Confusing issue of Android m5_rc14

I'm working on and off porting m5_rc14 to Zaurus. Yet I haven't seen anything on LCD. Just black out. In the emulator, fb0 the frame buffer device is in /dev/graphics instead of /dev like Zaurus Angstrom. Crossing fingers, I copied it to graphics directory.

# mkdir /dev/graphics
# cp /dev/fb0 /dev/graphics/fb0
# chmod 666 /dev/graphics/fb0

No luck. Still blank screen. Though fuser command and strace says that runtime and dalvikvm opens successfully /dev/graphics/fb0. Weird.

When I try to see Android log by logcat command, it says an error

/dev/log: Not a directory

Well, it is not a directory but a file in Zaurus. In the emulator, it is a directory. So I checked the source code of the logger and found

#define LOGGER_LOG_RADIO	"log_radio"	/* radio-related messages */
#define LOGGER_LOG_EVENTS	"log_events"	/* system/hardware events */
#define LOGGER_LOG_MAIN		"log_main"	/* everything else */

in include/linux/logger.h. This is really weird. logcat expects /dev/log as directory and logger driver creates log_xxx in /dev. Is there any glitches between m5_rc14 kernel and m5_rc14 Android?

Android on real handset, well sort of.

A lab of Tokyo University of Technology successfully ported Android on to their handset.

Unfortunatelly most of information about this handset is written only in Japanese.
o 工科大ケータイ (Top page)
o ハードウェアの詳細 (Specification)

CPU is PXA272 running at 416MHz with 128MB RAM and 64MB Flash. LCD is QVGA 2.22 inch. Network access is IEEE802.11b wireless LAN. I/Fs are USB, CF and audio.

Basically this handset is developed for academic and educational purpose of VoIP and SIP. Supporing Android is a good idea for educational usage because Android will be an open source.

You can actually buy a set at 700 USD price tag. But No support, No software, No English, No nothing. Just a piece of hardware. If there is anyone really deadly serious about how to get one, e-mail me and I'll contact them.

Cheers,

Android SDK m5_rc14 release

As previously announced, Google released a new version of Android SDK.

Geek news sites have some reports, like Gizmodo and Engadget. One advice for anyone trying the new SDK who alread have installd older one, read instruction carefully. You need to wipe out old data.

Then, run one of these commands:

  o Windows: emulator -wipe-data
  o Linux and Mac: ./emulator -wipe-data

Wait for the emulator window to appear and to boot completely. Once it has, you may close the window and proceed.

Without wipe-data, you can not play with new API Demos.

These images are captured from the emulator. Home, image list view and 3D transition. New GUI APIs!
       

OK, that's emulator thing. Let's move on to Android Zaurus, my interest.

I've tried to boot the new Android image on my Zaurus. No luck yet. I've taken a diff between latest kernel source and previous one, then apply it as a patch in Angstrom development environment to make a matching latest kernel. No happy yet. I found binderdev.ko can not be built as module anymore. It should be built in tightly to the kernel as well as android_power.

By looking into the diff file, I learned power management modules are heavely patched. The reason why m5_rc14 can not be booted on Zaurus might be related to the power management, I guess. After booting up Android, I even can not see the famous red cylon. Just sits dead blank. Eventually Zaurus goes suspend mode. Once in a while it gives me a message

android_power_wakeup 2->0

Sigh....

Android on real handset

Wow! I say only wow! Great job!

Hands-on with Google Android-based E28 touchscreen phone

Android in Barcelona

Mobile World Congress starts and a lots of news come up. I picked up some.

An official announcement lists up who are involved.
o Open Handset Alliance

Engadget posts lots of photos.
o Google attacks: Android at Mobile World Congress

Washington Post reports comprehensively including some interesting interviews.
o Android Comes to Life in Barcelona

Qualcomm's demonstration of its 7201 combined baseband and application processor sparkled, but did not exploit the chip's full potential. The spinning globe of Android's Global Time application turned smoothly even without the assistance of the 3D graphics hardware acceleration, for which the drivers are not yet ready, said Rob Woodford.

Hmm... I've never seen such an applet. Qualcom developed a world clock applet? Or, is a sneak preview of the next version SDK?

Yet Another Hotpepper Applet for Android

Adamrocker posted a new applet on his blog article, An implementation of map applet for Android. This is another mash up applet of Google Map and Hotpepper. He also included Yahoo! Map service as searching landmarks.

In his article there is a screen cast which explains well how it works. If you wonder where the link to the applet, Download the around_here.apk is the executable applet and Download the around_here.zip is a whole project including source code.

By the way, Adamrocker always posts his applets with source codes. His codes are very educational. Anyone who wants to learn how to write an applet for Android but doesn't have much experience in Java programming, yeah like me, his openess is very helpful.

As usual, I took some screenshots with my Android Zaurus.

With cursor keys, you can move around Tokyo. Anywhere you want to find restarurants, hit [R] key, then [L] key. An overlay window pops up and you get a list of restaurants up to 20. [H] key shows you a bit of help messages.
   

Type the number on the list then hit [Space] key. Detail information of the restaurant pops up. If the restaurant info has URL to its Web, you can go to browse by clicking it.
   

Restaurant search function uses Hotpepper Web API. There is another search function. Landmark seach, which uses Yahoo! Map Web API. It searches landmarks such as schools, theaters, banks near the location.
   

There is one note for someone who wants to build his applet from source codes. Using Hotpepper and Yahoo! Map Web API requires IDs which is unique to each developers. You must get your ID from Hotpepper and Yahoo!, then hardcode the value to

  private String HOTPEPPER_KEY = "hogehoge";
  private String YAHOO_KEY = "hugahuga";

in AroudHere.java.

Have fun.

More hot Hottpepper applet

I introduced an Android applet in the previous post, More Android Applets, called Hotpepper developed by EAST Co. Ltd. Because the touchscreen of Android Zaurus still won't work correctly, I couldn't move across the map. I wrote it in the post.

Now, guys from EAST Co. Ltd. oviously read the artcle and came back with a revised version of their Hotpepper applet. The map window grabs the key focus, so I can move around Tokyo on the map. It is a really fun thing to play with.

You can download the applet from http://bizpal.jp/ocean.android/00002.



After launching the applet, you can move around on the map by pressing cursor key. Hit the [Enter] or [OK] wherever you want, the key focus goes to [検索／詳細（Search/Detail）] window. Just hit [Enter] again, the restaurants near the location are listed. Select the restaurant you want to see the detail then [Enter] and move cursor to [詳細（Detail）]. Detail information such as address, phone number, speciality dishes will be shown. The volume up key works as [Search] and the volume down key works as [Detail], too.

I feel really good about openess of Android. I left a comment only on my blog and guys from EAST Co. Ltd. picked it up. It is a fine example of Web 2.0 world.

Thank you very much, EAST Co. Ltd. Good luck in Android Developer Challenge!

Cheers,

Android on Armadillo-500

A very interesting movie I found on YouTube.



Brilliant Service, a Japanese company ported Android to an ARM based evaluation board, Armadillo 500. CPU of Armadillo 500 is i.MX31L (ARM11 core) which runs at 400MHz. Eventhough CPU clock is close to Zaurus, the movie shows Android Armadillo runs a lot faster than Android Zaurus.

The post note of the movie says Brilliant Service could be reachable at [e-mail].

Unfortunatelly, I could not find any further information on the company Web. But it says their business has certain relations with Sharp and cellular phone devices. I take it a possitive sign.

Cheers,

Videos by eu.edge

eu.edge puts up two movies of Android running on Zaurus.

o Videos of Google Android on Zaurus

They are the very first guys who successfully bring Android up on Zaurus. I thank and respect them.

Have fun,