converting a kindle into a digital sign

[tom_a_sparks]

I am think of getting a second hand kindle that I can convert into a digital sign
where I can put:

* rss feeds
* news of the day
* local weather forecast
* my calendar

the closest idea I've seen is http://www.cemetech.net/projects/item.php?id=39

I am wondering if anybody has done anything like what I am think?

[qlob]

Originally Posted by tom_a_sparks

I am think of getting a second hand kindle that I can convert into a digital sign
where I can put:

* rss feeds
* news of the day
* local weather forecast
* my calendar

the closest idea I've seen is http://www.cemetech.net/projects/item.php?id=39

I am wondering if anybody has done anything like what I am think?

Not that I know of... Looks cool though... You could run this over WiFi instead of USB if you wanted to as well...

Maybe a kindlet for the base application? or it could be a native application, depending on your skills... geekmaster and others here have gotten video piped to the eink display... Displaying it wouldn't be hard, just actually writing the program...


What kindle model are you planning to use?

[twobob]

a) assuming you have internet access on the device the information retrieval and display is trivial really.

The article you cite stated that images on a 4bpp Framebuffer were a no-no however Geekmaster has shown excellent results with ordered-dither.

My first thought would be "It's too small."

Other than that I don't see why that would be a problem. I even have image-magick and a few other toys that could create the images on the fly. But I think that is overkill.

Assuming you are going for a DX (largest display) I would say that a FULLSCREEN version of the existent browser could probably be hacked together with a cron request to manage rolling updates or some such wangle.

failing that. QT could manage the display, there are probably other options to on those older devices.

If you are going for a tiny sign and are using the newer devices >5 then it's trivial utterly and could be done in a WAF with little effort.
(if it was a toy think: "some assembly required")

Hope that helps.
Many options, limited by size

[qlob]

Originally Posted by twobob

a) assuming you have internet access on the device the information retrieval and display is trivial really.

The article you cite stated that images on a 4bpp Framebuffer were a no-no however Geekmaster has shown excellent results with ordered-dither.

My first thought would be "It's too small."

Other than that I don't see why that would be a problem. I even have image-magick and a few other toys that could create the images on the fly. But I think that is overkill.

Assuming you are going for a DX (largest display) I would say that a FULLSCREEN version of the existent browser could probably be hacked together with a cron request to manage rolling updates or some such wangle.

failing that. QT could manage the display, there are probably other options to on those older devices.

If you are going for a tiny sign and are using the newer devices >5 then it's trivial utterly and could be done in a WAF with little effort.
(if it was a toy think: "some assembly required")

Hope that helps.
Many options, limited by size

Only problem is that WAFs only work on the 5s... a kindlet or native app would work on almost all Kindles.

[twobob]

if you mean to externally control an ADDITIONAL eink panel I would direct you to the more technically adept brethren and sistren that frequent these threads.

Knc1 and GM jump to mind.

[twobob]

Originally Posted by qlob

Only problem is that WAFs only work on the 5s... a kindlet or native app would work on almost all Kindles.

Yepo. Hence me asking for more specific details.

[tom_a_sparks]

I am still concepting this idea:

I dont know what kindle i'll be get yet, (most likely a DX)
I think of a screensaver like display that loops though a group of images (not random)
the image are going to be pushed[1] to the kindle

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology

[twobob]

okay. sounds doable

[andyh2000]

Try this - Kindle Weather Display - http://www.mpetroff.net/archives/201...ather-display/

Andrew

[tom_a_sparks]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Try this - Kindle Weather Display - http://www.mpetroff.net/archives/201...ather-display/

Andrew

that looks close to what I am think of ,
but he only displays one page the weather

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by tom_a_sparks

that looks close to what I am think of ,
but he only displays one page the weather

Yes, but it shouldn't be too hard to adapt his scripts to what you want.

Andrew

[twobob]

It's fairly unlikely you will find an OOTB solution for this.

Although I did think "web kiosk" when you said it and that may be another avenue to explore.

Andyh2000 outlined the only other project of this nature I've ever heard of in this subforum, (other than the one you cited).

So it's still: "Some Assembly Required" but less that one might expect given the diverse specifications of the project.

Can't wait to see if you try it. The slow DX screen refresh won't matter for your purposes however shoving as much processing off-device as possible server-side may be in order/desirable.

: )

[MaPePeR]

The Txtr Beagle might be a better choice:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...than-10-euros/