Metaware - What hardware is good for mashups?
It's too bad the word mash-ups irritates me, I think it's the right idea. Continuing from the last post...
What's not metaware? My phone runs Windows Mobile 6. My phone is pretty much totally controlled by the service provider that sold me the phone along with a multi-year contract.
This sort of meta-unaware hardware means I cannot:
* Use the GPS receiver in my phone with my Nokia N800. Though my phone has both bluetooth and GPS, it cannot pretend to be a bluetooth GPS widget.
* Use my phone for Bluetooth internet access. AT&T removed that ability from the h version of the Q9 phone, probably because Bluetooth PAN would give 400k down and 200k up, but Bluetooth Dial-up Networking only gives me about 35k. In other words, with Bluetooth PAN and my unlimited Data contract, I could have used my phone to do Voice over IP from my N800 and never used a single phone minute.
Ok, so what things might be metaware? A few weeks ago I decided to compare and contrast some 'open' hardware devices, thus pushing me to come up with a name for 'the ability to modify and combine artifacts that I have purchased'. From most expensive to least expensive:
I currently own an Arduino and a Nokia N800. I purchased a BUG from Buglabs in the beginning of April, but the preproduction models are insanely backordered, and mine will not arrive until the end of May.
At some point I'll acquire an XO as well, until then it won't have much detail in the hardware section.
For today I'll post an overview of the hardware of these devices.
Buglabs BUG - $550 for the bundle
ARM 1136JF-S @ 532 MHz
128MB ram
one MMC slot
10/100 Ethernet
Lots of plugs in the base modules, 2 USB, 4 UART, I2C, I2S, SPI
Plug-in modules:
2.46" 320x240 touchscreen
GPS receiver
Motion sensor & accelerometer
2 megapixel camera
OS: Linux
Nokia N800 - $220
ARM OMAP2420 @ 400MHz
1500 mAh battery
128MB ram
256MB flash
two min-SDHC slots, up to 16GB in each slot (probably will work with 32GB cards, as per the SDHC standard)
4.1" 800x480 resolution 16-bit color touchscreen
Bluetooth 2.0
WiFi ( 802.11 b/g )
USB 2.0
crappy 640x480 camera
Size: 75 x 144 x 15/18 mm
OS: Linux
OLPC XO - $325
AMD Geode LX700 @ 433 MHz
1 MB ROM
256MB ram
1GB flash
SD card slot
7.5" 1200x900 / 800x600 dual-mode resolution
WiFi + mesh ( 802.11 b/g/s )
640x480 camera
OS: Linux
Arduino - $30
ATMega168P @ 16MHz
16K flash
1K ram
14 Digital I/O pins
6 Analog pins
OS: Nothing, do whatever you want in C, many libraries available for various hardware devices (LED touchscreens, etc)
Future posts will compare various other bits of the devices above, including development environments, and hackability for both the hardware and software.
What's not metaware? My phone runs Windows Mobile 6. My phone is pretty much totally controlled by the service provider that sold me the phone along with a multi-year contract.
This sort of meta-unaware hardware means I cannot:
* Use the GPS receiver in my phone with my Nokia N800. Though my phone has both bluetooth and GPS, it cannot pretend to be a bluetooth GPS widget.
* Use my phone for Bluetooth internet access. AT&T removed that ability from the h version of the Q9 phone, probably because Bluetooth PAN would give 400k down and 200k up, but Bluetooth Dial-up Networking only gives me about 35k. In other words, with Bluetooth PAN and my unlimited Data contract, I could have used my phone to do Voice over IP from my N800 and never used a single phone minute.
Ok, so what things might be metaware? A few weeks ago I decided to compare and contrast some 'open' hardware devices, thus pushing me to come up with a name for 'the ability to modify and combine artifacts that I have purchased'. From most expensive to least expensive:
- Buglabs BUG - $550 early adopter price for the pre-production release, and all existing plug-in modules.
- OLPC XO - $325+ from ebay
- Nokia N800 - $220 from buy.com
- Arduino - $30
I currently own an Arduino and a Nokia N800. I purchased a BUG from Buglabs in the beginning of April, but the preproduction models are insanely backordered, and mine will not arrive until the end of May.
At some point I'll acquire an XO as well, until then it won't have much detail in the hardware section.
For today I'll post an overview of the hardware of these devices.
Buglabs BUG - $550 for the bundle
ARM 1136JF-S @ 532 MHz
128MB ram
one MMC slot
10/100 Ethernet
Lots of plugs in the base modules, 2 USB, 4 UART, I2C, I2S, SPI
Plug-in modules:
2.46" 320x240 touchscreen
GPS receiver
Motion sensor & accelerometer
2 megapixel camera
OS: Linux
Nokia N800 - $220
ARM OMAP2420 @ 400MHz
1500 mAh battery
128MB ram
256MB flash
two min-SDHC slots, up to 16GB in each slot (probably will work with 32GB cards, as per the SDHC standard)
4.1" 800x480 resolution 16-bit color touchscreen
Bluetooth 2.0
WiFi ( 802.11 b/g )
USB 2.0
crappy 640x480 camera
Size: 75 x 144 x 15/18 mm
OS: Linux
OLPC XO - $325
AMD Geode LX700 @ 433 MHz
1 MB ROM
256MB ram
1GB flash
SD card slot
7.5" 1200x900 / 800x600 dual-mode resolution
WiFi + mesh ( 802.11 b/g/s )
640x480 camera
OS: Linux
Arduino - $30
ATMega168P @ 16MHz
16K flash
1K ram
14 Digital I/O pins
6 Analog pins
OS: Nothing, do whatever you want in C, many libraries available for various hardware devices (LED touchscreens, etc)
Future posts will compare various other bits of the devices above, including development environments, and hackability for both the hardware and software.