Comments on: WebKit GTK on iRex Digital Readers

By: barisione

barisione — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:22:42 +0000

@pjrm:
The iRex DR uses very recent software, most libraries are the most recent available version.
Programming with the SDK and the qemu images is easy and doesn’t require access to the device. If the program works on it then it will probably just work on the real device.

By: pjrm

pjrm — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:20:37 +0000

@Mats Taraldsvik:
Re note taking and screen refresh speed, there are actually several different ways of refreshing the screen, with various trade-offs; in particular, it is practical to scribble notes on a document as one would with a biro (i.e. just over the top), and editing a text field in a form is just about acceptable, but it’s not so practical to insert text into an existing document and have the later text reflow accordingly as one types.

@Ignacius: I’ve tried to develop for the iLiad, and I found it very painful, largely because it uses older versions of key software such as Linux (not supporting current standard ARM ABI), glibc (thread-local storage difference), and (less harmfully) gtk, making it harder to run existing ARM binaries; and even chroot fails to work. It’s easy enough to get hello-world running, or even a gtk equivalent, but to port existing software typically requires recompiling current versions of lots of libraries and their recursive build dependencies, which can be very painful.

By: barisione

barisione — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:24:47 +0000

@Philipp:
No reason, it’s just USB mass storage.

By: Philipp

Philipp — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:36:22 +0000

Why do the requirements say: Windows® XP or Vista®?

Missing Linux here …

By: Mats Taraldsvik

Mats Taraldsvik — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:26:58 +0000

Oh, so it won’t work that well for lectures ( taking notes ), then? Hopefully, this will get better as the technology matures. I just hope it will before I finish my master degree. :)

By: barisione

barisione — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:58:44 +0000

@Mats:
Note that the screen redraw is very slow compared to a normal display. There are some ways to make it fater for things like taking notes but it’s not like writing on real paper. Instead, if you just want to add some comments to a PDF the iRex DR works very well.

I don’t think that the talk will be recorded but I gave a similar one at linux.conf.au and the video should be online in the future (dunno when).

By: Mats Taraldsvik

Mats Taraldsvik — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:48:48 +0000

Wow! I want one of those! After reading up on the specs, this must be ideal for taking notes etc at lectures! And with it being open source – ‘the sky is the limit’. :) How long does the battery last? Will your talk be recorded?

By: Andrés G. Aragoneses

Andrés G. Aragoneses — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:35:52 +0000

I love it. But a bit expensive :(

By: luis

luis — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:36:42 +0000

Yeah, huge screen, which is very nice. That is why I have been tempted to get one, despite the price.

By: barisione

barisione — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:34:01 +0000

Erm forgot to say that you can get it for 469£ from Borders.