Glass and Gongkai GSM - Unzymotic Ursidae Upbuilding

The Amp Hour · 22 Jan 2015 · 1h 14m · Episode 233

What this episode covers

Chris Gammell of Contextual Electronics and Dave Jones of EEVblog discuss the shutdown of Google Glass, noting its pivot to industrial uses and the shift from TI OMAP to Intel Quark processors. They analyze the failure of early smartwatches due to battery constraints, arguing that future devices will act as dumb terminals for smartphones, and Gammell reveals his new project: a robotic cart for remote telepresence using a smartphone. The conversation also covers the Gongkai GSM project's reverse engineering of MediaTek chips, the high cost of Arduino GSM shields, and the recent bankruptcy of Radio Shack.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies: Nest, TI, Intel, MediaTek, Seeed Studio, Altium, Radio Shack, Adafruit, SparkFun, Digi-Key, Mouser, Apple, SpaceX, NVIDIA, Volterra, LPKF, RadioShack
Products: Google Glass, BeagleBone, Arduino, Nexus, Circoid
Chips: OMAP, Nordic

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

Hackaday Podcast8 Oct 2021 · 50m
Ep 139: Furter Burner, Glowing Potato Peeler, Hacked Smartwatch, and The Last Atlas
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi discuss a range of hardware hacks, including Sail Drone's autonomous ocean-going vessels, an analog computer by Berlin-based Anabrid, and a Nernst lamp built with a ceramic potato peeler. They also cover the reverse-engineering of a cheap smartwatch for open-source firmware, the teardown of a defective USB power bank module, and the use of corrugated political signs as prototyping material. The episode concludes with an analysis of the retirement of the Atlas rocket family due to reliance on Russian engines and the development of the new Vulcan rocket.
Debugging & failure analysis Materials & manufacturing processes
10 chapters
EE Times Current21 Aug 2020 · 38m
Living With Technology | Hot Licks from Hot Chips | Oh, Shenandoah
EE Times editors Brian Santo and Junko Yoshida discuss the increasing complexity and user-unfriendliness of modern consumer electronics, citing issues with smart home devices, streaming services, and the lack of guaranteed software support. They are joined by Tirias Research analyst Kevin Krewell to review the Hot Chips conference, highlighting Intel's holistic 'Mars Law' approach to chip design, Google's full-stack machine learning optimization, and innovations from companies like Lightmatter and Cerebras. The conversation covers the shift from simple plug-and-play hardware to fragmented, software-dependent ecosystems that often fail to deliver on their promises.
Industrial & consumer product design Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors
7 chapters
Hackaday Podcast20 Nov 2020 · 57m
Ep094: Fake Sun, Hacked Super Mario, Minimum Viable Smart Glasses, and 3D Printers Can't Do That
Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss a variety of hardware hacks, including a fake sun built from a satellite dish, the reverse engineering of a hacked Super Mario Game & Watch, and minimalist smart glasses by Samson March. They also cover a drill bit sorting system using Bluetooth calipers, a 6502 computer with wire-wrap construction, and a teardown of the Signet Technology Recon Sentinel network security device.
Debugging & failure analysis Microcontrollers & dev platforms
9 chapters
Hackaday Podcast3 May 2019 · 55m
Ep017: Are Cheap Microcontrollers Worth It? Android on Your Bike. Plus Food Printers and Coffee Bots
Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams discuss the PMS150C microcontroller, which costs only 3 cents but is one-time programmable, and explore a bike computer running Android that revealed GPL violations. They also cover a scratch-built smartwatch with a wood-filled PLA case, a LoRa repeater for high-altitude balloons, and an SNES emulator technique that improves Mode 7 graphics. The episode concludes with an interview with Craig Bishop about improving KiCad's auto-router.
Microcontrollers & dev platforms Connected products & IoT
7 chapters
Hackaday Podcast29 May 2026 · 1h 19m
EP 371: Space Computers, Spy Phones, and So Long CHU
Hosts Tom Nardi and Al Williams discuss the shutdown of the CHU time broadcast station, the potential of using cheap smartphones as Linux servers, and a cycle-accurate 386 clone on FPGA. They also cover a microcontroller-based VPN gateway, the history of WWII spy radios like the S-phone and Joan-Eleanor, and the unexpected vulnerability of modern smartphone cameras to magnets.
Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors Microcontrollers & dev platforms
7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Amp Hour. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.

Glass and Gongkai GSM - Unzymotic Ursidae Upbuilding

What this episode covers

Most relevant to

Topics

Mentioned

Related episodes from other shows

Ep 139: Furter Burner, Glowing Potato Peeler, Hacked Smartwatch, and The Last Atlas

Living With Technology | Hot Licks from Hot Chips | Oh, Shenandoah

Ep094: Fake Sun, Hacked Super Mario, Minimum Viable Smart Glasses, and 3D Printers Can't Do That

Ep017: Are Cheap Microcontrollers Worth It? Android on Your Bike. Plus Food Printers and Coffee Bots

EP 371: Space Computers, Spy Phones, and So Long CHU