pandora skype

[Eranderil Grey]

Well i'll start plain and simple. i don't have a Pandora (yet, will be placing my orders {likely 2 orders} when i get my sign on bonus)however it occurred to me that when i deploy this could be one handy little item. What i was wondering is if there is a possibility of a Skype and webcam adaption available. obviously a usb webcam is applicable, but that still leaves the question of a Skype/Skype alternative. the second order would be for my girlfriend, whom is like to be more than a girlfriend by the end of December 2010. Well i think you guys see where i'm going with this, with built in blue tooth and wifi (unless i misunderstand the official page{possible i'm not the brightest bulb on the xmas tree}). Either way i'm ordering, as it has a built in mike (also based off official website info). The question is more or less is/will there be a Skype option for those of us whom end up far from home? And is a built in webcam a possibility in future versions and/or hackable into the current version? (i know nothing of hacking or programing yet, i suspect ill be learning soon )

 

[slaeshjag]

Atm, there is no skype on the pandora. Since it is proprietary software, we can't port it either. I guess it might be possible to make a huge hack and use the binary from the N900, but that would probably also need half the Maemo 5 system as well. Has anyone investigated a maemo extend?


EDIT: There is a effort to get Ekiga to run, ekiga is a open source soft phone, which might be able to give you the functionality you want from skype.

 

[Eranderil Grey]

Ekiga would be perfect i think, it has free audio and visual calling, which would be exactly what i'm looking for. It also has instant messaging. Now what would have to be done to get it working on a Pandora? (i'm assuming thats what the effort to get it running entails, if you are part of this effort and are willing to share info with a Pandora newb id be extremely greatful.)

 

[slaeshjag]

I'm not part of the effort, but all the bits needed to get it running is there, it probably just need a little tinkering before it'll work. Currently it segfaults as soon a call is initiated.

 

[sebt3]

I'm not part of the effort, but all the bits needed to get it running is there, it probably just need a little tinkering before it'll work. Currently it segfaults as soon a call is initiated.

Ekiga is already working on Pandora using the debian extent (someone have made a vid of this). I tried to apply the debian patches. but ekiga.pnd still crash with them.


I'm guessing/hoping that it's because we have an old system stack (libc and so on)and when these will be upgraded theses crash will be fixed.


I do have enconterd this with more than one projet : osmo and chromium does have the same symptoms too. (the chromium pnd include a newer libc to work, debian does indeed use a newer libc than we do)

 

[Tempel]

There is a recent thread on VoIP. In there, Alerino says he's already been using Ekiga successfully. So, Ekiga runs with some effort (the extend system sebt3 mentioned), but should be even easier by the time you get a Pandora.

 

[Eranderil Grey]

you guys are awesome


so then what i'm after will be absolutely doable. that is great.


so im going to be programing newb for a sec and go ahead and ask, it was explained that skype couldn't work as it was proprietary software. i need to ask precisely how that makes Pandora unable to handle it, i mean if Pandora was treated like a very small laptop couldn't you just download it?


(this is purely a curiosity thing as i would like to come to better understand the nature of the system)

 

[Prometheus]

so im going to be programing newb for a sec and go ahead and ask, it was explained that skype couldn't work as it was proprietary software. i need to ask precisely how that makes Pandora unable to handle it, i mean if Pandora was treated like a very small laptop couldn't you just download it?

The reason it makes the Pandora unable to handle it is because, whilst many computers use the x86 (or x86-64) processor architecture, the Pandora uses an ARM processor - basically, different processors require different instructions, so an application made for one type can't be used on another without adjustments (which may be minor, major, or perhaps impossible in some cases) to make it work.


In this case, the fact that Skype is proprietary software means that we can't port it to the type of system we're using, because access to the source code is not available - it's very, very difficult to port something without access to the source code.


It's a bit more complex than that, but hopefully that should give you the gist of it.


(Hi and welcome, by the way! )

 

[Eranderil Grey]

Ahhhh i see. understandable that its substantially more complex, but yes that explains it very nicely.


and thank you for the welcome, im just glad i found out about it this early, though granted im still coming in quite late to be claiming early but still. fantastic idea.


oh, random reminder from my little ladyfriend. is a webcam going to be integrated at any point or made able to be integrated for skype or is that well out of the question?

 

[Tor]

The reason it makes the Pandora unable to handle it is because, whilst many computers use the x86 (or x86-64) processor architecture, the Pandora uses an ARM processor - basically, different processors require different instructions, so an application made for one type can't be used on another without adjustments (which may be minor, major, or perhaps impossible in some cases) to make it work.


In this case, the fact that Skype is proprietary software means that we can't port it to the type of system we're using, because access to the source code is not available - it's very, very difficult to port something without access to the source code.


It's a bit more complex than that, but hopefully that should give you the gist of it.


(Hi and welcome, by the way! )

You couldn't download a general version for sure, because that would be the wrong architecture. But that's not the only option. Skype already runs on ARM so they already ported it. N800, N900 are the Linux-based versions. As far as I can tell the N800 version is a build based on one of the early x86 Linux versions (i.e. it doesn't have the look of the later versions). The N900 is much more integrated into the system and if any of those can be made to run on the Pandora the N800 one may be easiest.

 

[PokeParadox]

You couldn't download a general version for sure, because that would be the wrong architecture. But that's not the only option. Skype already runs on ARM so they already ported it. N800, N900 are the Linux-based versions. As far as I can tell the N800 version is a build based on one of the early x86 Linux versions (i.e. it doesn't have the look of the later versions). The N900 is much more integrated into the system and if any of those can be made to run on the Pandora the N800 one may be easiest.

I'm not entirely sure about that... N900 uses Telepathy as it's built-in messaging client, and from how Skype works, it may just be a binary only Telepathy plugin.


If that is the case - port Telepathy, copy binary blob from N900... fix anything else it may complain about.


(Disclaimer - this is only a small hunch...)

 

[Tor]

I'm not entirely sure about that... N900 uses Telepathy as it's built-in messaging client, and from how Skype works, it may just be a binary only Telepathy plugin.


If that is the case - port Telepathy, copy binary blob from N900... fix anything else it may complain about.


(Disclaimer - this is only a small hunch...)

You could well be right. Interesting idea, anyway.

 

[Prometheus]

oh, random reminder from my little ladyfriend. is a webcam going to be integrated at any point or made able to be integrated for skype or is that well out of the question?

I would imagine that such a redesign would be hugely expensive to do, so I would have to guess that it would probably be unlikely. Sorry about that.


USB webcams that are known to work with Linux will almost certainly be your best option, here. (They can be obtained very cheaply, too. I have this one, which is not only ludicrously cheap, but surprisingly well-made as well. It also gets used with my main computer, as I run Linux exclusively on that.)

 

[Eranderil Grey]

ok fair enough. makes sense that it would be expensive. ill be looking into a usb one then, thank you very much my friend.

 

[Prometheus]

Glad to be of assistance.


You may want to read this thread from the other forum - it touches on some webcams that some folks got working, although I'm not 100% sure if there's much software around that can use them right now (I haven't checked).

 

[Eranderil Grey]

just a note that i appreciate the amazingly friendly community. the only community i've found prior to this that is this friendly is the Mabinogi community (which my siggy is based off.) so thank you guys so much for the kindness


and thank you guys you have been wonderfully helpful to a rather unexperienced new guy.


as far as the webcams go ill have to just work it out when i get the pandora. ill check the ones from the forum and go from there.