I've decided to do a little more experimentation with my home-brewed
glass panel display.
So I purchased at 10" Android tablet computer to see if I can make my
script files run on this platform. I paid $159 for the computer from
"http://buy.com" with free shipping.
It seems to be designed mostly as a toy. It works great for emails and
stuff, is kinda slow at browsing the web when web pages are complex, and
so far I have not managed to figure out how to run any custom software
on it. An Android SDK (Software Development Kit) is available, but
after examining its features I've concluded that I may not have enough
years left on this planet to reap any benefits from studying the SDK.
I have found web sites that describe methods of making small Android
devices boot Linux, so I ordered some micro-SD memory cards which appear
to be necessary for Linux usage. The trick is to get the device to boot
off the external SD card instead of the internal solid state memory. We
will see.
R Berglund
Agptek 10" 8GB
Android 4.0 Ice
Cream Sandwich
Tablet - Wi-Fi,
ARM Cortex-A9 1
GHz, Multi-touch
Screen 1024 x 600
WSVGA Display, 1GB
RAM, Front
Camera/Webcam
That pretty much parallels the experience I have had with the Auzus
Transformer. They are mostly toys without enough I/O for serious use.
I assume you did not get a USB port with yours.
Paul Lamar
It appears to have two mini-USB ports. At least one of them works; I
connected it to a thumb drive and was able to view stored images.
R Berglund
You should be able to boot Linux off that.
You can get into the Linux that is in there by getting a terminal app.
I have "Terminal Emulator" in ours. There is a bunch of them.
Some are free.
You have to be root to see everything and so far I have not discovered how
to do that but I have not really tried.
Works best with an external keyboard.
Paul Lamar
---------------------------------------------------
Robin, my wife just discovered Terminal IDE by Spartacus Rex
with a full Java/HTML/Android development kit, that runs on your Android
device. Five stars. Free! 590 users so far.
IDE = Integrated Development Environment. Hopefully it supports the USB
ports.
Paul Lamar
Having recently decided to see if I could "Port" some of my instrumentation
software to Android Acer A200 10" tablet, I agree with your comments.
In my opinion, Android is very much tailored for the mobile units which
primarily interconnect/communicate using the Internet. It has a large
number of highly developed "Objects" to handle WebPages, Maps, messages,
etc. These can save a great amount of time - IF you are developing a
typical application for a mobile device. The embedded sensors also
contribute to nice conveniences for the typical user.
On the other hand, I found it was not very well suited for anything smacking
of talking to external embedded devices. Even its USB capability is a
relative new addition and you will probably have to develop large parts of
any code designed to talk to an embedded system. This may change as more
effort goes into refining its USB capability.
Now, if you cut your teeth on C++ or Java Object Oriented languages, then
you will probably find Android fairly easy. Personally I found it tough
going, but I finally managed to "Port" my code to the very nice displays you
can get on the 10" tablet. But, I cheated - in the sense I conduct all of
the calculation intensive operations on a separate module using a PIC18F6772
running Pascal code and simply port the results for display purposes to the
Android Tablet over a USB port. So a hodge/podge approach at best.
I personally find trying to debug the Android code difficult as it can be
difficult to determine where the problem is - because (at least as I
understand it), the cause/context of the error can get "lost" as it is
propagated up through several layers of Classes/objects.
But, then all of this may simply reflect my ignorance of its finer features.
Bottom line in my opinion, good for some things (mostly Internet related)
and poor for other things (at least at this time).
Best Regards
Ed
Edward L. Anderson
Anderson Electronic Enterprises LLC
305 Reefton Road
Weddington, NC 28104
http://www.andersonee.com
http://www.eicommander.com
I have an Acer A500 16Gb android tablet, running ICS, rooted. It has a full size USB,
Micro SD slot (up to 32Gb,) Micro USB, Micro HDMI out, Wi-Fi, BT. Found a OBD2 app
that is compatible with the ELM327 BT units that can be had for less than $30 just
about anywhere. So the instrumentation applications work just fine, if one knows how
to code them properly (which I do not).
However I was able to use it to solve a new fuel pump installation problem on my
Focus while driving back form my brother's house in Michigan. Fuel gauge wasn't
changing, and check engine indicator was on. Dealer ship had installed the unit
wrong, but the information from the app confirmed my suspicions. All of the rest of
the info was available, and there is a tool that lets one discover other data from
the OBD that is not already coded for instrumentation. Has data logging, and more.
There are lots of android geek forums, I guess it's just what you are used to. Those
who grew up with android, find it easy. Those who grew up with other languages find
them more at home.
C. Smith
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