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Handhelds Hardware Hacking Software Hardware Linux Entertainment Games

Photo-Centric Handheld Can Be A Doom Console 109

Posted by timothy from the nifty-handheld dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Jobo AG originally fielded its $550 Giga Vu Pro as a tool for digital photography buffs, but this small embedded computer, running a Linux 2.4 kernel, has much broader potential, according to an article at LinuxDevices.com. A free software development kit for the device is now available at sourceforge.net, along with instructions for loading software into flash memory, a tutorial on turning the device into a Doom game console, and a contributions page for those willing to share their new apps."
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Photo-Centric Handheld Can Be A Doom Console More

Photo-Centric Handheld Can Be A Doom Console

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  • cool (Score:1, Funny)

    by superatrain ( 842910 )
    but does it run ie? ;)

  • yes but... (Score:1, Troll)

    by filtur ( 724994 )
    Does it have Tetris?

  • Doom 1 (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:25PM (#11760756)
    or Doom 3?

  • Why just doom? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kebes ( 861706 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:25PM (#11760759) Journal
    It seems like the perfect platform for running some emulator software and storing hundreds of ROMs of classic games.
    • Bring on the 16 bit pr0n that you used to be able to order out of the back of gaming mags back in the day.

    • Re:Why just doom? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by PoopJuggler ( 688445 )
      Kids today think gaming began with Doom. The old world is dead.

    • Re:Why just doom? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Wraithlyn ( 133796 )
      Pfft. I already have the perfect platform for that, and it's cheaper. (And yes it runs Doom II at 60fps)

      GamePark32: http://www.gbax.com/gp32review.html

      Specs:

      Great 3.5" 320 x 240 screen. 64K colours.
      Variable speed ARM CPU, up to 166MHz (or OC'd higher)
      8MB ram, runs off of 128MB smartmedia and 2xAA (10+ hours battery life)
      Can emulate just about everything up to an SNES.
      Can play MP3/Ogg/DivX/XviD (you'll have to encode video yourself of course), although the 128MB smartmedia limit doesn't make it a very
    • Screw Doom. I'm stuck with a *&%# Palm device, and have wanted to run Nethack on a portable for ages.

      Sadly, Nethack for Palm has been dead for a few years, and iRouge and the other "Rouge Like" programs for Palm just don't have the features or depth of game play that Nethack does.

  • Cheaper (Score:5, Insightful)

    by generic-man ( 33649 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:26PM (#11760773) Homepage Journal
    I can build a Doom [gamespot.com] console using off-the-shelf parts.

    You will need:
    (1) Game Boy Advance ($70 for the regular kind, $80 for the SP)
    (1) Copy of Doom ($30)

    And once you're done, you still have some $400 that you can spend on a photo-centric handheld!

    • Re:Cheaper (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Tackhead ( 54550 )
      > You will need:
      > (1) Game Boy Advance ($70 for the regular kind, $80 for the SP)
      > (1) Copy of Doom ($30)

      Yeah, but will your GBA be able to run Linu-never mind, of course it will. [fh-hagenberg.at]

      • I have this on mine, and break it out whenever somebody's brain needs breaking. Works quite well. Still have the ROM binary around. :-)
        • Does it just boot and sit there or can you actually input text? If so, how?
          /me is confused

          -kaplanfx
          • I don't remember the link, but someone had hacked some cell phone keyboard to plugin through the power/expansion slot or something.
    • The GBA has a 240x160 screen, and Doom was designed for 320x240, preferably 640x480. The GBA version also isn't all that smooth, presumably the CPU (~16 Mhz Arm7 I think)isn't quite as powerful as Doom would like. This device has slightly more reasonable specs, i.e. a 320x240 screen and a 400 Mhz Xscale, and also a hard drive so you can add extra maps or use mods (I love that Doom railgun!).
      Still, that said, I'm not going to rush out and buy one to replace my GBA...

      • If you have $400 to spend on a handheld that runs Doom a little bit better, try a Pocket PC [revolution.cx]. (That link is way out of date; I think there are newer versions for newer devices.)

        You can even load Linux on some Pocket PCs, though you still have to pay a Microsoft Tax on any one you buy brand-new.
        • try a Pocket PC. (That link is way out of date; I think there are newer versions for newer devices.)

          Is that link work-safe? Last time I opened a link ending in .cx I almost got fired.

          • Yeah, tried the link, it's fine. generic-man, I'm not too sure about the controls on a pocket PC... most of the ones I've seen look a bit crap for gaming, more designed for using a stylus. Can you strafe easily, for instance?
            If I really wanted a good mobile game of Doom, I'd probably get a GP32. Or a laptop with a mouse so I could play zdoom, and play 4 player multiplayer (which the GP32 might do, I don't know), use bots etc. Maybe if we wait a year or two Doom will get ported to PSP with its neat wireless
        • Or indeed a sony PSP ($250) which will pretty much play quake, never mind doom.
    • "And once you're done, you still have some $400 that you can spend on a photo-centric handheld!"

      Okay, that's it, hand over your nerd license.
  • you can get a laptop running linux http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product _id=3163026. You can play doom on it as well, and use lot of other things too.

  • New Standards (Score:5, Funny)

    by Shadow Wrought ( 586631 ) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <thguorw.wodahs>> on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:31PM (#11760811) Homepage Journal
    So instead of the standard "Does it run Linux?" question, we should really be asking, "Will it play Doom?"

  • GP32 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by EdZ ( 755139 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:32PM (#11760819)
    Or just get a GP32. Pleanty of devkits for it (the community games and software for it FAR outnumber the commercial ones), and you can play extra WADs. And play movies of course.
  • Didn't someone have MAME running on some other camera before?

  • Grunt! (Score:2, Funny)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) *
    Weight 14.82 oz.

    Oof. Better wear cargo pants with reinforced pockets.

  • Nice specs (Score:5, Informative)

    by marcello_dl ( 667940 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:38PM (#11760875) Homepage Journal
    From one page buried in the jobo website...

    - 40 or 60 GB hard disk
    - Card slot for CF I/II and Microdrive (all other flash memory cards via JOBO Adapter SECF61)
    - internal Li-Ion-Battery
    - 3,8" Color TFT, QVGA, adjustable brightness
    - Touch Screen
    - WiFi compatible (optional CF-Wi-Fi card required)
    - USB 2.0 connection to PC/Mac (high-speed and full-speed)
    - TV-Out (incl. video cable) for PAL/NTSC

    Photo-Features
    - Verify-Function
    - RAW-Format of Canon, Nikon and Kodak PRO (decoding and displaying)
    - Decodes 6 Megapix.JPG 1 Sec.
    - Download of 5-8 GB with one battery charge
    - Thumbnail-Mode with 12 thumbs per page
    - Power Zoom-Function: pixel per pixel presentable
    - Channel view RGB or B&W
    - Histogram
    - Dust-Detector
    - PictBridge direct connection to printer via USB
    - Editing mode for exif data (Keywords)

    Extras
    - Download of 5-8 GB using one charge of battery
    - Saves all usual files (RAW, JPG, MP3, doc, xls, ppt, etc.)
    - Down and Upload
    - File management (Touch Screen)
    - Firmware Upgrade via Internet
    - Displays hard disk status (free/occupied memory)
    - Displays battery status
    - External hard disk to PC/Mac
    - Owner information and copyright notice

    Multimedia
    - MP3-Player, incl. loudspeaker and earphones
    - Video Play: MPEG 1, 2, 4 & DivX 3, 4 , 5
    - Video playing time: 120 min.

    Accessories:
    - menu in D, GB, F, I, NL, SW
    - GIGA Vu PRO (Dimesions 145 x 107 x 38 m, 420 g)
    - protective cover
    - A/C adapter
    - USB cable
    - maual
    - video cable
    - earphones
    - Optional: battery-pack and car-adapter

    If wireless, video-out, etc... work under linux I can well stop drooling after iPods. (Of course I think Apple is planning similar stuff for next generation gadgets.)

  • The Pricing, the Development Environment (Score:3, Insightful)

    by osewa77 ( 603622 ) <naijasms&gmail,com> on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @06:39PM (#11760877) Homepage
    is the most important problem. This restricts applications of this device to custom software development (e.g. a gadget portable that gets some work done that's specific to a company). A platform for deployment of custom mobile apps requiring large hard disk space and image manipulation capabilities. In line with this, their SDK should permit and encourage development with dynamic languages and repid prototyping and development tools like Python/PyGTK. In addition, they should have an desktop emulator.
  • Subway Rider 1 playing Doom on his invisible PDA - "Where are you?"

    Subway Rider 1 - "Where are you?, God Dammit! I'm gonna getcha sucker"

    Other subway riders looks at him with fraught.

    Subway Rider 1 - "Gotcha!"

    Subway riders' eyes wide open with terror.

    Subway Rider 1 - "I'm gonna FRAG YOUR ASS!"

    Subway Riders steps away...

    Sunway Rider 1 - "You're dead meat! Yeah, YEAH! Dead meat!" looking up to a cluster fuck of riders at the opposite end of the car.

    "oh."

  • NOTICE: This is NOT I repeat NOT an Apple product! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    As this product is not made by Apple and does not have a little "i" in front of its name, I am simply not interested.
  • Seriously, alsmost every new cell phone out there has a crappy camera built in. Why not put in a decent cell phone set up into a decent camera. There's enough processing power and battery life ,etc.

    • Re:Now if they just added a phone... (Score:4, Funny)

      by waynelorentz ( 662271 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @07:11PM (#11761103) Homepage
      Why not put in a decent cell phone set up into a decent camera. There's enough processing power and battery life ,etc.

      Mod yourself -1 Clueless.
      You really have no idea that this device's purpose is, do you? It's temporary storage for people with high-end digital cameras who don't want to/can't drag around a laptop. After I've taken a picture with my 11 megapixel camera, why do I need a crappy .8 megapixel camera in my photo tank?
  • i was playing doom i on my 6600 this time last year.
  • I said in another post else where that sad as it is the device in question (honkin video card) was more powerful then my PC, I am Proud to report that my PC is more powerful then this little handheld device. (barely)

    400 MHz Intel PXA255 Xscale processor, the Giga Vu Pro contains a 40 or 60 GB hard drive

    of course it does have a bigger hard drive ... sigh

  • Not so international.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by RichardX ( 457979 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @07:02PM (#11761040) Homepage
    The title page for Jobo AG's international site [jobo.com] is pretty funny. At least it is to me, as a Brit.

    The V symbol the woman is making there, with her fingers outwards (i.e. fingernails towards the viewer) is a symbol used by Brits which is generally considered only marginally less offensive than the more widely recognised one finger symbol.

    I doubt anyone's dumb enough to actually be offended by this, but it's not the world's greatest P.R. either.
    • Hmmm, so that's why the "two more beers please" sometimes just doesn't work.
    • I'd say its actually far more offensive, meaning f*** o** rather than the more polite 'up yours'.
    • This gesture is actually anti-French if you go back far enough. The story goes something like this: at the Battle of Agincourt, the English were beating the French due to their superior longbow technology. The two fingers in question are essential for using a bow, so the French used to cut those fingers off any Englishman they captured. In return, uncaptured Englishmen would show the fingers to the French as a threatening gesture and to show that they still had them..

      Q.
  • Why spend $550 for this thing when you can just get a Sharp SL-5600? The specs are pretty much the same except the zaurus doesn't have a 40 gig hard drive, but it has an actual keyboard.
    • The reason why is, of course, the 40 (or 60) GB hard drive. This unit is intended for photographers needing a place to store image files, which are often sized 7-9MB a picture (on my 20D, more on cameras with more pixels). So while the zaurus might have the same specs, the hard drive is really key.

      For photographers, of course. Maybe not for doom-players.
  • It has everything but ethernet. I gues we will not be seeing a beowulf cluster of these.

  • 1, 2, 3 = no profit?? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by iamhassi ( 659463 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @07:06PM (#11761061) Journal
    Phase 1. Make 400mhz handheld with 40 or 60 GB hd, 3.8-inch touch-screen LCD, CF slot, USB port, speaker, audio/video outputs, joystick and various buttons
    Phase 2. Market it to a very small percentage of the population for a cheap price
    Phase 3. = No profit!

    Ok is it just me or does their marketing department suck? They created the perfect PocketPC killer and forgot to tell anyone and decided to use it to ONLY show photos and videos? Um, HELLO??

    • I know this may be modded as flamebait, but if they didn't want to pay for a MicroSoft license, there's no playing the PocketPC market. And maybe they just didn't see a market for a linux organizer.
    • I just looked at their site. A few subtitles on the products would sure be helpful for readers who aren't digital photography buffs but who might know one who needs a birthday gift.
      After reading the features list on this gadget I'm still not entirely sure what it's for. My first guess at a glance was a digital video camera with a nice display. I think it's actually a handheld mediaplayer. But that doesn't seem worth the price, so maybe it also does video editing. I really can't tell.
  • I'm assuming that is US dollars. For that amount of money I can get an ipac, PCMCIA sleeve and wireless network card. Jump on over to handhelds.org, and grab everything I need.

    Back in 2002 I had an ipac system with doom that could be played point to point over wireless with another ipac. My version of doom would run in side view so we would get fullscreen. Left thumb navigated, and right hand used the fire button.
  • * 3.8 inch high quality color LCD screen - 320 * 240 pixel with adjustable brightness
    * Touch Screen (for keyboard entry)
    * Pal / NTSC selectable
    * Headphone / audio line out compatible with automatic detection
    * built in loudspeaker with volume control
    * USB 2.0 high speed mass storage device.
    * Recognized as a computer's external hard drive for fast up- and downloading from or to PC or Mac
    * WiFi enabled. Optional WiFi (IEEE802.11) Compact Flash card sold separately
    * Menu languages include English, Spanish, Du

  • handwriting recognition (Score:3, Insightful)

    by frankmu ( 68782 ) on Wednesday February 23, 2005 @07:29PM (#11761235) Homepage
    are there any decent handwriting recognition software for linux yet?
  • big deal. my nokia 6600 has doom, a couple nes emulators, gameboy emulators, genesis emulators, even a slow snes emulator. not to mention all the native games written for this platform. it does decent web browsing with opera and doubles as an ebook reader. and... so on.
  • This really does not suprise me. I was able to run Doom on my Casio Cassiopeia E-100. It ran pretty well considering that the E-100 used a 133MHz cpu. The program I used for it was "Pocket Doom [conduits.com]"
  • Sure, a linux kernel makes it easy to do stuff like this & also has a lot of potential to do other cool stuff. But PORTING software to foreign OSs that are more stripped down than embedded linux still has much more nerd appeal. My digital camera [steves-digicams.com] runs an all-but-forgotten proprietary DigitaOS [csd.net]. It has had MAME and DOOM [mame.net] ported to it for a while now.
  • The displays on these handheld toys keep getting smaller and smaller, while my aging eyesight keeps getting weaker and weaker. I'll be impressed when Doom is successfully ported to a frickin' Braille display.

  • Why? (Score:2)

    by inkless1 ( 1269 )
    Why would go about trying to make a digital photo display box into a game console?

    Just go buy a Zodiac:
    http://www.tapwave.com

    It's based on the PalmOS, so you don't need a hacked SDK from some odd site to make games for it. You can just, you know, make games for it.

  • The Doom Console (Score:4, Insightful)

    by EnglishTim ( 9662 ) on Thursday February 24, 2005 @09:28AM (#11765974)
    I think some people here are getting a bit confused by the wording of the submission.

    When the original poster referred to the 'Doom Console', he meant the handheld computer [gameshot.net] your character carries around in DOOM 3, not a console that you can play DOOM on.

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