Hello everyone,
I just joined, and since this is the #1 Android Tablet Community I thought it would be a great place to ask some questions. I don't have a tablet, but I have several applications in mind.
Firstly, I am curious about the capabilities of Android. Many people like to take their Android device and install Linux (where possible). This procedure is currently under development, but I am unsure what it gains you. After all, the Android device as-purchased is fully functional. So, what does installing Linux do for you as a tablet owner/user that Android does not already do?
Secondly, is a network connection crucial to using the tablet? If I buy a tablet, then take it somewhere remote, will it work? If I load up some content on the tablet, such as videos, pdfs, photos, documents, I should be able to view/edit them anywhere, right?
Thirdly, how does one back up the data on the tablet. For example, if I take some photos, or if I write a document, can I back up to a Micro SD card easily?
Fourthly, is Android multi-user? i.e. can I configure the tablet with several usernames and passwords and each user can log in when they want to use it and have their own files kept separately from other users who might use the tablet?
These questions are all related to a project I am working on, but it's a bit technical, and is based on not having a network, which is something we all take for granted, so maybe only a few people here are interested.
Imagine a village in a remote area with no educational material. Imagine a small central server with a wifi access point. The server is not connected to a network, but it has a 1Tb drive (because they are cheap) full of educational and reference material. Imagine a handful of tablets with wifi are available. The users can connect to a webserver running on the server and view the locally-stored educational and reference material. They can run a wordprocessor and make notes or write documents about what they are doing. Can an off-the-shelf tablet do this?
The next step might be email. Set up a store-and-forward email service with links to the next village, and eventually to the internet. Can a user send and receive their own email via POP and SMTP and store it on the tablet? Can they back it up easily?
Naturally this all has to be cheap, but this is almost a given, due to the massive economies of scale achieved by the popularity and size of the tablet market. If we choose a tablet almost at random, say the Pipo S3, it's about $120.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If anyone has concrete experience doing this I'd be pleased to hear from you, either in the forum or by PM. If you have any good links for current projects like this, please tell me. Googling comes up with all sorts of suggestions, but some have stalled, or never really got off the ground.
I just joined, and since this is the #1 Android Tablet Community I thought it would be a great place to ask some questions. I don't have a tablet, but I have several applications in mind.
Firstly, I am curious about the capabilities of Android. Many people like to take their Android device and install Linux (where possible). This procedure is currently under development, but I am unsure what it gains you. After all, the Android device as-purchased is fully functional. So, what does installing Linux do for you as a tablet owner/user that Android does not already do?
Secondly, is a network connection crucial to using the tablet? If I buy a tablet, then take it somewhere remote, will it work? If I load up some content on the tablet, such as videos, pdfs, photos, documents, I should be able to view/edit them anywhere, right?
Thirdly, how does one back up the data on the tablet. For example, if I take some photos, or if I write a document, can I back up to a Micro SD card easily?
Fourthly, is Android multi-user? i.e. can I configure the tablet with several usernames and passwords and each user can log in when they want to use it and have their own files kept separately from other users who might use the tablet?
These questions are all related to a project I am working on, but it's a bit technical, and is based on not having a network, which is something we all take for granted, so maybe only a few people here are interested.
Imagine a village in a remote area with no educational material. Imagine a small central server with a wifi access point. The server is not connected to a network, but it has a 1Tb drive (because they are cheap) full of educational and reference material. Imagine a handful of tablets with wifi are available. The users can connect to a webserver running on the server and view the locally-stored educational and reference material. They can run a wordprocessor and make notes or write documents about what they are doing. Can an off-the-shelf tablet do this?
The next step might be email. Set up a store-and-forward email service with links to the next village, and eventually to the internet. Can a user send and receive their own email via POP and SMTP and store it on the tablet? Can they back it up easily?
Naturally this all has to be cheap, but this is almost a given, due to the massive economies of scale achieved by the popularity and size of the tablet market. If we choose a tablet almost at random, say the Pipo S3, it's about $120.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If anyone has concrete experience doing this I'd be pleased to hear from you, either in the forum or by PM. If you have any good links for current projects like this, please tell me. Googling comes up with all sorts of suggestions, but some have stalled, or never really got off the ground.
