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DoCoMo To Use Linux On Their 3G phones
ilbrec writes "Looks like NTT
DoCoMo will be using Linux on their 3G phones next year. This
actually was reported yesterday in Japan (here), but I could not find
any article in English until now. While it's not clear who will
be making the Linux phone for them, I would certainly be interested in
seeing them once they are out. No word on this anywhere at
DoCoMo's website at all, however." Reader paku adds links to similar coverage in Forbes and in Japan Today.
That's who makes just about anything embedded-Linux based.
I have been pwned because my
Wow...
Finally we'll get rid of that symbian OS! It gets at least 45'' to shutdown on my Nokia!
top use something like linux on a mobile IMO... we have enough exploitable mobiles out there already, better use something simple without toys...
greetings,
Kodo
Coming soon to a phone near you.
I'm eager to see the outcome when someone unleashes a virus/worm that infects all these phones and renders them useless en mas. I've always questioned the need for games and apps on a phone.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
I don't think the cdma people will even carry it. I reather have a 2.5G phone since the GSM carriers deliver, sprint has been promising for 7 months a bluetooth phone, so I don't think that eather sprint of verizon, the 2 cdma and therefor the only 3g networks in the us, will ever carrie it, I ditched sprint last week for a 2.5G company T-Mobil because they have the better phones, yes the theredical speed of the net is slower but the applided speed is faster because it is there. see this page I did http://slashdot.org/~mpost4/journal/53591
If it's the Panasonic model.
(posted anonymously because I'm working on that project)
Nitpick:
Linux is an open-source, easy-to-modify, and license-free product.
No it's not. It's free licence. These people need to understand libre software.
Manufacturers are expected to comply with DoCoMo's request to replace their systems with a unified Linux standard apparently for fear of being left out in the cold
Now, is this a good reason to move to Linux? I mean, if this is the reason for small manufacturers to move, had DoCoMo chosen Windows, they would probably have moved to that instead. Oh well.
Can you hack these phones to run Windows and not support the Evil Penguin Empire?
How does this work as far as distributing the source code? Is that available for modification and if so is it possible to upload a self-improved OS to the phone?
Does that open up the possibility of doing clever things or am I being ignorant? If the former then this could be great, if the latter - hey, I only wrote telecommns code for two years, what do you expect?
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
I predict that 3g will eventually catch on as 2g clients wish to upgrade to bigger and better things. 3g isn't dead yet.
Viral software licensing is not freedom, it is in fact GNU/Socialism.
My wife's phone uses Symbian's OS. It's very, very nice. Unless someone comes out with a killer phone app requiring the linux kernel, I think DoCoMo would be better off with Symbian.
Although I would give a mint to be able to use regexps on my phone book.
REM Old programmers don't die. They just GOSUB without RETURN.
We all know Microsoft is trying to be the "standard" for cell-phone operating systems much in the way that they took over almost the entire desktop and workplace market, but will there ever be a Linux standard? I know Symbian is also trying to create a standard for cell phones that already is quite strong in Europe, but there really should be a consortium where Linux developers can get together and set standards, instead of them being scattered across the internet proposing a few ideas.
If there's going to be standards, they should always be open source and free as in beer. Corporate control of standards only creates monopolies. Even in America, a lot of people are dropping their landlines for cellphones, and if there's ever a Linux standard for it, it should be created quickly before it's too late.
I can just see the headline on Slashdot a year from now will be:
DoCoMo accused of GPL violation, fails to release modified code.
Given that the FSF will not pursue anyone who abuses the GPL unless the abused code's copyright is owned by the FSF, and given that no other organization seems to be protecting the GPL, what guarantee do we have that the sources will be included and this will be legit? Answer: None.
Hey! distributed computing to cure cancer.
Hmmzz... Didn't they say that Cell Phones could be causing cancer ?
I mean this seriously. Would a good sign of Linux becoming more mainstream be when it's no longer news that a company is using Linux in their products?
Does anyone know if this will positively affect security?
The Law of Falling Bodies
no one will ever need more than 459 SMS characters on a mobile device.
640K [of memory] ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates (1981)
yes, that was the general idea I was hinting at. good to see not everyone here is totally dim.
the "I predict.." is also based on a Homer Simpson quote.
you mean there is 4G? if 3G was marketed as the best thing since sliced bread what will 4G be marketed as?
I think 3G is dead in terms of what it originally aimed to be. Wifi has virtually destroyed what was supposed to be the most lucrative market for 3G. But if the carriers are somehow able to make their 3G offerings work side-by-side with Wifi, they might stand a chance of making some money off their investments. But I suspect you won't see any major innovation until 4G or 5G when carriers are able to integrate their networks in the Internet. When I can get native VOIP on my cell phone (without paying through the nose!), then the killer apps will really start to happen.
Presumably it's cheaper to build additional processor speed and storage into the device, to cope with the overhead of Linux/Windows Embedded, than it is to spend developer time to knock up a custom OS for the limited hardware?
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
Please could some mods with functional brains actually recognise this for the bullshit it is? "Host the phone interface on a central Solaris cluster," my arse!
Maybe in Japan, or in Europe, train or bus passengers would want the network to entertain them in some way while in transit. But most likely IP rights will make it impossible anyway, so they will be limited to simple Web browsing (on a phone? come on...) In USA there are no trains or buses, for all intents & purposes; people fly. But you can't use 3G in flight, so back to old trusty laptop with all the wealth of video and audio one can only imagine...
If anyone really wants to make a killer phone, make it just small enough to be worn as a wristwatch. That would be much more useful than all those petabytes per second. My friends always leave their phones where they themselves are not - on the desk, in a bag, in a car, at home - you name it, they left it there. And of course once someone leaves the phone on the desk and walks out, the phone rings...
Many best things that we enjoy are not marvelous novelties, but something well known, but perfected to absolute excellence, to its limit. I dare say, the phone shall follow this path.
Don't forget: re-arrange the letters in NTT DoCoMo and what you get is "Not Dotcom" !
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
according to zdnet japan (sorry link in japanese), DoCoMo added Linux as an option for manufacturers to choose from, by setting standardized specs for Linux on 3G. apparently DoCoMo doesn't want to limit choices of OS on 3G. The article says that they have specs (requirement) for Symbian OS available also.
.
As Japan's largest provider, DoCoMo's relaxed stance on choice of OS may benefit manufacturers and consumers in a long run. Obviously people at DoCoMo can't care less about the OS that will soon be running inside of every car
Freedom of choice is a blessing these days...
considering that you can't get a cell phone these days without GPS technology would you really want the government, or anyone else to locate your wrist within 6ft of it's actual position?
can me a tin foil hat wearing freak but how long until your implanted with a GPS transmitter/receiver upon birth.
"Ok mom and dad, here is your child's birth certificate, SSN, and GPS transmitter number"
Anyone have a hack for a nokia 3589i do completely disable the GPS functionality?
HA HA HA! This is great. Clearly, AC does not know what he is talking about and is a karma whore. Hosting the phone interface on a central Solaris cluster and connecting to it by a Citrix ICA client? Did it occur to anyone else that this doesn't make the least bit of sense?
Hmmzz... Didn't they say that Cell Phones could be causing cancer ?
Maybe that's what Microsoft people had in mind when they said Linux is a cancer.
Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
SCC makes you pay them $699 if you DON'T use Linux.
The recording industry sells all their material online, in a usable format, at a fair price
We don't, for one, welcome our new overlords.
Windows Security is not an oxymoron.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
the lightweight version of Fedora from Red Hat (codenamed "Touque")
Truly a masterpiece. I salute you, Sir Karma Whore.
what would become of /. !?
Don't like the direction this country has taken? Go to www.blogforamerica.com
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
Many handset vendors are working with Linux in some way, and some vendors like Motorola are working with all kinds of O/S from Linux through to Symbian and MS.
But does the O/S really matter if all the phones support Java now anyway? If you're going to write software for open mobile deployment, wouldn't you be inclined to consider Java first since it alone is ubiquitous on phones? O/S generally doesn't count for much in that decision.
More than that, consider the data formats... Those indespensible new compelling 3G services if they ever eventuate will be all about selling and consuming data. Whose format(s) are service vendors going to use and support and work with? The content is what will be monetized with consumers and the format is what determines the nature of the franchises, like e.g. Office on the desktop.
Whether the data format is something proprietary like .ppt or .doc or .swf or something open like SVG or XHTML I think is more significant to mobile developers' careers than the O/S.
Look at the SMS business - the SMS standard can be implemented on any phone O/S and in fact it has been implemented on all of them. That is why SMS has been able to grow to $36b per year today.
But on a more serious note if they really want to put a nice OS with an exapansible API on the phone some company should think about partnering with apple to do it.
Also I dont know much about kernels, but from a superficial knowledge level I'd speculate that BSD with its modular microkernel might be slightly more adapted to niche platforms than linux which is more globally integrated and optimized for its more standard platforms. Perhaps some more wise person can comment on this?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
cell phones use the x86 hardware architecture, or Windows source is available to you.
Hope they bought a license from SCO...
While it's not clear who will be making the Linux phone for them [...]
As I recall from the NTT iMode service, NTT just set the technical specifications. Any manufacturer who wants to sell iMode phones has to follow these specs, and they do it, because the iMode market in Japan is huge.
My guess is that the same thing applies to the 3G handset. There probably won't be a dedicated handset manufacturer but each of them will produce a "NTT compliant" phone.
And since the Japanese version of IMT 2000 is "slightly" different than those in Europe and America, you won't be able to use those phones anywhere else without modifications.
My cats ate my karma. They also wrote this comment.
If you worry about GPS as such, the signals from satellites are very weak, and so you need clear view of the sky to receive them. This means that the GPS will not work within buildings, for example, or in the streets of some larger cities (Manhattan, for example, might be one; it's even dark there.)
If you worry about cruder methods of locating you - turn the phone off (remove the battery to be sure, though I don't think it transmits when powered off. But it may receive - and may listen for a magic packet, if your tinfoil hat is slightly off :-) If you use the phone, your location is instantly known to the base station(s) that service your call, and the GPS only improves the accuracy.
But the general rule is simple - do not take the phone with you into places which you are not willing to disclose to the whole world. A grocery store might be OK; a spare wife's house probably is not :-)
That is the most insightful statement I've seen on slashdot in quite a while.
Tools that are too complex, that ry to do too many jobs, are rarely as important as simple tools that do one job extremely well. Take the traditional land-line phone. In the US, at least, it had been implemented amazingly well. It works. No one needs to read a manual to use it. It works during blackouts. It works clearly and consistently. It is ubiquitous. Historically, it is pretty much a model of how a utility should operate.
The fact that every time I get a new mobile phone, I have to fumble to configure it is not a good thing. The fact that I have patchy service in many areas is not a good thing. The fact that my mobile phone bill is not predictable is not a good thing.
I want a phone that will be inexpensive, durable, nearly 100% reliable, nearly 100% available, allow me to make and receive clear phone calls nearly 100% of the time, be small enough that I never have to be without it, but large enough that it is comfortable to use.
If I wanted a camera I'd buy a camera. If I wanted a game machine I'd buy a gameboy. If I wanted a to look at porn, I'd use a real PC with a decent screen, or maybe even buy a magazine.
Build a phone, not a 10 in 1 tool that doesn't do anything well.
Rant over. Cheers,
Mike
In many ways Linux and the whole Open Source way of doing things is ideal for this kind of application. It makes a certain amount of sense to standardize certain aspects of the OS on mobile phones, after all it is a communication device, and having every thing talk the same language is an obvious bonus.
The article talks about how many different manufacturers are running different systems on their phone. The linux initiative would mean that all of those companies can contribute to an open standard codebase and have the same os running on a bunch of different architectures, The other bonus of course is that they can choose their hardware based on merit / cost instead of having to choose the hardware based on whatever hardware company is sharing the redmond pie.
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
Of course, if they do their job properly then you wouldn't be able to tell that it runs linux. It would just do phone stuff.
If you're working on the project you could at least get the company name right - it's MontaVista. Not posting anonymously, because I used to work for them :-)
This actually was reported yesterday in Japan (here), but I could not find any article in English until now.
Courtesy of the Rejected Post Machine:
NTT DoCoMo: Linux-based 3G Mobile Phones in 2004
* 2003-12-02 11:59:33 NTT DoCoMo: Linux-based 3G Mobile Phones in 2004 (articles,pilot)(rejected)
Reuters cites a confidential source as saying that NTT DoCoMo will offer its customers Linux-based 3G mobile phones in 2004. DoCoMo has apparently sent specifications to handset manufacturers and DoCoMo supplier NEC has said that it will offer Linux-based phones by 2004. If true, the report would indicate a shift from the dominant TRON and Symbian-based handsets.
This was also submitted yesterday morning, but I guess Reuters wasn't considered authoritative enough until the English version of the Japanese story. =)
I just wanted to add that I had put this in as a submission 3 days ago. I know the submission big can be a bit lagged, but I know damn well it isn't 3 days lagged. Grr.
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
This is particularly interesting considering DoCoMo bought a large stake in AT&T Wireless last year. AT&T Wireless is based in Redmond, WA, and has announced that they plan to use Microsoft products in their phones. I suppose DoCoMo could influence AT&T Wireless to switch over.
This sounds like great news of Openwave which recently ported their products to Linux.
Keep in mind that these "Java phones" are running J2ME of some flavor or another, which is about as close to the desktop Java you are familiar with as Javascript is.
the return of sliced bread
nobody flies less than 200 miles in America. Nobody travels further than that in Europe or Japan.
What was the best thing before sliced bread though?
Get your own free personal location tracker
to get a Docomo imode phone.
Docomo, like Sony is one of those companies you want to hate but end up rather liking. Sony, you hate for the AIBO hacking controversy, saves itself with the Linux kit for PS2.
Docomo is a money-grabbing, high priced qu(e)asi-governmental monopoly. But it knows that by adapting Linux to run on a phone, it wins tecchie friends.
The first imode phone came out in February 1999. I bought one (the black f501i) in March 1999 when I arrived in Japan. I wanted a phone I could send email from because I didn't have a PC. That phone was nice and was way ahead of it's time (even in Japan)
Docomo's Linux offering will also be good, as it has tecchie know-how. Oh, and NTT Docomo has one of the highest market capitalisations on the planet.
"It's not your information. It's information about you" - John Ford, Vice President, Equifax
Actually this is mostly true! I love how you pointed out that it was a french division guarding the flank of the Americans during the Gulf war. Fuck they'd hate to hear that! Write this in an email to Miss (read bitch) Coulter please.
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8011783890.html
Why use redhat when Asia has their own Linux?
Also on Bizarro World... Soviet Russia jokes make you!
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
No matter what the operating system, I have no doubt that mobile phones in Japan will continue to be used by pedestrian-endangering people on bicycles and incredibly irritating Japanese schoolgirls who insist on keeping their "SMAP" ringtone at TOP VOLUME while riding the train.
Dear God, perhaps Linux based phones will be able to tell when this is happening to reach out and give them a good whack. (That was a joke. Please don't reply and tell me why the OS doesn't make a lick of difference. Thanks.)
Moderators: Think this is a Troll? Move to Japan - I DARE YOU! They'll make you give up all your moderator points at your port of entry, but in return you'll get a delightful pack of ad-ridden tissue paper.
...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
Churchill
Recently, thankfully, [DoCoMo's] prices have become sane, but they really don't deserve to be the top carrier in Japan. Currently EzWeb (KDDI) is probably the best, followed by Vodafone (J-Phone), and then DoCoMo...And then TuKa and its glorious bid to avoid going out of business.
I don't know; I haven't been impressed with KDDI ever since I tried reporting spam to them and was told "we don't have a reporting address and we're not taking any action against spam senders". (DoCoMo, on the other hand, set up a reporting address last year, received about 400,000 reports over a one-year period, and took action against about 250 spammers in that period, IIRC. About half the spam I receive these days is from KDDI.) I use DoCoMo, but mostly for coverage: I haven't looked at coverage maps recently, but when I got my first keitai 4 years ago, DoCoMo was substantially ahead of everywhere else. As long as I'm going to have a mobile phone, I want it to be useful, well, mobilely . . .
they will be limited to simple Web browsing (on a phone? come on...)
. . . says he who has never actually tried it, I assume? I find browsing capabilities quite useful for:
- Reading news
- Checking mail (on my server at home)
- Checking train timetables
among other things.Indeed, checking train timetables and getting live train status reports on the move can be a godsend when you're running late and you need to plan a connection.
Your facts are so wrong, it's unbelievable, and so I will just comment on the last one. Daguet lead the charge? Here is some info. from the French Foreign Legion (so you can look it up yourself)
www.frenchforeignlegion.org
"The Legions mission was to safeguard any reprisal by the Republican Guarde"
"The French columns-the most westerly, screening the Coalition left flank-punched through the Iraqi 45th Division"
Safeguard any reprisal?
Flanking the MOST westerly side of the collation forces?
Less than 15,000 troops out of 500,000?
AND
Not 1 French casualty in a war in which they lead the charge?
The rest of your statements are just as faulty, France's reparations on Germany created the environment that lead the rise of Hitler.
The reason more French died in the first 6 months of 1940 the war was because they we hiding behind their "impenetrable" and "impassable" Maginot Line (in other words the mountains) and got slaughtered. 2 WEEKS later the French were trying to surrender. The Germans held out and had that humiliating ceremony on June 22 in Paris when the French signed an armistice with Germany, leaving their ally Britain to fight alone (gotta give it to the Brits, they are men and would never ever cower down and surrender).
I could go on identifying all the junk in this post but that's enough, point made.