Hacking the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

Due to the Linux operating system, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is very “hackable”

since it is relatively easy to develop new applications for the device. This section will introduce the most popular user-made applications, or hacks, for the 770 Internet Tablet and go through the interviews with their authors. As the applications are licensed under an open source license, they are also distributed freely to anyone.

The aim of this section is to demonstrate how hackers expanded the functionality of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet by developing their own solutions to their needs regarding the device. This way the problems and solutions of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet can be connected to the social group of hackers.

Maemo Mapper

Maemo Mapper, is an open source application developed by John “Gnuite” Costigan, that can be used together with a GPS-receiver to show the whereabouts of its user.

Non-users

Memory problem

Text Input problem Processing power problem

Non-phone problem Storage problem

The program downloads maps from on-line map repositories and uses them to display the location of its user on the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet’s screen. When the first version of application was introduced on internettablettalk.com, it soon became the most discussed application for the device.

I've been working with computers (in an educational or occupational capacity) ever since I was about 9 years old. I've always loved to concept of controlling computers with programming, so when it came time for college, the choice seemed pretty obvious, especially with the tech boom going on at the time. (…) My hobbies have always included computer-based things like programming and learning new languages and such

[Interviewee 9, John “Qnuite” Costigan]

JM: How did your development work on the Nokia 770 start?

While participating in the forums at Internet Table Talk, I started becoming interested in the idea of using the Nokia 770 as an inexpensive navigation system. The large screen seemed ideal for it. Upon introduction to the community, it got a very positive reception. People claimed it as the best-looking application available on the Nokia 770

[Interviewee 9, John “Qnuite” Costigan]

In order to function properly, Maemo Mapper needs graphical map data that is not included with the application. Instead, the application can be assigned to download maps from on-line map repositories like Google Maps. The problem is that the user

Figure 12: Screen capture of Maemo Mapper application for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet developed by John "Gnuite" Costigan

license of Google’s Map service, along with other similar services, forbids users to download the map data to be used in applications like the Maemo Mapper. To avoid legal consequences, John Costigan states in the user agreement of the Maemo Mapper that he cannot held responsible for users actions with the application.

Also, to (hopefully) cover my own butt legally, use of this software requires and implies that you agree that you understand that using Maemo Mapper to download maps from a commercial map repository may be considered a violation of copyright law and that John Costigan cannot be held responsible for any of your actions related thereto. (Maemo mapper website, 2006)

As the application is legally somewhat in a “gray area” whether it is legal or not, for Nokia it would be problematic to officially endorse the Maemo Mapper application even tough it has gotten very popular among the hacker community.

Media Converter and Theme Maker

Along with Maemo Mapper, Media Converter and Theme Maker are two popular programs that also expand the functionalities of the 770 Internet Tablet beyond browsing the Internet.

I wanted to make it easier for the people to make better use of their 770 internet tablet. I have made Media converter program that makes it easy for users to convert videos from their own machine to the format that the 770 supports and also I have made the Theme Maker program that makes it possible to create different themes for the device. (...) I dare to say that almost everyone in the non-developer scene [of 770] has my media converter program. (…) It has been downloaded over 11,000 times.

[Interviewee 8, Urho Konttori]

Media Converter is a program that converts video files to a format that is supported by the Nokia 770 internet tablet. At the same time, the size of the video file is reduced as the video is cropped to optimal resolution for the device. In this way, the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet can easily be used for something that it was not originally meant to be used for, as a portable media device. Media converter has been one of the most

downloaded applications of the device, with over 11.000 downloads according to its author, Urho Konttori.

Figure 13: Screen captures of Media Converter and Theme Maker applications developed by Urho Konttori

So the need for the Media converter was born since the video playing software [of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet] was very limited and there was no video convertors that could do the thing that I was looking for.

Media Converter was a program that I developed because as soon as I got the device I wanted test videos on it. I was trying some examples and I found that they were working beautifully, Then I trying to assist people on the Internettablettalk.com forums to do the same that I was doing. No luck, they couldn’t do it. Then I made a bat script that could be used by dropping a video file to it. Again, people couldn’t use it. I decided, that I will make an app that even the average Windows user could use.

[Interviewee 8, Urho Konttori]

The motivation for Urho Konttori to create media converter software was the need to use the 770 Internet Tablet as a media player and to help others to do the same. His development work was driven forward by the inability of normal users to use the tools that he developed.

GAIM instant messenger

The GAIM instant messaging application is an interesting example of the relation between “hacking” and the interests of commercial actors. GAIM is a multiclient messenger application for Linux that can be used to connect to various instant messaging clients. Nokia employee, Devesh Kothari, ported GAIM to work with the Nokia 770 as a hobby project in 2005. What makes this interesting is that users could

then use this program to connect to instant messaging services that Nokia did not officially support nor paid licensing fees for.

Finished port of Gaim 1.5 internet messenger for Maemo/Nokia 770.

This had been my hobby project and took me not long to get all the dialogs etc work nicely for n770 screen size. DISCLAIMER :) This is my hobby project and Nokia has nothing to do with it.

[Devesh Kothari Blog 2005]

The question of whether or not GAIM is illegal is not straightforward. Instant messaging services are typically closed. The protocols used by MSN Instant Messenger or AIM Instant Messenger are not public protocols. Tools like GAIM have to reverse engineer the protocols to work. When there is no source code available for the software, the efforts towards discovering the source code for the software is called reverse engineering (Reverse engineering, 2006). Technically, using a non-supported client such as GAIM is probably illegal (Notenboom 2006). The author of GAIM for Linux, Mark Doliner, stated that connecting to other instant messaging servers might be trespassing since the servers belong to other people, but on the other hand they have put their servers on the internet making it possible for anyone to connect (Are there legal issues? 2004). When asked about the legality of GAIM when it connects to Microsoft’s messenger service, Microsoft’s product manager states:

At this time, there is not a program or set of API's for licensed connectivity to the Messenger service. There have been one-off licensed examples, the Reuters IM client, the Microsoft Office LCS Communicator

Figure 14: Screenshot of GAIM instant messenger port for Nokia 770 Internet Tablet.

client, the Yahoo interoperability that was announced in October, and a handful of mobile clients. However, the desktop clients that you mention, GAIM and Trillian, are currently operating in an unlicensed manner.(Legal issues 2006)

In 2005 when GAIM was ported to the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, the device did not officially support instant messaging. Nokia however stated at the launch of the product that a software update would be provided to make instant messaging and internet calls possible. After a year, when the next installment of the 770 operating system called OS 2006 came out, Google chat and Google talk instant messaging and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) clients were added to the device. However, the word around the hacking weblogs and discussion groups was that the device was capable of these features straight from the start.

The best news for you is that Nokia has set up a comprehensive development site. (...) It even has a walkthrough for how to port applications to the device.

As an example they show how to port GAIM which is funny because most places have reported that IM [ instant messaging] support won’t be released until 2006. (Hack a Day 2005)

The GAIM example demonstrates how it is faster to develop and implement a new feature, instant messaging, to the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet by hobbyist “hacking”

than what could be officially done by Nokia. Nokia officially could not develop and include this functionality to the device itself as it would have to pay licensing costs to Microsoft or to other companies.

ScummVM and Bluetooth plug-in

ScummVM is a multi-platform virtual machine which was originally made to allow one to play Lucas Arts adventure games that use the SCUMM-programming system on platforms other than those for which they were originally released. Due to copyright restrictions, ScummVM does not include the game data, so users have to own copies of the games. Tomas Junnonen, a Nokia employee, ported ScummVM for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and distributed it along with the Bluetooth plug-in in his personal homepage titled “Hacking the Nokia 770”.

I’m a great fan of the old LucasArts games such as Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion etc. The idea of the SCUMMVM for the 770 was almost self-evident, if there’s a way to run code on some device someone will eventually port SCUMMVM for the device.

[Interviewee 10. Tomas Junnonen]

The Bluetooth plug-in was another program developed by Tomas Junnonen.

With the Bluetooth plug-in it was possible to connect the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet to external keyboard to make the text input easier.

The development of the Bluetooth plugin started inside Nokia as a [internal name of the development project], these are typically “it would be cool if”

kind of projects. The purpose of this was for me to learn a new development environment and maybe at the same time make something useful. (…) It wasn’t obvious at all that the plugin would be distributed outside Nokia at all. (…) The idea for keyboard support came from the team but to release it outside Nokia was my idea (…) At the moment the keyboard support is not a product-level feature that Nokia would want to support, but if / when a keyboard support for the product is added, the groundwork has been already partly done.

[Interviewee 10, Tomas Junnonen]

Scummvm, Bluetooth keyboard plug-in along with GAIM were applications developed by Nokia employees as a hobby projects that were then released and distributed in their developers personal websites. Nokia as a company had

Figure 15: Screenshot of ScummVM port for the Nokia 770 Internet tablet playing “The Secret of the Monkey Island 2”

Hackers

Customization problem Communication problem

Media Convertor GAIM Messenger

Maemo Mapper Theme Maker Media problem

Gaming problem

GPS Navigation problem Connectivity problem

Figure 16: Nokia 770 Internet Tablet connected to hackers and their problems and solutions SCUMM VM

nothing to do with these applications while the hackers enhanced the usage scenarios of the Nokia 770 Internet tablet with their applications. Similarly, Media converter, Theme Maker and Maemo Mapper were applications developed by users of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet who were all motivated to reinvent the product to do something more than what it originally could do.

According to the hackers, Nokia 770 Internet Tablet offered them possibilities that other products did not. Many interviewees said that they were quite satisfied with the product even while many of them mentioned same problems in the product than the non-users did. This is why the “problems” that connect the social group of hackers to the solutions could also be referred as opportunities to innovate. In the figure 16 the innovation activity around the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is demonstrated as I have connected the social group of hackers to problems and solutions around the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet.

I have incorporated all of the interactions around the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet followed in this thesis to the figure 17. There are three social groups present -manufacturer Nokia, the non-users and the hackers. Nokia is connected to the three product concepts that were not brought to the markets and to the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet that was launched in 2005. Trough the problems and solutions that Nokia had, the outcome was the Nokia 2006 software update for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet adding new functionalities for the product.

Bluetooth plugin

GAIM

Figure 17: Problems and solutions of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet connected to relevant social groups and other artifacts

Communication

The focus with the non-users was in the problems of the product. This helped to understand the reasons why this social group did not want to adopt the product.

Through the interviews and on-line observations with the non-users, it became clear that the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet lacked the features of products that it was compared against. It could not store large amount of media like digital media players, it could not be used as a mobile phone and the ability to browse the Internet was not as significant functionality that it would had overcome these problems.

The social group of hackers was similar to the non-users in sense of their problems related to the product, but the opportunities for hobbyist hacking that the product was embedded with enabled them to start innovative interactions around the product.

In the next chapter, the meaning and the implications of these interactions is studied further.