Turn your old iPod speakers into wireless speakers

Do you have one of these portable iPod speakers in your home. In this post I'll shared an idea that lets you play music straight from iPhone or Android device. You can pick up this $25 GTI Bluetooth Adapter from Frys. The device plugs into iPod connector on your portable speakers and receives music via Bluetooth A2DP. Similar Bluetooth receivers that connect to aux-in ports are also available.

The idea emerged while helping a friend re-design hotel rooms for tech savvy business travelers. Found these inexpensive Bluetooth A2DP receivers to reuse the existing iPod dockable clock speakers in the hotel rooms. Perhaps NFC is a better choice but right now there only few mobile phones with NFC support.

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Micro USB Host Mode OTG Cable for Samsung Mobile Phones

In this blog I talk about technology world as built. Android phones are most selling smart phones all over the world. These phones and tablets are increasingly used for watching videos and listening to music. Transferring multimedia content on to your device is painful. The software tools made by phone vendors such as Samsung Kies have problems. Android MTP and Bluetooth software leaves a lot to be desired, making large transfers fail intermitingly. Developers like me use command-line MTP tools or use Android SDK's ADB program for transferring files.

For everyone I suggest buying a OTG cable that makes life easier. This cable allows you to connect USB devices to your phone and transfer files with ease. I brought this OTG cable in Hong Kong for $15 HKD (about US $2). Tested this cable with Samsung Galaxy S2 mobile phones running Android Gingerbread and Jellybean with couple of 8GB USB drives.

You might need to install a file browser like ES File Explorer File Manager app on your phone to easily navigate to attached USB device and copy files to internal memory. You can watch the video of below.

You can pick this OTG cable in your local computer store or order one from Deal Extreme (dx.com). For more other interesting Samsung phone accessories have a look at Samsung Galaxy S2 Accessories For Presentations post.

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Winning Djangojet Photo Contest

Summer sun shines on the green meadow full of dandelions and the huge Djangocon circus tent. The fantastic setting of this conference had one flaw. The roar of airplanes from the nearby airport overhead.

The ever creative conference organizers announced a photography contest dubbed 'Djangojet'. The contest required us to capture the picture of Jet planes and share it on instagram with #djangojet hashtag. My photograph bagged the prize.

I took this picture with Samsung Galaxy S2 smart phone while waiting in line for lunch. It captures the people enjoying the sunny day around the Django circus and the airplane in the bright blue sky.

You don't need fancy camera to take a good picture, your smart camera phone can do the job well. The composition and the story makes a good photograph.

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Android Device Offline: Fixing ADB Connection Error

After upgrading to Android Jellybean (4.2.2) the 'adb (Android Debug Bridge)' program failed to connect my Android mobile phone. Running 'adb devices' in the terminal showed error: device offline message.

Recently Android switched to MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). Unfortunately MTP support has some issues. For now I have to resort to using 'adb' command to work with my Android mobile phone.

Digging around the Internet, I learned that Android Jellybean has a new security feature. You need to do RSA key fingerprint verification with the PC. Otherwise the Android device will be reported as offline.

How to Fix ADB Device Offline Error

Here are the steps to connect to your Android device with adb.

• Get the latest version of adb. Update using Android SDK android program: 'android update adb'


• Restart adb server with 'adb kill-server'


• Unplug and reconnect the device to a different USB port


• Repeat last two steps until you see 'Allow USB Debugging?' dialog on your android device.


• Select 'Always allow from this computer' option

Now you can talk to your Android device using the adb commands.

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Install CyanogenMod 10.1 (Android Jellybean 4.2.2) on Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100G)

In this post we'll install Cyanogenmod CM 10.1.x on Samsung Galaxy SII mobile phone. Please note this instructions apply to Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I1900G model only.

Disclaimer: Installing third-party firmware will void your phone warranty and if something goes wrong it could make your phone unusable. The installation process will wipe data/apps, Please backup everything.!

Before you get started consider backing up your phone data using Samsung Kies or Android apps such as Titanium Backup. Alternatively you can copy the data manually by connecting the phone to your computer with an USB cable.

Prerequisites: What do you need?

1. Install Android SDK. We'll use the nifty adb program to manage the phone and debug any problems.


2. Install phone flashing program Fastboot, Heimdall on Linux or Odin utility for MS Windows.


3. Download Clockwork Recovery: GT-I1900G_ICS_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.5.0.4.tar


4. Download latest Cyanogenmod 10.1.x from Cynogenmod download page for i9100g device..


5. Download gapps-jb-2013301-signed.zip from goo.im.This package provides standard Google Android applications such as Google Play (A.K.A Google Market).
   
   


6. If you are upgrading an Android Gingerbread Phone, you'll need stock Android Ice Cream Sandwich(ICS) ROM. You can find stock Android ROM from SamMobile.

Flash Ice Cream Sandwitch (ICS) Official ROM to Samsung Galaxy S2(GT-I9100G)

You'll need your phone to running Android Ice Cream Sandwitch(ICS). The phone needs to run ICS bootloaders to upgrade to CyanogenMod 10.1.x. In this section I'll flash official Ice Cream Sandwitch(ICS) ROM onto my Gingerbread Phone.(Thank you codeworkx for pointing this out.)

You can ignore this section if you are working with ICS S2 phone.

1. Unzip the previously downloaded ICS ROM I9100GDZKL3_I9100GOLCKL3_XME ROM


2. Put the phone in download mode by holding Volume Down(-), Home button and pressing power button.


3. Connect the phone to computer using USB cable


4. Launch 0din on your computer and select PDA mode and flash the uncompressed .tar file.


5. Once complete the phone will reboot.

Root the Samsung S2 ICS Phone with ClockWorkMod Recovery Kernel

The handy ClockWorkMod tool allows you to flash the phone with different ROMs from the phone itself without the need

of computer.

1. Connect your phone to computer using a USB cable.


2. Put the device in download mode with 'adb reboot bootloader' or by holding Volume Down(-), Home button and pressing power button.


3. Uncompress the previously downloaded Clockwork Recovery file.


4. Use heimdall program to flash on the command line: 'heimdall flash --kernel zImage'


5. Reboot the mobile phone.

Install CM 10.1.x on Samsung Galaxy S2

Connect your phone to your computer and transfer the previously downloaded files Cyanogenmod 10.1.x and Gapps files to mobile phones internal memory. Restart the phone and enter recovery mode by pressing Volume Up, Home and Power buttons together. Follow the steps below to install the CM10.1.x on your phone.

1. Select wipe data/factory reset


2. Select wipe cache partition


3. Select Advanced Menu and choose wipe dalvik cache


4. Select Install zip from sdcard and choose update-cm-10.1-XXX-XXX-XXX-signed.zip file.


5. Select Install zip from sdcard and choose gapps-jb-2013301-signed.zip file. Reboot phone

That's all folks! Don't forget to share your experiences by leaving a comment here.

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Barcamp Yangon 2013

Whoever said "Change is slow" hasn't been to Myanmar (also known as Burma). In seven short months, the country transformed into the something I now barely recognize. Getting Myanmar visa never been this easy, many direct flights to Yangon from all international hubs in South East Asia everyday. The Yangon airport is chocked with tourists, the prices just went through the roof. This time I didn't bring any crisp, unmarked hundred dollar notes to haggle for better exchange rate with the punters on the Yangon streets.

Walking out of the airport, I realized Myanmar has switched to driving on left side of the road. The roads are clogged with second-hand Japanese minivans, imported SUV's and decades old taxis jostling for space. For a moment, I longed for the small colorful Mandalay jeeps plying the quiet Yangon streets at sedate pace. Stuck in the traffic jam, I killed time by counting different cars with left and right steering wheels.

If you get stuck in the traffic jam, you can use the 3G mobile network to catch up with your email. Mobile SIM cards doesn't cost US$2000 anymore. Mobile SIM cards with data plan can be rented for $10 a day. If you are lucky you might even find $20 voice only tourist SIM cards. Mobile connections are still very expensive, it costs US$150-$200 for mobile connection. Perhaps it might soon change when the telecommunications market opens up in next few years.

Back in Myanmar after two years for Barcamp Yangon 2013, the biggest community organized un-conference in the world. This year over 6000 participants are expected to attend this event. Barcamps are hugely popular in this country, the event addresses the digital divide with open sharing and even help kick-start technology entrepreneurship activities.

Few years ago, young students would attend to use the free wireless internet access at Barcamp Yangon. Internet access was restricted to educational institutions and Internet Cafes. Today you can get internet connection in restaurants, cafes and even at home. It is easy to buy personal computers, smart phones and tablets locally. There will be explosive growth of internet users in Myanmar.

During Barcamp Yangon 2011 I kick-started the effort to translate Firefox web browser into Burmese. I have been mentoring the local Mozilla Myanmar community ever since. It had been a long road, we had many problems: building Mozilla community, finding volunteers for translations and deploying right web based localization tools. This trip to Myanmar would give me a chance to work with the community and resolve translation issues that are blocking Firefox Burmese release.

Barcamp Yangon 2013

Once again the barcamp organizers and volunteers efficiently organized such a large event. The event attracted significant

sponsorship this year, the talks in main rooms were marketing pitches from those sponsors. There were some interesting talks 'Make the web speak your language' and 'Women in technology' panel discussion. It was good to see many international participants at the event, they were in Myanmar on vacation and decided to attend the event. The Q&A session with the international barcampers was a good experience, it provided an opportunity for young Burmese barcampers to interact and get perspective on wide ranging subjects.

In my talk How to become a Firefox Hacker I shared how one can leverage existing web development skills to contribute to Firefox. Mozilla Myanmar localization lead contributor Zinmin shared the Firefox localization process and gave a demo of Pootle web based translation tool. The participants were encouraged to join the Mozilla Myanmar community and localization sprint after the Barcamp Yangon.

Attending Barcamp Yangon gave me a good opportunity to keep the pulse the fast changing Myanmar. It was good to reconnect with the open source communities and meet people in technology and non-profit world. Next year I hope to attend Barcamp Mandalay, it seems to have more developer focused audience.

Mozilla Myanmar Localization Sprint

After Barcamp Yangon, Zinmin organized Burmese localization sprint in Yangon. The localization sprint provides hands-on training for new localizers. After a quick introduction from Zinmin and the team started translating remaining strings Firefox Aurora. The Pootle web based tool does perform well bandwidth constrained environment such as Myanmar. Zinmin cleaned up most of the translation errors that were blocking the productization of Firefox Burmese Aurora.

During the sprint, Sajal and I spent some time testing Firefox Mobile. Firefox Mobile is important in countries like Myanmar where there is a large growing mobile web users than desktop users. However due to economic sanctions Google Playstore is not available in this country. Burmese users resort to various alternative app stores to find apps for Android devices. Another problem is network latency, for instance, tweeting pictures was really difficult. We looked in how to test Android apps network latency and performance issues.

You can read more about Mozilla L10N sprint on Zinmin's blog post in Burmese and the download the latest Firefox Burmese Aurora here.

Technology Entrepreneurship and Start ups in Myanmar

Spent some time meeting various technology entrepreneurs in Yangon. Start-up incubators like Rocket Internet and few others opened shop in Myanmar. Expats and Burmese diaspora are returning to start technology start-ups. Along with opportunities from the burgeoning economy there are challenges: People with good technical skills are hard to come by, the overhead costs are really high due to inflated prices.

I hope you'll get a chance to visit Myanmar and experience its rich culture. Perhaps you might wanna join the

Barcamp Yangon next year or spend some time working I'll help you find a co-working space in Yangon.

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Using Firefox Remote Debugger with Firefox OS Simulator

Firefox OS App developers can use Firefox Remote Debugger to quickly fix web app bugs. In this screencast Jeff Griffiths shows the current workflow of using the Firefox OS simulator and the Firefox Nightly remote debugger developer tool.

Don't see the embedded video, you can watch it on YouTube.

You can also use Firefox Remote Debugger with Firefox OS running in a desktop emulator, on a Firefox OS device and Firefox Mobile on Android mobile phone. Head over to Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) to learn more about Firefox Remote Debugging.

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Speeding Up Software Rebuilds with CCache

Software developers who routinely rebuild large projects would love ccache. Ccache is a compiler cache. It speeds up software rebuilds by caching the result of previous compilations and detecting when the same compilation is being done again.

I use ccache when compiling Linux kernel, Debian/Ubuntu packages, GNOME applications, Mozilla Firefox, FirefoxOS and Android operating system. You could enable ccache by prefixing ccache to your compilation command or update your system path to include ccache.

# Add the following line to your ~/.bashrc file 
export PATH=/usr/lib/ccache:${PATH}

Alternatively you could create symlinks in ~/bin directory. GNOME 3 jhbuild documentation provides a bash script for this purpose.

cd ~/bin
for cmd in cc gcc c++ g++; do
  ln -s /usr/bin/ccache $cmd
done

To take advantage of ccache while building Mozilla Firefox, append the following line to your .mozconfig.

ac_add_options --with-ccache

If you are compiling Android(ASOP), CyanogenMod or Firefox OS. Android build system includes the ccache program, set the USE_CCACHE environment variable to enable ccache.

$ export USE_CCACHE=1

Further more in-depth information, read the ccache manual page. Please do comment and share your experiences using CCache.

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Barcamp Phnom Penh 5

Last year we kick-started Mozilla Firefox Aurora Khmer localization effort at Barcamp Phnom Penh 4. Now a year later, Thanks to efforts of Mozilla Khmer L10N team and invaluable support of several people from various organizations. We have a successful release of Firefox Khmer.

Barcamp Phnom Penh is community organized two day un-conference held in the capital city of Cambodia. Walking around Barcamp Phnom Penh at University of Puthisastra in central Phnom Penh, you'll encounter young Cambodian's engaging in social media on latest smart phones and tablets everywhere. There are numerous booths advertising smart phones, right next English language schools, Media and NGO organizations.

At Barcamp Phnom Penh 5 this year there was marked improvement in quality of talks. The technology related talks were really in-depth and encouraged participation from audience. Cambodia has good English language penetration, learning English ensures better livelihood. In country where 50% of population live below the poverty line, the Cambodian youth have an insatiable thirst for learning and making a better life. This spirit attracts me to Cambodia time and again.

Firefox Khmer, FirefoxOS and Web API

On the first day of Barcamp Phnom Penh, I talked Mozilla mission and future of Web, As a platform. The demo of development version of FirefoxOS phone was well received.

The next day Vannak ENG talked about the about Mozilla localization and walked the audience through various steps of translating Firefox. It was great to see people hanging out after the talk to interact with Vannak. Such interactions help us build a good contributor community and help keep the Firefox translations update-to-date every 6 weeks

At the end of Barcamp Phnom Penh, I gave lightening talk titled '6 kick-ass things you can do with your browser'. The talk provided a whirlwind tour of Mozilla Web API and their status.

Khmer Language support in Firefox Mobile on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

I met Danh Hong, the creator Khmer Web Fonts and we talked about the font rendering issues in Firefox Mobile(Bug 793474) running on Android Jelly Bean (4.x). These issues are now resolved in new HarfBuzz update (Bug 780409)

Few other issues in Khmer language support remain. Android Jelly Bean (4.1) supports Khmer rendering well, but Khmer fonts are not shipped with Android. You need to use third party app to install them.

On Desktop computers, though high quality Khmer fonts are available for various operating systems. There is lack of proper documentation about the installation process and the license are not very clear.

Upcoming Barcamps in Cambodia

The barcamp camp team deserves a pat on the back for organizing yet another fantastic event. Next year they are organizing five Barcamps all over Cambodia.

• BarCamp Angkor Siem Reap): 23-24 February 2013, www.angkor.barcampcambodia.org


• BarCamp Battambang : 25-26 May 2013, www.bb.barcampcambodia.org


• BarCamp Kampong Cham : 24-25 August 2013, www.kc.barcampcambodia.org


• BarCamp Phnom Penh : 19-20 October 2013, www.barcampphnompenh.org


• BarCamp Sihanoukville (The Beach): 7-8 December 2013 www.sv.barcampcambodia.org

Perhaps I'll try organize a hands-on workshop on web technologies at Hacker Space Phnom Penh or Small World Phnom Penh. If you are interested, get in touch with me.

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ClockworkMod (CWM) Recovery Backup and Restore Android Phone Firmware

In my last post, I introduced ClockworkMod (CWM) Recovery to backup your phone firmware. It is a good idea to copy these backup files to your computer for safe keeping.

You will find the ClockworkMod(CWM) Recovery firmware backups in this location on your phones internal memory.

/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup

You'll need Dobrica Pavlinušić's shell script to copy the ClockworkMod(CWM) Recovery backups to your computer. For some unknown path related issue the standard Unix 'cp' will not work. You won't be able to copy these backup files to your computer, however you can copy files from computer to phone without any problem.

#!/bin/sh -x

sdcard=/sdcard/clockworkmod/

adb shell ls -1 -d $sdcard/backup/* | sed "s!$sdcard/*!!" | tr -d '\r' > /tmp/backup.android
ls -1 -d backup/* > /tmp/backup.disk
diff -uw /tmp/backup.android /tmp/backup.disk | grep -- '^-backup' | sed 's/^-//' | \
xargs -i sh -xc "mkdir -p {} && adb pull $sdcard/{} {}"

To restore your phone firmware from your backups. Copy the ClockworkMod(CWM) Recovery files to the backup directory on the phone. Reboot the phone into recovery mode and use the Backup / Restore option to restore the firm.

Lately, I use this technique to deploy Boot2Gecko quickly onto compatible phones when the Boot2Gecko builds breaks. The new B2GBuilds.org project started nightly build of Boot2Gecko, you might want to check it out. Personally I would prefer the B2GBuilds.org project builds Cyanogenmod style otapackages instead. Support for this is coming soon, watch this space.

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Install Android 4.0 Cyanogenmod 9 Firmware on Galaxy S2 Phone

There is lot of information on Internet about Cyanogenmod, after-market mobile phone firmware installation. However some of this information incomplete and misleading. My first attempt to install Cyanogenmod 9 phone failed. The phone screen played the booting animation in an endless loop. Let me share my installation notes here, this might save you from pulling your hair or worse chucking the phone out of the window.

Disclaimer: Installing third-party firmware will void your phone warranty and if something goes wrong it could make your phone unusable. The installation process will wipe data/apps, Please backup everything.!

Before you get started consider backing up your phone data using Samsung Kies or Android apps such as Titanium Backup. Alternatively you can copy the data manually by connecting the phone to your computer with an USB cable.

Prerequisites: What do you need?

1. Install Android SDK. We'll use the nifty adb program to manage the phone and debug any problems.


2. Install phone flashing program, Heimdall on Linux or Odin utility for Windows OS.


3. Download Clockwork Recovery recovery-clockwork-4.0.1.4-galaxys2.tar. (Please use GT-I9100G_ClockworkMod-Recovery-5.0.2.8.tar file for Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I1900G phones.)


4. Download latest Cyanogenmod9 from Cynogenmod download page.


5. Download gapps-ics-20120422 from goo.im.This package provides standard Google Android applications such as Google Play (A.K.A Google Market).

Installing Clockworkmod(CWM) Recovery

This is an essential tool for our work. The Clockwork Recovery is modified version of the kernel that provides advanced features such as backup/restore phone ROM's and installing Cynogenmod updates. If you plan to dual boot your phone with different Android versions or Mozilla's Boot2Gecko.

The first step to flash ClockworkMod (CWM) onto your phone using heimdall or 0din program.

Unzip recovery-clockwork-4.0.1.4-galaxys2.tar archive and flash it with heimdall command line flashing utility for Samsung phones.

# Download clockworkmod 
$ wget http://cmw.22aaf3.com/c1/recovery/recovery-clockwork-4.0.1.4-galaxys2.tar

# Unzip it 
$ unzip recovery-clockwork-4.0.1.4-galaxys2.tar


#Connect and reboot the phone into download mode with:
$ adb reboot download

heimdall flash --kernel zImage

Please wait for the phone to reboot. If it doesn't work the first time, try again.

Now you can boot into the recovery mode by pressing Volume Up, Home and Power buttons together until Galaxy S2 logo appears on the phone screen. You can navigation the recovery mode screen by using volume up and volume down keys and power button to select an option.

Backup your Phones original ROM

Restart the phone and enter recovery mode. Select Backup/Restore menu and choose Backup. This provide a safety net, you can always restore the original ROM in case the Cyanogenmod 9 installation fails.

Installing CyanogenMod9 Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich(ICS) on Samsung Galaxy S2

Connect your phone to your computer and transfer the previously downloaded files Cyanogenmod 9 and Gapps files. Restart the phone and enter recovery mode by pressing Volume Up, Home and Power buttons together. Follow the steps below to install the Android ICS on your phone.

1. Select wipe data/factory reset


2. Select wipe cache partition


3. Select Advanced Menu and choose wipe dalvik cache


4. Select Install zip from sdcard and choose update-cm-9-XXX-XXX-XXX-signed.zip file.


5. Select Install zip from sdcard and choose gapps-ics-2012XXXX-signed.zip file. Reboot phone

That's all folks! Don't forget to share your experiences by leaving a comment here.

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How to Fix Samsung Kies connection problem

Update (Aug 17,2013): Testing Samsung Kies on MS Windows 7. The Samsung Kies connects after a while or only intermittently. Please see the comments below for possible solutions.

Samsung mobile phone users are familiar with this error. Kies is a personal computer sync software that enables you manage your Samsung phone, similar to iTunes software for Apple iPhones. Samsung Kies software refuses to connect your device and gives this cryptic message.

Reconnect the device in Samsung Kies (PC Studio) mode. Current connection Mode not supported by Kies

Spent an hour raking my brains, then the obvious solution presented itself. Turn off USB Debugging Mode. You will find this setting under Settings > Applications > Development.

Visual Guide to Android USB Development Settings

Samsung Kies software uses MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode to talk to your Android device. Enabling USB debugging setting changes your android device to use USB transfer mode.

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Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-i9100G: Review, Firmware, Software Update, Rooting

Mozilla Mobile Test Drivers program lent me a Samsung Galaxy SII mobile phone to test the nightly builds of Firefox Mobile. This Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) phone runs off a powerful dual core A9 1.2 GHz processor with a good responsive capacitive touch screen. The device is impressive and attracts a lot of attention everywhere.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Android 4.0 (ICS) Update

On March 10, 2012 Samsung will release an firmware update for Android 4.0 code named Ice Cream Sandwich. You will find the upgrade information here on Samsung website.

Android 4.0 promises to offer better accessibility and internationalisation support. You can navigate the android phone built-in screen reader using touch gestures. There is much better rendering support for Asian languages and additional Unicode fonts are bundled with the release.

Cyanogenmod Firmware for Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100G)

The Cyanogenmod has been boon for mobile phone technophiles. The project provides customised firmware for wide variety of phones. Unfortunately Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100G) is not well support by Cyanogenmod project. Why? Samsung had changed the hardware specification of this model and none of Cyanogenmod developers have this phone model to work on.

Last week, Yang and I spent an afternoon looking for compatible firmwares to root Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100G) . After few failed attempts we found that MyGKernelV1.1.1_CWM5.tar version managed to give us root access to the phone.

Installing Boot2Gecko on Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100G)

You have heard of Mozilla Boot2Gecko. The Mozilla entry into smart phone market was unveiled at Mobile World Congress last week. Build with HTML5, CSS and Javascript, it allows web developers an open phone stack for their applications.

The Mobile World Congress Boot2Gecko videos shows a Samsung Galaxy S2 running Boot2Gecko. You should take note that this Samsung Galaxy S II model is GT-I9100. The Boot2Gecko developers use Samsung Galaxy S2 as their development platform.

Since Cyanogenmod scripts are used for Boot2gecko installation. You won't be able to install it on Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100G) without lot of hacking. Recently there has been a lot of talk about people dying to install Book2Gecko on Samsung Galaxy S2. Caveat Emptor.

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SIM Card Registration Failed Solution

Few days ago I sent a message on twitter "Anyone know the reason for Nokia's SIM Card Registration Failed problem?". Got quite a few solutions from my friends . It is the most common problem with Nokia mobile phones. Restarting the phone few times or removing SIM and cleaning the contacts also fixes the problem. Try some of the solutions that worked for me.

Solution 1: Blocked SIM or Faulty SIM

In countries like India, you need to register your SIM card. The cell phone company blocks the SIM if they don't receive the application within few weeks of activating the phone. Please check if this is case.

Take out the SIM and test it with a different phone, if the phone fails to read the SIM, get the SIM replaced. Few days ago this worked for a friend with a brand new Nokia handset here in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Solution 2: Clean SIM Contact Pins

Take out the battery and SIM card. Use a clean eraser to wipe the gold contacts of the phone and on back the SIM card. Replace the SIM and make sure its firmly held in place. Few phones tend to start to working when you bang them on your palm a few times due to this reason. Tighten the tiny screws on the back panel of the phone near the SIM card if they are loose.

Solution 3: Phone Software/Hardware Issues

Despite all your efforts, the phone refuses to work then try to the phone repaired or replaced. Some users found that the cellphone firmware upgrade tends to fix this issue. I got a Nokia phone firmware upgraded, it fixed the problem for few months. But the phone started to have the problem again.

Unfortunately there seems to be no sure fix for this problem. Most cell phone service centers including Nokia Authorized shops often fails fix this annoyance. They even charge you service fee just for checking the phone :( .

I would love to hear your experiences, have you had this problem? Did you manage to fix it. Thank you ajuonline, BasilKurian, geohacker for your suggestions.

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Installing Python on Android

Had left the Openmoko Linux phone and aging Nokia N70 back in India. Now I travel with a basic model phone, do miss hacking phone.

This morning I decided to change all that. Checking out Python Scripting Layer For Android using the Android SDK. My Nokia also ran Python S60 until the project lost wind. Getting the android environment on Ubuntu was easy thanks to Eric's tutorial

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Orca on Ubuntu Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition

After trying various gnu/Linux distributions for mobile devices, I choose Ubuntu MID (8.10 Intrepid Ibex), a keyboard / mouse driven distribution from Ubuntu. It was possible to use a spare PC laptop as my test development platform instead of a MID Development kit. The idea behind this experiment to try running Orca screen reader on devices other than gnu/Linux personal computers.

Ubuntu MID distribution is targeted at new Mobile Internet Device (MID) devices, though it doesn't include gnome-orca package. But don't let that stop you, you can get the packages and its dependencies from main repositories and install it manually with dpkg. Right now not possible to install the gnome-orca packages from the main repositories due to 'lpia' architecture package tag conflict.

The list of needed packages are given below.

• at-spi_1.24.0-0ubuntu3_i386.deb


• gnome-orca_2.24.1-0ubuntu1_all.deb


• libatspi1.0-0_1.24.0-0ubuntu3_i386.deb


• libbrlapi0.5_3.10-0ubuntu2_i386.deb


• libgail-gnome-module_1.20.0-1ubuntu1_i386.deb


• libgnome-speech7_0.4.21-0ubuntu5_i386.deb


• libxevie1_1.0.2-3_i386.deb


• libxevie1-dbg_1.0.2-3_i386.deb


• python-brlapi_3.10-0ubuntu2_i386.deb


• python-gnome2_2.22.3-0ubuntu1_i386.deb


• python-gnome2-desktop_2.24.0-0ubuntu1_i386.deb


• python-gnomecanvas_2.22.3-0ubuntu1_i386.deb


• python-pyatspi_1.24.0-0ubuntu3_all.deb

Once the packages are installed with 'dpkg -i *deb'. The orca can be enabled via the accessibility menu or by setting the gconf settings. Though the interface is not yet accessible, I was able to use midori browser with Orca without any trouble.

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The Life and Death of a Mobile

Watching The Life and Death of a Mobile Phone on BBC Four reminds me of my first mobile. I didn't have enough money to buy a sleeker Nokia model so I brought this chunky Motorola. When I showed to my friend Kaushal he told me that its bulky but it will serve you well and it did. My first mobile hack was done on this, I would send a hundreds of SMS's (its used to be free! ) and it outlasted most of the other newer phones I would buy later on. In death too it proved useful, a friend practised mobile repairing on this handset. Amen!

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Hack a Mobile Phone with Ubuntu Linux and Python for S60

Managed to breath life back into my old hand-me-down Nokia N70. The phone was having White Screen of Death (WSOD) one too many, a new display IC fixed that. The original nokia battery (Nokia BL-5C) started to swell and needed to be replace.

Now the old war horse is battle ready, let me hook it up to my laptop via a bluetooth link and do something useful with Python on S60 series.

$ hciconfig reset 
hci0: Type: USB
 BD Address: 00:21:86:A8:BF:03 ACL MTU: 310:10 SCO MTU: 64:8
 UP RUNNING PSCAN ISCAN 
 RX bytes:1260 acl:0 sco:0 events:34 errors:0

$ hcitool dev 
Devices:
 hci0 00:21:86:A8:BF:03

$ sdptool add --channel=2 SP 
Serial Port service registered

# Now make sure the Python bluetooth console is running

$ rfcomm listen rfcomm2 2 

In your phone, make sure bluetooth is on, then go to the Python application and then select the Bluetooth Console. Select from the list of available devices your computer's bluetooth adapter (you might need to select search even if you think you have already defined the pairing). If the operation is successful, you should see something similar to the following on your computer's shell:

    * Waiting for connection on channel 2
    * Connection from 00:11:9F:BE:47:CA to /dev/rfcomm2
    * Press CTRL-C for hangup 

# Change to different terminal and connect to the device with screen. 
$ screen /dev/rfcomm2

# Run basic tests.

print u"hello"
hello
>>>
>>> import appuifw
>>> appuifw.note(u"hello world")
>>>

This Python S60 Bluetooth Console wiki page provides more step by step intrusions of the whole process.

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Watch out for Zii Egg

Reading about the Zii unveiling the Zii Egg renewed my craving for this wonderful gadget.

I mentioned this device to my learned friend Rad today. He spent considerable part of the night pouring over the details and gives it a thumbs up. He says "its like apple Ipod touch but completely open , hackable and with development support".

The device supports both Zii's Plaszma OS and Android and comes with full HD support. It also has a TTS engine that makes a potential platform for some of the accessible devices I plan to work on in future. Check out the full technical specifications of Zii Egg.

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Running Ubuntu Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition

A big thanks goes to Rad for poking me to try out Ubuntu MID. Running the Ubuntu MID in virtual environment is pretty straight forward. Have a look at the Installing Ubuntu MID in Virtual Box.

The screenshots below show Ubuntu MID running gnome-terminal and firefox web browsers.

These presentation slides from CELF Embedded Linux Conference 2008 provides a quick overview about Ubuntu MID.

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