(from http://members.aol.com/pocketpress/articles/rex.html)
- click here to go back to i-rex -
February 9, 2002
*************************
PUSHING IT TO THE LIMIT
Night Of The Living REX
by JackTrades
When PDA's and other computers become obsolete, they usually simply fade over time
(Remember lusting after the Sharp OZ? One of which, by the way, still sits gathering dust
on one of my shelves.). One of the exceptions has been the REX in general, and the REX
6000 specifically. Not only has the discontinued little PDA's development continued, it's
exploded, fueled by a stubborn and creative group of computer enthusiasts.
The REX 3 was originally released in 1997. After almost no changes for nearly a year (an
eternity in computer time), it should have been discontinued. Instead, in 1998, the REX
was reworked from the ground up and updated to the REX Pro. After Franklin blamed nearly
$30 million in losses primarily on the REX, it should have vanished. Instead, Xircom
bought it and in late 2000, released the REX 6000 (R6K for brevity from this point on).
Intel purchased Xircom in 2001, and officially killed the R6K and the companion REX.net
site, which allowed users to synchronize web content to their R6K's.
REX's users filled most of 1997 through 2001 with ways to carry your tiny REX, mostly
using business card cases and PCMCIA cases, and eBooks. That was the extent of customizing
your REX. After Intel announced the purchase of Xircom, the REX community remained
disgruntled and mumbling to themselves for about a month. This is where the story gets
strange.
The web is a huge universe unto itself, and if you kick around it long enough, you'll be
surprised at what you learn. Knowing that the REX 6K was originally released in Japan as
the DataSlim 2 (DS2 from here on), diehard REX 6K users began desperately translating
Japanese for information. When you are translating Japanese for what would eventually
become the first breakthrough in the community, and it consists of a game where you whack
a mole on the head, you know you're desperate.
I need to define a term here, before we go on. It's "add-in." Think of an
add-on, as a program that runs ON your PC. Software for internal use on the R6K, has to be
loaded INto the REX, hence, add-in.
In early 2001, Japanese developers released an SDK (Software Development Kit) for the DS2.
In March of 2001, Mr. Morotomi reverse engineered the only two released and
non-implemented Xircom add-ins, and released a technical document. His first DS2 add-in
based on this document is actually a drawing program, but he's more famous for the above
mentioned Whack-A-Mole program.
In early May 2001, Chris Harris released a "Hello World" add-in for the R6K
using Morotomi's technical document, and analyzing previous DS2 add-ins. Later that month,
someone compiled this same program from C. In June 2001, developers began a e-mailing list
to disseminate information. Within that same month, satori strikes. Like the proverbial
lightbulb turning on, an amazingly polished Solitaire add-in is released within the same
month by Amiram Stark. In the next few months, additional developments, such as multiple
SDK's and emulators make it even more possible to program for the R6K. By the time
Xircom/Intel announced the official hosing of REX.net, a handful of add-ins had been
developed for the R6K. At the time of this writing, there are at least approximately 40
known add-ins for the R6K.
And then, those stubborn Dutch folks got involved. While various software geeks began
disassembling and reassembling software, communication wizards began analyzing the early
REX.net communications protocols. It was discovered that REX web content consisted of WAP
content (the same web content found on most web-enabled cell phones), and dynamic content
was generated originally in XML (a variation of HTML, the primary language of the World
Wide Web). Meert wrote a content grabbing script, and then Majek created a full-featured
free replacement for REX.net, which began service at roughly the same time as REX.net's
death was announced, and is now a very fast, full featured site.
As discontinued REX's continued to fall in price, the hardware wonks also began getting
braver, and actually started disassembling their R6K's to analyze the firmware. Many ended
up with numerous serial docking stations, and a patch was written that would first allow
the REX to be used while in the docking station. Originally, the REX goes into a
"waiting/sleep" mode while in the cradle. Various experiments indicated that
while in the serial docking station, the REX derived it's power from the rechargeable
batteries within the station itself, rather than the R6K's button batteries. Rewiring
experiments have resulted in prototype rechargeable portable power bases for the R6K.
Other wild projects in the works include external input devices, backlighting, and other
unexpected twists considering this is a PDA a little larger than a credit card.
Developement hasn't just been inside the R6K either. Originally, Intellisync was the only
software program released for the R6K to run on your PC. If you consider that the R6K is a
discontinued product, the release of several mail synching programs, allowing you to read
and write email on the REX, is pretty remarkable. There's a program that allows changing
the language of the R6K "keyboard," the earlier discussed patch that allows the
R6K to operate while in the serial cradle. Another brings in German content to the REX. OS
workarounds have been developed for Win 95/NT4/XP and Office XP, Macintosh, and Linux.
Using a triple bounce method, it's possible to synch the REX with a wide variety of PDA's,
including Palm and CE based devices.
What has made this development possible is open code, where the REX developer community
has made each discovery publicly available, from software to hardware analysis. As a
matter of fact, there may possibly be only one shareware R6K add-in, the rest being
freeware and/or freely distributed. A 1/40 ratio of payware vs. freeware? Even more
interesting has been it's global development, involving communities in the United States,
Japan, Germany, Holland, and other countries sharing information and co-producing
projects.
The question is, is this the end of the line for the REX? A variety of hacks and patches
to keep the little PDA viable? Like the monsters in horror movies, the REX has proven hard
to kill in the past. Several Japanese (home of Godzilla, by the way, who's been killed how
many times now?) news releases have sighted a wireless grayscale version of the DataSlim,
called the DataSync, from Citizen. From the digital grave of the dead monster, imagine a
REX breaking the surface just before the credits roll. And yes, there is a way to get AOL
mail on your REX, but even a beating with pool cues wouldn't get it out of me. Why the
heck should you have it easy? :)
Excellent General REX 6000 Sites:
REX 6000 Help Page
Rex Extras
A Few Selected Add-ins
Bertus Rex 6000 addins
Dwarf Gold - Nazghash's Web Dead
End
My Rex Apps
RexReader
Riley's REX 6000 Addin Page
SiuLung.com's REX 6000 PDA Page
SoliRex - Solitaire Game Suite
for the Rex 6000
Welcom Hideo Morotomi's Home
Pege "Junk Shop"
Software
Aaron's Java Web Capture
Inetllisync
maillosaurus REX
RexWeb to Note
Web Synchronization
rex.mamy.to
Programming
Dimitriy's REX 6000 page
Emulator Rex 6000
Firmware
Green Guy's Guide to the Rex6000 (You've
got to check out The Creation and The Persistance of
Rex, and The Doughnut Eaters)
padelt.de - FreeREX -
technical details about the REX-Card
REX 6000 PDA
Miscellaneous
Radio
Shack CR2016 Batteries
REX Community
PDABuzz.com
Discussion Forums - REX
PDAStreet: Message Boards: REX
Yahoo! Groups : FreeREX
REX's of Days Gone By
REX PC Companion Electronic Organizer
Page
The Future of REX?
Future Incarnations of Rex
Japanese
news article previewing the DataSync (translated)