[ale] Building linux entertainment devices

Larry Grenevitch lg1450 at bellsouth.net
Fri Dec 26 01:03:19 EST 2003


Millions were spent to do this by ZapMedia which I believe is now out of 
business.  The problem is if you want "PC" quality sound and video yes you 
can do it.  If you want dolby digital sound and Tivo quality output, then you 
have got a long way to go and the base you can start with now is much better; 
however, your going to need lots of money to buy in the quantities necessary 
to bring the price down enough for it to work and you will need custom 
hardware or custom hardware (chips) embedded onto your custom motherboard.

On Tuesday 23 December 2003 04:40 pm, zack wrote:
> I am interested in examining the possiblity of building a Linux-based
> networked entertainment device.  My main goals are not a one off, use
> spare parts type of project, but more of looking into the possibility of
> building a prototype for mass produced device.  The software would be a
> slimmed down or RTOS Linux kernel, plus open source software.
>  Capabilities would include networking, video and /or sound output.  IDE
> devices for HDD and CD/DVD would probably be required, as well as
> (likely) PC-Card support.  CPU-wise I am thinking a low-end Intel/AMD or
> higher end alternative CPU like you might see in some embedded devices.
>  So yeah, it's pretty much a PC, but non Intel/AMD would be considered
> if they can handle the video.
>
> I need to get an idea of the types of hardware platforms suitable for
> this type of device, and the software development I would need to do, to
> get some idea of how much it would cost to do, as well as how much
> develoment work would need to be done (I assume certain systems could
> just have minimal kernel  and OSS code compiled, while others might need
> porting or tweaking or something).
>
> If anyone has any experience or insight into this sort of a project and
> would care to share, I would appreciate it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Zack
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale



More information about the Ale mailing list