Unboxing the Vulcan FlipStart

I’ve recently acquired a virtually new-in-the-box and never booted Vulcan FlipStart with Windows XP and EVDO! The only item missing appears to be the recovery disc(s), which I can live without thanks to Acronis True Image.

Take a look at all the pictures!

Yes I know, I’m about a year late to the party, and I’ve been pretty critical about the Flipstart in the past, calling it the ugly duckling and the zombie handtop. So why now?

Well a lot of things have changed in a year:
- I retired my beloved OQO Model 02 with HSDPA, selling it before it lost too much value
- Vulcan lowered the price of the FlipStart to $699, and then stopped selling it altogether

The tipping point was my Vulcan FlipStart HSDPA mod. The brave soul who volunteered his device for the hacking was experiencing some hardware problems which I was only able to resolve thanks to the outstanding assistance I received from Vulcan customer support. Being able to swap EVDO with HSDPA without reaching for my soldering iron was the icing on the cake…

So I started looking for a used FlipStart for further hacking. And for the record, I still think the FlipStart is aesthetically challenged :)

MacBook Air SuperDrive for all

So like me, you have a MacBook Air SuperDrive… It’s affordable, it’s functional, it’s sexy. If only it was usable with other Macs and PCs!

Well rejoice :) I have successfully hacked my MBA SuperDrive to work with other Macs and PCs. All you need is a $9 part (shipping extra) and a bit of soldering and you too can do this mod.

First, take a look at pictures of this mod and a video where I connect my hacked SuperDrive to my Mac mini and my HP Mini-Note running Windows XP.

Now here’s a bit of background. The MBA SuperDrive is designed to work only with the Apple MacBook Air. How is that possible?

Some people have speculated that perhaps the MBA SuperDrive draws more than 500 mA and that the MacBook Air provides more than 500 mA via its USB port. This is not the problem. My attempt at connecting the SuperDrive to several PCs and Macs while injecting additional current using a special cable was unsuccessful…

What about drivers? I (and others) have scoured the MacBook Air system folder for additional and modified .kext files (kernel extensions) by comparing them with the ones available on other Macs - nothing.

Other people have suggested that perhaps the optical drive within the MBA SuperDrive uses special firmware. This is not the problem either. After taking apart the SuperDrive and mounting the optical drive directly into a PCs removable bay, it was recognized just fine.

This leaves the IDE to USB bridge. It’s a small circuit board that allows an IDE device like the optical drive within the MBA SuperDrive to work as a USB device. It uses firmware too - and Apple appears to have designed custom firmware for it!

There appears to be some sort of handshake happening between the MacBook Air and the IDE to USB bridge within the MBA SuperDrive. I looked into re-flashing the controller (which is a standard part) with generic firmware, but after several hours I was getting nowhere.

The alternative was of course to replace the IDE to USB bridge with another one, which is exactly what I ended up doing. The trick was to find a small enough circuit board. I was about to give up on this mod when I stumbled upon the aforementioned $9 part on a series of tubes.

The part is small enough to fit within the MBA SuperDrive, but requires removal of the daughter-board (containing a power connector, a USB connector, and several capacitors), as well as the non-ideal relocation of the 12 MHz crystal.

And the rest is history - you can figure it out from the pictures :)

Geeking out

I’m at the BarCamp MobileCamp San Francisco v2.0 today…

Keep an eye on this post for updates and pictures!

Update: So I made a presentation on hacking mobile devices, and it went quite well, but with all the excitement, I didn’t make any videos :)

I found other pictures, too.

LG Vu camera

A few weeks ago, I looked at the LG CU920 (Vu).

I was rather disappointed overall, but I was impressed with the 2 megapixel camera, which features auto-focus and macro, but no flash.

The resulting pictures speak for themselves. Nice eh?

It’s amazing how much of a difference auto-focus, macro, a decent glass lens, a 2-stage shutter button and decent image processing can make…

Low-light performance is pretty good, but colors fade a bit in bright light. I can live without the flash :)

The only major problem I experienced was with the EXIF date being wrong for each picture, while the file creation date was right.

In the end, this is definitely the best 2 megapixel camera I’ve used since Sony Ericsson’s W800i, and I’ve played with quite a few!

Nokia N95 8 GB, US version

Thanks to Nseries WOM World, I was recently able to use a Nokia N95 8GB, US version (N95-4) for a few weeks. Being the past owner of an original Nokia N95 and the current owner of a Nokia N95-3, I was very excited to get dirty little hands on a Nokia N95 8 GB :)

The main differences between the N95 8GB and the N95 are screen size (2.8″ vs. 2.6″) and flash storage (8 GB built-in vs. expandable micro-SDHC). I suggest you check out my pictures and videos (one and two).

I’m madly in love with the larger screen! It’s even protected by a thicker plastic window that’s virtually flush with the housing (ie. it’s frame-less).

I’m not nearly as excited about the 8 GB built-in flash storage… Micro-SDHC flash storage currently tops at 16 GB (32 GB max.), and a separate micro-SDHC card reader provides significantly faster transfers than the sub-par USB 2.0 interface present on the device.

One day, I’d like to combine the “plum” back housing, battery & lens cover of the N95-1, the guts of the N95-3 with micro-SDHC and US-compatible HSDPA, and the front housing & larger screen of the N95 8 GB into the definitive franken-N95 :)

Ultimately, you’re choosing between a larger screen + 8 GB built-in flash storage vs. a smaller screen + expandable micro-SDHC flash storage. Either way, you’re getting loads of sexy über-phone goodness and one of the best cameras on the market today.

London calling

I’m in London for DevStation this week… Here’s an evolving set of pictures shot with my Nokia N95-3, including a visit to the Telectroscope!

That’s all :)

Update: Videos are up.

Amazon Kindle vs. Seabol & friends

Once a upon a time in the good land of milk & honey lived a band of happy gadgets. The leader of the band, Seabol, took it upon himself to keep a loving eye on the others, a MacBook Air, an HP Mini-note, an iPhone, and an alien gadget from another planet, the Nokia N95-3…

The band’s benevolent dictator was always very nice to all of them. She made sure no unwanted gadgets from the dark land far far away joined the band.

One fateful night, an evil gadget, the Amazon Kindle, somehow infiltrated the band, unbeknown to the benevolent dictator. It first attacked the iPhone, which managed to escape, being so thin and slippery.

The Kindle jumped on the MacBook Air, but was foiled by its strong aluminum shell. it then pounced on the HP Mini-note, but was blinded by its glossy frameless screen.

Something needed to be done. The Kindle was about to consume the Nokia N95-3 when Seabol jumped to the rescue. Within seconds, the Kindle was foiled and Seabol & friends prevaled!

Vulcan Flipstart HSDPA mod

Recently, a member of handtops.com (where I’m a moderator) lent me his Vulcan FlipStart and Fujitsu LifeBook U810 for me play with!

Here’s a video comparing both devices…

Last year I published an HSDPA mod for the OQO Model 02. Today I bring you an HSDPA mod for the Vulcan FlipStart :)

This time, instead of taking pictures, I decided to stream live video:
- Part 1 covers disassembling the FlipStart and replacing EVDO with HSDPA
- Part 2 covers reassembling the FlipStart and testing the result

I used the mini-PCIe card from my Sierra Wireless AirCard 875U together with the Sierra Wireless 3G Watcher.

Other than my connection (apparently) getting throttled by AT&T, everything ended up working pretty well…

I’d like to publicly thank the intrepid member of handtops.com who lent me both devices!

Unboxing the LG CU920 (Vu)

I can has LG CU920 (Vu). Enjoy the pictures - more soon :)

I’m heading to the Maker Faire (again) with it now.

Unboxing the HP 2133 (Mini-Note)

Well my HP 2133 (Mini-Note) finally arrived yesterday! I got the KX870AT model (1.6 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 7200 rpm 120 GB HD, Bluetooth, 6-cell battery, Windows Vista Business)…

Check out my unboxing pictures - the Mini-Note is definitely full of hotness :)

First impressions?

Build quality is exceptional - the screen and keyboard are great. The trackpad feels tiny compared to the giant one on my MacBook Air, and the power jack sticks out in an unwieldy way while connected (an L-shape would be ideal).

I removed Vista (like any sane person would do) and installed Windows XP Pro before even booting for the first time… I used this guide, which required some updating for Bluetooth support.

Everything is working properly and XP is snappy!