eSlick : Linux based Ebook Reader

I am not sure in such a recession how many people can go for a product like this, but still Foxit has come up with its new product eSlick, a linux based ebook reader. Based on ARM processor this ebook reader is one of those luxuries which is meant to lure techy geeky chaps to spend some dollars to prove themselves more geeky. I find ebook reader as devices which came out of jealousy from IPods by the people whose main hobby is reading instead of listening music. Although eSlick is a cheaper model available but still $230 its too much for me. Its costlier than my IPod thing..


The eSlick ebookreader has pretty basic features: E-ink technology, 2GB SD card, PDF concerter and viewer from Foxit. The eSlick is quite the basic reader you might want to get. The eSlick claims for supporting 8000 pages of book reading in a single charge. The supported formats for eSlick are PDF and TXT but it comes with Foxit's PC-based PDF Creator software. This creator software can convert any printable document including TXT, PPT, DOC, XLS, and HTML to PDF document format. eSlick also supports USB to connect to other devices for downloading of data.With a built-in MP3 player, Foxit eSlick enables you to enjoy your favorite music while reading your favorite books or documents. After downloading your MP3 files to your computer and transferring them via USB to your eSlick, you can simply press the "Music button", go directly to the MP3 folder and select the specific music to play.

Specifications listed for the eSlick eReader include:


* Display: 6" E Ink® Vizplex screen 600 x 800 pixel resolution, 4-level gray scale
* Internal Memory: 128MB
* Storage Memory: SD Card (2GB included. Supports up to 4GB)
* Supported Formats:
- eBook Formats: PDF, TXT, Any printable document(after converted to PDF using included software)
- Sound Formats: MP3
* Weight: 6.4 ounces (180g) battery included
* Size: 188mm × 118mm × 9.2mm (7.4"x4.7"x0.4")
* Color: Gray(Black back), Black , White (Light Gray back)
* Connectivity: USB2.0
* Operating System: Embedded Linux

Android 1.0 ported to Nokia N810

Now this can be considered as news of weekend. Google's much hyped Linux based mobile phone stack Android is ported on Nokia N810 tablet. Some week back there was news of Linux was ported to IPhone. Now this news can again be taken in same taste. This shows the penetration & attempts of Linux hackers to make Linux run on various proprietary devices.



This hack was done by Beijing based consulting firm NthCode. NthCode specializes in Linux device development, in markets that include mobile phones, set-top boxes, and "converged" multimedia devices. The NthCode team also did a comparative study between Android's Linux kernel and the mainline kernel and found the differences to be "significant." Google had changed 75 files and added an additional 88, making substantial changes in emulation, power management, Netfilter, debugging, memory handling, and other areas.

Video of Android booting on Nokia N810 tablet can be seen below :



But still there are few things left to be done. Most important of all is making ANDROID applications work & secondly to make wifi work on Nokia N810.

Linux on IPhone

For all Linux enthusiasts who were waiting for IPhone & Linux integration here comes a piece of news chunk which may pass a sheer wave of joy. IPhone hacker "Planetbeing" along with his team of hacker contributors Poorlad, Cmw, Saurik , CPICH and Ius has reverse engineered Apple's hardware drivers to get a thing initial port. Video of their work is shown below



The port contains drivers for serial, framebuffer and SerialOverUSB functions. Once OpeniBoot bootloader is installed, it lets iPhone user can choose between booting into the IPhone's native OS, or into a rudimentary linux port's console. When the console comes, user can use USB download a kernel and root filesystem to the phone . Being an initial port , developers plans to integrate support for stuff like accelerometer, WiFi,baseband functions,NAND write, sound and touchscreen. As a next step we may see may be Android being ported on IPhone using OpeniBoot bootloader as iphone-dev.org is luking for Android hackers to contribute for development.