From: Peter H. Coffin (hellsop_at_ninehells.com)
Date: Mon Aug 30 2004 - 07:49:45 PDT
On Mon, Aug 30, 2004 at 09:36:08AM -0400, MKow1234_at_aol.com wrote:
> 1. Would the IrDA portion of a TV remote control device be compatible with a
> Newton, and if not, why couldn't they be interchanged?
it's not a "compatible" issue so much as a "documentation" issue.
There's remote control apps for a couple of Sony products out for Newts,
because the information about how to make a valid signal was out there.
remote control signals are fairly complex -- they mustn't interfere with
each other, by sending signals that cause misfirings in unintended
devices. That means a fairly complex set of guard patterns and
non-overlapping command structures in the data.
> 2. What is it about the Newton's IrDA or related circuitry that restricts
> the Newton's IrDA transmission/reception range to roughly one meter? (And
> please, don't start responding with an argumentative thread that the "range is
> actually one meter, three centimeters", etc).
> Is the limitation due to the "optic" device (the IrDA's "eye"), limitations
> within the circuitry, or due to incompatibilities in the software?
IIRC, it's a combination of brightness of the "sending lamp" and the
response speed of the "receiving eye". That is, there's a fairly narrow
band of relative brightness in which the eye part reacts both reliably
and fast enough (not too overwhelmed/washed out) to comply with the data
rate that's coming in. So IRDA spec calls for particular brightnesses to
ensure interoperable devices. If you're willing to do some hardware
hacking, you could probably find appropriate LEDs to change the range,
but you'd probably also lose reliability close in, in trade. instead of
something that work 0-1m, you might end up with a pair of devices that
communicate IRDA at a range of 3-5m, but don't work at other distances.
Just don't expect either of the pair to work with any stock IRDA devices
again.
> 1. If a tiny microphone were mounted in the eMate's casing, what would be
> the BEST way to connect the microphone leads to the eMate's circuits?
solder.
> 2. Is there a specific socket plug connector on the eMate's motherboard for
> microphone input leads, as on the MP 2X00 motherboards?
Don't know.
> -----------------------------
>
> Music on the eMate - Other than .MOD files, which are interesting but rather
> limited in their entertainment value:
>
> 1. Can the MadMax (.mp3 music file player) app function properly on the
> eMate?
>
> 2. I could not get this to work on my eMate. Is it due to the eMate's
> slower (slower than the MP 2X00 series) processor speed?
>
> 3. If MadMax won't work correctly on the eMate, would it be possible for
> somebody to write a program that would work with this device?
Not a whole lot of CPU there to work with. mp3s won't play on a 75MHz
desktop real good, and the emate's a third of that, and a low-power
"turn off whenever possible" gizmo to begin with.
I've got a philosphic question of why people are so gung-ho about
playing very low bitrate monophonic MP3s on a newton. The bluetooth
and wifi stuff extends the reach of what a Newton already does: manage
information. The work done on Docking apps falls under the same concept:
extending the core "information management" extension as well. The new
games people have been writing are outside the core concept but they
timeshare well with information management; people work with the newt
playing games in the same manner they work managing information. MP3s
are totally different: audio, not touch and reading; continuous function
rather than flickerings of processing; background rather than focused
attention. This seems a problem much better suited to solving with a
fifty-dollar portable cd player that reads mp3 discs.
--
3. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept
anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.
--Peter Anspach's list of things to do as an Evil Overlord
--
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