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Motorola Readies Music-oriented Linux Mobile Phone
An anonymous reader writes "Motorola has announced several new multimedia-enabled mobile phones supporting music and video playback, including one new device based on embedded Linux, according to LinuxDevices.com. The Linux-based Motorola E680 could see US distribution, making it the first of Motorola's Linux-based mobile phones available outside the far East. The E680 will include multimedia playback software supporting a variety of formats, including MP3 audio, MPEG4 video, and RealPlayer multimedia content." The article notes: "Motorola's previous Linux-based phones have been based on MontaVista Linux, and have used the Qt/Embedded graphical application framework."
Maybe this phone can replace the iPod, being that you can receive phone calls on it as well. I wonder how many songs it can hold and what the interface is like for playing music?
If I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on a little electronic gadget, I'd like it to do more than just play MP3s. This device might get me to spend that kind of money... and I don't have to be embarrased by an Apple logo on it.
-Jem.. so I'm guessing we can look forward to even more incomprehensible 'My Moto' adverts. My money's on a sheep with an afro on roller skates dancing to the birdie song in an open air club on top of a skyscraper.
With built-in webbrowser and email client this would be a killer gizmo if it supported WiFi. Since the device supports SD cards, you could buy a Wifi SD card, but I'd prefer if it was integrated from start.
Underholdning.info
I for one am getting pissed of at the way on my phone, if I get a call when writing a text message, all my text gets deleted.
Hey - I'm kidding!!!
Seriously, this is getting closer to what I call my dream mobile device. I was hanging back until they had decent memory and connectivety - and I'd also like the other bells and whistles, but this is pretty cool.
(People always bag out the FM radio, but it is *really* nice if you have to get a bus/train to work for an hour each day)
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
It looks like motorolla are improving with age. I've had issues motorolla's in the past and found the interfaces to be quite clunky, although one or two are quite nice design wise. So I've pretty much stuck with Nokia, (I quite like symbian). The new batch of Motorolla's are looking quite nice, I might try one out, and also I'd like to support linux on an embedded platform anyway.
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
Can anyone tell me why SD cards are popular? Or for that matter, why CF hasn't taken over completely... SD may be really small, but I've never heard anybody complain that their CF card was too big.
Also, CF cards have a HUGE advantage in being about half as expensive, per-capacity. Just wondering, why not CF everywhere?
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
What happens when the firmware for these phones are distributed to someone, eg service technicians? Shouldn't they be allowed to redistribute? And shouldn't they be able request and receive the source to the binaries as well?
The question with these Linux based mobile phones is: when will it reach the market eventually? Some nice mobile Linux toys have been announced in the past, but have never become available. See this survey about Linux on or with mobile cellular phones for details.
I used to be a little against devices trying to do everything, due to poor battery life, size etc... But now that battery life is much better than it used to be, a device similar to this one could end up being perfect for someone like me:
A uni student who does a lot of travelling, listens to tons of music, and normally walks around with a diskman in one pocket, a backpack with a large diary and a mobile on my belt.
Running for the bus with crap flying out of your pockets or flinging around, hitting you in the privates is not a good way to start the day..
-Ryan
Live in your skin. Keep changing the scenery.
I'm going to wait until the Motorola MPx comes out.
-horizontal or vertical alignment
-Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Tri-band GSM/GPRS
-64MB of built in RAM
-SD slot up to 1GB
-320x240 2.8 inch screen
-1.3 MP integrated camera
-QWERTY layout keyboard
It's not Linux but it looks way cool:
Phone 1
Phone 2
Phone 3
Thanks PennyArcade
Bargain PDA
How do you dial '1' with it?
- bi g.jpg
http://www.linuxdevices.com/files/misc/mot-e680
My Phone, on the other hand, is far more powerful as a PC compared to the Desktops I used merely 5 years ago. So does that make my Mobile Phone a PC?
I think as this line gets blurrier and blurrier, one shouldn't be amazed at all the cool things the latest Handsets can perform. And as more and more devices are turning out to be more Computer-like, it shouldn't be too far in the future when you can use your Washing Machine to make a phone call.
Indefinitely Detained US Citizen
I'm happy to see Linux being used on all sorts of devices, but I am also very concerned that they fulfil their obligations for the GPL'd source in their device. So where is the source? I grow tired of getting at least 1-2 emails per week about some new router or wireless access point or whatever that is violating the GPL distributing BusyBox with no source and no offer for source. So I truly hope Motorola is behaving itself and doing what it is legally obligated to do. I've searched their site but I see nothing but press releases. Has anyone obtained one of these phones? If you have, can you confirm whether Motorola is fulfilling their obligations per the GPL?
-Erik -- --This message was written using 73% post-consumer electrons--
Unless a 15G SD card suddenly becomes cheaper than $299 minus the price of this phone I don't really see this phone being an iPod replacement.
So this makes me believe it should be available in Europe as well.
Does anybody here know what GSM frequencies this phone will support?
I assume it's going to be a GSM phone, since the article talks about GPRS support.
But I can't find anything on future plans to release this phone in Europe.
Will this be a tri-band or quad-band phone, allowing for international roaming?
Oh well, I shouldn't complain. I bought a Nokia 6600 a few weeks ago.
"Oooh, does that mean we get to kick some puffy white mad zionist butt?"
The obvious coolness of a Linux-kernel in your pocket aside, can somebody shed some light on why a phone needs a multi-user, multithreaded OS with virtual- and protected memory? I'm guessing most of these features get ripped out for embedded use, right? Isn't a linux kernel overkill on a phone then?
:-)
Note: I'm not trolling here, I'm genuinely curious. Educate me please
Does anybody know if this new toy supports OGG? I mean... in these times when patents and sues are a daily news, I don't wanna have problems with Fraunhofer...
drmad
i mean, who really needs a phone that can do so much more than making phone calls?
While the article said that Qt/embedded was running the preceding moto handset, is there any indication on what UI lib is running this one ? Is it still Qt/E ?
Well, with ATI annonced 3d hardware accelerator for smartphones (with OpenGL ES API) it's really interesting who will be first with 3d hardware smartphone -Linux or Simbian.(well, software 3d suck on smartphones). OpenGL is quite organic to Linux, but guess what ? Nokia annonced Symbian 8.0 with OpenGL ES API integrated onto OS. No phones itself annonced yet though...
i dunno having a high precision spinning lump of magnetised iron that can be rendered totally useless if you encounter a magnetic field (very common in modern life, think loudspeakers, motors,fridges,microwaves,cars etc) just seems as if its asking for trouble really, especially in a mobile device
solidstate while not perfect (max writes is quite low and size is expensive) is a far more durable medium , its silent , its faster than a hard drive, its small, no microscopic moving parts to go wrong, no weird gyroscope effects due to having a spinning wheel at 4000rpm when you move it (ie players) its well suited for mobile storage, i can see why its popular
i think perhaps its not used everywhere though because of the size/price/reliability ratio, spinning iron is so much cheaper but has all the disadvantages
i have a 256kb cfcard on my desk from 95 and now we can get 512mb and 1gb cards so the size is getting there, just not as quick or as cheap as magnetic media
when 1gb will only fit 3 mp3 albums and 1 DivX movie that 300$ card seems rather expensive compared to the spinning lump way
It's not for future use, it's neccecary just now. 1. protected memory: Smartphones usually have a lot less memory then PC (around 16-32 Mb RAM usually for now). Smartphones theoretically should run without reboot for years. Each application could be open/closed several times per day. That mean even small memory leaks could accumulate to huge amount and boggle the system down. That is why smartphones have very defencive memory managment. (two stage constructors in Symbian etc.) 2. multithreadng. For the same reason as above smartphones should treat threads very carefully. That usually complicated by the luck of precise timers on smartphones.(I can never understand why there is no timer more precise then +- 5 ms on symbian phones). Guidelines is usally to evoid multithreading in favor of stacking sevral objects in the same thread.
Linux in my pc... Linux in my pda... Linux in my cellphone... i love the way it sounds! :)
I just hope that the Linux embedded systems version be open source. GPL rulez!!!
When, oh when are these types of gadgets (PDAs , "Smart Phones", etc.) going to start coming out with a hard drive? Hell, just put in a CF II slot and get the 4GB Microdive price down.
Of course, 40GB would be better...
... can I ssh with it?
I really hate these phones that use a touch screen to let you dial. I'm sure it lets them save space, but there's no way I can dial on that without looking at the keypad. It really nice to be able to call someone when its freezing outside and not worry about getting frostbite. I'd really like a Phone/PDA/MP3 player (or at least two of those things), but not until I can actually use it as a phone rather than a pda that has a phone app.
I can't wait to install xmms. Anyone ever apt-get install xmms , then install to a MontaVista box?
--
make install -not war
...how the hell am I going to carry my washing machine with me in my pocket?
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Sorry, this is a bit OT, but I always hear about how much better Open GL is for graphics. But lately it seems not many games support it. Why? Isn't it much better than DirectX? Is it disappearing because it's competing with MS?
Not trolling, I really want to know -- I bought a GVX1 4 years ago and it STILL runs OpenGL-enabled games smoothly. But fewer and fewer games are supporting OpenGL. Anybody more knowledgable than me know why?
Hey ninja -- I'm a software engineer at Motorola. Chicago-area is where the brunt of our cell-phone development is. Where'd you pull Texas from? (Don't ask me a crapload of questions; I was only hired 6 months ago.)
My stupid web site
A big chunk of the development is being done at Motorola-Beijing (China). Remember that Motorola is on the verge of becoming a Chinese company with an estimated U$5billion investment in China.
The E680 will ship with an Intel PXA (XScale) processor. It is strange this is not mentioned anywhere.
***Here are some of the imdb.com reviews for "Gay Niggers From Outer Space":
p hp
s _s tory_p.html
Summary: The best homosexual racial minority sci-fi film ever.
"Morten Lindbergs classic cult short, Gay Niggers From Outer Space is one of
the first short films to really stick to what the title suggests. From the
time the first gay nigger walked onto the screen up until the final intense
climax with the Tourette's Syndrome Kingdom in Outer Space, it's filled with
dark comedy, action and plenty of suspense. "
"Gay Niggers from Outer Space is a masterpiece of a film. No other film
portraits emotions as majestically and stunningly since The Legend of Nigger
Charley and Home Alone II. With a cast of all-star African niggers and a
director with Kubrick potential, it is no wonder that Gay Niggers from Outer
Space is marked the greatest film of all time."
"From the very first scene where Gay Nigger Harris throws up on his own face
and commits suicide, to the climactic scene where Nigger Ralph Nader and
Nigger Humphrey Bogart fight over the last hashbrown and pick cotton til
their noses bleed, Gay Niggers from Outer Space is the most magical
portrayal of gay niggers open to the public."
***However, no mention is made of the hazadous lifestyle of gay niggers,
so the following is an attempt to explain those hazards in layman's terms:
Despite cries to the contrary in the media, AIDS is still primarily a gay
and black disease. The media loves to report the "growing epidemic" among
whites, when in fact the rate of infection among heterosexual whites is
dropping off significantly year by year. The media though, reports only the
TOTAL current infection rate, not the RELATIVE. So while there are more
cases each year, the RATE of infection is dropping quickly. Except for the
gay/nigger communities, where it's skyrocketing.
Why does AIDS seem to target gays and niggers so much more so than whites
and straights? Anal sex. The anus was not designed to accommodate vigorous
penetration as occurs in anal sex. Unlike the vagina, the anus has very
delicate membranes, which damage easily. Couple that with the fact that
sperm contains immune system suppressing chemicals. That's why the sperm is
not treated as a foreign protein in the vagina...because of the immune
suppressing effects of the sperm cells. Without this effect, pregnancy
could not occur, as the sperm would be attacked as a foreign protein.
In the anus, sperm has the same immune suppressing effect. During anal sex,
the anal wall is torn and open lesions form. Because there is little if any
sensory nerve endings in the anus, this damage often goes unnoticed. The
sperm then induce their immune suppressing effect, and the stage is set.
Various bacteria both beneficial and infectious dwell in the colon, as well
as viral matter. When the anus is ripped open, exposing the blood to the
immune suppressing chemicals in the sperm, and the viral matter passed
along with it, infection is virtually assured.
***So does the skyrocketing rate of AIDS infection mean that there are
skyrocketing rates of gay niggers???
***Not exactly, because most White people don't realize that a large
percentage of nigger males are bisexual. It's a great irony considering all
of their macho posturing and affectations. They tend to admire the male
physique, and when no women are present, they will hip-hop dance with each
other. Any port in a storm will do, because da' brotha's just gots ta
have it!!! Then they pass along the virus to their wives, girlfriends, and
family members.
***Here is a story about this phenomenon from "The Village Voice":
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0123/wright.
And for the Toronto Gay Niggers:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2001-08-16/new