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The Nokia N800/N810/N900 has limited CPU. It is a portable device with fairly long battery life, so this is understandable. However, playback of DVDs or other videos can use the battery beyond what is needed for the screen size. According to Nokia, the optimal playback for video is 400 pixels.

Below is a small script to convert a list of input videos into the “best” quality for our Nokia Internet Tablets. The output does not playback with the built-in Media Player, but plays nicely with mplayer – or gmplayer if you want a GUI.

This script was updated 7/2010 to reduced FPS so when multitasking, the N800 does not become over committed for CPU. I chose 14.985 fps because it seemed to have acceptable playback and acceptable visuals. The fact that it is exactly half the original source frames makes the transcode happen quickly too. If you find the 15 FPS is too much, 20 or 25 FPS will work pretty well too.

#!/bin/sh
# This is for really simple XVID conversion to 400 x whatever, retaining aspect
# Input filenames with spaces are not supported due to the ability to have multiple input files. 
#     Remove the loop to support a single input file with spaces.
# This is a 1-pass solution, so quality could be improved using a 2-pass method
SCALE=",scale=400:-3"
XVIDENCOPTS="fixed_quant=4:max_key_interval=250:trellis:max_bframes=1:vhq=3"
FRAMES="-ofps 15000/1001"

for filename in $@ ; do
   IN=$filename
   nice /usr/bin/mencoder "$IN" $FRAMES -oac mp3lame -lameopts preset=128 -ovc xvid \
                -vf lavcdeint${SCALE} -noodml -forceidx -ffourcc XVID \
                -xvidencopts ${XVIDENCOPTS} -of avi -o "${IN}-n800.avi"
done

For me, this script works quickly and with about 90% of the input files. Basically, anything that mplayer can play (which is just about any non-DRM video files), then you can transcode. I bet other portable media devices like the iPhone, iTouch, and Android-based devices will like this format too.

I’ve used this with FLV, MPEG2 1280i HD, and everything in between to bring it to my N800 so I don’t get bored during workouts or airplane flights. Enjoy.

There’s a new competitor to Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Smartphones available, the Peek Pronto.

It looks like the RIM 957 with color. No phone or web browser, just email and texting. This is great for companies that want their people connected, but not with a cell phone ripe for abuse.

I’m concerned when an email-only device doesn’t clearly state the security features. A lack of network and data encryption and remote wiping is discouraging. At a minimum, HTTPS and IMAPS and POP3S need to be clearly supported. A device password lock with encrypted file system would be easy to add, IME. In that way, even if the device were lost, the data on it would be protected provided the password wasn’t hacked. Of course, real security goes beyond a “password” and complex passwords, autolocking, mandatory change periods, no password reuse, etc. are needed too.

But keeping it simple is a good thing. The Pronto seems to do this.

• email (5 acnts),
• texting,
• view images,
• view DOCs and PDFs.
• No web.
• No cell phone.

4/2009

• $80 for the device.
• $20/month for nationwide GSM service

There is an older device that is cheaper, has the same monthly plan costs, but doesn’t support text or anything other than email.

Blackberry Still Wins

Blackberry security still beats all the hand held devices, that hasn’t changed. Windows Mobile devices win on flexibility. Both cost significantly more than the Peek-Pronto.

Netbooks are becoming more and more viable to replace all these devices for those who need to get work done while on the road, not just check email.

Nokia Internet Tablets

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love the Nokia N800/N810 Internet Tablets. These devices should be on any list that a Peek Pronto is on and any list that an iTouch, WM6, Blackberry or Netbook is on too. Both the N800 and iTouch use WiFi and Bluetooth for connectivity – no data plan is required, therefore, no monthly data plan is required. This is a major plus.

Summary

The Peek Pronto is a low end email device that requires a monthly data plan to be useful. Security may or may not meet your requirements. We can’t tell based on the advertising.

This page was written without actually touching or seeing the device ourselves. It is based on what the getpeek website says (and doesn’t say). Without touching the device, it is impossible to determine whether the keyboard feel is good or not. That can be a critical decision factor for hand held devices.

How to GPS Tag photos with your Nokia N800 and GPSbabel … The instructions here are not really specific to a Nokia N800, so other GPS units should use very similar steps. Only the GPSBabel part will probably change options based on your GPS device.

I’ve been taking my N800 and bluetooth GPS receiver on my hikes. Really just as a way to track approximate mileage. After doing that a few months, it seemed there had to be a way to put the GPS lat/lon into my photos. There is. A few other uses for GPS data, beyond the obvious:

1. Retain your track data
2. Estimate distance covered
3. GPS tag your photos
4. Share your track as a route for other hikers
5. Post a track on Google Maps for others – nice visualization with all the zoom and pan that you expect from google.
6. Mark the actual location of a landmark – waterfall, lookout point, or geocache

So far I’ve retained many of my tracks, but not been able to view them except on the N800. That’s useful, to a point. I’d really like to record them and create a database of visual tracks that is viewable on google maps for my friends to view. The real idea is to create a database of local hikes with trailheads, distances and difficulty ratings to help select future hikes.

Enter gpsbabel

Gpsbabel is a tool converts GPS data between many, many different devices and formats that runs on any platform – win32, unix, linux, N800. It supports conversion between … I guess about 50 different formats. My need is to convert N800/Maemo-Mapper GPX data into something GoogleMaps can use, KML. Originally, I thought gmaps supported GPX too, but that never worked well enough and had limited waypoint support. Yes, KML is the best answer for this.

Conversion steps for maemo-mapper gpx files into kml files that google-maps can display.

1. Get the GPX file off your N800 … somehow (scp, ftp, pull the memory card and copy the data, whatever)
2. Use gpsbabel to convert the file to KML.

   gpsbabel -t -i gpx -f “$1” -o kml,points=0 -F “$1.kml”

   points=0 option drops some data, so the resulting track isn’t exact.
3. Move the .KML file to a web server that googlemaps can access, anywhere really, on your desktop probably isn’t gonna work.
4. Have google maps display the data – a sample Laughing Falls, NC by fashioning a URL like the link here. Basically, you use http://maps.google.com/maps?q={full-URL-to-file.kml} The file can be waypoints, traces or routes as far as I can tell.

The result isn’t a nice track until you uncheck the Points on the resulting page. Also, I’ve tried to get gpsbabel to reduce the track to a radius around the importance locations, but that isn’t working. Loading gpsbabel was trivial on my Ubuntu laptop and desktop –

sudo apt-get install gpsbabel

, if memory serves.

No Google API key needed for this method either, which is nice.

Another helpful tool for geocaching and the N800 is gpsview. It connects to the GPS receiver and performs bearing math for you. It also helps calm the GPS data and average it out so you know where you are with a higher degree of accuracy after a few minutes, GPS data floats about 50 feet, IME. This tool is very helpful with some geocache hints. So, you have a location and need a bearing for the next cache location or you have a bearing and need a new lat/lon. gpsview does those calculations. I’d post a link, but I can’t find it now. Perhaps it was in the OS2008 depot and just loaded when I selected it.

Get out there and find some fun caches or just hike and know how close you are to roads and streams and where you’ve already been. There’s something fun about searching for a hidden location/waterfall, finding it, then taking an almost direct path back to your car.

Enter gpsPhoto.pl to tag your photos with GPS data

Tagging your photos with GPS coordinates:

gpsPhoto.pl —gpsfile HT-File.gpx \


	
Camera & GPS times match

            —timeoffset 0 \
	
Find closest GPS point (2 minutes)

            —maxtimediff 180 —dir ./ 

I came across a CSV list of waterfalls, converted it into KML and here’s the resulting googlemaps link. I know it is missing many water falls. I’ve been to some that are fairly large and they aren’t in the list. I have no idea how accurate any of these GPS points are either. YMMV.

Now that we have placed our GPS data into the photos, many of the photo hosting sites will display that either on a map or as part of the extra data. I’ve hacked together some GPS code for MyPhotoGallery that will link to google map locations for any photos that contain GPS data. Here’s an example of the EXIF data and Google Maps link that is added to every image displayed in the gallery.

Embedded EXIF data
Camera: SONY DSC-W55
Exposure: 1/160 sec.
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal length: 6.3 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: No
Date taken: Feb 21, 2009 at 3:17:21 PM
GPS: 34.135167,-84.704180

I’ve also hacked search into the perl and provided the search updates back to the original developer. He elected to remove search from his code many years ago. If you are interested in my changes photo gallery, they are hacks, let me know. If there is enough interest, I’ll post them for all.

Many of us have lots of music on our home network. I spent months converting my audio CD collection into MP3 and organizing the files.

Organization

At the time, I didn’t trust ID3 tags inside MP3 files.
My organization was/is directory based. /{genre}/{artist}/{album}/{track_no-title}.mp3

It was a lot of work to keep that since “genre” is often subjective. Is it lite rock or easy listening? OTOH, almost every player supports “random” and you’ll get only artists that you like since you’ll probably only convert music you like.

Streaming

I installed gnump3 on my Linux server. This is an-all-in one perl-based media streaming server. No external web server used – it has a built in streaming server. It supports simple authentication and blocking/allowing access by IP address. Of course, when you travel, allowing any IP access, but retaining the login is a good idea. Here’s 1 screen, there are many different skins available

This is really old news. Almost everyone who wants a streaming media server probably already has one setup. Why bother with this? Well, if you have a Nokia N800 (or similar), then perhaps you’d like to stream audio anywhere in your home. The browser-based interface is simple and will pull a M3U file that the N800 Media Player app works with. Other computers and media devices in your home can also listen to this music. Imaging, Sunday morning, when you’re reading the newspaper and listening to Bach. Nice.

Backups!

Obviously, if you spend the time to convert a large audio collection into digital formats, you’d like to never do it again. Definitely back up those files. I took an old IDE disk drive and copied all those media files over to it. Then that disk is placed on a shelf. This is the best backup method – better than burning DVDs, CDROMs, or even tape. Hard drives effectively have no end of life when they aren’t used. Realistically, the EOL happens when you no longer have a PC that can connect to the drive. As a simple example, can you read a 5.25" floppy drive today? Anyway, when you spend as much time and convert all your own music personally, you will want a backup, period.

For the last few years, we’ve all seen the iPhone, iTouch, WindowsMobile, and Blackberry options for portable computing. Each has there place, especially when you aren’t paying for them.

I have a few problems with them – the radio and that they aren’t general purpose computers with lots and lots of free software. Basically, I wanted a platform that could do the following things in a highly portable container, securely, with great battery life.

1. IMAPS email to my server
2. Browse the real web, not some mobile-limited sites only
3. wifi with WPA2 as the default network
4. Skype and SIP clients for voice calls (I use my cell phone tho)
5. MP3 playback (other formats supported too) OGG or other codecs you decide, not Apple
6. Occasional video playback – mp4 and many, many other formats via mplayer
7. rsync/ssh to servers
8. Mapping/GPS (with a tiny GPS Receiver added on)
9. Blogging and note taking device (with an iGo Bluetooth keyboard)
10. Nearly unlimited expansion via memory (SD cards)
11. disconnected from the cell network, so the connectivity can be upgraded outside this device. I use a cheap Motorola cell phone with a 3G data plan via Bluetooth when there’s no wifi available.
12. USB connectivity to pull photos from a camera during travels (yes, swapping memory would be better, but I sadly bought a Sony camera). External HD also support this way.
13. Youtube to kill some time. Other video formats are supported, but some are challenging for playback – it is only a 400MHz CPU after all. That doesn’t mean you can’t convert with a simple script into whatever format works best.
14. High res screen (800×480)

So there’s a bunch of bluetooth happening here. Why? Bluetooth connection mean the cell phone radio can be upgraded as desired – -fairly cheaply. It also stays in the backpack – same for the GPS receiver, and keyboard if you plan to type much.

My solution? Why, a Nokia N800. It runs Linux, so there are many, many free applications. It is backed by Nokia, so there’s a commercial GPS app. I use Maemo Mapper – completely free. Since it runs Linux, when I’m at home, I can ssh into the device and setup files, move music or other files over, and pull photos off it. The uses are nearly unlimited and completely under your control.

The best part? In Feb 2008, an N800 costs $219. That’s half the price of an iPhone – with no monthly data plan payment needed. AND I can load the apps I like, not just apps that Apple or Nokia think I should. Pick an audio file format, you can probabaly use it, provided the DRM works. If it doesn’t, convert it to any format you like – FLAC, OGG, MP3, MP4, whatever you need. Same for video.

The Nokia isn’t perfect. Typing without an external keyboard sucks. It is a read-only device then. That means replying to email isn’t something you’ll do very much. If that’s what you need – get a Blackberry. But when you are portable and on the move, read-only is generally what you need. Reading PDF docs, recording voice notes, using Skype for international calls, using the GPS to find a shortcut or simply listening to your favorite music for a few hours on an airplane. The N800 does all these things nicely, without the extra cost of the other alternatives or the weight of a full laptop. Even taking a keyboard, GPS receiver, and tiny router, we’re still way under the size and weight of most laptops.

Sometimes you just want a small cell phone and don’t want to carry more. How’s that iPhone then? Some more reasons
and a demo of an N770 you may like. That is an older model.

Comparison between the N800 and iTouch might be better? They cost about the same amount. Here’s the big differences, as I see them:

1. swap the memory or not?
2. General purpose browser (Mozilla) or specialized?
3. OSS Apps or Apple-only approved apps?
4. clunky UI or beautifully designed UI? – this could be important to some
5. Multitude of audio file formats supported like FLAC, OGG, MP3, whatever or just iTunes?
6. Multitude of video file formats supported (mp4, avi, mpg2, whatever or just iTunes?
7. IMAPS email or not?
8. GPS or not?
9. Skype or not?
10. Lots of peripherals or lots of expensive peripherals?
11. General purpose portable computer or specific Music player?

It’s your choice. How much is usability on a limited device worth?

This week, my GoPass GPT800 Bluetooth GPS Receiver SiRF Star III from Amazon arrived. The plan was to pair this with my N800 (already paired). It was charged overnight and ready for use today. I didn’t get outside much, but it was able to lock onto 8 satellites even while in my den. Impressive for $35.

In the box:

1. Bluetooth GPS Receiver (about 1″×1.5″×0.4″ in size)
2. Li-Ion Battery
3. Car cigarette power adapter
4. USB travel power adapter
5. Mini-USB to USB charging cable
6. Software CD – I didn’t need this at all;
   • it contains the installation manual for WinME, etc. with some of the most impressive Engrish that I’ve ever seen.
7. Quick start pamphlet with the bluetooth code
8. (2) lanyards for the device (light/dark)

Walking around the house, it showed altitude, direction and speed. The numbers seemed reasonable. Even when not moving, just turning it changed the direction output.

I can’t wait to go hiking and geocaching or even get lost in rural South Carolina like a few weeks ago. Even if I don’t have the correct map, at least I’ll know where I am and hopefully have a POI nearby. I’m guessing that I’ll be able to place this in a backpack and it will still receive and BT connect to the N800.

Ok, so it works with the defacto GPS software on the N800 – Maemo-Mapper.
I pulled gpsbabel-1.3.3.zip off Freshmeat.net to convert from/to whatever format is needed for POI files.
I mirrored a huge number of POI files that I found through google. No registration needed. It appears I need to convert the POIs that I want into GPX format, move those files to the N800 and run a script to load them into the poi.db that Maemo-Mapper uses. It can’t be that challenging.

Technology and Travel – what is the minimal ultralight, ultraportable computing solution? There are many ways to accomplish a lightweight technology pack, this is simply mine. It has been tested in travels to Hong Kong, Costa Rica (city and cloud forest), Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls, Argentina, then for a road trip in the eastern USA. We aren’t talking overnight trips, these where 2 week trips each, so this setup is proven.

In General, you want these items

1. Cell phone – GSM with a replaceable SIM card, data plan
2. Portable camera – be certain the memory is compatible with other devices and have a charged, extra, battery
3. Portable computer – I use a Nokia N800
   1. encrypted personal files; encryption software with plausible deniability
   2. Skype
   3. email
   4. web browser
   5. any specialized software you need
4. Portable keyboard – if not built in
5. MP3/Video player
6. GPS or other Mapping device + a simple compass
7. Method to connect the computer, camera, keyboard, MP3 player and to the Internet
   • Bluetooth
   • Cables
   • WiFi Travel Router
8. Chargers – use USB when possible and have the widest voltage, current, wattage support. 100V-240V and 50Hz-60Hz; basically, it is just a plug compatibility issue and no transformer is needed
9. Power plug converters for the locale
10. Sound isolation headphones
11. USB thumb drive with encrypted files
    1. Passport images
    2. Personal contact list(s) Family, Work, Friends (also carry a paper version)

My specifics

1. Cheapo Motorola V195 w/ Bluetooth and data. If I lose this, it doesn’t really matter.
2. SONY DSC-55W camera w/ USB connector cable and USB—>miniUSB converter (my next camera will use SDHC memory)
3. Nokia N800 Internet Tablet (PDA sized Linux computer)
4. iGo Bluetooth Keyboard (N800 doesn’t include a usable keyboard)
5. Zen Vision:M MP3/MP4 player (not needed since the N800 can do this easily)
6. Mapping software is built into the N800 (Maemo Mapper)
7. Bluetooth GPS Reciever (tether to N800 or just get the N810)
8. Compass is on my whistle/flashlight/mirror/magnifying glass device
9. SONY has a proprietary charger for their camera battery, but the camera takes 300+ photos between charges. That’s usually a few days for most people. For me, that’s 1 day at most. Charged, extra battery. 2×4GB memory cards. 4GB is a 2 week trip of photos for me. Throw in the other 4GB for 30 second videos.
10. USB charger – Cellphone, MP3 player share.
11. Nokia N800 has a proprietary charger, but has long battery life with nominal use – 2+ days.
12. US$6 power plug kit (cheapo)
13. D-Link Travel WiFi Router
14. Sure e2c headphones

Test it all BEFORE you leave AND make a written packing checklist

Go to a friends home with this stuff and take a photo, transfer it to the computer, upload it to your server back home. Next, write a blog entry. Did it all work?

There’s nothing worse than getting to a location and finding out that you can’t transfer videos because you don’t have a cable or connector or way to connect to the internet. The N800 only supports WiFi or Bluetooth network connections, not an RJ45 cable. Some hotels don’t have wifi yet, but do have wired Internet connections. I’d be SOL in that case.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Maemo-Mapper, we’d all be better served by an Asus Eee overall. But when you take the mobile part of this solution into account, it is hard to beat it. Yes, the Sony camera complicates things more than necessary, but that camera has HUGE battery life that is doubtful to be matched by other portable cameras.

I’ve found this pack of technology to be the best trade off in weight, functionality, access, and convenience. Today, I might change out the N800 for an N810 that includes a built-in keyboard and a GPS device, but it also removes the external SD memory card slot that will be critical for my next camera.

What does your travel technology pack look like?

Want to know more? Here’s a better description of what is possible with the N800. You don’t need the N95 at all. Simply pair your N800 with any bluetooth phone with a data plan.

Technology and Travel – what to take?

In General, you want these items

1. Cell phone – GSM with a replaceable SIM card, data plan
2. Portable camera – be certain the memory is compatible with other devices and have an extra battery
3. Portable computer – I use a Nokia N800
   1. encrypted personal files; encryption software with plausible deniability
   2. Skype
   3. email
   4. web browser
   5. any specialized software you need
4. Portable keyboard (if not built in)
5. MP3/Video player
6. GPS or other Mapping device + a simple compass
7. Method to connect the computer, camera, keyboard, MP3 player and to the Internet
   • Bluetooth
   • Cables
   • WiFi Travel Router
8. Chargers – use USB when possible and have the widest voltage, current, wattage support. 100V-240V and 50Hz-60Hz; basically, it is just a plug compatibility issue and no transformer is needed
9. Sound isolation headphones
10. USB thumb drive with encrypted files
    1. Passport images
    2. Personal contact list(s) Family, Work, Friends (also carry a paper version)

My specifics

1. Cheapo Motorola V195 w/ Bluetooth and data
2. SONY DSC-55W camera w/ USB connector cable and USB—>miniUSB converter (my next camera will use SDHC memory that is compatible with the N800)
3. Nokia N800 Internet Tablet (N810 includes GPS and Keyboard)
4. iGo Bluetooth Keyboard
5. Zen Vision:M MP3/MP4 player (N800 can easily perform this task now)
6. Mapping software, Maemo Mapper, is built into the N800 (no GPS)
7. Compass is on my whistle/flashlight/mirror/magnifying glass device
8. SONY has a proprietary charger for their camera battery, but the camera takes 300+ photos between charges. That’s usually a few days for most people. For me, that’s 1 day at most. Bring an extra battery that is charged!
9. Cellphone and MP3 player share a USB charger
10. Nokia N800 has a proprietary charger, but has long battery life with nominal use – 2+ days.
11. D-Link Travel WiFi Router since some hotels only provide wired ethernet

Test it all BEFORE you leave AND make a written packing checklist

Go to a friends home with all the stuff your plan to take, take a photo, transfer it to the computer, upload it to your server back home. Next, write a blog entry. Did it all work?

There’s nothing worse than getting to a location and finding out that you can’t transfer videos because you don’t have a cable or connector or way to connect to the internet. The N800 only supports WiFi or Bluetooth network connections, not an RJ45 cable. Some hotels don’t have wifi yet, but do have wired Internet connections. I’d be SOL in that case.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great snapshot camera, February 18, 2008

I bought this camera for an international trip. It worked as expected.

Things I loved:

• Video mode for capturing sound and the "feel" of a place
• ISO 1000 non-flash mode
• EXIF data included in JPG files
• Fantastic battery life – I took 300+ photos daily and the battery barely dropped below 90% capacity (recharge nightly for heavy use days)
• Form factor
• Automatic focus works almost every time
• easy zoom switch

Changes I’d change:

• Stiffer "mode wheel" – it was changed easily when putting the camera in my pocket
• higher ISO modes – 1000 wasn’t high enough to capture the night Chinese New Years parade in Kowloon China. I have lots of blurry images. ISO-3200 would have been nice at night.
• include a mode that prevents digital zoom – limit it to optical zoom capabilities
• motorized lens cover and zoom; seems this will be the first thing to break
• Menu isn’t intuitive to me
• Add a quick resolution change mode for 7, 5, 3 MegaPixel resolutions. By default, I use 3, but for fine art, I’d like to change to 7 without diving into the full menu system.
• ‘’Memory should be SD, not Sony memory stick’’
  - ‘’Plug for transfers should be USB, not proprietary’’
  - ‘’Battery charger should be over USB, not external or proprietary’’
  - ‘’higher optical zoom’’ 3x isn’t quite enough.

My next camera will:
a) avoid the Sony memory stick-based cameras and go with a SD, Mini/MicroSD based solution for compatibility with my other portable devices (Nokia N800 Portable Internet Tablet) and built-in laptop ports.
b) support higher ISO modes for better night time pictures without flash
c) USB for charging and file transfers
d) more than 3x optical zoom.

Nokia USB Host Mode

Ok, here’s my issue

• Sony Camera using SONY Memory Stick Duo memory
• Nokia N800 that supports SD/Mini/MicroSD memory, not Memory Stick
  How do I transfer pictures from the camera to the N800 so I can upload/email them around the world? No solution as of March 2008.

SOLVED!
USB HostControl – hopefully, this will work for you too. It took more than a few times to get my N800 to see the SONY camera, but eventually, /media/usb/sda1 showed up and was available in File Manager. There was some lag in accessing the files and directories on the camera. I had to put the camera in Mass Storage mode and put the N800 in Host mode using the USB HostControl utility. Don’t worry about the USB device not Supported message once the sda1 shows up.

I’m thinking a shell script is needed to pull the photos ASAP off the camera. Then scp them to my server just like I do with a normal winxp Pc.
--

• To enable host mode you’ll need to become root, and then run

$ echo host> /sys/devices/platform/musb_hdrc/mode
*plug something in with fingers crossed.
*I got the ‘USB device not Supported’ message, but don’t worry. File Manager opened and off I went.
*To go back to normal operation:

$ echo otg > /sys/devices/platform/musb_hdrc/mode

USB Host Mode didn’t work for my 7-in-1 memory card reader. It didn’t initially work for a direct connection between the camera and N800, but eventually it did.

It would have been much easier to get a camera that natively supports SD/micro/miniSD cards instead. Then I could have simply swapped the SD card from the camera into the N800. Live and learn.

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