Linux Replace your Power Hungry Linux Desktop with cheap android phone.

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albert007

Novice
Friends,
There is a cheap android phone for 9990/- which can be rooted and programed with custom ROM files.
For Linux Enthusiast, Its a good phone to start your development activity on ARM platform.
Here is my blog explaining some interesting stuff possible with your android phone.

To start with, write you own Hello_World.c, compile using arm tool-chain and run it on your phone.
I am able to get ssh shell access of my android phone through wi-fi interface and using scp, one can copy files between PC and phone.

My phones Busybox gives me the full access to most of the linux commands,
Imagine carrying a handy battery powered linux PC running on 600Mhz ARM processor with camera/key_board/display/audio-inout/gps/gsm and also a phone for calling and texting.

As Linux geek, think of some interesting application possible with this Linux powered PC which can replace power hungry Desktops for specific applications.

Some of my ideas are as follows:
1)Bit-torrent client downloading data on phone's SDCARD from my unlimited data plan.
for 24hrs application all i need is
==>dsl/adsl broadband wifi router
==>android phone
==>small UPS(or a 12V battery with charger for longer backup in case of power outages)
Advantages of this setup,
==>reduced electricity bill as compared to running full desktop PC.
==>no noisy fan running 24hrs as in desktop PC
==>un-interrupted data download even in-case of long power cuts(smaller
power consumption of router and phone leads to longer battery backup)

2)use your android phone as an ip surveillance camera, recording can be done locally on phone sdcard or over remote PC through network.

3)If you are a network administrator, let your android phone monitor server-room power cuts, and notify events via sms.

4)access your phone installed at remote location using reverse tunneling,
for this you need
==> 3G internet connection on your phone.
==> QuickSSHD running on your phone with port forwarding
==> let ssh client on your mobile connect to ssh daemon over internet(home
PC behind router)
==> from your home PC you can do reverse tunneling and login to phone's
command shell and do some remote administration stuff.

I know these ideas seem fascinating but need some effort to make it work,
There are so many smart developers who have already released apps on android market for specific applications but most of them are in development stage.

let me know what other interesting stuff comes to your mind.
Happy Hacking and long live open source community :-)
 
I quite don't agree with your first idea of using the phone as a replacement for a download rig. Not only will it degrade the performance of the battery on the phone, it would heat up the device and render the SD card useless in the long run. There are several devices which hog a lot less power, does not have a fan and provides an uninterrupted download (provided there is a power backup and the ISP does not fail). Plug computers for instance. Or even routers which let the user connect a hard drive to it and runs a bi-torrent application.
 
As said, it will eventually render the SD Card useless. Now something like this can be useful if it supports USB OTG . But tbh , i think the heat buildup will be quite high and so could be pretty bad for the phone.
 
Yes I agree with you, sheevaplug/seagate_dockstar/plug_computer are all good piece of hardware, even beagleboard can do the job @ <4W of consumption.
you can even flash RT-N16 (one of the powerful routers with good h/w spec for 90USD) with dd-wrt/tomato/openwrt and get the work done, but the purpose of this thread was to discuss some interesting stuff possible with easily available android h/w which can do more than a normal phone.
As of now cheapest android h/w available in India costs around 10k which is still considered to be high for embedded applications. Lets see what Lava and Micromax have in their store for this Diwali. These Chinese suppliers play in quantity and they can afford to bring the price down. I would love to see the price of android phone for <5k.
 
I used to use my n81 for downloading.I used to download approx 700mb per day using airtel edge connection for more than 2 years .I was using smartget (Python application) .

Nothing happen to my phone and sd card.

I liked your blog .

Can you post the thread in Guides and Tutorials section?
 
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