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Handhelds Hardware

Japanese PDA Hacks and Customizations 59

Posted by CmdrTaco from the god-we-need-some-translations dept.
the80y writes "For some of us hacking everything we own is obligatory. Well for all of us of this nature who own a Palm or Visor check out this Japanese site @ 'Palm de COOL!' it has the most intense customizations i have yet to see. I just wish I was fluent in Japanese not every thing is mirrored in English. Does any one know if there are similar sights in English espeacialy relating to replacement cases (i.e. clear cases) available for the Palm IIIc?" My favorite is the crank to power a palm if your battery dies. Unfortunately I haven't watched enough anime to translate this stuff *grin*. Anyway, you can figure out a lot of this just from the pictures and the english parts.
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Japanese PDA Hacks and Customizations More

Japanese PDA Hacks and Customizations

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  • Crank? (Score:4)

    by MWoody ( 222806 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2000 @01:18PM (#781644)
    I dunno... I'm not sure I like that 'crank' idea:

    Me: "Damn, batteries out again. Well let's try this crank thingy... *grunt* Wow, this is tough. *grunt* *heave* *whiirrrrrrr* *grunt*"

    Housemate: "Martin, what ya doin' in there?"

    Me: "Just turnin' the old Palm crank."

    Housemate: "Uh, have fun..."

    My reputation is bad enough after the hamster incident, thank you very much.
    ---
  • After more digging, it turns out that the IDE-> hack can be done with a single 100ohm resistor...http://www.overclockin.com/revie ws/PromiseUltra66/ [overclockin.com]
  • It was a neat idea - get two guys in a stadium surrounded by odds and ends of electronics and Nipponese kitch, give em an hour to see what kind of mods they can come up with.

    "Fuzui-san!"

    "Go ahead!"

    "Looks like he's going for a "change the LED's to pink" modification. Oh no! Some solder's dripped down the side and marked up his Bad Batdz-Maru clear case! That'll cost him points!"

    But tell me, who was the "Aunty" looking guy in the robe with the eyeliner?
  • Sir Trevor Ballis is the inventor of the clockwork radio. He spoke at my college graduation three years ago and I remember him telling us three things:

    1. Beware of vulture capitalists.
    2. If you have a good idea, keep your mouth shut.
    3. He was working on a clockwork power source for laptops.

  • You probably want to take a look at the Brass Cannon [nic.com] pages for information about a Solar recharging modification.

    If you consider using the thin-film cells from Jade mountain [jademountain.com], you can mount them on a standard 3Com/Palm flip lid, by using ring crimp-on connectors, positioned over the ears of the lid and the holes on your Pilot.

  • Translation (Score:3)

    by tedtimmons ( 97599 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2000 @02:12PM (#781649) Homepage
    Here's a translation of that article, courtesey of some online translator.

    http://www.perljam.net/whatsnew-en.html [perljam.net]

    You're welcome.

    -ted

    PS if someone wants to go through and edit the html for grammar, they can email it to me and I'll repost it at the same location. email is slashdot-at-perljam.net

  • ...If I had the link I'd post it.

    Gotcher back. :)

    Try Palm Colors [palmcolors.com] for solid-color and crystal cases for the Personal/Professional and III.

    Or at least you can try them when they actually get around to shipping product. Or something. People have been waiting a while.

  • That's where the scew-driver in the Visor's stylus comes in handy - I haven't had to use it for that yet though.
  • wow, I have never heard of this before but this is damn cool.. i was just about to buy an ata100 controller card, but now that i've seen this i'll step down and get the raid set up.. 2x 30 gb probably striped.. thanks a bunch.
  • Will one single post from this crappy, troll-infested article make it past +2?
  • Shame that there is no such thing as transparent metal :(
  • http://www.fureai.or.jp/~mori-t/e_whatsnew.html

    The site does have english translation on it.

    Hmmm. article submitters not reading the pages they are submitting. How cute.
  • Keeerist; he wants $250 per case? Is he doing these by hand? Might as well get yourself a PalmV for $40 more.
    I remember Slashdot had a quickie [slashdot.org] about his first custom case (I think the link is dead) that he did by hand. You would think he'd have the milling process automated to the point that he'd be able to just slap two aluminium blocks in a vice and walk away.

  • And of course you'd have to run HairyPalm [http].

    From the L0pht description:
    Taking a step back to the early age of computer pornography. HairyPalm is a collection of Apple ][ adult animation demos.


    Ain't technology grand?

  • Oh, and a quick look on Deja found Palmmate [palmmate.site.gl], which sells semi-translucent III cases, and matching flip-covers in six diffrent colors.

  • You can stop by <a href="http://www.dave.com/">http://www.dave.com/</ a> and pick up some very nice aluminum cases for your PalmIII. Be warned these are price, mostly because I think he has to pay the machine off. I havent found any clear buttons but an aluminum case with clear buttons and the blue night rider led mod would be so sweet. If only palm would make a PalmIII indiglo insted of the green backlightin.

    IceBerg
  • Clear and other translucent cases can be found at Palm Colors [hhtp]. Get one to match your iWhack or G4.

    -----
  • That must be it.
    Moderators, can I borrow your pipe? My bowl must be a lot smaller than yours, cause obviously you smoked a really big rock before moderating.

    Please, pray tell, why the above (funny) comment was modded down as a 'troll'? This *is* an article about modifying Palms...

    --K
    ---
  • Regardless of what the Lego corporation wants, the vernacular indicates that 'legos' is a completely acceptable plural. Such guidelines for language are silly. The vernacular will dictate the proper form of the future. Language is Open Source...with a lot of renegade patches and forks.
  • The palm 3e was offerred for a limited time with a clear case to palm developers.

    It was also offered for a while as a sort of "back-to-school" special. I would imagine that you could probably dredge up one for pretty cheap on an auction site; they went for only $150 or so new, IIRC.

  • Try unscrewing the other end of the stylus... Mine has a reset pin under the writing tip end and a micro phillips screwdriver under the other end...
  • Huh? Screwdriver? Is this the official stylus? I have a Visor deluxe and there's nothing like a screwdriver that came with it.

    ...however I don't know why the stylus wasn't documented better. If you unscrew the tip, it becomes a tool precicely engineered to hit the reset button. Try it some time, the measurements are precise.

    I think maybe the instructions recommend a paperclip because some engineer snuck the feature in at the last minute.

    (I didn't see it in any CAD files for the stylus either.)
  • There's probably some kind of deep cultural/psychological analysis to be made here, but there are some simple economic reasons for the Japanese obsession with miniaturization. The average Japanese home is much, much smaller than the average US home; energy is much, much more expensive. They have to import most of their raw materials. Therefore there is a greater advantage to making things small and efficient.

    During the post WW2 reconstruction, there weren't many consumer goods to be had; Sony came up with tiny, reasonable quality, and affordable transistor radios. Up until WW2, "made in Japan" was a synonym for low quality, cheaply manufactured knock offs of western goods. Japan was able to turn its economic disadvantages into an unique capability to produce innovative, high quality, highly efficient, miniaturized goods. Quite possibly, this is a source of national pride, which could further explain the Japanese consumer preference for small goods.

  • hey there, um im living in tokyo at the moment quite near akihabara - i dont mind shipping anything to you in the states, but can you tell me what youre looking for exactly? yokatta ne! zeRolain email me cos i might not check back on this thread....
  • As a Canadian stuck in the United States, I've always wondered just what it is Americans are compensating for. I'm starting to think that the larger/faster the vehicle is that the guy's driving, the smaller the penis they're compensating for.

    I commute by bike.

  • Good idea, i'm going to do that if i ever get around to remembering it.

  • The palm 3e was offerred for a limited time with a clear case to palm developers. I haven't kept up with palm fashion lately, but I recall a few weeks ago seeing a company which was offerring translucent cases for the palm 3 form factor. If I had the link I'd post it.

    The kids' palm (120m?) comes with a colored case, but I don't know of any factory 3s with color cases other than the 3e special.

    Visors, on the other hand, come in all the colors of the rainbow.

  • I have been waiting to get a color palm, so I could make a furry case for it.

    Something about having a hairy palm pilot capable of viewing porn...
  • you might want to try www.Elingo.com .. they have a somewhat functional japanese-english web page translator... of course their site is slow as is without the /. effect ;)

    also the register reports that sony's Palm PDA has sold out on its first day in Japan already:
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/13182.htm l

  • Need source for clear *buttons* (Score:3)

    by isaac ( 2852 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2000 @01:04PM (#781673)
    Subject says it all. I've already polished my Palm V's casing to a shiny, chrome-like bare aluminum finish, but what I *really* would like is a source for clear buttons, specifically a clear power button, so I could put an LED under it and wire it to the appropriate hotsync pins to have it function as a TaleLight [aol.com].

    The problem is, while such replacement buttons are all over Japan, they're just not available in the states as far as I can tell. Worse, nobody will ship such a low-cost item overseas - not worth the hassle for a single order.

    So, /. readers, I'm asking you - anyone have a line on these in the states?

    -Isaac

  • uh, why not go to the extra 10 seconds of effort to see if babelfish translates from japanese (they don't) before posting? oh. hard to be a karma whore when you post late. my bad.

    uh, who said anything about babelfish? Try Gist-In-Time [teletranslator.com]

  • Hehehe..uhoh, a dissatisfied customer. What was the article about? I usually only reject news articles if theyre particularly short, or lame. Stuff like "I r0000l!!" doesn't make it worth reading to umpteen gazillion people. :)
    Bowie J. Poag

  • Just say NO to plastic cases (Score:3)

    by kzinti ( 9651 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2000 @01:06PM (#781676) Homepage Journal
    Plastic cases, clear or otherwise, may seem nice and tight when you first get them, but they'll eventually weaken -- especially if you carry your palm everywhere with you. I carried my Palm Personal for a couple of years until eventually its case was so loose I thought it was going to fall apart on me. I also blame the loose case with my Palm's flaky behavior in its last year -- a digitizer that wouldn't stay calibrated, and some display artifacts that sometimes showed up on the screen and wouldn't go away until I gave the case a twist just so.

    Get a Palm V if you can afford it. If you can't afford it, save money until you can. It'll last longer, so you'll be better off in the long run. I just love my V; its rugged aluminum case has taken a beating without any ill effects. I've carried it for over a year now and it's as tight as the day it was new.

    If you are absolutely hell-bent on replacing your original plastic case with something cooler, get one of those nuclear-hardened titanium jobs. Wicked, very wicked.

    --Jim
  • Give this [monash.edu.au] a try. However, its not babelfish ease of use. This is a translation of the url as above:-
    Î¥Û¼¥à¥Ú¼¥Çϥե켥àòÈÍÑÆ£|¥Õ¥ì¼¥àÂбÎ


    ¥Û¼¥à¥Ú¼¥ home page (WWW); CO
    ¥Õ¥ì¼¥à a frame; ED
    ÈÍÑ Úè¦Û (vs) use; application; employment; utilization; EP
    ¥Õ¥ì¼¥à a frame; ED
    Âб Ú¦Û (vs) interaction; correspondence; coping with; dealing with; EP
    ¥Ö¥é¥¦¥¼òÈÍѼ£|
    ¥Ö¥é¥¦¥ browser; ED
    ÈÍÑÄǽ Úè¦Î¦Û available; enabled; ED
    ¼ë ÚÀëÛ (IV) (hon) to give; to confer; EP
    And that is only the 'your browser must be frames enabled' message.
  • The plural is actually Lego Bricks. I asked Lego.
  • I just found this [elingo.com] yesterday...
    Before this [elingo.com], I'd never seen a translator that deals with japanese...

    Enjoy!
  • The last thing I need to read about is geeks hacking their palms...
    Kevin Fox
  • The PalmV series has proved metal casing to be much more durable than plastic
    This guy http://www.dave.com [dave.com] makes machined aluminum casing for the PalmIII series organizer, very nice, though costly
  • If you think this is cool you should checkout a Japanese book/magazine store near you. There are entire rags devoted to customizing PDA's, cell phones, etc... You wouldn't believe the cool ass phones and PDA's you can get in Japan. The stuff for sale there is amazing and proabably won't make it here for a few more years.

    If you live in the SF area, there is a good book/mag store in the Japan Town shopping center with such rags.


  • If you found the site slow as I did, try THIS. [165.166.97.215]
  • The warranty on a 30 dollar ide card ?
  • You're far more likely to get someone to run and distribute the floppy disk version than you are to get someone to type in the code.
  • Japanese is a SOV language (Subject-Object-Verb) language. That it why word for word translations are pretty useless.

    Maikeru
  • I have a US-locale Palm V with the J-OS 1.9 extentions for Palm OS2.0 on it. Much nicer that these native plastic models.

    The hack itself is only 18K, but the japanese fonts/dictionaries take about 200K. Do yourself a favor and make sure you get a 4MB model or higher if want to do serious multiligual stuff on it, as you will need to 'replace' most of the built-in english-only apps.

    - Maikeru
  • Well, I wouldn't say that it's because it's a SVO language; there's a bit more to it than that. I think the major points that cause trouble for automatic JE/EJ translation are that Japanese prefers the use of intransitive verbs over the passive voice, and the fact that omission of the subject (and/or topic) is a lot more common in Japanese. Most translation software that I've seen doesn't manage to convert a Japanese sentence without a subject into an English sentence with a pronoun (he/she/it/they), which gives major lossage.

  • Must...proofread...s/SVO/SOV/g

  • By the way, the reason that hand-cranked laptops aren't widely available is simply that laptops take hundreds of times the amount of power that radios take. The windup radio is REAL, it can be purchased at www.freeplay.net [freeplay.net]. The conspiracy stories about running a car on seawater are, of course, not real.

    -- Michael Chermside

  • A thought.

    A friend of mine runs a small business in Japan called japanime.com. His company will purchase Japanese anime items on request. If you ask them nicely enough, they may be willing to look for clear plastic palm buttons...
  • It might just be worth pointing out that in Japan, what you think of as expensive is just a toy. $300 or $500 for a toy wont even bother you after a couple of years here.

    If you want a cool and expensive toy:

    http://www.keyence.co.jp/hobby/desk/index.html
    a desktop RC articulated lorry with ALL the blinkenlights working.

    http://www.keyence.co.jp/hobby/heli/index.html
    an indoor electric heli. its not easy to fly though.

    Both items are amazing pieces of technology.

  • I don't know how people have the nerve to open up their $300.00 to $500.00 Palm and screw with it like that. I guess they're a lot more confident when it comes to their soldering skills than I am. :-)

    About the closest I've come to this is putting a GoldFingers on my Athlon, and that made me about as nervy and jumpy as you can. (Those exterior cases are hard as hell to pull off!)

    -- Talonius
  • I guess some people don't care whether they break their Palm by messing with it. However, some of the gizmos are pretty cool. While I personally do not like the idea of a hand crank for a Palm, I can see where it would be useful. And since I can't read Japanese either, I would too be greatly interested in a English mirror site (heck, I'd set it up myself if I could get the translation done).

    Does anyone know if there is anything like a solar cell for Palms or Visors? How about a modification to the screen so that you have to shine UV light to read the text? (That would insure a bit of privacy...)

    Kierthos
  • I don't know how people have the nerve to open up their $300.00 to $500.00 Palm and screw with it like that. I guess they're a lot more confident when it comes to their soldering skills than I am.

    No kidding! I remember one time someone described how to turn a regular IDE controller into a RAID controller by simply removing one resistor. The catch? The resistor was underneath a surface mount component that had to be removed and then resoldered on!

    Other people can do that. I'll spend a little extra money to keep the warranty.

  • My favorite is the crank to power a palm if your battery dies.

    Apple fans will remember when the rumor sites were claiming that the forthcoming portable (which turned out to be the iBook) was going to be powered by a hand crank. See this old As The Apple Turns article [appleturns.com].

    It's not that ludicrous -- the wind-up generator technology is better than you might think, PowerPC's are very efficient, particularly G3s, and Apple did used to make the eMate, which might have been able to get away with hand-power with its flash memory and terrific battery life. Still, it was pretty ludicrous.

    ---------

  • Re:So somebody added that hand crank.. (Score:3)

    by linzeal ( 197905 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2000 @01:46PM (#781698) Journal
    I'd be damn scared of all those apple zealots with huge popeye-like forearms
  • Couldn't you just use one of those translation sites to do it? Maybe garbbled English, but you would have an idea of what it says. :)

    Geeky.org [geeky.org]
  • Seriously, when you look at most of the hacks people bandy about in the US, they involve large objects: retooling a car, hacking the lighting systems of a large skyscraper, mowing a crop circle, etc. Why is it that Japanese society seems to place so much emphasis on the diminutive? It can't just be that these pdas are ubiquitous, because all sorts of small appliances are ubiquitous in the US, and you don't see USians retooling their blenders or air purifiers. I wonder what it could be.
  • Customized cases for the telephones that you use to call in to your Palm?
  • Here is at least one place... http://ohtani.cup.com/ [cup.com] ...although the note at the bottom is kinda discouraging. Maybe you could find a friend in Japan who could buy and ship the parts on your behalf...I've done it with Mini4WD parts before.

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