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Linux Smartphones Race To Be 1st In U.S.

Posted by timothy on from the buy-a-smaller-a-tux dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The race is on for first mover in the domestic US Linux smartphone market! Last week, Motorola announced a new Linux-based business user smartphone that's expected to ship to US customers by the end of 2004. Meanwhile, Chinese phone maker e28 will debut its latest Linux-based smartphone at LinuxWorld this week, and will soon begin distributing it in the Chicago area. Both devices are pretty cool. The quad-band Moto phone features a 1.3 megapixel camera, Intel's latest cell-phone chip, and fancy sync software that (currently only) works with Microsoft email servers at this point (others pending). e28's phone is an upgrade to its previously announced e2800, which became the world's first commercially available Linux phone when it shipped in China in August, 2003 [Slashdot discussion]. Interestingly, e28 was founded in 2002 by the former president of Mot's Asia Pacific cell phone division -- the world's largest mobile market."

92 comments

  1. FP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Frist Prost

  2. yay1111 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    2nd psot!

  3. You mean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    ...Fistr Psot?

  4. OT 503 errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Am I the only one who is getting 503 errors when I try to log in?

    1. Re:OT 503 errors by sotonboy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      No, I got them all morning.

    2. Re:OT 503 errors by Aussie · · Score: 1, Informative

      Most of the day, annoying isn't it ?

  5. Yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Have you checked your internet connection? I'd call your ISP if I were you.

  6. I won't buy it by Advocadus+Diaboli · · Score: -1, Troll
    Actually looking for a new cell phone I wouldn't even consider buying such a thing for the following reasons:
    • I personally don't need or want a megapixel camera in my cellphone. And some industries agree with me and won't let me enter their facilities with photographic equipment
    • I don't see a use of Linux on a phone... or shall I run an Apache on it with live pictures from the internal camera updated every minute so that people can see where I'm walking or the inside of my pocket? :-)
    • If the first priority was to do a mail sync with a proprietary product then the "Linux" is just a marketing gag. Note in this context that they are saying "microsoft mail server not client.
    • I still don't know about features that I'm looking for as "long standby time", "long and good organized voice recording", "triband" and "secure bluetooth apps".
    And last not least I really wonder if todays "smartphones" are smart enough to make simple phone calls with them.
    1. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "I don't see a use of Linux on a phone... or shall I run an Apache on it"

      That's a pretty narrow-minded view of what Linux is. It's not like Windows-CE, which, IIRC, only comes with InternetExplorer for I/O, and uses SQLServer as it's filesystem and will open any attachments any callers send to the phone before you even pick it up.

    2. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Narrow minded. You can call it a SMART-Phone or a PDA which has telephone function buildin. Now, you don't have to carry a telephone and a PDA and a walkman and a watch whatever your carry with you.

      Besides, your dumb phone already has an OS in it just like your PDA, being it Linux or not.

    3. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't want to carry a PDA or a walkman. I don't carry one now. Why do all the 'phone manufacturers think that I'd want to go through the hassle of having a horribly overcomplicated 'phone for the "convienence" of having to deal with a PDA and walkman that I don't even want?

      The OP is right; where can you get a normal phone, without any fancy gegaws or blinkenlights that has a decent battery life?

    4. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      Then why do you want to carry your phone arround when everything was normal when there were no mobile phone around. When I have a credit card when I could carry enough cash with me 20 years ago?

      News flash: the world keep advancing every minute.

      I can understand that a cave man has no business with a mobile phone.

    5. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why do you want to carry your phone arround when everything was normal when there were no mobile phone around.

      Do you want to try that again in English?

      When I have a credit card when I could carry enough cash with me 20 years ago?

      A credit card is smaller and more convient than cash yet performs the same function. A credit card does not add functionality I do not need. I do not need a PDA or a walkman; why would I want to carry one when I only want a phone?

      News flash: the world keep advancing every minute.

      Advancing where? Why is convergance an "advance"? It clearly isn't an advance for me; I don't need a PDA or a walkman, I need a 'phone!

      I can understand that a cave man has no business with a mobile phone.

      No you fucking moron, I want a 'phone. I do not want a PDA and a walkman. See how that works? No, you probably don't. Go play with your geegaws and watch the lights blink you twat.

    6. Re:I won't buy it by ThogScully · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't need or want a camera in my phone either, but for 95% of the population, it doesn't hurt. And it certainly isn't expensive.

      You don't have to see the "use" of Linux on a phone. In the case of the Motorola, that only means that their Java software base runs in Linux. I'd expect more stability than an equivalent Windows-based smartphone and better interoperability with my desktops. Since it's apparently just a USB Mass Storage Device to the computer, sounds like that was granted.

      The email syncing is only with Microsoft Exchange, but both products can do POP3 and the Moto can even do IMAP4 - that's pretty darn flexible.

      As for those other features you don't know about, the article often includes more information than the summary. The Motorola is a quad-band phone, the E28 mentioned some ungodly amount of battery life, and both I think had Bluetooth.

      And lastly, I'm sure even someone as annoyed as you at new things can figure out how to use them as phones. It's not like the interface is BASH on these - they look just like phones and people who don't know it's Linux will have no trouble using them as such.
      -N

      --
      I've nothing to say here...
    7. Re:I won't buy it by ThogScully · · Score: 1

      Take a look around the phone market... For those who want a good smartphone, the pickings are slimmer than those who want a good normal phone. Don't complain that all the manufacturers are making smartphones with tons of features you don't want just for the sake of complaining.

      With my Visorphone Prism starting to see it's final days, I'm looking for a replacement... and I look forward to this as the first viable option. You want a good normal phone, go to the mobile phone store where they have lots. I've seen them and they didn't interest me.
      -N

      --
      I've nothing to say here...
    8. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > A credit card is smaller and more convient than cash yet performs the same function. A credit card does not add functionality I do not need.

      Actually, a credit card adds functionality compared to cash: you're taking a loan when you use it. A debit card would perform the same function as cash in a smaller form.

    9. Re:I won't buy it by Stalks · · Score: 1

      "No you fucking moron",

      Up until that position, I was reading carefully and taking into consideration your points. But when you threw a personal insult and lost your cool, all previous considerations, and future, will be swiftly placed in the trash can.

      Take your flaming elsewhere.

    10. Re:I won't buy it by vincob · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I don't see a use of Linux on a phone
      Phone manufacturer aren't interested in Linux to give a fun toy to geeks, but for the same reason Linux is seeing success in the embedded world: High-quality networking stack, good performance, access to source code, no royalty, customizable, and many applications available compared to other embedded OS. Vincent
    11. Re:I won't buy it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People on /. who moan about linux on phones only do so because they dont have anyone to call, or to call them.

      Im surprised that theyre not excited at the prospect of ordering a double xl pizza using ftp in a terminal though.

    12. Re:I won't buy it by mwood · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Second the notion. Let me know when I can buy a Linux-based stupidphone that just dials, picks up, and lets me talk with people out of earshot. A basic personal phone book is a plus. My years-old Motorola ST7868W already has far too many features I don't use and don't want to use.

      OTOH "long standby time" is good. They're trying to say that it will run for a long long time between chargings when you don't actually talk (assuming that talking is still provided). An active connection drains the battery at a higher rate and doesn't count as "standby"; only time spent switched on but not connected is "standby". You want standby time to be somewhat longer than you usually go, or would want to go, between chargings. And "triband" is good too -- it means that the phone's radio section can communicate with all mobile phone gear, at least until they discover that most Americans now have triband so it's time to invent another band to keep the riffraff out.

    13. Re:I won't buy it by mwood · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You know what would be *really* smart? Letting me tell my phone to take big wads of unwanted features *off* the menus until I decide that I want one of them back. Let them all hide behind one "manage features" menu pick.

    14. Re:I won't buy it by mwood · · Score: 0, Troll

      The mobile phone was an improvement over the immobile phone. The PDA was, for lots of us, a disimprovement over the paper and pencil that continue to do everything we want in a note-taking system. My DayTimer doesn't run down, doesn't break when I drop it, retains *exactly* what I wrote instead of its best guess, also holds the day's receipts when closed, and doesn't fail to do anything I want it to do.

      I suppose someone could make electronic digitalized chewing gum, but would it really be better?

      (Don't go telling me I'm opposed to change. Making *useful* changes is what I do for a living. Some changes are not useful, or not broadly useful.)

    15. Re:I won't buy it by mwood · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yeah, I would probably pay *more* for a simpler phone than for one of these overcomplicated gadgetphones.

    16. Re:I won't buy it by SuperQ · · Score: 1

      The rumor mill is going on about a new Treo phone due in a month or two.. perfect upgrade for the visorphone. Right now, I'm on CDMA, so the motorola thing would require porting my phone number.

    17. Re:I won't buy it by civilizedINTENSITY · · Score: 1

      So would my mother, God rest her soul. She was finally able to run the VCR before she passed. The whole "channel 3" thing was confusing. Myself, at just 42, I'm looking for HP-48 functionality married to python numeric. Oh, and it surely should *also* be able to make a damn phone call.

    18. Re:I won't buy it by ThogScully · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I've been holding my breath for way too long now... A Treo 600 would be awesome and there's little else I'd need if I had that. I know I've heard Bluetooth will be on the next one, but that's been rumored for awhile now.

      And regardless, the Treo 600 is like $700. And has stayed at that price for a ridiculous amount of time now. And I'm sure whatever else they make next will do the same thing and the 600s will be almost impossible to find except on eBay, but I need a warranty.

      Handspring had a loyal customer in me and I've bought and recommended tons of Visors, but I really can't justify their products anymore... And I've never really gotten over being abandoned on the VisorPhone when they made all the cool stuff in the original Treos and even the Sprint PCS version of the VisorPhone and ignored us early adopters.
      -N

      --
      I've nothing to say here...
    19. Re:I won't buy it by robotbrain · · Score: 1

      I actually went to the Sprint, Cingular, Verizon, and T-mobile's websites. Every time Slashdot posts an article about a smartphone this same comment gets posted. If you don't want a smartphone, DON'T BUY ONE! If you want a simple phone, without a camera or tons of gee-whiz features, they are available. All you have to do is go to your carrier's website! All the above carriers' cheapest models, in most cases free after rebate, have very basic, almost no-frills, certainly not smartphones, handsets. I don't care if you don't want a smartphone! I don't expect you to care that my Duron 650 machine still does everything I need it to do! I don't expect you to care that people are still using TRS-80 Model 100s!

  7. great news by randomized · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Competition is great, I would love to get a smart phone that runs linux based kernel and allows for development without strings attached. Currently, Symbian phones are difficult to debug for. Microsoft phones... I won't even go into that.

    Some phone manufacturers are attempting to lock users from installing their own custom software, some are trying to prevent people writing for the phones without paying royalties (signed apps).

    Power to the user, if I can tweak with my phone as much as I can do with my pc - it's all good news.

    I just hope it won't take minutes to boot like my Fedora Core 2 at the moment ;)

    --
    -- shortcut - the longest distance between two points.
    1. Re:great news by mikewas · · Score: 2, Insightful
      No way!

      I want a seperate phone, PDA, camera, ...

      I want them all with no interface other than bluetooth or WiFi.

      I want a seperate interface device, one display, keyboard/text entry, ...

      Everything connectted together via bluetooth.

      I have a phone now with a grungy camera & PDA function. Most of the phone, PDA, other items I have are the keyboard & display. I'd much rather have a single very capable human interface and then a phone, PDA, other items that are very small and can be just slipped into a pocket or backpack.

      It'd be really great if they'd share a power supply too, a small battery pack or fuel cell. then there's just one cahrger (wall wart or compressed gas) to lug about. I'm now taking multiple chargers, interface cables/wireless cards with me when I go on a trip.

      If I want new phone features I just buy the phone functionality, not everything else. A better camera, I get just that.

      --

      "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." --Napoleon Bonaparte
    2. Re:great news by pardey · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree completely - modular replacement of gadgets is the way to go, both price-wise and feature wise, which is exactly why it will never happen. Phone/PDA companies would make less money with such a plan, so they have no incentive to develop a completely new device system. Thus, I'm left with my lame cameraphone and duplicated PIM functions in my phone and PDA.

    3. Re:great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other than the phone capabilities, it almost looks like you're describing my Sony Clie TH-55 PDA (with separate GPS unit)..

    4. Re:great news by tcr · · Score: 2, Informative

      VOIP capabilities

      Given the crazy price per MB for GPRS data (at least here in the UK), I think it would be cheaper to...err....just make a call with the thing. :-)

      --


      Information wants to be beer.
    5. Re:great news by Performaman · · Score: 0

      You need a 12" Powerbook, man.

      --

      I have gas, but my car uses petrol.
    6. Re:great news by frisket · · Score: 1
      fancy sync software that (currently only) works with Microsoft email servers at this point (others pending)

      Which means never, of course.

    7. Re:great news by civilizedINTENSITY · · Score: 1

      Except the sony runs PalmOS, and has "Camera Effective pixels: Approx. 310,000 pixels"...which is the "grungy camera" with which your parent was disgusted. The key to your parent's post is modularity. So strip out that grungy camera and provide a wirelessly integrated, separate, *real* camera, and likewise a wirelessly integrated, separate, cellphone.

  8. Motorola is on a roll ... by Numair · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Check out their new RAZR V3 as well ...

  9. bah by gotpaint32 · · Score: 4, Funny

    A linux based phone that only works with M$ mail... What is the world coming to!

    --
    Nuclear war would really set back cable. - Ted Turner
    1. Re:bah by ThogScully · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The article said it only Sync'd with Microsoft email, but the Motorola does POP3 and IMAP4 email communication too. The fact that it syncs with MS proprietary stuff is in addition to supporting the standards.
      -N

      --
      I've nothing to say here...
    2. Re:bah by jcostantino · · Score: 1

      It uses SyncML which is an open standard AFAIK. You could even run your own SyncML client and connect over the air to it.

      --
      Reviews with a twist! http://www.sardonicbastard.com
  10. Green Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    here

    1. Re:Green slashdot by themusicgod1 · · Score: 1

      the new colours look great in elinks.

      --
      GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
  11. linux != full access by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    something you should remember, just because it's linux based underneath doesn't mean it'll give the customer(you) any access to the system underneath or means to customize it beyond installing j2me apps. in most(all) cases these 'linux based' phones are not supposed to show what they are to the customer at all anyways(linux just happens to be a good fit for the os underneath, the customer isn't supposed to ever see it though and the customer apps supposed to be all java which makes software & sdk support a whole lot easier for them).

    symbian phones give surprisingly(scary) good access to the hardware underneath.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    1. Re:linux != full access by Rohan427 · · Score: 1

      However it does mean full kernel access, does it not?

      PGA

    2. Re:linux != full access by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Informative

      it does not, that was the whole point of mine(that you don't get any geeky fun with it like you would with a zaurus for example).

      these things would not expose the linux side to the outer world by any way, it would be more like a web kiosk in your pocket or whatever(and j2me is very sandboxed).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:linux != full access by MrChips · · Score: 1

      Do they plan to adhere to the terms of the GPL?

    4. Re:linux != full access by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      of course, but that doesn't mean jack into this(well maybe you'll find it useful if you're an embedded linux developer or something developing your own devices).

      what good is a piece of source if you can't get it in to the place as a running piece of code? it's not likely to have an option for you to insert your modified kernel(at any practical level anyways).

      these things are not meant to be user modified in those parts, very intentionally.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  12. I'll buy it if.... by ron_ivi · · Score: 2, Informative
    ... if I'm able to run my own apps on it easily.

    Things I want in my phone:

    rsync my text-file-phone-book with my desktop.

    cron / at as a reminder service.

    scp my voicemails and photos and text messages to&from my desktop.

    If I can do all that, I'm getting one. Otherwise, I agree, what's the point.

    1. Re:I'll buy it if.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rsync == SyncML. cron/at == Calendar. Scp == get a bluetooth dongle and transfer using BT.

      You can do it but expect the function, not the implementation of the function.

    2. Re:I'll buy it if.... by brunes69 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Nearly any phone with Java capability and a PC sync cable allows you to write your own apps and upload them.

    3. Re:I'll buy it if.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course you would need to hire a java programmer to do that.

      I want to upload my own programs. And none of them are written in Java.

    4. Re:I'll buy it if.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I want to upload my own programs. And none of them are written in Java.

      I agree. I've written some good software in COBOL, and I'm not going to waste money on a cell phone that can't run COBOL. I also don't feel recompiling that code, so it must be compatable with the 15 year old VMS machines on which it was originally compiled.

      Don't try to push anything else on me! I'm not going to try to learn anything new or embrace any technologies that can make my life easier!

    5. Re:I'll buy it if.... by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      ** Of course you would need to hire a java programmer to do that.

      I want to upload my own programs. And none of them are written in Java.**

      buy either a microsoft smartphone or a symbian based smartphone then, with other 'smartphones' you're pretty much limited into j2me in a tight sandbox(good for security, bad for hackability). these linux based phones seem to offer much less hackability than those.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    6. Re:I'll buy it if.... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      Emacs, emacs, emacs.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  13. In Soviet Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    In Soviet Russia, Linux Smartphones race to be 1st

  14. Linux Smartphone War by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's like the tagline for Alien vs. Predator, "Whoever wins, we lose." Only by "we lose," I mean "we win."

  15. Karma whoring phone Luddites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    The easiest way to get karma nowadays seems to be
    1) posting some vague praise for Apple in an Apple related (or even non-Apple related) story, or
    2) declaring that you only want a phone that makes phonecalls and nothing else, and that nobody seems to be willing to make these anymore in a ./ phone article.

    1. Re:Karma whoring phone Luddites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its an american website what did you expect ?, when they talk about phones its like going back in a time machine, meantime the rest of us in EU/HK/SK/JP are thorougly enjoying our 3G & 802.* video phones, mobile games ,TV and mp3's without getting lost thanks to GPS

      so let them keep their bulging pockets of multiple gadgets and batteries (to go with their bulging body sizes) and we can just laugh as usual at them while we move forward, 640k should be enough for anyone right ?

  16. great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    as a true geek naturally i want
    • megapixel camera
    • video player/conferencing
    • Open source (i can dream egh)
    • MP3 player (4-20gb please)
    • GPS (with a map would be nice)
    • Bluetooth & Wi-fi 802 +
    • Gaming platform (c++ or symbian)
    • IR remote (saves having a table full of them)
    • VNC (nice to get my desktop on a phone)
    • touchscreen handwriting
    • Internet with XHTML/JS support (thanks opera)
    • IM and VOIP capabilities
    • External KB/Mon/Mouse support


    iam fed up of carrying around multiple gadgets (and chargers etc) when they could be assimilated into a single device making my life a bit more convient than looking like batmans toolbelt

    heres wishing
  17. Is it me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Or does the site keep going down with a 503 error?

    1. Re:Is it me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Same thing from Australia

    2. Re:Is it me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Apparently we're being slashdotted... :-)

  18. Green slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Color harmony

  19. Smart phones or stupid companies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why does every phone maker nowadays insist on cramming as much as possible in cellphones? Can't they just leave a phone a phone? Maybe they should sell them as a pda/camera/gameboy/mp3 player that also happen to maker phone calls. It seems that the more junk they put in them, the easier they will crash. And it makes navigating the UI a chore.

    I really wish Apple would take a shot at designing a phone UI, they still have some of the best UI designers anywhere. With the iPod they found a way to navigate thousands of songs that really works.

    1. Re:Smart phones or stupid companies? by dyefade · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And it makes navigating the UI a chore.

      Why do people always make that arguement? Having more features MIGHT make the UI ugly or difficult, but it doesn't have to. I have a Sagem MyX-7, the UI is fine.
      I agree that sometimes manufacturers make crap UI's, but not all do, and that's not a reason to reduce the number of features.
      To clarify my point slightly... it's ok to have more features, so long as the UI doesn't suffer, which it doesn't always.

    2. Re:Smart phones or stupid companies? by ultrabot · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why does every phone maker nowadays insist on cramming as much as possible in cellphones? Can't they just leave a phone a phone?

      Well, they do. Just buy a model that is not a smartphone. They are dirt cheap these days.

      The margin, however, will be in the phones with most features (and higher prices). Only a few ultra-chic models of "dumb" phones have sufficient margins.

      --
      Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
    3. Re:Smart phones or stupid companies? by hey · · Score: 1

      I agree, there should be a way for the user to disable and hide the features they don't want. For me I want phone and email might be useful. Not much else.

  20. I love my phone camera. by mark99 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I love the lousy camera in my phone. I do a lot of business travel (in europe) and it is nice to have a camera to take shots of various landmarks. I never have my good camera "handy".

    However the point about some firms not liking cameras it valid. I wish the camera could be physically extracted so I could leave it at the desk sometimes, instead of the entire unit.

  21. so what? by njcajun · · Score: 1

    I don't see why we should care that the phone runs linux. It's not like you can do anything with it unless you have windoze anyway. Gimme a PDA/phone/whatever that actually COMES with tools for Linux, and I don't give a crap what runs on the unit itself.

    --
    Visit my blog http://www.protocolostomy.com
  22. T-mobile's new sidekick by Maksym · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It was comming out in august I think. I'll wait for that. Personally I like a full keyboard and the ability to type faster than with 1 as 'a', 'b', and 'c'. I can also ssh into my linux server, which is more powerful than anyfone could hope to be (well maybe not 30 or more years down the line ;). Selling point for me are 'full' keyboards.

    1. Re:T-mobile's new sidekick by flibberdi · · Score: 1

      I dont have a "full" keyboard mobile, however I dont have any problem ssh'ing and writing/reading mail editing files or whatnot. I also use my phone (through ssh) to irc/icq! The T9 feature and tab-completion makes up for the limited keyboard. The biggest problem is the battery....after about 4 hours of ssh session it dies(maybe I should buy a new one).

  23. Good Thing by Zebbers · · Score: 1

    it's ugly....I just got a Motorola MPx200, which as much as I do not like microsoft, is pretty nice. If their was a linux flipphone that had as large of an lcd....I would definitely bite. Hopefully in 1-2 years, when I upgrade again, there will be.

  24. Don't forget... by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

    A completely new battery technology to run all that crap for more than 20 minutes.

  25. MeshPhone? by Baldrson · · Score: 2, Interesting
    From the article:
    The A780 includes about 48MB of built-in user storage space...
    The LocustWorld MeshBox requires only 32MB.

    Things really take off when you put mesh routing into VoIP phones and they start jabbering at each other.

    --
    Seastead this.
  26. Give me ssh/shell! by 4D696B65 · · Score: 1

    What I'd really like is the ability to ssh into a remote server from my phone. I know you can buy an SSH client for the Nokia 9290, but the phone itself is huge and why pay for an ssh client? I would hope that a Linux based phone would allow for porting of existing software such as OpenSSH. Okay, I must admit I love my bluetooth phone, so I'd enjoy that being added as well.

    1. Re:Give me ssh/shell! by flibberdi · · Score: 1

      look at comment #9862276, there are a couple of ssh-clients for mobiles (java), at least one of them is easy to use on a limited(mobile) keyboard, whithout separate input/output screens. This is the one I am using ;)

      All that hoopla about email-clients who can read .doc/pdf and html files...Well, I do that! Everything You have access to on a full UNIX/Linux box is availble! As an admin, I can fix anything from the beach!! ;)
      This on my old Siemens S55!(which I can bring to the beach :) ....)
      The upcoming sk65 has a nifty keyboard solution!

    2. Re:Give me ssh/shell! by Solstice · · Score: 1

      You can ssh from a Treo 600 and it's free. Check this out:
      http://www.tussh.com/

  27. This FPG forj GNAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    These early been many, not the are about 7000/5 become like they 7owels on the floor

  28. Umm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If all you want is a cell phone, why bother with an Apple interface?

  29. Qtopia? by bender647 · · Score: 1

    I didn't see in the article what windows system the moto would run. Opera7 works on Qtopia and X11 to name two possible candidates.

  30. GNU/uCLinux/Treo600? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    My Treo 600 is a fully integrated (stereo, DSP) audio player, (Palm) PDA, and (CDMA) mobile phone. Its network HW includes a 100-128Kbps radio for Internet connections, in addition to CDMA voice and SMS/MMS. Other peripherals include SD/IO slot, USB (slave) RS-232, VGA camera and color touchscreen. But this brilliant smartphone runs only PalmOS5. Which is adequate, but not nearly as flexible as Linux. Who's porting, say, uCLinux to this cutting edge networked computer?

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  31. More wishes by leuk_he · · Score: 2, Funny

    * megapixel camera
    Set you standard higher, 2 Megapixel with optical zoom & nightvision! also having the possibilty to recod movies.
    * MP3 player (4-20gb please)
    And usb, so i can use at as a plug & play hard disk for any pc. Must also play mp4 movies?
    * Gaming platform (c++ or symbian)
    & java !
    * IR remote (saves having a table full of them)
    & IR interface to laptop in case it does not have BT, or wifi.
    -small form factor. (PDA?)
    -must have moneydetector (to detect false money), that is a UV + IR lamp.

    -ringtones... it is a phone?!

  32. P800 is fine by jayminer · · Score: 1

    When the price of Sony Ericsson P800 had fallen down to about 350 Euros (without any service agreement etc.) two months ago, I've bought one. It does have a camera and even though I don't use it, it doesn't hurt (It's nice to have a shot of car plates named PHP etc.).

    It runs Symbian as its OS, but the only thing I'm mad is, it only synchronizes with M$ software (Outlook etc.).

    A phone that is more than a phone might be life saving, and anyway, even if you don't use it for something serious, how on earth a geek would refuse a smart phone?
    And think about it when it runs Linux, wow..

    1. Re:P800 is fine by otis+wildflower · · Score: 1

      It runs Symbian as its OS, but the only thing I'm mad is, it only synchronizes with M$ software (Outlook etc.)

      P800s use SyncML, which works seamlessly with at least OS X (Address Book, iCal). You can also check here and scroll down to SyncML for some info.. Keep in mind that support addressbooks and calendars in Linux is still pretty damn primitive, though KDE seems to be making a few strides in the OSX direction with stuff like kitchensync...

  33. But the question is ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can it run WINE ?

  34. Idiot moderators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just posted this junk to see if the moderators would fall for it, and it's now at 4 Insightful, while my previous post was marked as a Troll.

  35. CDMA Vs GSM by Bruha · · Score: 1

    You probably will not see any CDMA carriers with Linux phones due to Qualcomm's licenses with their CDMA technology. GSM is a open standard and that is why you are seeing this.

  36. no ? check this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.yopy.com/korean/products/overview.htm

  37. Re:MeshPhone wil drain your battery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In a mesh, your phone might be used as someone else's jump point to the Net. Do you really want to drain your battery to help guy next to you to download mp3s?

  38. Which China? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Free China or Communist-occupied China?

  39. They've already lost the race by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nortel beat them too it almost a decade ago. Sitting on my desk at home is a Nortel Smartphone that runs Java applets. I've had it since at least '97. It has an lcd display that has 4 buttons down each side, much like an ATM. It can get weather, news, and other things if your phone company provides that service.

  40. Squared law by Baldrson · · Score: 1

    The energy trade off is time vs power. If you're communicating to a nearest tower rather than a nearest neighbor, your power requirements go up as a square. Than means you can afford to be on a lot less of the time. On the other hand, if you are part of the mesh, you can be on all the time at low power which has all the advantages of being on the net all the time, etc. There are some accounting problems to resolve -- just as there are with any P2P system. But the P2P systems out there are resolving those problems. I see no reason to expect meshes will ignore them nor be unable to solve them.

    --
    Seastead this.
  41. great phone! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have the A768 as it is sold in Thailand, and it is a great phone!!! It looks good, lies good in the hand, and it is the best phone I ever had (and I have / had a lot!).

    What I love most that it is really fast, no waiting for the phone to react on your selections.

    Regards,
    Matt