DSHobro 0.2, aka. DS Homebrew Browser.
Introduction:
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DSHobro is a homebrew that lets you surf the web on your DS. It is based on a PC application that parses web pages, and sends the result to the DS. Version 0.1 alpha was released long ago, in april 07, but was just a tiny demo of the possibilities offered by the PC/DS mechanism. DSHobro 0.2 now takes full advantage of this mechanism and allows you to really surf the web, actually read text and view images (text is clear enough to be read) and so on.
Some of the usual navigation possibilities are available such as the "back"/"forward"/"refresh"(...) buttons. Also, the server application supports multiple simultaneous connections, allowing several people to use DSHobro at the same time, with only one instance of the program.
You may also use DSHobro from a remote location: if you run the server on your own PC, you can surf the web with your DS from any wifi access point (if you know your PC's ip address).
Usage:
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Step 1: run the "Server.exe" application on your PC. Tweak the settings if you need to, and click the "Start!" button.
Step 2: run "DSHobro.nds" on your DS. Enter your PC's IP address, and the port that you selected during step 1.
Step 3: surf!
Controls:
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DSHobro was developped for both right-handed and left-handed persons. You may then use your DS with the hand of your choice.
* Bottom screen: preview ("miniature" version of the web page).
* Top screen: a portion of the web page, with 1:1 scale (zoom 100%).
* D-Pad, or A/B/X/Y for left-handed: horizontal and vertical scroll on the page.
* L/R: swap screens
* Select: display interface
* Start: refresh display
* Stylus: when the bottom screen shows the miniature version of the page, clicking with the stylus focuses the top screen on the zone that you clicked.
When the screens are swapped, a click with the stylus means a real click on the page (ie. clicking on a link, on a button...)
Interface:
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These features are similar to a regular web browser:
Back: go back (display previous page)
Forward: go forward (display next page)
Refresh: refreshes page
"Globe" icon: go to
http://costello.dev-fr.org to check for updates
Home: goes to homepage, aka.
www.google.com
Also, if you press Start, the PC won't actually redownload the web page, but only send the current page again to the DS. It may prove useful when you click somewhere on the page and it doesn't load a new page (ie. opening a frame, a menu, ...)
/!\ WHAT YOU CAN *NOT* DO WITH DSHOBRO 0.2 /!\
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DSHobro 0.2 is better than 0.1a, but there are still a lot of things that it can't do.
These things are (among others):
- Enter text in forms and text fields
- View flash animations/videos.
- Use java, activeX or whatever
- Manage bookmarks
- many other things...
All of the above features are not available in v0.2
But it doesn't mean I won't be able to implement them in later versions!
