Insignia Infocast 8" Touchscreen $99

i picked up one of these http://goo.gl/i7dx7 touchscreen devices the other day from bestbuy for $99. it runs chumby software, has 2GB of internal storage, 2 usb ports, card readers and a headphone jack. it has 128mb of ram and runs an 800mhz marvell arm processor, similar to the one in the dockstar, but slower. the founder of chumby has posted a usb image that boots the infocast to a webkit based browser http://goo.gl/efOoB and it runs surprisingly quick. it requires a usb keyboard for input and there are issues using a mouse, but the touchscreen works for navigation. the infocast comes with builtin wifi which turns off if the device is left idle for a period of time, but you can use a usb ethernet adapter instead to keep the network from going away. there are supposedly some efforts to get android & meego ported to it, but i have not found much on this. power consumption is 4 watts with the screen off and goes up to 7 watts with it full on (vs 10 watts for audrey IIRC).

there are perl and python ports available for chumby as well which should run on this device. the founder of chumby also mentions how get enable ssh access in his blog http://goo.gl/Z6Niy

i plan on keeping mine for hacking purposes and in the hopes the android port actually surfaces and may pick up another (but my nearest bestbuys are out of stock) to eventually replace some audreys.

I've noticed that all of the BB's are out of them and been seeing a bunch of them on Ebay purchased at the BB's. My son's in college but his PT work has been at a local BB; I was going to ask about seeing if he could get me one....

they're available at all BB's around me at that price - I just may pick one up.

Please excuse my elementary lack of knowledge, but could one of these be used as a touch screen with PC based home automation software such as Elve or Homeseer?

if you boot it up with the previously mentioned browser usb image, then you can control things that have a browser interface with the previously mentioned limitations. my AJAX based gui runs perfectly fine on it.

So, I knew very little about these things, but bought one anyways on my way home - just because I've been wanting something in the Master Bath area that'll show the weather and the time while I'm getting ready.

Well - I'm glad I did! For $99, this thing is pretty awesome - and I know I haven't even scratched the surface yet... just having Pandora built in make this thing worth it to me just as it is, along with the weather and time... without a single other app, I'd still feel this was money well spent.

And, if it ever gets boring as is, the hacking option could be fun too!

damage said:

i plan on keeping mine for hacking purposes and in the hopes the android port actually surfaces and may pick up another (but my nearest bestbuys are out of stock) to eventually replace some audreys.

Click to expand...

You still have Audreys? I have 5 I'd be willing to part with on really good terms. 1 black, 1 green, 3 linen.

I mean, REALLY good terms (you can always use a spare, right!?).

--Dan

BTW, as my Web Mountain RUC review shows, you can use these to interface your UPB hardware using the RUC. It should also be fairly easy to create a basic M1 touch panel.

drozwood90 said:

You still have Audreys? I have 5 I'd be willing to part with on really good terms. 1 black, 1 green, 3 linen.

I mean, REALLY good terms (you can always use a spare, right!?).

--Dan

Click to expand...

i've got 4 but i'm only using 2. i've got enough spares i think

Wish someone would figure out a way of getting Android on Audrey ... would give her new life!

well, the key for us HS people, is to get Mono running on QNX. There is a version out there for QNX, but I do not know if it will work / run on this older version of QNX.

Then you can load up HSTouch.

I think it's possible, but I just don't have the time / skills to play with QNX.

I can offer up an Audrey (just pay shipping) to anyone who wants to try to get mono / HSTouch running on an Audrey.

--Dan

-----> Maybe I didn't see Mono for QNX...but I could swear I saw it for version 6.4 or something like that. I just can't find the link I "think" I remember reading...is this what "old" age does to you?

HS has an Android client, so if you get Android, then you don't have to do any crazy porting

Dan (electron) said:

HS has an Android client, so if you get Android, then you don't have to do any crazy porting

Click to expand...

But...you are porting Android...

HSTouch also has a Linux client...just needs mono to run...

Which, I can't find the link, but I could swear I saw QNX 6.4 as an option for Mono.

--Dan

Relating to the Android. There are development images out there that I have played with. You could basically tweak an Android VM such that you can play with your HSTouch configs on it.
Personally I have not.

price dropped another $20 to $79. time for an adjustment...