Make: Online: Cellphones Archives

Archive: Cellphones

July 3, 2009

Make: Projects - Outlet-mount device charging pocket

Most cell phones are provided with a very basic wall-wart charger, and you usually have to pay extra for a proper charging dock. The bundled charger is often unsightly in use, being just a transformer with a cord strung out to an end table or something where the cell phone rests. If you have a cat who likes to chew through cords, as I do, this can be more than just inelegant--it can be totally impractical. It's also a good project if you just hate, for aesthetic reasons, loose power cords strung out across the furniture.

A similar product is for sale at ThinkGeek, and that's where I got the idea. The nice thing about my version is that it requires no tools to mount or demount, being suspended by the plug on the charger itself. So you can quickly move it around to whatever outlet you want or take it with you when you travel. Plus it costs all of nothing to build.

Read full story

June 26, 2009

Broadcast live video from Android

Qik, the "phonecasting" folks, have released an early alpha of their software to the Android Marketplace. Unlike most streaming video services out there, Qik focuses on streaming live video from mobile phones. What makes this release unique is the diversity of the Android OS. It can be found on mobile phones, netbooks, picture screens, embedded systems, and set-top boxes. New possibilities arise when you add something like live video into the mix.

[via diTii.com]

June 24, 2009

Flash 10 running on Android

Expected to debut during the Adobe MAX developer conference, Flash Player 10 is geared to bring it's widely popular media distribution format to a large selection of smartphone systems. According to a recent earnings call Adobe will be releasing Flash Player 10 for Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and WebOS this October.

[via TalkAndroid]

June 23, 2009

How-to: Greenbox no-waste charging station

In this how-to Alberto Ricci Bitti shows you how to design a greenbox no-waste charging station for your mobile phone that will lower your utility costs and environmental impact. The simple and elegant design makes unplugging a power draining wall wart very easy and instinctive.

June 22, 2009

Nintendo NES emulation on Palm WebOS

It's now possible to run Nintendo emulation without 'classic' emulator on Palm WebOS. In just ten easy steps, provided by the kind folks at pre web wiki, you, too, could be shooting up the baddies in the Central American jungles of Contra.

NES emulator on WebOS [via CruchGear]

June 15, 2009

Nokia N95 accelerometer in Blender 3D

Marco Rapino, a developer working at the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research at HSE in Helsinki, has developed a prototype controller using the accelerometer in his Nokia N95 smartphone, some Python, and the Blender 3D content creation suite.

The application is structured in this way:

Mobile client, a python script which reads the accelerometer data and sends it via bluetooth to the pc

A server that runs on your pc and shares the data with the BGE through a local UDP non-blocking socket

A Blender script which handles the cube rotation in the BGE using the n95 accelerometer's data

Source and examples available here

N95 accelerometer with Blender [via BlenderNation]

June 12, 2009

PhonePoint Pen prototype

Duke University students have developed a prototype smartphone app that reads characters drawn with accelerometer data and outputs text using OCR. Though a little impractical as a keyboard replacement, it would be great for gestural input. You could annotate photos incorporating this method or use it in conjunction with other eyes-free input methods to enhance alternative user experiences.

Air Writing: Next Big Thing in Cell Phones? [via hackaday]

June 11, 2009

How-To: Start a fire with your cellphone

With backpacking season upon us, the Survival Skills series on the Backpacker site caught my eye. Their newest skill is how to start a fire in the backcountry with your cellphone battery, some steel wool, and tinder. Simple enough, but worth sharing. You never know when the skill may come in handy for survival … or for solving the next installation of Makeshift. Check out the vid:

Other Survival Skills videos cover surviving a bear attack (hilarious reenactment with a guy in a bear suit), treating broken bones, and putting together a homemade survival kit (that looks pretty darn good). Also check out their tutorials on how to fix your gear.

June 10, 2009

Android Scripting Environment

Google recently released the Android Scripting Environment, which allows an Android user the ability to access the myriad APIs available directly from the device itself. Initially Python, Lua, and BeanShell are supported, but Ruby and JavaScript are on the way. Some folks will definitely find this very useful for prototyping in the field.

The Android Scripting Environment (ASE) brings scripting languages to Android by allowing you to edit and execute scripts and interactive interpreters directly on the Android device. These scripts have access to many of the APIs available to full-fledged Android applications, but with a greatly simplified interface that makes it easy to:

Handle intents

Start activities

Make phone calls

Send text messages

Scan bar codes

Poll location and sensor data

Use text-to-speech (TTS)

And more

Scripts can be run interactively in a terminal, started as a long running service, or started via Locale.

June 4, 2009

"Eyes-Free" Android interface

The MIT Technology Review website has an article highlighting the work of T.V. Raman and Charles Chen, two Google engineers working on an eyes-free interface for Android called Marvin.

"We are building a user interface that goes over and beyond the screen," says Raman. Often, eyes-free interfaces are employed for blind users, but Raman, who himself is blind, assures that these interfaces have much broader implications. "This is not just about the blind user," he says. "This is about how to use these devices if you're not in a position to look at the machine."

This effort at creating a new interface is in line with the notion of "programs without borders" and is exactly the sort of thing that gets me excited about Android. With a system designed to foster mash-ups, each new component amps up the possibility you'll find the elegant solution you're looking for.

May 19, 2009

Bacterial Orchestra uses iPhones to create "viral music"

Debuting at the Volt Festival (site in Swedish) on June 6th in Uppsala, Sweden, the latest incarnation of the Bacterial Orchestra - Public Epidemic No 1 - will be unleashed on a participating public. Organizers speculate impending world-wide sound pandemic.

What do you get if you gather hundreds of iPhones and let them play with each other? A huge musical organism that is not only self-organizing, but also evolving with the sound environment.
Enter the new generation: Bacterial Orchestra - Public Epidemic No 1 (2009).

Bacterial Orchestra (2006) is a self-organizing evolutionary musical organism. The installation consists of several audio cells. Every cell listens to its surroundings and picks up sounds, trying to play together in a musical way. The musical material comes from the background noise, people talking or sounds played by other cells.

Public Epidemic No 1 (2009) is a generation of the installation where each cell lives on an Apple iPhone (it can be ported to any mobile phone, but the iPhone was chosen because it's popular and the centralized App Store makes it easy for the epidemic to spread...

Bacterial Orchestra [via TUAW]

May 14, 2009

iPhone Hacks webcast

The authors of iPhone Hacks will be having a webcast Friday, May 15, 2009 at 10am PDT.

Register here to participate in this live event.

This webcast will focus on the last two chapters of iPhone Hacks, involving hardware and software development. We'll focus on some of the hardware and software development you can do without having to go through the app store, for personal or jailbreak community release. You'll learn various ways to get hardware connected to the iPhone, without having to go through the 3.0 approval process. We'll include several specific hacks on how to connect keyboards and serial devices to the phone.

May 13, 2009

How-To: Use SlingPlayer iPhone app over 3G

Folks looking for a little tube time with the new SlingPlayer iPhone app whilst bounding about outside of their Wi-Fi comfort zone can breathe easy again. Sebastien over at iPhone Download Blog has posted a short tutorial explaining how to get the SlingPlayer app to run over 3G and Edge networks. It's assumed you've already purchased all relevant products and services and don't mind taking the extra steps necessary for true ownership.

Use a SlingPlayer over 3G

May 12, 2009

Android handset as Wii-style controller

Using the compass and accelerometer in the G1, Jubei has turned his Android handset into a Wii-style controller.

[via androidguys]

May 7, 2009

How-To: Make a solar iPod/iPhone charger

Building on the original MintyBoost USB charger kit, this Instructables how-to will walk you through the steps of adding a Lithium Polymer battery pack and small solar cell. The extra capacity and added convenience of solar make this modification a must have for off-grid mobility.

MightyMintyBoost [via Gizmodo]

Android-controlled robotic blimp

YARB is a robotic blimp controlled using an Android phone. Images are sent over Wi-Fi from the blimp to the phone's display as it's maneuvered along using the tilt sensor inside the G1.

Source code for the control interface is hosted at code.google.com/p/srv1console/

The tilt sensors in the Android phone work quite nicely for rotor control - we have proportional steering so the amount of tilt controls the amount of power, and live video is displayed on the Android screen from the blimp's onboard Surveyor SRV-1 Blackfin camera, carried via the same radio channel that sends the control signals.

YARB robotic blimp controlled by Google Android G1 phone

May 5, 2009

Using Skype over 3G on iPhone

Here's a simple tutorial on how to make Skype and other VoIP calls using 3G on a jailbroken iPhone:

Yet another reason why I am glad to have a jailbroken phone. Yup, this one is limited to those who are jailbroken, or willing to jailbreak. Anyway, it is possible, even easy to make VoIP calls on the iPhone using a cellular connection, which in my case is AT&T's 3G network.

[via iPhoneFreak]

April 26, 2009

G1 PhoneTar

Photo from Connors934 on Flickr

Do you have a phone with a touch screen? Have you tried out some music applications and found the thing a bit awkward to hold? Last year I saw some people messing with guitar application on their phones at the Boston Fab Lab and it got me thinking. When I finally got around to getting a phone, making a PhoneTar was up high on the list of things I 'needed' it for. I did some early testing with the laser cutter for sizing and fit, and the project sat for a while.

When I saw the video of "Kids," the project got reactivated.

Mine is the G1 model of PhoneTar, and though I haven't found many instrument apps for it, I have found that it works fairly well as a stabilizer when taking pictures. It can also work on the dashboard as a way of holding the phone while showing maps, but it would need a way different profile for that.

Want to give it a try? Here is a zip file with the Open Office Draw document I used to cut the part and a pdf of it as well: PhoneTar-G1Tar.zip

To turn it into an iPhoneTar, iTouchTar or possibly a BerryTar wouldn't be too hard, you would need to get measurements of your phone, and change the size and possibly the location of the hole. Different models will have alternate locations for the headphone jack as well.

Looking into the future for the project, I see a need for the right hand to do something. A module down there for strumming or touching contacts would be nice, and could probably be connected to the phone with bluetooth or usb. It would also be nice to have a sound scoop behind the speaker so that it directs the audio towards the audience. A mounted amplifier would be festive as well. It could also be configured for use with the Arduino and Drawdio, both of which can be found in the Maker Shed.

This is not intended to be about a finished project, but rather a step in the Design Process. It does work, but there are many ways it could go from here. My hope is to stir you to action (if you are so inclined) and imagine a new way of seeing your music, phone or other devices. If these ideas gets you thinking, give it a shot and let us know what you come up with!

March 29, 2009

Solar joule thief cell charger

Photo from Petmar0 on Flickr

Pete responded in the comments to the the call for designs in the Rural Celly Charger article on Saturday.

How about connecting a joule-thief circuit (DC-DC upconverter) to a cap on one side and a small solar cell (like the ones in calculators) on the other? You pull off of the cap to the cell phone directly. If I remember correctly, most cell phones have internal Vregs between the battery and the rest of the circuitry, so that takes care of your OV protection. I'll see if I can build this, and then get back to you.

Within a few hours on his busy Saturday, he had a rough build tested and posted up. His photos of the build have been added to the MAKE Flickr pool. Obviously, a few tests on some quickly assembled parts do not make a working solution, but they do demonstrate the concepts behind the circuit that could be worked up in a more detailed analysis and build. Ultimately, it would be ideal to come up with a design that can be replicated across cultures and great distances with minimal and less than ideal tools.

Photo from petmar0 on Flickr

The original article on Women of Uganda Network, or WOUGNET, told of how a Ugandan woman built her own charger after an unscrupulous vendor nicked her good battery and replaced it with a nearly dead one. The design that she came up with uses five D cell batteries to pump some charge into her phone. That should be quite a bit more voltage than is really needed to fill up a cell battery. She and her neighbors could benefit from a buildable design that could be made from easily sourced supplies.

The comments offered a number of perspectives on the problem and possible solutions. As is the case in many rural communities, she has access to a bicycle, some supplies, and maybe a bit of know-how about electricity. It is likely that her experiment was more 'seat of the pants engineering' than a studied formal solution based on book based research.

Generally, DC motors are relatively plentiful in electrojunk. Old cassette players, CD drives, VCRs, and more are good sources for surplus motors, and it is possible that a design based on a motor would be easy to build in rural Africa. The resistor and transistor needed for the Joule Thief could be harvested from many old devices. A capacitor could be used to store the charge, and then we would need a fitting to connect it to the phone. It is likely that many of the phones in a given community are of similar design and a spare could be appropriated for a cell phone charger.

How can you add to this idea? Could you design and build a cell charger only from junk? If you did not have access to a decent soldering iron, how would you get your connections consistent? If you have an idea to add to this conversation, bring it over to the comments. If you can, build up a sample circuit like Pete did and show it to us through a post on your blog, or you can add it to the MAKE Flickr pool.

March 28, 2009

Rural celly charger

Image from Women of Uganda Network The Women of Uganda Network has an interesting story of a woman who got scammed at a cell phone charging business.

Mrs. Muyonjo is a housewife in a remote village of Ivukula in Iganga district, Eastern Uganda. She used to ride her bicycle for twenty miles in order to come to the nearest small town with electricity to charge her mobile phone battery. Not any more.
One day, she fell victim to unscrupulous individuals. "I will never give my telephone to the village battery chargers again. I gave them my new phone for charging, and they changed my battery and instead returned to me an old battery whose battery life can only last for one day." Unable to find the money or time to charge the battery daily, she decided to find an alternative charging solution. "I looked at what was readily available to me and came up with my own charger. I devised this method to enable me charge my battery every day. It works perfectly."

via Treehugger

In Uganda, as in many other countries, cell phone use has become huge. Access to charging technologies, however is not so huge.

The solution Mrs. Muyonjo came up with was pretty good for a first iteration. Long term, she and her neighbors would probably be happier with a device that has a voltage regulator, ability to sense a complete charge, and of course, a renewable energy source. Could such a device be made from electrojunk? Make: Online readers, what can we come up with? Bring out your ideas for charging circuits, working and theoretical and let us know in the comments and MAKE Flickr pool.