GP2X, ARM, Nokia .. was Re: [linux-audio-user] status of ams

[Jay Vaughan]

>btw, have you or anyone else on the list taken a look at how these
>apps run on Nokia 770, or the new N800...?
>

Nope, but if I had an N800 available to me I'm sure it'd be a quick 
port target.

The platform is similar enough ..

>GNU/Linux/Debian/Gnome based, somewhat more powerful ARM cpu, more
>RAM.

Try not to discount the GP2X' second ARM core, which is quite a fun 
hack, and also remember that the GP2X' Linux firmware is far less 
bloated than that of Nokia (almost painfully so), in order to provide 
a much lighter, smaller, faster footprint for game developers ..

Not to discount the Nokia devices, nor any of the thousands of 
ARM-based/Linux-compatible handheld, portable computing systems, 
currently flooding the market... the point is, the GP2X is available, 
cheap (circa $150), light, battery-powered, and already building up a 
huge suite of fun applications worth the effort to get involved in .. 
and I think the GP2X is far more hackable than Nokia would be 
comfortable people doing with the N770/N800 (i.e. there are already 
full firmware replacements out there for the GP2X, including quite a 
few non-Linux ones..)

>Some hacking is needed as well to get USB host mode working

All thats needed with the GP2X is a cable/docking station, and these 
are easy to obtain.  Host mode works like you'd expect it to work on 
a Linux-based system ..

>(the device can't supply power to slave USB devs)... but you do have
>wifi, bt2.0, a nice 4.1" screen running X, sd/mmc slot, ...

TV Output?

>Not as cheap as gp2x is though...

Definitely not.  I've got 3 GP2X's for the price I would've had to 
pay for a single N800 .. Still, exciting times for all Linux/ARM 
hackers, and even more exciting times for those of us pressing such 
systems into audio processing uses ..

{3 GP2X's running g_midi/g_audio [total integration] == cheap and 
effective sub-effects processors for the DAW..}

-- 

;

Jay Vaughan