Omnimaga
Omnimaga => News => Topic started by: apcalc on January 12, 2011, 03:15:21 pm
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While browsing the TI website today, I came across this link:
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_nspire_lab_station.html
Apparently, TI is releasing a new "lab attachment" for the TI-Nspire that will act much like CBL 2 for the TI z80/68k series of calculators. Apparently, this device attaches to the Nspire much like the wifi adapter for TI-Navigator. Before the release of this, the Nspire had limited capabilities with previous lab collection devices, with the CBL only working on the non-CAS Nspire in TI-84+ mode.
This new tool could also be a possible reason why TI started using BSD code starting in OS 2.0:
http://ourl.ca/6366/127170
UPDATE:
After checking Vernir's website, critor reports that this accessory will require TI-Nspire OS Version 3.0. Likewise, there is a mention of an "App" for this new data collection software. TI has traditionally refereed to the "Calculator", "Graph", "Notes", etc. features of the Nspire as "Apps", but it would seem useless to require everyone to have the "App" for this data collection accessory, since most Nspire users will most likely never even see it. Could this mean that true "App" support is coming? Only time will tell, but we will know before April 2011, the set release date for this new accessory.
What could be in store with a new OS 3.0? This accessory suggests individual App support, but what other features might come? Will 3-D graphs finally be added to the Nspire? Will the hack of Ndless 2.0 be officially blocked? Will there be tougher downgrade protection? Only time will tell! :)
Thank you, critor, for you further investigations of this on Vernir's website! :)
Here is the link:
http://www.vernier.com/calc/ti-nspire/cradle.html
Here is a picture of the new lab station from the above page on TI's website:
(http://education.ti.com/images/rightcolumn/science/LabStation-HeroImage.jpg)
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wow nice find apcalc! Yeah.. I also hope that we are able to find some good things in the next os release so we can have more capabilities for programming.. Also, I wonder what day it'll be released..
edit: also, what is this dataquest app about?
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well, they also need an excuse to release OS 2.56 :)
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This is great, my teacher forced us to get 84+ keypads and borrow ti-83+'s for Lab stuff. I just hope it's faster than in ti-83+ series.
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That lab cradle makes it look like it would take up a bit of the lab bench and be difficult to hold.
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I hope lots of people (not us) find them fragile. I would love to get a few of their connectors, so I can make my own dock. :)
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I WANT to use some lab funcs, but we have not started. Knowing TI, this is probably going to be worse than the z80 series of lap things :P
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I'm currently writing a news for TI-Bank.
The 1st place to look for information is not the TI website but the vernier website.
(TI & Vernier have a long story of data collection, and have often developped the hardware together)
TI-Nspire Lab Station - More Evidence for OS 2.2
The topic title should be corrected.
According to the specifications on the Vernier page, the TI-Nspire™ Lab Cradle will be available in april 2011, and will require OS 3.0 or later.
So it would be logical for OS 3.0 to be released before april 2011. There is no time for a 2.2 OS.
http://www.vernier.com/calc/ti-nspire/cradle.html
Jumping from 2.1 to 3.0 is even more frightening:
* it might reflect major changes in the OS, like the fixes for all bugs used by Ndless/Nleash.
* it might imply a drastic size increase for the OS, which would be dramatic for basic TI-Nspire (free space is allready less than 50% after installing OS 2.1 -> you often need to delete all your documents or use the maintenance menu to remove the OS before being able to install a new OS...)
My hint: do not install OS 3.0. Just test it on goplat's emulator (if it works...) or just wait for my tests. I'll sacrifice one of my 7 TI-Nspire calculators just for you.
Vernier DataQuest™ App...
Did I just read "App"?
Will OS 3.0 finally support applications, or did TI just use the bad word as usual?...
What do you think?
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I think you should get one. ;-)
And i think that if we see flaws like ndless uses fixed, then we've got a problem. Especially ones that nleash used.
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Thank you for your information, critor! :)
I updated the original post to reflect these new developments!
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I am moving this to news. Also I hope TI keeps the old OSes files on their server after 3.0 comes out. Omni got links to them in a topic so people can still get them even if TI remove links to them on their site. I hope OS 3.0 doesn't put in an even stronger anti-downgrade protection nor break Ndless, though.
Nice find guys!
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I've got better quality images in the TI-Bank (french) news if you want to see how the software & hardware will look like.
http://ti.bank.free.fr/index.php?mod=news&ac=commentaires&id=924
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BTW I'd be happy to update the CAS I've got to 3.0 as well. my parents won't let me ndless it anyways. :P
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Nice Critor!
Also on an off-topic note you should post about that ToyoBot one news below on Cemetech forums, because they got a sub-forum for that and some people there are interested by that stuff, I think.
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I'll update mine as soon as Ndless will work on it. ;)
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Jumping from 2.1 to 3.0 is even more frightening:
* it might reflect major changes in the OS, like the fixes for all bugs used by Ndless/Nleash.
* it might imply a drastic size increase for the OS, which would be dramatic for basic TI-Nspire (free space is allready less than 50% after installing OS 2.1 -> you often need to delete all your documents or use the maintenance menu to remove the OS before being able to install a new OS...)
My hint: do not install OS 3.0. Just test it on goplat's emulator (if it works...) or just wait for my tests. I'll sacrifice one of my 7 TI-Nspire calculators just for you.
Vernier DataQuest™ App...
Did I just read "App"?
Will OS 3.0 finally support applications, or did TI just use the bad word as usual?...
What do you think?
It does make you wonder because as you said, the jump from 2.1 to 3.0 suggests major changes. This could indeed be very bad for Ndless. The usage of the word app does intrigue me though... If they do actually add in app support that could be a big plus. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what TI is scheming. >:D
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Even if there was support for Apps, don't expect the SDK to be public.
Only TI & Vernier have it...
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True, but maybe someone will be able to figure out how Apps are formatted, and then develop a way for the community to make their own. ;D
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True, but maybe someone will be able to figure out how Apps are formatted, and then develop a way for the community to make their own. ;D
That would need us to figure out both the lab hardware and the calculator hardware, so it might be quite tricky.
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True, but maybe someone will be able to figure out how Apps are formatted, and then develop a way for the community to make their own. ;D
That would need us to figure out both the lab hardware and the calculator hardware, so it might be quite tricky.
We would need to know all of that only if we're going to make apps that support data collection stuff... If we just want to make apps that do something else, we don't need to know as much.
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We would need to know all of that only if we're going to make apps that support data collection stuff... If we just want to make apps that do something else, we don't need to know as much.
Maybe edit the TI-made apps.
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Yeah. Hopefully the apps won't have 1024-bit signing keys...
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From what I've read on Vernier website, the DataQuest app is going to be included in the 3.0 OS.
So it doesn't look like something that can be added/removed/hacked, like apps were on previous models.
But there may be some kind of an SDK. I doubt TI made Vernier deal with the TI-Nspire OS itself. Vernier probably developped the DataQuest app separately.
And it doesn't mean the OS is not able to load external apps. Else, did Vernier had to recompile the full OS for each test of a new DataQuest version?... I don't think so.
Let's guess how much free space is going to be available with the 3.0 OS! :P
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I guess that it will be the same as on 84+SEs. :P
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I guess that it will be the same as on 84+SEs. :P
1.5Mb, then ? :P
With the CAS or with the basic OS?
I would have been nicer to TI:
- let's say 10Mb on the basic TI-Nspire
- and 11.7Mb on the CAS TI-Nspire
Remember there is at least a 1.6Mb size difference between both OSes because of the TI-84+SE ROM.
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Lets hope they don't do away with the TI-84 emulator to try to save some space. :(
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Lets hope they don't do away with the TI-84 emulator to try to save some space. :(
I don't think they would ever do that... But maybe they would remove Nspire TI-BASIC instead? D:
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TI? Trying to save space? Hahahahaha
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Pssh, they're probably of the mindset that "we have 17 Mb to use!!! we need more math functions in there!"
Also, if they do have "app" support, I hope we could find some way of using it. I wonder how hard it would be to add commands to the OS's Basic....
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I was looking at the pictures in the tibank article, but I noticed "$145" is this how much the cradle will cost? If it is, it's majorly overpriced.
Also, there is already a data collection app, but I forgot how to access it.
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I was looking at the pictures in the tibank article, but I noticed "$145" is this how much the cradle will cost? If it is, it's majorly overpriced.
It's much more overpriced than you think...
$145 -> cradle without any sensors (cradle totally useless)
$234 -> cradle + 3 sensors
$835 -> cradle + 9 sensors
$1591 -> cradle + 15 sensors
Each sensor is allmost as expensive as the cradle itself...
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Also, there is already a data collection app, but I forgot how to access it.
Access it with ctrl+D, I believe.
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I would prefer it without sensors actually :P
I just want to hack in an SD card slot and RS232 plug.
Pricing sounds like TI accessories. I was expecting that much :P
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Wow these prices are pathetic!
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*cough* Look at TI's 15 year old calcs *cough*
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Or their old CBL/CBR things. just as much for a much older sensor
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*cough* Look at TI's 15 year old calcs *cough*
The only reason they can keep the prices so high is because they know teachers request them and students must use them. They essentially have a monopoly.
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Actually the calc is 12 years old. The TI-83+ came out in 1999. I don't know about the TI-82 STATS price, though (technically, that calc is 15 years old, because it's actually a TI-83 non plus, which originally came out in 1996)
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"If you are using the TI-Nspire™ TI-84 Plus mode keypad, the OS version number is 2.56MP and will be available with the latest TI-Nspire OS update due out in spring 2011." -TI's 2.55MP release notes
I guess the update is confirmed, then...
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Yeah. Let's hope it won't break Ndless too much...