Last night, new TI-Nspire 3.6 OS files were found on TI servers.

The complete version number is 3.6.0.543, and it was built on Sept. 11th, 2013.

The OS is available for :

• TI-Nspire
• TI-Nspire CAS
• TI-Nspire CX
• TI-Nspire CX CAS

Let’s notice that we couldn’t find any release for the chinese TI-Nspire CM, which already skipped OS 3.2.4. Are those models discontinued?

The TI-84+SE version for TI-Nspire calculators remains the same 2.56MP.

This OS sets the minimum installable version to itself (3.6.0.546) and thus forbids any possibility of going back to any prior version - which is actually counter-productive since several bugs were found in the recent releases that weren't there before, in versions that worked better….

The OS does include Boot2 3.2.4 for the TI-Nspire CX and Boot2 3.0.1 for the TI-Nspire ClickPad/TouchPad.

Let's note that there is a new quite evil protection. The OS installation files contain new ‘manifest' files with the signed list of all files included and their signatures ! As a result, it is impossible to make any changes to these files: they can not be deleted or replaced.

As a result, it becomes impossible to use our TNOC utility to remove the useless Boot2 in 99% of cases and furthermore harmful, as well as sample files.
This means in practice that if you install the OS 3.6, the available space on your TI-Nspire ClickPad / TouchPad, for example, will drop to 14.3 Mo, and the update to nLaunch-incompatible Boot2 is mandatory.

Remember that at the time of the OS 3.0, the update to the 3.0 boot2 could destroy your TI-Nspire ClickPad / TouchPad, and TNOC helped limiting damage and therefore the number of calculators exchange for Texas Instruments. Such an attack against the tool, ignoring the past, is not acceptable.

If you remove the Boot2 from the 3.6 OS file, the system will devilishly pretend to function normally at first. But after the first start, it will change the minimum installable version to 3.6.0.546 and will self-destruct, reporting a discrepency in the RS232 log visible here. You are now condemned to stay with an unusable calculator until you accept to install the original version of the file OS 3.6, now the only accepted version. :banghead:

The home screen directly indicates the availability of the CAS engine, allowing a quick check during exams that forbid it:


We can also notice the new designs of the main calculator application, graphs, spreadsheet and Vernier :


Changes on the Lua scripting side will be detailed later.


We therefore do not recommend installing the OS 3.6 if you've got a monochrome TI-Nspire, or a TI-Nspire CX still running a nice 3.2.3 release or earlier. We may find a software-way to use the 3.6 OS in a controlled manner from these versions. But if the OS 3.6 is installed the normal way, that is to say, with all its protections, it will remain uncontrollable and going back will be very difficult because it will require external hardware, or may actually be impossible in the current state of our knowledge.


Source: (and downloads...)
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13206&lang=en

I could finally identify the 2nd USB port pins on the TI-Nspire J01/Dock connector:
pin 21: USB Data+
pin 20: USB Data-

But it seems that we'll need to put some more electronic on those pins before it works:



Source with more information:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=149793 (in french for now)

Thank you for your reply Tim.

I just included the only source I had at that time about the battery.
But I can still edit if you want me to put another source.

In a previous news we were presenting you the new HP-Prime and its rechargeable battery providing a voltage of 3.7 Volts like on the TI-Nspire and TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition, but with a much greater capacity of 1500 mAh and thus an increased energy of 5.55 Wh !
Without any cable unlike on TI models, the HP-Prime rechargeable battery is very easy to install and remove.

According to an information revealed by Tim Wessman from HP on the TI-Planet HP Wiki, the battery coming with the HP-Prime is actually of the same type as those used by the Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone, which is great a news!
On the one hand, with the existence of generic brands of batteries for this phone, when the time comes you'll be able to buy a HP-Prime replacement battery for cheap!
On the other hand, the most common battery for Samsung Galaxy S3 does provide a compatible voltage of 3.8 Volts, but has a capacity of 2100 mAh and therefore an energy of 7.98 Wh. Thus we can expect from it performances 40% higher than the original HP-Prime battery! The replacement will get you a much better autonomy!

You can even try to opt for more powerful Samsung Galaxy S3 rechargeable batteries, especially in generic brands. Exceeding 2500 mAh, 3000 mAh or even 4000 mAh capacity is possible for an unexpected autonomy! But beware, these batteries are often thicker and thus require some accessories designed for the phone (back cover replacement, special battery cover, battery case extension...). These accessories probably won't be usable with the HP-Prime case. Si if you opt for these powerful batteries, make sure that you buy rechargeable batteries which don't require such accessories.



Source:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13143&p=149441&lang=en

In a previous news, we were focusing on the TI-Nspire CX/CM startup screens.
Unlike monochrome TI-Nspire, these calculators include a graphical data stream in the first pages of their NAND memory chip, a part called the Manuf zone. That stream is used during startup by both Boot1 and Boot2.

So far, we could dump up to three different samples of this data stream:

• on production TI-Nspire CX/CM
• on TI-Nspire CM EVT prototypes
• on TI-Nspire CX EVT prototypes

It turns out that the content format has remained exactly the same.
This graphical data flow in RGB-565 has remained a mystery for a long time because it is not visible in NAND dumps. Indeed, it is compressed - but we're not surprised to discover that it's the same compression format as the Boot2, which avoids the small Boot1 to have to manage various decompression algorithms.

This flow is also signed with the same RSA keys as the Boot2, Diagnostics software or OS. That means that it's going to be rejected in case of modifications, and the calculator in this case boots with a default screen similar to the one on monochrome TI-Nspire.
And yet, today is a great day. I'm releasing a tool which will probably be my penultimate Ndless 3.1 program, mySpire, a splash screen editor for the TI-Nspire CX/CM!



How is this possible ?
The startup screen does actually include a maximum of 12 displayable elements which are extracted from the signed data stream. On the data streams we could dump, only 8 of these elements are being used.

And all the parameters about these elements (position, size, part of the data stream...) are unsigned and therefore freely editable! 

We can therefore move all of these elements, and even reuse a part of an element in another one! 

In fact, the logic is completely different from the one of an image editor, because here you're controling the container instead of the content.
But after an adaptation phase you will realize, however, that we can still do very cool effects.

By expanding an element horizontally, one can for example tilt it to the right or reduce it and even make it appear several times! 

By compressing element instead, you can tilt it to the left or enlarge it! 

There's even an option to shift the RGB-565 and get new colors! 

And as Texas Instruments kindly left us 4 free items, by borrowing to uniform areas of the data stream areas we can build fun shapes for example! 



Note that mySpire is a simple file editor. The changes will be applied to the calculator once you flash the modified Manuf image to the NAND memory using another tool like nsNandMgr.
You are therefore free to take all the time necessary to train yourself, to get use to the logic of the RGB-565 date stream containers modifications, and to create your customized boot screen in several times! 

With mySpire and nsNandMgr, your TI-Nspire CX/CM becomes finally yours and you can customize it according to your desires! 

It is also an excellent way to mark your calculator against theft, since there is no official way to cancel the changes.
The only way to rollback is to flash a backup of the original Manuf image using nsNandMgr again.

Look at this... Isn't it beautiful?

And for those who think to a simple trick with mViewer displaying image, I 'm going to show you the creation and flashing of another custom boot screen:
(jump to 8'45 to see directly the reboot with the custom splash screen)



Downloads:
mySpire
nsNandMgr

Source:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=13071&lang=en

Ok, thank you very much.

So some HW-I are coming with OS 3.2.3 and others with 3.2.4.
But the HW-I hardware in itself is stil compatible with 3.1 versions.
So the latest should be downgradable through the Dock and RS232.

Thus the first evil hardware is HW-J.

My most recent TI-Nspire CX are HW-F and HW-J.

So, I did news about HW-J, but that didn't mean HW G-I were ok.

We've been reported on Omnimaga a HW-H coming with OS 3.1 (so the hardware is compatible), and a HW-I coming with OS 3.2.4.
Of course this doesn't prove that HW-I is incompatible with OS 3.1, but it's very likely in the current context.