What is a mobile phone nowadays? For most of us, it is an invisible pipe that enables communicating with family, friends and business. It keeps us connected to the net, sharing, broadcasting, consuming content and information. But is that all?
Not really.
With the existing connectivities such as Bluetooth, Wifi and with the upcoming NFC, mobile phones switch from passive to active devices.
From commercial (PhonePoint) to free applications (Phone Remote Control), you can control PowerPoint, iTunes or any other application on your PC.
But it doesn’t stop there!
Becoming as powerful as computers and being connected to the real world via sensors (camera, audio, acceleration, compass, light and more), they can interact with it.
Remote controlled RC Cars, lock/unlock/start the engine of your car (with one of the first Symbian phones, see video) or even control robots.
All of these need of course human beings to be operated.
For how long?
Look at that video of a Symbian phone scanning a Rubix Cube, solving it and executing the solution. Amazing! We posted one earlier and here is another:
Symbian powering intelligent robots?
Could be sooner than you think!
You get these kind of things by strongly encouraging a hacking ethos around the code.
What’s happening with getting Google Summer of Code suggestions – time’s ticking….
Thanks David for the feedback.
Have definitely been interested in the hacking side of the platform.
With the upcoming developments, it will be easier.
I used to be a researcher, and since I joined the foundation, I’ve been looking into ways of bridging the gap between corporate and hackers.
For a starter, I would be glad to cover and support any projects going on.
I will have a look at how “Google Summer of Code” could support the community.
Thanks again!
I had assumed we’d become more diverse. You think we need specific actions to foster a hacking culture? I noticed too that we need some way to bring out the voice of the apps developer who is at the edge. I tried to start this process with the developer stories.
But I’m not from a code background at all. Are these – hacker, apps people – distinct communities?
Hackers are not only app developers. They pretty much tinker with hardware, mod things, break, rebuild and re purpose stuff.
We can see that kind of culture in the Open Source community, but also in Car tuning, in Computer case tuning, and in general in the DIY community.
I have had the idea of having an Open Lab in our premises, as a starter. A place where people would have the basic equipment to hack, as well as a connection to the Symbian employees.
What do you think?
How can you call that sort of thing hacking? Writing software on an open system to interact with a versatile programmable robotics kit. It’s just programming for fun.
Lego rubix cube solvers have been around for a long time. Here is a standalone one.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by jfourgeaud: Quick blog post: What is a mobile? – http://bit.ly/dtgK30 #Symbian #userexperience #lifehacking…
@Stringer Bell: Hacking is like any other word, it has a different meaning for everyone. Controlling a Lego robot using a mobile operating system, Symbian, a scripting language, Python and a Bluetooth connection doesn’t sound like a standard application for all the components.
Of course there are more advanced ways of hacking, but shouldn’t we welcome and support anyone in the community willing to push their own boundaries? wherever they can be?
I would be glad to hear your definition of hacking and would definitely enjoy supporting your own hacking initiatives.