ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

December 19th, 2007
According to their websitewebsite :
OTOH, the N800 uses Linux. Unless somehow Nokia set them up using Symbian, their code is built upon GPL code. Therefore someone (the FSF), needs to force the GPL down their throat and get them to toss up their cookies and code :D

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

We want our FREE remotes! ;)

NOW!!!! :eek:

Somebody, everybody, PLEASE call or email the FSF

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

ok, correct me if i'm wrong, but a company is taking a 200 dollar piece of hardware, and hiking the price 1000 bucks because they added an application that is in violation of the GPL? wow... people have sunk to a new low.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

Yes, it seems it's true!

So here it goes - please everyone write to your ( free! ) lawyer:

Also, for additional information, the GPL is enforced by the Software Freedom Law Center, who just recently settled a similar lawsuit concerning Busybox, which is the primary underlying foundation for the Nokia tablets, along with other GNU stuff and the Linux Kernel, which are all GPL.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

This paragraph is wrong in many ways. You can make closed system like this without violaing anything and still use linux as a kernel. You can even mix free and closed stuff in userspace like Nokia is doing in firmware of their tablets.
Do some basic research before grabbing torches and pitchforks :-)

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

When checking their specs http://www.elanhomesystems.com/produ...N800_specs.asp it looks like stock Nokia firmware with preinstalled custom application (perhaps locked to device MAC address). This is not different from e.g. preinstalling Navicore and selling N800 as car navigation system. And no Navicore don't need to give us their sources.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

I'm a programmer by profession and real familiar with all that. . .

Geez... Fanoush, chill out a bit! It seems everybody on this site takes things a bit too seriously. My second post was originally made as a joke, actually. Then, later, after the other guys post, I decided WTF, might as well see if it's possible to get some code to reuse ;)

I think it is YOU who needs to do the research. I'm not just a programmer. I also have a bit of legal experience. It's not just the kernel we are talking about here. It's busybox, Gnome and all the other libraries involved in the OS and the application. This product not simplay an N800 with some extra GUI stuff (well, actually. . .). It is being marketed and sold as a new distinct product. Therefore they, and not Nokia, have to publish all the code they use that uses or links to any GPL code, or at least provide a link for it or a way to get it. They are not doing that. So they are breaking the GPL and are liable for copyright (left?) infringement unless they correct the situation.

I'm not saying they have to publish all their code. Only the GPL stuff. It's just like Nokia or anyone else.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

RESEARCH!!
I'm all for torches and pitchforks!
How about some tar also?

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

Well there is still a lot of people absolutely clueless about GPL so any joke about this just feeds the FUD Microsoft and others pushed few years ago (about GPL being viral, communistic etc.).
Well they need to provide sources only to their changes to GPL stuff (if any). And only to customers who actually bought the device, not any random person on the net. If they simply took N800 box from Nokia and added their proprietary application, they can just point to Nokia repositories. Even documentation that comes with the device should be enough (both Control panel->About and Nokia printed manuals).

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

Yeah, the real GNU one, not that cheap busybox rubbish. That will teach them! ;-)

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

Notice that on the product photos that "Nokia" no longer appears on the right over "N800."

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

Love it :D

. . . and thanks for the GPL info! It's been awhile since I read it, so I'd forgotten some of what you mentioned. Also, I very much appreciate your initfs mods and other stuff you have done. It's people like you who make this platform so great!

As for ELAN, if for nothing else than being kind to the community which helped them create their product, they should post links to the free part of the source code. If nothing else just point to Nokia. . .

I mean seriously, $1200 for a $200 device which probably uses irreco and other GPL code. Sheeesh! I'm all for proprietary apps on Linux if it helps it to gain acceptance and market share, but I also think it's important to acknowledge previous work and support the community which made it possible. So far Nokia has done that, and others should follow their example if they want to also be successful. There is no reason the two can't coexist, and the Nokia Tablet is a perfect example of that. OTOH, if companies refuse to abide by the rules there should be serious consequences. That way there is a level playing field.

Fanoush: How would you feel if some company took your init scripts, used them in a popular device to make millions, and then refused to aknowledge your existence?

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

Right on!

I wouldn't have bought the dang thing if I couldn't purchase and use proprietary code on it.

It was just a matter of time before companies realized the hardware capabilities of the tablets...

I expect even more products like this in the near future.

Also kudo's on the statement...

I couldn't agree more.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

For about $300, your existing N8x0, some fairly simple HTML coding and an existing Windows PC you can get:

- Girder control software
- some IR hardware.
- An X10 PC interface

Which gets you full control of your HTPC/Media center, all your AV equipment, X10 lights/appliances, and lots of potential. Spend $1200 and get a whole-house system by adding four more N800's to the mix. :) I replaced my Philips Pronto remotes with N800's about six months back and am content with the results.

I'm betting ELAN hasn't solved the problem of having to plug in your remote every couple of days, which gets annoying. However assuming they've written a real front-end (unlike the HTML solution I imply above) they can be a bit more elegant with their interface, like being able to hold down a button (e.g. volume) for auto-repeated commands, which can't be done with the browser without tweaks... Solve that problem and this thing is ready to blow most any pro AV control system away.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

There was some serious ITT speculation here that the N800 already has a unpublicized IR transmitter "Easter Egg" hidden within it.

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

I live in the north suburbs of chicago and Im looking for someone to help reprogram my system 6(elan). Im upgrading my tv and adding a blueray player. Just looking to add these to my keypads. Any advise???

Re: ELAN N800 Handheld Touch Panel
 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/...fe49e982e7.jpg

The ELAN Home Systems N800 4" Handheld Controller (a.k.a. Nokia N800) was featured on the cover of the May 2008 issue of Residential Systems. The cover story only mentioned the device in passing, but it was pictured again in the "Touchpanel and Remotes" feature on page 48, along with a text description that reads like a mildly edited blurb from ELAN itself.