FOSS GSM security camera?

[Wolfgang Spraul]

> there is also a project on qi-hardware.com:
> http://projects.qi-hardware.com/index.php/p/xue/timeline/

The problem with that project is that it's just a plan now, not a
single board has been produced. I'd say this is way out until it
becomes a usable product (minimum 1 year). And we are not planning
on integrating connectivity until even later.

> There is a company with copyleft-hardware carmeras (I think some of them have 
> usb host or can connect to a gsm modem):
> 
> http://www3.elphel.com/index.php

Those cameras are awesome and if you are interested in openess,
Elphel is the right choice. They are expensive though, for a full
353 camera you easily need 1000-1500 USD, and then you still don't
have any GSM connectivity which is what you seem to be mostly after.
So by the time you have built a GSM security camera, you will have
a big box with lots of manually wired up gear, heavy, with high power
consumption, etc.
Elphel is about optical excellency (and openess), the founder is a
Russian trained physicist and the coolest open hardware guy I know
in the world :-)

There is also the Frankencamera, a much hyped project at Stanford
University with Nokia financing 
http://www-graphics.stanford.edu/papers/fcam/
But I'm not sure whether they sell anything - I think that leads you
further away from what you want.

It sounds like your best bet is to start with a phone/smartphone,
and hack the camera functionality you need into it. You could even
take a good old Freerunner and attach a cheap USB-host webcam to it?
(need to solve the mains power problem then, I haven't thought about
Freerunner hacking for a long time...)

How about a Nokia N900?

Cheers,
Wolfgang