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Mobile Archive: Mobile

August 18, 2009

Root an Android phone the easy way

Using a custom APK file you can root your Android phone with relative ease. Once rooted, you're free to install one of the latest custom Android ROMs on the phone and enjoy new features still in development or scratch that itch the standard SDK won't facilitate.

Android Rooting in 1-click [via RyeBrye & Hackaday]

August 14, 2009

Nokia N97 GPS antenna hack

Some N97 owners find the integrated GPS doesn't perform as well as they'd like, so they've taken it upon themselves to render a proper fix. Using a copper wire attached to the existing antenna, Symbian Freak contributors Bruno and Teo have greatly improved their signal strength and can go about geocaching with fewer dropped signals.

[via Symbian Freak]

August 13, 2009

Cree emitter LED flash/video light for iPhone 3GS

This quick and dirty improvised iPhone flash/video light from Andreas Ødegård consists of a 3V battery and a high intensity Cree emitter. Sure, it's just an LED flashlight with a doc connector mount, but then again it was built in under 10 minutes with electrical tape, spare parts, and a hot glue gun. The result seems to knock the socks off your run-of-the-mill super bright LED mini-array.

A similar hack that pulls power from the iPhone dock connector can be found in the book iPhone Hacks.

In the Maker Shed:

iPhone Hacks

August 11, 2009

iPhone trick camera lenses

It's often said that the best camera is the one on you. These readymade snap-on lenses for the iPhone are a fun addition to a spur of the moment snapshot.

[via TalkiPhone]

August 9, 2009

3D-fabbed "owl wrap" for headphones

Eric Weinhoffer made this owl wrap for his Skullcandy Ink'd in-ear headphones on his Makerbot.

Owl Headphone Wrap

More:
John Park's earbud owl
3D-printed 7-piece puzzle cube

August 5, 2009

Prototype iPhone mini jack magstripe reader

The prototype iPhone payment system Square, currently in testing at a trendy clothing store in NYC, has been generating a lot of buzz for the past couple of days. What caught my attention was its use of the mini jack as a communication port. Often overlooked as a means of transferring data, the microphone/audio port on the iPhone is accessible from the standard iPhone SDK. If you're curious about using the mini jack port, the hardware chapter of the book iPhone Hacks has a number of hacks that utilize the the mini jack for uni- and bi-directional communication.

In addition to magstripe readers, IR remotes, modems, and keyboards, the mini jack is suitable for building almost any low-speed peripheral requiring bidirectional communication using inexpensive components. Since the release of the v3.0 SDK the iPhone development community has been excited about the possibilities of the iPhone doc connector. However, using the mini jack over the doc connector not only shaves off some manufacturing costs, but by using a standardized connector the peripheral can be used by other devices like, for instance, the OLPC XO.

[via mobilewhack]

In the Maker Shed:

iPhone Hacks

August 3, 2009

Nomadic Standard Time

Steve Roberts, the "high-tech nomad," was one of my first hardware hacking heroes. I just started following him on Twitter, and via his feed, found this other nomadness site, Technomadia. It chronicles the technomadic lives of Cherie Ve Ard & Chris Dunphy. In this post, they talk about being on "Nomadic Standard Time," and about the concept of "nomadic serendipity."

The downside to living a life without a firm itinerary is that it's awfully difficult to convey arrival times and destinations. When we don't know where we'll be even tonight, how can I tell our next rendezvous or host when to expect us? At first, this caused me a great deal of stress. Either we were rushing to meet a plan we conveyed, or we were afraid of leaving friends and family in a state of limbo.

It actually once contributed to a pretty major highway scare for us because we were pushing too hard to make an arrival date. Spinning down the interstate jack-knifed while towing a trailer was a wake-up call. Never again.

And thus now when conveying potential plans I always prefaces all dates and times being on NST - or Nomadic Standard Time.

A nomad, like a wizard, always arrives precisely when they are meant to.

Looking at their site, I had a moment of true wanderlust and thought: Hey, maybe *I* should become a technomad. It could happen. Since all my work is online, I can do it from anywhere, with the right tech.

Living on NST - Nomadic Standard Time

July 28, 2009

Fishing net calls when it's full

From AfriGadget:

Pascal Katana, a Fourth Year student at the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, developed an electronic device that 'automates' fishing. The trap employs amplification of the sound made by fish while feeding. The acoustic signals are radiated and attract other fish who head toward the direction of the source thinking there is food there.
Once a good catch is detected by a net weighing mechanism, it triggers a GPRS/GSM device attached to the system and the fisherman gets a call/sms informing him that his catch is ready. Pascal is in the process of developing a by-catch control system which will ensure that his contraption doesn't cause overfishing.

Fish 'call' the Fisherman

July 24, 2009

Cameraphone microscope extension revisited

Back in March of 2008 we mentioned a class project from a group of UC Berkeley students working to develop a microscope extension for cameraphones. Led by Daniel Fletcher, the team has since updated their prototype, which is capable of acquiring objects at 1.2 micrometers across. In it's current form the device attaches to a Nokia N73 and is capable of viewing color images of malaria parasites and individual blood cells at 3.2Mp. This low-cost solution is used for telemedicine applications in developing worlds, where access to cellphone networks are more prevalent.

Could u txt me ur blood sample? [via RegisterHardware]

July 22, 2009

Unofficial Find My iPhone API

@brady over at radar.oreilly.com has an excellent summary of what some folks are already doing to integrate Apple's new Find My iPhone service into their location aware applications. He speculates formalization of these techniques into a service and offers meaningful use cases, citing established applications, that would benefit from granular location data. People are building real world apps against this service and a community is forming around its use.

[via radar.oreilly.com]

July 21, 2009

Makeshift handlebar smartphone mount

Maker Sebastian Dwornik needed a way to mount a mobile device to his mountain bike to field test some software he'd written. If you've ever tried this, you know what a pain it is to try to strap something small on to your handlebars, not to mention things can get pretty banged up while you're out-and-about. His solution, though crude, turned out to be quite effective.

The secret comes in the form of a brilliant product called Model Magic. Originally designed for young children to express their creative talents through modeling with it. The material is safe, clean, cheap, and air-dries within 24 hours to a firm and rubbery substance that holds the shape it was molded in.

It makes for an excellent shock absorber as well as a perfect fit for any device you sculpt it for. You can even paint it any colour afterward, but I just left it stock white for simplicity.

July 20, 2009

Android on dual-boot Nokia N95

Munch from Belgrade seems to have shoehorned Google's Android OS onto a dual-boot Nokia N95. The demo videos are rather grainy, but you can make out Android booting up and Google Maps running fullscreen. Munch vows to release the code for installation October 5th on his blog.

~~If you manage to get this running on your N95 when it's released, leave a note in the comments.~~

Update: turns out to be a complete fake.

[via gizmodo]

July 17, 2009

Portable music rig in Pelican case

Tom Phillipson, an Australian electronic musician, sent us a link to this YouTube video of his portable performance rig, housed in a Pelican case.

The setup consists of a modified Pelican case that enables the rack mounting of equipment. This means I can be setup and ready to play in under 4 minutes. Hardware includes Virus Snow, Virus C, M-Audio Audiophile, Numark CM200USB 5 Channel Mixer, Novation SL25 Compact, iPod + TouchOSC.
The custom patch bay includes XLR Lamp XLR & RCA OUT, RCA IN to Channel 5 fader, RCA IN to input on Virus C, RCA IN to line in on M-Audio.

He says it took about five months to complete and was all designed, constructed, and soldered together by himself.

Pelican Case MOD - Live Setup

July 13, 2009

Plam Pre hacked to run on Verizon

Here's a short video from PreCentral user Cleanser showing off his Palm Pre hacked to run on Verizon's network. It's not perfect. Apparently the data portion isn't working, but at least it's a start.

Only problem is that I can't get data to work. Apparently webOS is checking to see if the device is provisioned or not before allowing a data session to take place. So my next step would be to somehow bypass this provisioning check.

Boot Android from live CD

Have you considered using Google's Android OS for a project, but didn't want to resort to using an emulator or purchasing a phone? You're in luck. Live-Android's disk image allows you to boot from a CD and is a simple way to get up and running without the worry of trashing your current system.

[via downloadsquad]

July 10, 2009

Simon Mwaura's junk-built home automation system

The really cool thing about the maker featured in this YouTube video is that his home automation system is cobbled together from salvaged components and bits of junk. My advice is to ignore the insipid voice-over and fast-forward to 0:23, where the good stuff starts. Via AfriGadget.

July 7, 2009

Music video shot on iPhone 3GS

This fantastic music video from Reyna Perez entitled "Love Love Love" was shot entirely on an iPhone 3GS. Though not the first music video shot using a cameraphone, this video features quality production courtesy of the fine folks at m ss ng p eces and an enchanting song by Ms. Perez.

[via boingboing]

July 3, 2009

3G on Dell Mini 9

Some mobile carriers have started selling subsidized netbooks with integrated 3G radios. If you've already got a netbook and enjoy the form factor, but would rather not have to plug in a dongle, here's a quick run-through for integrating a Novatel EU850D 3G radio into a Dell Mini 9 that should give you an idea of what such a project entails.

How-to: 3G to Dell Mini 9. Not so easy way.. [via jkkmobile]

June 30, 2009

QR Code ruglette

Nikolaus Gradwohl, an Austrian MAKE subscriber, created a QR code of his mother's name that she can weave into the rugs she makes. Our very own Becky Stern was showing off her knitted QR code scarf at the Mini Maker Square at the Google I/O conference last month. She hadn't had much luck with getting phonecams to successfully scan the code before, but a number of people at the conference were able to read it.

QR-Code Carpet

June 26, 2009

How to make a cheap tripod mount for the iPhone 3GS

Cheap iPod Mount

C.K. Sample III (author of PSP Hacks) just posted his technique for making an iPod tripod mount; he used the form-fitting packing material that came in the box as the basis of the holder. You could probably extend his technique to a lot of other gadgets, too:

I was thinking about this tonight, and remembered the nice little white holster of plastic that came in the box of my iPhone 3GS and cradled it so nicely. So, I took that, took a 3/16 drill bit and drilled a hole where the camera is and another where the recycle symbol was on the back of the plastic holster. I shaped each hole slightly wider using the drill. The recycle symbol hole was just the right size to be a bit tight for the mounting screw, so that the screw itself could tap its own path tightly in the plastic hold...

How to make a cheap tripod mount for the iPhone 3GS