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Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

flipperzero.one

41–49 of 49 posts

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#41
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trademarks don't work that way. You don't get to own all uses of a word, only a word in a particular field (like the use of "Flipper" in names for TV shows).

Yeah, except this isn't just the word "Flipper". Its the word Flipper with a dolphin avatar. To a IP judge this is a product thats marketed as a "Tamagochi-like device with a dolphin called Flipper". Its not even a hard stretch to say that this would confuse an unsavvy consumer who might think this devices was a "Flipper the Dolphin Tamagochi".

Is the show widely known enough for that to actually be confusing? I'd never heard of it until this comment thread.

Plus, uh, dolphins have flippers...

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#43
post #9

Is this anything more than a pipedream at this point? I've seen it come up multiple times over the last year, and yet a quick skim through the Github shows that there's not really anything done other than some basic planning/brainstorming. Seems a bit early to be taking preorders.

Their development blog is very detailed: https://blog.flipperzero.one/review-and-producing-plan/ . It's definitely past the "pipe dream" phase IMO, the drawings they've posted in the blog post demonstrate an awful lot of work and are a far cry from "idea kicking around." But, I also have pretty low expectations for the firmware for a while, and the delivery timeline as well. I think they've decided to do the initial…

Wow, that's a fantastic mix of technical depth and endearing art!

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#44

$10 isn't a bad price for the item in question, but that really depends on how much they're going to charge for shipping, which I couldn't find information on. If they charge $10 more for shipping, $20 for this product seems a bit high.

If you think $20 is high, wait until you find out that it's actually $170. The $10 for preordering is just to reserve a unit. The preorder does include a $40 coupon though, so the total price for preorders is $140 ($170 device + $10 preorder - $40 coupon) + shipping and taxes.

Ha! Well best of luck to them!

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#45

Is this anything more than a pipedream at this point? I've seen it come up multiple times over the last year, and yet a quick skim through the Github shows that there's not really anything done other than some basic planning/brainstorming. Seems a bit early to be taking preorders.

It's a kickstarter, so it's going to run behind. I consider it gambling for fun toys, sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. They've sent out a stream of updates over the past year so i'm really not worried about them defaulting. They've taken a step back and redesigned the hardware since they reached enough funding stretch-goals to include several kitchen sinks now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDvdWo2…

I reflashed my Bus Pirate to behave as OpenOCD-compatible JTAG programmer. It was quite easy process with their bootloader. Perhaps your board was so early that they still haven't put the bootloader on it?

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#47

Is this anything more than a pipedream at this point? I've seen it come up multiple times over the last year, and yet a quick skim through the Github shows that there's not really anything done other than some basic planning/brainstorming. Seems a bit early to be taking preorders.

The last update I got from them said:

> In the last two months, we have been actively working on hardware validation, covering all the use cases with tests, and now we are almost ready to lock the BOM and start Flipper's production in EVT (Engineering Validation Test) phase. Devices from the first batch will be sent to contributors who participated in the development.

That seems like they're pretty far along.

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#48
post #21

Wouldn't a software defined radio transceiver be more effective for this task? (so you can eavesdrop and interfere with any radio system) Or are they too bulky/expensive to fit in a portable device?

There is a SDR device for hacking that is self-contained. It's the HackRF+Portapack, (https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/hackrf-one-kit/) - which costs significantly more. It uses a FPGA to decode raw signals at up to 6GHZ. The Flipper uses dedicated chips to decode the specific protocols, with each chip having a specific protocol (NFC, LF RDID, 433/900Mhz), which allows a general purpose CPU to interface with other devices.

Re: Flipper Zero: Tamagochi for Hackers

#49
post #21

Wouldn't a software defined radio transceiver be more effective for this task? (so you can eavesdrop and interfere with any radio system) Or are they too bulky/expensive to fit in a portable device?

I've seen SDRs that are roughly this size but they're the TV tuner ones that don't necessarily work well across a range of frequencies (not sure about specifics, but I imagine Bluetooth is pushing it). Some of the Flipper's advertised capabilities (infrared, NFC, RFID, 1-wire) are also beyond the scope of SDRs.

They also don't transmit.
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