The Syncing Apple An Exploration of Technology and Devices

Google Trends and the 770

So Google trends is now live– with it you can compare all sorts of things, like how the UMPC (remember Origami?) could turn out to be just a flash in the pan as the reviews of the first devices (just the Samsung for now) are rolling in– and almost all of them are dismal.

This screen grab shows the searches for Nokia 770 vs the UMPC. Can you say flash in the pan?

This also shows that the 770 was getting some good press during the end of the year. I hope that the Internet Tablet 2006 OS will generate some more buzz and get the 770 back out and into people’s hands where it belongs. I hope this device won’t become the next Agenda.

New Browser in next release of Internet Tablet Software?

I have no evidence for this, other than my own investigations, but could Nokia be planning to replace the Opera Mobile browser that is currently included in the Internet Tablet Software (i.e. the 770's Linux OS) with their in-house S60 browser (here is the official Nokia page), which is based on Apple's own WebCore (Apple's Official Page). Apple in turn developed WebCore from KDE's open-sourced KHTML engine. Anyone that has used a Macintosh knows that Safari, the Apple WebCore based browser, is very fast and 'light-weight' when compared to something like Firefox. I can only imagine that the S60 browser would do very well in the cramped RAM of the 770. While the Opera browser is pretty at first glance, when you use it over time you realize that it's slow and takes up a lot of your precious RAM, and Nokia needs something faster for 770.

Also, it's been quiet lately from Nokia- I hope they have a new Internet Tablet 2006 version ready to release to us soon.

Don’t tell me this isn’t aimed at the 770

Leaked picture of the Origami Device?

Look at those buttons- they even have the same zoom button as the 770 (but the zoom is lower left instead of upper right). You can't tell me that a device like this isn't isn't going to stomp all over the nascent Internet Tablet space... No word if this is just a mock-up or if it's a real device, but the Origami Portal website is tracking this space.

Of course, if Origami is really running XP Tablet, then there is still room for Nokia to wiggle in and get some traction- if they can come out with a device that is snappy. Please put some serious RAM and CPU in the 880- or else it will never stack up with an Origami.

Update: Nice rundown of the Origami Project, plus a shout-out to other Internet devices, including the 770-- over at Windows For Devices

770 Review – Computerworld

Computerworld gave a positive review of the Nokia 770.

"Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet: Smart and Sleek
The stylish wireless device is aimed at the home market but has enterprise potential"

Nokia 770 – Tracking Posts via Technorati

Posts that contain Nokia 770 per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

Origami and the Nokia 770

Nokia better get their butt in gear for the 2nd generation Internet Tablet- the hype (more analysis) over the Microsoft Origami project is growing, and while it is very much vaporware at this point, a lot could happen this year. This device is aimed squarely at the niche that Nokia has identified. More than a music and video player, less that the Tablet PC. There is no telling how close this is or isn't to a real device, but one wonders what MS could produce, having all the mistakes of Windows CE under their belt, combined with the experience of 2 generations of the Xbox (a consumer device).

You can hope for the worst (like Windows CE/Mobile, which seems to get worse every version), but with the current 770 interface and applications being so achingly slow ( I don't believe the device is that underpowered), MS could let loose something in this size factor with the power of a near desktop.

At the very least, please make my 770 faster, so I'll use it more.

Update: I'm not the only one seeing this intersect with the 770. This piece on Red Herring mentions the 770- but incredibly they talk about it being released only in Europe! Nokia needs to spread the word better....

From the Red Herring:

“Nokia’s device has no cellular connectivity,” he said. “It’s a Wi-Fi device, and they have been taken off guard by its success. It was a sleeper, so I think Microsoft has seen that and is trying to get its share of that market. The Nokia device runs Linux, so that has made Microsoft move even faster to market Origami.”

Scanner Darkly Trailer for Nokia 770

The new trailer for A Scanner Darkly is out, and there is a feature in the current (March) Wired Magazine about the issues that Linklater has had with the technology to rotoscope this entire movie.

Seeing as how the trailer is very cool, and not too big, I decided to encode it for the 770-- which I did using the wonderful encoder from the wiki page.

Here is the resulting 7.2 meg file, which plays and sounds great on my 770.

770 Previous Post Redux

Some important updates on my past 770 posts.

Swap

• If you are using .51 firmware and want to use swap, use 24 megs or less.
• I had problems using 128, then 64, then 32 megs. Finally Andy Flegg was able to tip me off that there is an issue with using anything over 32 megs. I re-partitioned my MMC card down to a 24 meg swap partition and it's been working very well. I really recommend you add some swap to help the memory on the 770. I ran a bunch of apps, games and opened four browser windows the 770 was super responsive.

Firmware bootstrap scripts

• I posted some simple scripts for user and root to quickly install some basic packages and setup the environments for the default user and the root user. The installer commands should be run as the user 'install' and not as root. I've posted the updated script below. If you install them as root, you'll have to uninstall them as root- you can't use the GUI (which runs as user and uses a sudo for the install user to add and remove packages with the proper permissions).
• This script will setup sshd to be launched at each boot, and it will be run as root, which is normal for most unix boxes-- but just beware that sshd will always be running.
• This version also incorporates Andy Flegg's suggestion to make it one script and let it figure out who is running it. So you run it twice- once as user to setup user and again as root to setup things for root.
• Recall that you have to have R&D mode enabled via the flasher utility to become root.

• ----------------CUT_HERE---------------------------------------------------------------------
  #!/bin/sh
  if [ `id -u` == “0″ ]; then
  echo 'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/lib' >> /root/.profile
  echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/bin:/var/lib/install/usr/sbin' >> /root/.profile
  echo 'export EDITOR=/var/lib/install/usr/bin/vim' >> /root/.profile
  echo 'set nocompatible' >> /root/.vimrc
  sudo -u install app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/load-plugin_0.2.4-1_arm.deb
  sudo -u install app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/dropbear-client_0.46-2_arm.deb
  sudo -u install app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/dropbear-key_0.46-2_arm.deb
  sudo -u install app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/dropbear-server_0.46-2_arm.deb
  sudo -u install app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/vim-tiny_5.6.070-1.1_all.deb
  sudo -u install app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/fbreader-maemo_0.7.1b-1_arm.deb
  ln -s /var/lib/install/etc/init.d/dropbear-server /etc/rc2.d/S20dropbear-server
  fi
  
  if [ `id -u` == “29999″ ]; then
  echo 'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/lib' >> /home/user/.profile
  echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/bin:/var/lib/install/usr/sbin' >> /home/user/.profile
  echo 'export EDITOR=/var/lib/install/usr/bin/vim' >>  /home/user/.profile
  echo 'set nocompatible' >> /home/user/.vimrc
  
  mkdir /home/user/.ssh
  cat /media/mmc1/keys/id_rsa_mac >> /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
  cat /media/mmc1/keys/id_rsa_XP >> /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
  chmod 400 /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
  chmod 700 /home/user/.ssh
  fi
  ----------------CUT_HERE---------------------------------------------------------------------
  

Bookmarks

• You can export to HTML and import right into the bookmark manager!
• After all the time and energy that I spend exporting bookmarks from Firefox in XBEL format and modifying them for the OSSO Bookmark application, you can import right from inside the Bookmarks app itself. That's a lot easier. Look under the Tools menu in the Bookmarks Application - not in the Browser.
• Below is an example of some output from the 770's export bookmarks function.
• 
  <!DOCTYPE NETSCAPE-Bookmark-file-1>
  <!-- This file was automatically generated by Sputnik
  It will be read and overwritten.
  Do Not Edit! -->
  <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
  <TITLE>Bookmarks</TITLE>
  <H1>Bookmarks</H1>

  <DL><p>
<DT><A HREF="http://www.accuweather.com" ADD_DATE="1118841481" LAST_VISIT="1137019750">AccuWeather.com</A>
</DL><p>


• Export your bookmarks from Firefox and then scp the resulting html file over to the 770. Put it into the MyDocs folder or your MMC card. Then use the Tools/Import to open the file.
• To scp from Mac to 770:

  dillera$ scp bookmarks.html user@192.168.251.53:MyDocs
  

• It might be wise to pare down your bookmarks if you have a lot. I imported about 1000 of mine, and it does take the Bookmarks application a little bit of time to parse them.

Wow. I can't believe I have swap and the Apple BT keyboard working. There isn't much else I really want for my 770 at this point. I guess its time to just enjoy using it.

Recovering from a Firmware Flash

So with new firmware images coming from Nokia (which is a good thing) you have to start to deal with picking up the pieces after a flash. The built in control panel 'Backup' does a questionable job - while it does seem to work, it also seems to have made my 770 totally wonky, and I've been better off not using it after re-flashing 51.

So what to do?

One solution is again the ever-maturing Synchronisation and backup using rsync & make by Andrew Flegg at Bleb- be sure and read his solution which is clearly outlined at his site.

Meanwhile, I've put together some very simple scripts which can help bootstrap your 770 right after a firmware flash.

I'm assuming that you have a MMC card, and you'll keep these scripts on the card along with your 3rd party packages- so that they are available right after a flash.

You'll have to install xterm using the 770 GUI and then run these scripts just one time. One for user and one for root.

As you can see, I keep the public RSA keys from my main desktop computers also on the MMC card, so that I can ssh right in after running these scripts. These scripts are very simple but hopefully they can save you some time after your next flash.

User script:

#!/bin/sh
echo 'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/lib' >> /home/user/.profile
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/bin:/var/lib/install/usr/sbin' >> /home/user/.profile
echo 'set nocompatible' >> /home/user/.vimrc

mkdir /home/user/.ssh
cat /media/mmc1/keys/id_rsa_mac >> /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
cat /media/mmc1/keys/id_rsa_XP >> /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 400 /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 700 /home/user/.ssh

Root script:

#!/bin/sh
echo 'export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/lib' >> /root/.profile
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/bin:/var/lib/install/usr/sbin' >> /root/.profile
echo 'set nocompatible' >> /root/.vimrc
app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/load-plugin_0.2.4-1_arm.deb
app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/dropbear-client_0.46-2_arm.deb
app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/dropbear-key_0.46-2_arm.deb
app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/dropbear-server_0.46-2_arm.deb
app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/vim-tiny_5.6.070-1.1_all.deb
app-installer-tool install /media/mmc1/Installers/fbreader-maemo_0.7.1b-1_arm.deb

ln -s /var/lib/install/etc/init.d/dropbear-server /etc/rc2.d/S20dropbear-server

Note: this does not address backing up any data... see Andrew's solution for that. At this point I really don't keep anything on the 770 that I can't reload after a flash from my Macintosh. But if you are keeping data on it, make sure to take some action and back it up before you flash.

What Happened in .51?

Issues with 51

Ok, since I've flashed 51 onto my 770, all hell has broken loose. So far I've had these issues:

• News Reader won't load (and it constantly refreshes)
• Sporadic reboots
• Out of Memory errors (I never had them before)
• Using swapon causes immediate out of memory and or reboot

I had to finally re-flash '51 again, and this time I didn't restore by data (which I had backed-up using the built in control utility) back onto the 770. It seems more stable now, except for the issues using swap. I don't mind resetting up my stuff by hand- my backup data must have corrupted something.

People I've talked with talk about initial reboots, but then 'things calm down over time' which seems impossible to me- how can things calm down? They should stay the same at least.

Does anyone have any solid information on what has changed in this release?

Gainroot and Root

Meanwhile, I've been banging my head with gainroot, and why it wouldn't read the .profile of the root user in /root... nothing was working, till I finally realized that perhaps this wasn't some new shell I was in.. and sure enough, invoking su - while in 'gainroot' put me into a proper root shell with a working environment. See below for the difference in environments...

~ $ sudo gainroot
Root shell enabled

BusyBox v1.00 (Debian 2:20041102-11) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

/home/user # env
SUDO_GID=29999
USER=root
HOME=/home/user
SUDO_UID=29999
LOGNAME=root
MALLOC_MMAP_THRESHOLD_=32768
TERM=xterm-color
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin
SUDO_COMMAND=/usr/sbin/gainroot
SHELL=/bin/sh
SUDO_USER=user
MALLOC_TRIM_THRESHOLD_=4096
PWD=/home/user

Now with a proper root shell:

/home/user # su -

BusyBox v1.00 (Debian 2:20041102-11) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

Nokia770-51:~# env
USER=root
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=:/var/lib/install/usr/lib:/var/lib/install/usr/lib
HOME=/root
PS1=\h:\w\$
LOGNAME=root
MALLOC_MMAP_THRESHOLD_=32768
TERM=xterm-color
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:
/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/var/lib/install/usr/bin:
/var/lib/install/usr/sbin
SHELL=/bin/sh
MALLOC_TRIM_THRESHOLD_=4096
PWD=/root

Nokia770-51:~# 

That's one small consolation.