Three More Linux mobile Phones Coming in Japan

An anonymous reader writes "NEC and Panasonic have developed three Linux-powered 3G mobile phones to be introduced in Japan in the coming months -- NEC's N900iL, NEC's N901iC, and Panasonic's P901i. Of the three, only NEC's N900iL is currently shipping. The N900iL is a dual-network 3G/VoIP handset that works as a 3G mobile phone (using DoCoMo's W-CDMA/FOMA technologies), VoIP terminal, or both simultaneously. All three phones are based on the Linux 3G mobile phone software platform announced by NEC and Panasonic earlier this week."

Comments

Seamless switching?

[PornMaster]

Are there any service providers currently offering the ability to seamlessly switch from cell towers to VoIP where your current call will move uninterrupted? And if so, what do they charge for VoIP minutes (if anything) over the basic cellular plan?

Re:Seamless switching?

[bogaboga]

Nope! Not in Canada for sure.

Great Idea

[ReeprFlame]

If only we would get great technology like that of Asia and Europe quicker in the US! I always thought it would be a good idea to get a mobile phone merged with voip [though over a WLAN link]. This would allow WLANs to be 2x useful and encourage huge meshes of APs in order to utilize them not on ly for data but voice as well. Only the future will tell us...

Re:Great Idea

[thepoch]

Frankly, I can't wait for Japan to develop some sort of communicator that I can pin on my shirt, tap, and just say the name of the person I want to talk to with immediate and seamless translations.

Either that or the skull implanted cellphones Nokia is planning on that Linus talks about in his Just For Fun book.

telco monopoly

[Doc Ruby]

The telcos control the wireless airwaves, and lockin consumers to the phones they sell for their network. Of course they won't be selling phones with WiFi features that can cut their meters out of the loop. That's why, in the US, we have an FCC that vigorously defends our free market, right?

will phones be cheaper then?

[thnmnt]

Why do we care unless these companies pass the savings from using open source software on to the consumers? i could care less what the underlying os of my phone is...unless of course i could get shell..cause maybe i'd like that..

Re:will phones be cheaper then?

[Gerad]

Open Source Software is about more than just the bottom line. While a corporation may only consider OSS int erms of what it can save them, OSS is about much more. While the software is free as in beer, it's much more important that it is free as in speech.

First, even though they're using Linux, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're saving a significant amount. Anti-linux trolls have often said that Linux is only free if your time if valueless. While somewhat trite, this statement DOES have truth in it. It takes time and money to switch over to a new operating system - you may save money in the long run but the initial investment is often significant.

Just because YOU don't care what the underlying OS of your phone is, doesn't mean that others don't. Then inclusion of an Open Source operating system is significant for several reasons. It shows the increasing credibility and validity of Open Source. Every dollar spent developing an OSS solution is one less dollar given to Microsoft or a smilar corporation. By buying a product that runs off Linux instead of WinCE or a similar OS, people can be confident that they're not supporting a company that they find morally objectionable.

Open Source is about more than the bottom line, it's about the freedom to study, tinker with, and use software however you want. It's about the freedom not to be restricted by close-minded, selfish licences that will ultimately impede the progress of software development.

Re:Unfortunately

[SimonShine]

Here in Denmark, the only 3G phones for sale, by the only 3G network in Denmark, are NEC ones. It may have taken a while for the technology to get here, but if there is any delay in these new Linux mobiles from NEC, it would be because we've had a really bad experience with the last series due to software bugs. The company in Denmark has a campaign offering a free operating system upgrade until December 1st.

All I want for Christmas

[RealProgrammer]

is a small Linux PDA/phone with

• wifi
• 2-3 {USB|keyboard|mouse} ports
• VGA output
• use and boot from some kind solid state memory expansion
• built-in screen doesn't have to be fancy, just big enough to display nmap output or run vi.

If my calling plan is reasonable, I don't care about VoIP.

Re:Unfortunately

[kryonD]

"Do you realize that the major investments in internet and cellular techonologies are the fixed costs, and the reason they are so profitable in these places is because with the same fixed costs, you can serve a lot more people and thus make a lot more money in Seoul than you can in Topeka."

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong and Wrong.

Why don't you actually learn something about the technology and market penetration in those countries before YOU get on a soapbox. The reason why DoCoMo has 40M subscribers isn't because there are 23M people squished into Tokyo, it's because they have a business model that doesn't involve screwing the average user. Remember what we used to buy cell phones for...emrgency use only, because they were too expensive to talk on. Well, DoCoMo and the other JP carriers tried a different approach, no charge on incoming calls. Imagine that, a cell phone as a tool where people can get in touch with you without you having to be tied to your land line. Then with i-Mode, DoCoMo attacked the younger crowd with full blown email and real web based services. Do you know you can buy a plane ticket from you phone while you're on the Train to get there?

The US and Canada suffer from the same problem. The major carriers here are constantly lobbying the gov't to bar foreign competitoin from entering the market so they can continue to sell 2nd gen worthless crap to the masses for hundreds of dollars. And some of them even have the nerve to say that their phone is the "1st to have" feature A that was already available in JP and EU two years ago.

Fortunately Vodaphone is starting to penetrate the US market which will alow it to impose a Japanese style of technology control that the US doesn't have. i.e., instead of AT&T's market being directly affected by features the handset makers offer in the handsets, the handset makers markets are directly impacted by their ability to manufacture devices that meet the carrier's standard. Hop on over to www.docomo.com and look at the specs on their phones....you will notice that they all not only look a lot alike, but they all meet a baseline of standards. You won't find any black and white displays there. Plus the phones usually run you less than $50 for new service and are often as low as 1 yen (basically $0.01)

So where's the source?

[sudog]

All these embedded Linux systems out there that distribute Linux are required to offer the source code for redistribution.

So where is it all? Or are they cheesing out and using only userland software to drive their phones?

(In which case, who cares if it's running Linux, because we can't do anything useful with it anyway?)

Re:But do they run Windows?

[Trejkaz]

I suppose it could run BSD... if BSD weren't dead! There you go, I fused another one into the mix.