Hello! Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB port, or camera etc. Thanks.
Handheld software development
Started by ●April 27, 2006
Reply by ●April 27, 20062006-04-27
binary-nomad@hotmail.com writes:> Hello! > Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that > manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the > Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? > Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to > program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any > kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much > memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and > also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB > port, or camera etc.It depends widely on the device. There is an active project getting Linux to run on Ipaqs (google for linux ipaq for information). It used to be possible to get an SDK for the Palm Pilot; presumably that's still the case. -- Joseph J. Pfeiffer, Jr., Ph.D. Phone -- (505) 646-1605 Department of Computer Science FAX -- (505) 646-1002 New Mexico State University http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~pfeiffer
Reply by ●April 27, 20062006-04-27
"Joe Pfeiffer" <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote in message news:1bbqum50j7.fsf@viper.cs.nmsu.edu...> binary-nomad@hotmail.com writes: > >> Hello! >> Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that >> manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the >> Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? >> Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to >> program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any >> kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much >> memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and >> also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB >> port, or camera etc. > > It depends widely on the device. There is an active project getting > Linux to run on Ipaqs (google for linux ipaq for information). It > used to be possible to get an SDK for the Palm Pilot; presumably > that's still the case.I looked into this a couple of years back; it was at that point a somewhat immature project, and not exactly ready for prime time. But it showed promise, and seemed to have some official support. However at that point it seemed nothing had happened for a fair while... OTOH, the iPAQs (amongst others) run WinCE Pocket PC, for which a VC++ dev environment is a free download from Microsoft, along with emulators and various other bits. Works well. One downside is that certain things like Bluetooth use 3rd-party stacks, for which the APIs are not free - we made do (for a prototype) with a nagware version, which worked fine (if you ignored the nag screen...). Steve http://www.fivetrees.com
Reply by ●April 27, 20062006-04-27
binary-nomad@hotmail.com wrote:> > Hello! > Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that > manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the > Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? > Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to > program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any > kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much > memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and > also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB > port, or camera etc. >Check out the Palm development FAQ at: <http://flippinbits.com/twiki/bin/view/FAQ/WebHome> -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond richmond at plano dot net | +----------------------------------------------------------------+
Reply by ●April 28, 20062006-04-28
binary-nomad@hotmail.com a �crit :> Hello! > Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that > manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the > Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? > Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to > program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any > kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much > memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and > also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB > port, or camera etc. > > > Thanks. >The closest thing to an open-architecture programmer-oriented handheld you can get is the GP2X (http://www.gp2x.com/) The GBA itself has no OS, is easy to program (in an emulator), and well documented too.
Reply by ●April 28, 20062006-04-28
In comp.arch.embedded Bertrand Augereau <bertrand_myfamilynamegoeshere@yahoo.fr> wrote:> binary-nomad@hotmail.com a ?crit : > > Hello! > > Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that > > manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the > > Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? > > Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to > > program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any > > kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much > > memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and > > also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB > > port, or camera etc. > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > The closest thing to an open-architecture programmer-oriented handheld > you can get is the GP2X (http://www.gp2x.com/) > > The GBA itself has no OS, is easy to program (in an emulator), and well > documented too.You can also look at the host of Linux projects for various PDA's. Most of the source code are great fun(in a sadistic sense) to read. Wing.
Reply by ●April 28, 20062006-04-28
On 27 Apr 2006 10:24:02 -0700, binary-nomad@hotmail.com wrote:>Hello! >Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that >manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the >Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else?It very much depends on the device and how "open" it is. I think it is quite easy for PDAs, more complicated for PSP.>Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how toGoogle.>program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any >kind).Gameing handhelds which are easy(1) to program (even with simulators on PC) that come to mind: Atari Lynx, GP32, Gameboy (various), Sega GameGear. (1) "easy" in the sense of "you get a lot of information". For some of these you need to have some experience writing assembler :-) -- 42Bastian Do not email to bastian42@yahoo.com, it's a spam-only account :-) Use <same-name>@monlynx.de instead !
Reply by ●April 28, 20062006-04-28
"Bertrand Augereau" <bertrand_myfamilynamegoeshere@yahoo.fr> wrote in message news:44519907$0$22714$8fcfb975@news.wanadoo.fr...> binary-nomad@hotmail.com a �crit : >> Hello! >> Can someone tell me if there is any way to replace the "OS" that >> manufacturers provide on various types of handheld devices, eg. the >> Gizmondo, PSP, different PDAs....., and replace it with something else? >> Also, where is information on these devices (technical docs) and how to >> program them? (I'm just a hobbyist, not a big software company of any >> kind). I'd like information, for example, on what CPU it has, how much >> memory, is there a ROM of some kind and what does it have on it, and >> also how to program any other hardware that may be there, eg. a USB >> port, or camera etc. >> >> >> Thanks. >> > > The closest thing to an open-architecture programmer-oriented handheld you > can get is the GP2X (http://www.gp2x.com/) > > The GBA itself has no OS, is easy to program (in an emulator), and well > documented too.I'm still toying with getting one of these myself. I do like a retro game and Mario Kart on SNES is gameplay perfection - no-one has ever made a better game IMHO. However, Nokia bring out the N80 next month and that looks like fun to play with as well. Not so much for the gameplay but using the wi-fi to get TV progs I've stored on my PVR to watch on the phone on the train is going to be great.
Reply by ●April 30, 20062006-04-30
