71–80 of 93 posts
These devices really are cheap and nasty. I have an Eken M001 and an M003, which are the same WM8505 chipset and (AFAIK) the exact same Android port. However, if you're stuck with one then it's worth loading one of the alternative firmwares from http://www.slatedroid.com/ on it. People have done quite a lot with the closed source Android port to make it more usable. They also make for good tinkering/reverse-engineeri…
I'm surprised no one has asked this yet: How easy is this thing to hack? At $99 for a small ARM system with a 7" screen and battery, this is a damn good deal compared to getting a similar setup with a BeagleBoard.
How easy is this thing to hack? Easy-ish. It's a Wondermedia WM8505-based tablet, so there are a bunch of other relatives (same Android port, AFAIK) like the Eken M001. Here are some resources: * Teardown/serial console: http://projectgus.com/2010/06/eken-m001-teardown-serial-cons... (disclaimer: that's my blog.) * Debian port (forum is offline atm, though): http://www.slatedroid.com/eken-m001-debian/ * Open source k…
These devices really are cheap and nasty. I have an Eken M001 and an M003, which are the same WM8505 chipset and (AFAIK) the exact same Android port. However, if you're stuck with one then it's worth loading one of the alternative firmwares from http://www.slatedroid.com/ on it. People have done quite a lot with the closed source Android port to make it more usable. They also make for good tinkering/reverse-engineeri…
Closed source Android port? I thought Android was open?
The Android port on the WM8505 has a ton of hardware-specific hacks in it, including significant custom userland code to set the framebuffer modes up properly. Things that would be put into the kernel in a well-designed system (IMHO.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How easy is this thing to hack? Easy-ish. It's a Wondermedia WM8505-based tablet, so there are a bunch of other relatives (same Android port, AFAIK) like the Eken M001. Here are some resources: * Teardown/serial console: http://projectgus.com/2010/06/eken-m001-teardown-serial-cons... (disclaimer: that's my blog.) * Debian port (forum is offline atm, though): http://www.slatedroid.com/eken-m001-debian/ * Open source k…
Thanks for the links! Reading threads like this ( http://groups.google.com/group/vt8500-wm8505-linux-kernel/br... ) definitely makes the BeagleBoard look like a good value in comparison.
If you don't, then you're better off with something like the BeagleBoard where the TI OMAP3 technical docs, BSP + libraries are all published and have well-supported open source around them.
EDIT: It's worth pointing out that the linked thread is about reverse-engineering the RGB565 graphics mode (for Android) and some of the other esoteric graphics chipset features. Graphics in X11 work fine at the moment, both with Wondermedia's kernel release and with Alexey's open source one. Support for most "normal" WM8505 functions is present in one way or another.
> The lag is slow and inconsistent, forcing you to always wonder if you need to hit something again or whether the M-150 is just trying to figure out if you hit S, A, or D. I almost missed this journalistic easter egg! Also… did you see the thumbnail they are using to link to this story? They photoshopped in some, er, brown froyo. http://static.arstechnica.net/assets/2010/11/m-150-list-thum... I still can’t get over…
Sometime in the last year, ArsTechnica picked up a really good artist for their article art. There are times I'll read articles there just to see the images this person creates. I get a laugh out of them pretty frequently.
If Google were smart, they'd come out with their own Android tablet. That way people would stop being enticed by this absolute crap.
In general I like Google's attitude of embracing multiple products and letting the best one win. However that seems to be getting lost here as their obsession with ChromeOS is significantly impairing Android's progress on the table front (or at least, that's the only way I can really explain what's happening).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Closed source Android port? I thought Android was open?
Android is Apache licensed, so AOSP source is available but most vendors do not release their own source code that actually ships on the device. The Android port on the WM8505 has a ton of hardware-specific hacks in it, including significant custom userland code to set the framebuffer modes up properly. Things that would be put into the kernel in a well-designed system (IMHO.)
Android is certainly achieving an amount of ubiquity but that also means they will be associated with these horror stories. Obviously, not true of Apple.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was the first cheap computer. Cheap enough for the unwashed masses in US. And tablets like this one are the first computers cheap enough for billions of ppl in Asia, Africa and Latin America. And for many, many, many other purposes. 90% of the time innovation in IT is kick-started by cheap knockoffs ;-)
90% of innovation in most fields comes from low end products working their way up - hasn't anyone here read Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma ? In fields from steel, backhoes, and IT most innovation starts with something that isn't quite good enough and works its way up quality. The tablet discussed in the original post may be just a cheap knock-off that isn't going to have any effect. But then how did they get t…
I pity all the uninformed consumers who buy this, or even worse, people who receive this as a gift from those uninformed consumers...