The industrial mobile/handheld PC market has plenty of Windows CE/Windows Mobile devices from Symbol (Motorola) and the like. I have yet to find any Android devices in that segment. Does anyone know of any or is my best bet going to be re-purposing a Droid handset?
I'd love something with a laser barcode scanner, but my Droid has no problem reading the barcodes with its built in camera so as long as it has an auto-focus camera I think I'll be fine. I guess what I'm looking for is a Droid without a cellular radio (still need wifi), GPS, bluetooth, or accelerometer. I've found a number of Android tablets from various no-name Chinese manufacturers that have most of what I'm looking for but they all seem to be the 7" variety and typically cheap out on the camera which is one of the more important functions for my application.
Related
Hey, I'm a developer who already has this program that does complex data entry, designed for field service reporting. The problem is it was written for Windows Mobile 5 (which is no longer supported) and runs on old HP iPAQ's (hardware that is no longer being manufactured or sold). There are only about 30 units on the field and I have enough backup units to keep the company running for a little while, but a more long term solution is in order.
I've been looking around for a new device that does what I need.
Really all that's needed is Wi-Fi capability (which applies for most everything out there anyways), built-in database (which I thought was widespread but apparently isn't included in Windows Phone 7), and a touchscreen (for signature capturing purposes). It could be a phone, tablet, pda, eda, or really anything.
Now,this seems like a forum with a bunch of veteran developers for a wide range of mobile computing products. Do you guys have any good recommendations for what device would be good/cost effective? It doesn't have to be the same programming language and porting it is no problem, I just need ideas on what devices would be good for the job.
my job involves invoicing customers and my employer is trying to implement an application called "sales force". we need to create an order and then be able to print an invoice using a non thermal, battery operated and bluetooth (or wifi) printer.
he and the i.t. guy seem to think that the only way for this to work is for us to have a mobile phone, windows surface and a bluetooth printer.
i'm convinced that we can eliminate the phone and surface using an android phablet that will interface with a bluetooth printer but i'm not up to date with the current equipment.
can anyone recommend a combo that works? i'm thinking about the htc one max or a samsung note as the phablet.
many thanks in advance to anyone that can shed some light on this matter.
Hello
I am currently working on a project that requires digital signage. I was hoping that a combination with a android dongle (ideally with eth port) and some sort of software would work. has anyone got any real life experiences with this sort of setup and what could you recommend? All i need it to do is to refresh a website with stats, monitoring as well as display RSS feeds and so on. I know about Xibo but not sure how easy this would be to use.
any recommendation on hardware / software would be greatly appreciated.
I can help
Are you using a monitor or tv for this? How big are you going to go? P.M. Me with some more specifics. I have experimented with this and have a few good setups. The main consideration would be How Much do you want to spend?
Rick
I don't know if it would fit your needs, but check out RiseVision for a no-charge signage solution. They also sell hardware, but that's not a requirement to run their software for free as the source of your signage. They have software clients for Linux, Windows and Chromebook and you can find 3rd-party apps on the Play Store to run on Android.
I'm still looking for a nice, inexpensive Android Stick to hook up my account to a TV. So far, I've tried it on a Windows PC and a Nexus7 and both work great.
SideWynder said:
I don't know if it would fit your needs, but check out RiseVision for a no-charge signage solution. They also sell hardware, but that's not a requirement to run their software for free as the source of your signage. They have software clients for Linux, Windows and Chromebook and you can find 3rd-party apps on the Play Store to run on Android.
I'm still looking for a nice, inexpensive Android Stick to hook up my account to a TV. So far, I've tried it on a Windows PC and a Nexus7 and both work great.
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thanks for the responses... We will be using Samsung DM48D screens which are magic info enabled as well. At present i am playing around with Xibo and a Dell Wyse Cloud connect dongle.
Ideally I want to control the android dongle as well but I have yet to find a way to root the Wyse CC dongle and stick a VNC server on it or similar. The RiseVision is a great idea however the information (sales stats dashboards) we want to display are sensitive and not externally available hence a cloud solution wouldn't work I believe.
holgmaster said:
Hello
I am currently working on a project that requires digital signage. I was hoping that a combination with a android dongle (ideally with eth port) and some sort of software would work. has anyone got any real life experiences with this sort of setup and what could you recommend? All i need it to do is to refresh a website with stats, monitoring as well as display RSS feeds and so on. I know about Xibo but not sure how easy this would be to use.
any recommendation on hardware / software would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PQ Labs with their iStick range specialise in Android sticks for signage and they also produce one with an ethernet port.
Could be dont using cloud-based Content Management System
All you need is a web-based content management system like "MobiLock Presentations" that allows you to monitor and control single or a fleet of digital signage displays right from a desktop or laptop.
Android devices are so powerful today, and the hardware is becoming so powerful that I don't think that the software is utilising that.
We already have much of the technology in devices of today to enable a desktop environment to be streamed from our phones.
Display output: Chromecast (wireless display), MHL (Wired display & charger), etc.
Input methods: Bluetooth Keyboard & mouse, Accelerometer (to emulate mouse input), etc.
UI: Separate Launcher for the desktop UI.
With Microsoft bringing Windows 10 later this year as one OS for both the Phone & Desktop, surely that will allow them to work better in sync with one another, but that will still require a separate desktop computer and phone to create this kind of experience.
But Google now has the chance to simply output a separate UI from the same device that can display a phone UI all at the same time.
If we look at past launches of major Android builds then this coming Google I/O would be the perfect time to announce something like this, since they say that they usually deliver one major build that focuses on UI, and then one that focuses on major feature integration.
And not only would this allow for us to take our desktop with us everywhere in our pocket and connect wirelessly to any compatible display but also it could enable people in poorer economies to buy one device which could give them better access to the internet with a portable display integrated into the device, and also they could connect to the larger displays to browse the web or work on office documents with apps such as 'Google Docs'.
This could really be useful for people who wish to use their device in the work place too.
With Android mobile now offering multiple user profiles on their phones, surely they could create one profile for work, with all of their work apps available in both their phone and desktop UI's, but also a personal profile with all of their media applications & games available when out of work.
The desktop tower may still be useful for a few years to enable support for legacy applications whilst we are waiting for those applications to be ported over to Android/Android Desktop, but that shouldn't take too long considering how quickly we are see'ing apps becoming available to Android offering the kind of services that many of us desire, and if the developers only need to create one application back end for both the Desktop mode & phone mode, then it will be much quicker to bring apps to market with a small bit of time required to make a UI which can be scaled between the phone & desktop mode well.
There are multiple projects trying to create this very experience, but if it was a major part of the Android OS then finally people will get the experience that many people are waiting for, you only have to look at the comments on the developer pages of these projects to see that many people want this kind of experience.
With 64-bit now supported in Android too there is less of a reason to hold back this kind of experience.
I agree totally. Is this the only thread on this subject? Was going to setup Chromecast for video and Bluetooth for keyboard, mouse and audio. Doing this on a Jiayu S3A which is very powerful. Would like one place to discuss what works and what doesn't. Launcher options also need to be discussed.
I would like to create an IoT device by buying new, cheap android phones, strip them down and remove the screen, rebox into my own physical box, install a custom ROM without any bloatware (and that will boot without a screen!), and install my android app on the device to do stuff.
An example of a purpose for this could be a GPS tracker for a car. The box would be placed in the car, and record GPS and accelerometer readings, posting these readings back to a central server via the cellular network. (This is just a random example, so don't focus too much on the detail of this, but there are thousands of uses for a IoT board with the sensor, CPU, RAM, storage, and connectivity capabilities of a budget android smartphone)
The reason I want to use existing phones is that they are wonderful, mass produced, cheap devices with a variety of sensors I can use.
The reason I want to use Android is because it is because of the customization ability, and the mature development ecosystem.
To me, it seems an obvious thing to do, but I don't seem to be getting much joy trying to search for examples of this sort of thing (either here, or on the internet in general).
So some questions:
1. General thoughts? (Good idea? Am I missing some fundamental problem?)
2. What are the challenges of running Android without a screen connected?
3. Are there any custom ROMs you know of that specialize in this sort of thing?
(I've seen Google Brilo, but it still seems a bit early yet, and I really like the idea of just using the standard Android SDK to develop the app - and the abundance of help and information that comes with it)
Thanks!