Best Of

This blog is now two months old and this will be the 42nd post. According to my Google AdSense stats, I'm at 23,077 page impressions. That's not bad for such a new blog. Maybe one day web ads will be fruitful enough for me to hack and write full time.

This post is a "best of" entry for those who haven't been watching the blog from the beginning.

In bold are my personal favorites. (apparently bold formatting doesn't carry over in rss feeds so go directly to http://thoughtfix.blogspot.com to see this one)

Hardware Hacks

• Bluetooth GPS and GPSDrive HOWTO
  
• USB Power Injector 2 (for hooking up USB keyboards, storage, etc.)
• "No Solder" USB Host method.
  

Firmware/Software Hacks

• Manual "mass storage" mounting (using an iPod nano as an example)
• Mass storage mounting scripts
• Application menu "button" creation. (use this with the post above)
• Firmware upgrade notes
• Firmware destruction recovery
  

Connectivity

• Pairing with Windows Mobile devices (requires a firmware patch)
• T-Mobile GPRS use

Ideas and Ruminations:

• Portrait of a Consumer
• Ten Simple Suggestions to Nokia
• Google Life

Other fun:

• Customizing the Nokia 770 (Good for new 770 owners)
  
• Notes on Accessories
• Free video content and conversion
• iBlue GPS kit from buygpsnow.com
  

HOWTO: Nokia 770 pairing with Windows Mobile 5

ATTENTION! This post is now OBSOLETE with the release of Internet Tablet 2006! If you have an older firmware, you can use the link below. If you use IT2006, follow this instead: ThoughtFix on the Nokia 770: Nokia 770, Windows Mobile smartphone, and T-Mobile


Qapf shared on InternetTabletTalk forums the secret to getting Windows Mobile devices to pair with the Nokia 770 tablet. All the new T-Mobile SDA owners with EDGE on their new toy will love this one.

There are two hitches in pairing these devices. The first is that the service discovery protocol daemon doesn't start automatically when the tablet starts. The second is chat script that Windows Mobile devices require is not supported in the current Nokia firmware. Word has it that the latter hitch will be fixed in the next Nokia firmware revision. The maemo wiki has more on this.

This procedure directly changes a required file in your firmware. Only you are responsible for any damage you may do to your tablet by following these steps.

Workaround prerequisites:

• xterm
  
• Root access
• The patched icd binary from Qapf. (direct link to binary here)
• A Bluetooth mobile phone with bluetooth Dial-up Networking and the matching service plan with your phone carrier. I am using an i-mate SP5m which is functionally identical to the T-Mobile SDA that was just released in the US.
  

Copy the binary to the memory card before anything because this howto will break your internet access for the duration of the installation. These steps assume that the icd binary is not stored in any subdirectory on the memory card.

Fire up xterm and run these commands.

sudo gainroot
su -
/etc/rc1.d/K15osso-ic stop
mv /usr/sbin/icd /usr/sbin/icd.old
cp /media/mmc1/icd /usr/sbin/icd
/etc/rc3.d/S40osso-ic start
sdpd

It may give "cp: Unable to open '/usr/sbin/icd': Text file busy." If that happens, try it again. Apparently the osso-ic service does not release the file instantly.

Prepare the phone to be bluetooth "discoverable."
Click the phone icon and then click "Select phone"
Windows Smartphones: Start, Settings, connections, Bluetooth, "Discoverable"
choose the phone and select a passkey and click Next
The phone will ask for the same passkey.

On my phone it detects no services from the tablet. The tablet reports that "Selected phone does not support file transfer. It can only be used for dial-up networking." That disappointed but did not surprise me.

Complete the pairing on both the phone and the tablet, then turn off "discoverable" mode on the phone. Leave bluetooth "on."

Tap "Finish" on the tablet. Set up a dial-up connection as appropriate for your cellular provider. I created one identical to this one in a previous post.

Start the connection and you're online! You can see the connection complete in this screen shot:

I ran this on performance.toast.net and got 136k/sec. Apparently bluetooth EDGE is over triple the speed of bluetooth GPRS. Here's the screenshot:
That makes me very happy. I hope other users can take advantage of this.
Again, special thanks to Qapf and InternetTabletTalk forums!

Link invitation

Today's pic: Three platforms in one pocket. Microsoft, Linux, and Apple.

No new hacks this week, my friends. I was busy with another gadget. I got an i-mate SP5m and and have been hacking it to pieces.

One problem I've had is that I can pair the device but not get out to the internet. This problem is known with Windows Mobile devices and I made a post about it on InternetTabletTalk. Sadly there has been no response. I guess I have to wait for the developers. Once it's fixed, I'll post a HOWTO on that.

This post is an invitation for backward links. I've noticed a remarkable increase in traffic over the last couple weeks. This means that some people are linking TO me. Let me link back to you! If you have a site about portable Linux, hacks, HOWTOs, or gadgets and link to me, I'd like to return the favor.

HOWTO: Bluetooth GPS and GPSDrive on the Nokia 770

Update Sept 9, 2006: As of the release of OS2006, the software in this post is obsolete. Check out my follow-up commentary for more information.

After a great deal of experimentation over the last week, I am presenting this review and HOWTO on using the Nokia 770 tablet with a Bluetooth GPS receiver and GPSDrive. This post has a great deal of pictures and screenshots so if you are reading this from a syndicated newsfeed, it's best to visit this post directly.

GPSDrive is a mature GPS mapping application for Linux. It has been around since late 2001, though it doesn’t seem to have been updated March of 2004. The Maemo GPSDrive port by Tapio Tolvanen seems to be the most mature Nokia 770 application for mapping software.

Prerequisites:

• A Bluetooth GPS receiver. I use the iBlue High Sensitivity receiver here:
• XTerm
• The packages for GPSDrive (available at the Maemo GPSdrive link above)
• maemo-libpcre3 (Perl 5 regular expression library)
• maemo-gpsd (GPS daemon – talks to the GPS for you)
• maemo-gpsdrive (GPSDrive application itself)

Installation:
Install the applications listed above in the order. The next step is peering the GPS to the the tablet. Turn on the GPS and fire up Xterm. Issue the following command: hcitool scan
That will give you a result like this:

Nokia770-51:~# hcitool scan
Scanning ...
00:0B:0D:16:23:CD i-Blue
Nokia770-51:~#

The hex string in there identifies your GPS. You need to add it to a gps.id file.

echo 00:0B:0D:16:23:CD > /home/user/gps.id

Follow the rest of the GPSDrive README to finish up the installation and get started. Go outside, get some satellite image locks, and click the "download map" button in the Menu screen.

The current version of GPSDrive works but doesn't have all the Hildon look-and-feel to it yet. The zooming and font arrangement needs polishing too. I am sure that will all come in time.

The interface:
The map windows is clear and readable. The destination shows up in crosshairs and the current location (I hid it because I was at home at the time) shows up as a teardrop shaped dot with an arrow pointing in your current direction.
The Status windows shows current satellite locks and location.
The Menu screen shows options and allows you to download maps and quit the application.
Once a map is downloaded and the GPS is all running, the map and tracking works perfectly. However, once you start moving around, you'll notice some white spaces showing up around the edges of the map area:

So how do you get this all USEFUL? Mount it up un your car with the kit that came with the iBlue GPS!

The tablet is a little heavier than most PDAs so a bumpy road will have it jump around a little but it never fell off . This was easily remedied by having the bottom of the mount actually touch my dashboard as shown.Don't forget to remove it all when you're done:

Conclusion:
The display is beautiful and readable but the software needs some polishing before it is useful. This configuration would best be suited for off-roading or even camping (the iBlue receiver has great reception even when kept a jacket breast pocket) but turn-by-turn maps are not available with "image maps." Until a vector map solution is available, GPS use on the Nokia 770 tablet will be recreatonal at best.

HOWTO: Free video content on the Nokia 770

I stumbled across Public Domain Torrents this week and decided to give it a spin. This is a site filled with movies in the public domain. I believe this is due to an expired copyright since the films are so old classics.

What you need:

• BitTorrent
  
• An RS-MMC card of at least 256M
  
• Urho Konttori's Media Converter

I downloaded two films:
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Night of the Living Dead

Copying the files directly to the device doesn't work since the Nokia 770 does not directly support the codecs of the films. I took advantage of Urho Konttori's Media Converter and converted the films.


The interface is straightforward and easy but it is a little buggy at times. It has problems with audio/video sync and QuickTime files, plus doesn't properly look at network shares.
Some settings:

Input films:
Night_of_the_Living_Dead_160.avi 103,191 KB
Plan_9_From_Outer_Space_PocketPC.avi 163,032 KB

Conversion settings:
352x282 4:3 15FPS
Video bitrate: 256
Audio bitrate: 64

Time:
Converting with a Pentium M 740 CPU, 1G RAM. (Toshiba Satellite M55-S325)
Total conversion time: Only 14 minutes for both films. (Wow!)

Post conversion:
Night_of_the_Living_Dead_160.avi.nokia770.avi 162,413 KB
Plan_9_From_Outer_Space_PocketPC.avi.nokia770.avi 180,265 KB

That's actually bigger than the originals. I don't know if this is a CODEC thing or if I just chose bitrates too high for the film.

Once completed, copy the converted files over to the RS-MMC card and play away!
Playback on the handheld is just as smooth as on the PC.

Google Life: (or "Why Google should be developing for the Nokia 770")

I will post updates on this as things happen to make this dream possible.

Update 1 - March 9, 2006: Google acquires Writely.
Update 2 - March 10, 2006: Slashdot post on Google Calendar CL2 application.
Update 3 - May 12, 2006: WSJ reports that Google and Nokia will be jointly releasing a web surfing device that fits the description of a Nokia 770 with software enhancement.
Update 4 - June 6, 2006: Google launches online spreadsheet application.
Update 5 - July 27, 2006: Google Mobile offers personalized homepage tuned for mobile devices.

The "Google Life" Dream

I am in New York on vacation. I've never been there before and don't know where to go or what to do. I'm in the mood for a cup of coffee now, fine Italian meal tonight, and a concert tomorrow. I fire up my Nokia 770 tablet. It peers with my cell phone and pocket GPS receiver over Bluetooth, finds my location, and loads the Google Life site. I quickly tap in "coffee shop" and it suggests several coffee shops within walking distance. One is tagged with free WiFi access and has good reviews from other visitors, so I walk over.
Once settled in, I disconnect the cell phone connection and attach to the free WiFi. While sipping my triple-shot Mocha, I look over concerts playing this weekend. It seems that there are tickets still available for one of my favorite musicians. I book the tickets and add the information to my calendar, then confirm my hotel reservations, decide on a restaurant for tonight, and see if there's anything else interesting nearby. It's my lucky day: there's going to be a free Shakespeare play in the park a half mile away in about an hour.
This mocha is REALLY good. I have some time to kill: I think I'll write a positive review of this cafe.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is an all new type of device. It's not a PDA. It's not a laptop. It's not a "tablet computer" in the traditional sense.

Google is a unique company. They control vast databases of raw information, a healthy pocketbook, and one of the most brilliant development teams on the planet. They advertise their informal company motto: Don't be evil. With that in mind, let's look at what makes the Nokia 770 tablet unique:

• Carrier Independence. All cell phones need to either "pick a technology" to work or release several versions to work properly. Even "unlocked" GSM phones are limited to GSM carriers thus alienate Sprint/Nextel and Verizon who use CDMA. The Nokia 770 tablet takes advantage of the widespread availability of WiFi hotspots and makes internet connectivity easy. Not only that, but it can bond with a consumer's existing Bluetooth phone and use existing their existing GPRS, EDGE, UMTS or HSDPA access.
• Open Source. Developers can take advantage of both the vast tools and existing source code for ARM Linux. Nokia 770 users already see this happening.
• Rich Feature Set. The hardware alone provides a high resolution display, stereo sound, an integrated microphone, speaker, expandable storage, and Bluetooth connectivity. This provides a vast degree of potential applications for the platform.
  

What Google can do to compliment the Nokia 770 tablet and re-invent mobile computing:

• Flesh out Gmail into a full PIM suite. Offer a web interface for all of these features, including shared and group calendars. This will replace the PDA and allow Smartphone users to replace their device with any Bluetooth phone. This is the base of Google Life.
  
• Create an application to allow offline work in the PIM suite. This will be nice until an "always on" connection becomes available.
  
• Create a simple Google Local front-end to work with a paired Bluetooth GPS receiver.
• Combine your rich databases within Google Local to allow people to find the closest Starbucks from wherever they are.
  
• Create a "points of interest" community like that within Google Earth Plus where users can contribute points of interest and information.
  
• Optimize Google Video with supported codecs for playback on such as the tablet.
• Partner with content producers (music and video) to make an on-line media catalog. Allow end-users to keep their catalog online and listen/watch from portable devices or their desktop PC.
  

If properly executed, this solution will replace PDAs, portable GPS devices like TomTom, and portable media players like the iPod. Last step: Take all that dark fiber you're buying and build a national WiFi network. If you want to replace laptops, continue to build upon your existing plans to bring StarOffice to the web.

If this dream comes true, Google will defeat Microsoft. The money will come from advertising, subscription fees, or businesses paying "program participation" fees. Google can dominate the information market and still not be evil. For all this information and convenience, I'd pay up to $50/month.