The less than $50 Zipit Z2 hacked to run Fluxbox

[greggh]

Dave had the head of the Zipit company on his UCLUG show a while back. The new Zipit Z2 is now very cheap and very hackable. Looks like a fun little project device to play with.

http://hackaday.com/2009/09/25/with-zip ... a-netbook/

[LinuxMint-4]

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/18 ... v_XSG10001

[Claudio]

I've been eager to get one of these, and I've always wondered how hackable this device was to get a distribution on it (I knew that it was made to encourage hacking, but wasn't sure if a distro could be run on it). This definitely makes that wonder a reality and I want one even more now.

[eddie]

Even if you do not hack it with linux. it would be interesting to set up your own jabber or equivalent server to work with it.

[mowestusa]

Anyone know a little more about this devise. I'm wondering if there are some hacking that could be done even without flashing the unit.

1. For example does anyone know if it will IM right out of the box? The website seems to indicate that you need to have a service plan for a year, and then IM is free, but while you have the service plan you can IM and text message to cell phones from a wi-fi network.
2. Are there ways to automatically IM your Google of Evolution Calendars?
3. Can you IM RSS feeds in some way to give you access to TLLTS plant updates?

Honestly, I have never gotten into IM, but this little unit has me rethinking. It would be cheaper to use when at home to send messages to folks at work or to communicate even in the building. It would be a cheap way for me to talk to family when at conferences or when out of town to stay in touch. It would put me in touch with the youth of today, my relatives who are in high school and college, who send everything as text messages or perhaps they would use IM too.

Of course, I would gess that IM is only as good as the person who happens to be on the computer at the time and logged into their IM account. Maybe this isn't all that great. I don't imagine that you can send an IM when a person is away from their computer or has their computer turned off, or maybe you can. As you can see, I don't know much about IMing.

[greggh]

Hunter just posted another cool video of the Zipit streaming Hulu (transcoded).

http://hunterdavis.com/archives/218

I'm gonna check my local Targets tomorrow to see if I can pick one up for $25 clearance like others have.

[NYbill]

nice, greggh. i've never seen these things! for $50 i might just have to grab one and hack linux on it. a sub-netbook. linux in your pocket. could be fun.

[mowestusa]

I'm gonna check my local Targets tomorrow to see if I can pick one up for $25 clearance like others have.

Well, checked both of the Target stores in the area here, yesterday, and no ZipIt Z2. They also claim in the electronics department that they have never sold them before.

This is the perfect form factor for a small Linux based organizer that could play oggs and mp3, display pictures, and have PIM apps. I would spend $100-$150 on such a devise. I'm not into the whole smart phone cell phone craze because I rarely need a cell phone, and right now I pay about $50 a month for one land line, long distance on our land line, and two Tracfones. I doubt I could get a smart phone running linux for that kind of price, because I'm sure that I would have to add at least one more phone for my family then.

I loved the Sharp Wizard when that came out (got mine for about $79), then loved the Handspring Edge with the Targus Keyboard (got mine for about a total of $150), but now I have gone back to paper because I can't find an inexpensive Electronic PIM that works great with Linux and Linux apps.

Why can't we find a nice Linux based organizer for about $100? Have smart phones completely killed that market?

[Claudio]

I doubt I could get a smart phone running linux for that kind of price, because I'm sure that I would have to add at least one more phone for my family then.

Pat mentioned something about T-Mobile carrying the Motorola Cliq (which runs Android) for free with a 2-year contract. That might be an option, but you would have to be under T-Mobile.