMS functions ? That would be very welcome...[div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
If you're looking for code on how to send SMS in general, you may want to have a look at the [a href=\"http://smstools.meinemullemaus.de/]SMS Server Tools[/url].

Best regards,
Chris.
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speculatrix

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #82 on: July 14, 2005, 02:56:31 am »
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If you're looking for code on how to send SMS in general, you may want to have a look at the SMS Server Tools.

thanks, I've already looked at building smstools for zaurus - the snag for me is that it needs libmm, and I can't get it to build!
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speculatrix

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #83 on: July 14, 2005, 07:35:48 am »
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Maybe we can do something together for the SMS functions ? That would be very welcome...
Do you have something ready, or at least a suggestion of features ?

I don't have anything just yet worth showing, it's my first ever qtopia app and is a learning exercise. I'm happy to give away the source code, but it's not something I'm massively proud of, and isn't much good to anyone just yet!

I first wrote a command-line program which gave interactive control of the data/fax/voice modem, and used it to send SMSs. Now I've got to take my trolltech-designer designed UI and integrate with my serial library.

I'd be interested in looking at the Guylhem dialler, more for the use of AT commands, but need to learn the Qtopia stuff the hard way!
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Gemini 4G/Wi-Fi owner, formerly zaurus C3100 and 860 owner; also owner of an HTC Doubleshot, a Zaurus-like phone.

chrget

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #84 on: July 14, 2005, 08:01:42 am »
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I've already looked at building smstools for zaurus - the snag for me is that it needs libmm, and I can't get it to build![div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=88280\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
Uhm, now it's been over a year that I built smstools for my Z and I don't really remember what kind of nasty things I had to say while building it  but I managed and have had working executables ever since ...

Best regards,
Chris.
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speculatrix

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #85 on: July 14, 2005, 08:34:13 am »
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I've already looked at building smstools for zaurus - the snag for me is that it needs libmm, and I can't get it to build![div align=\"right\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
Uhm, now it's been over a year that I built smstools for my Z and I don't really remember what kind of nasty things I had to say while building it  but I managed and have had working executables ever since ...

Best regards,
Chris.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=88308\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I recall building it a couple of years for x86 linux without any problems at all. I *think* it still used libmm back then

Do you have a working libmm? [a href=\"https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=13404]https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=13404[/url]
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chrget

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #86 on: July 14, 2005, 09:46:35 am »
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I recall building it a couple of years for x86 linux without any problems at all. I *think* it still used libmm back then

Do you have a working libmm?[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=88315\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]
I just checked the old source directory for my Z stuff, and no, no libmm -- since smstools can be built without. From src/Makefile:
Code: [Select]
# Uncomment to compile without statistic functions (and without mm library)
NOSTATS = TRUESeems that's what I did right from the start

Best regards,
Chris.
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craigtyson

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #87 on: July 14, 2005, 10:27:45 am »
Just a thought.  Isnt there anything in the Trolltech QTPhone edition suite that will let the Z be used as a phone?
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Craig
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Keep your Z on a bungee, you never know.....

guylhem

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Using a Zaurus as Cell Phone
« Reply #88 on: July 16, 2005, 08:28:42 am »
There is, but it is not free software. hence the effort to create a replacement.
The beta support receiving and passing calls.  I'm interested in beta testers...
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