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Twenty New Linux Cell Phones On The Way
An anonymous reader writes "Trolltech announced today that more than fifty companies are currently developing or shipping Linux-based devices using its Qtopia graphical application platform software, including more than twenty mobile phones. 'We think that 2005 is going to be a real breakout year for Linux on cellphones,' Trolltech CEO Haavard Nord told LinuxDevices.com. Motorola has already been shipping Linux phones in China, and has achieved its initial objectives there, according to Nord. 'We expect that in 2005, Motorola is going to start shipping Linux phones outside of China,' Nord added."
It's good to see Linux on more phones. But the dependence on Qtopia is worrisome. Unlike Qt on the desktop, where Qt applications can run alongside applications written in other toolkits, Qtopia takes over the display: the only way you can write applications for these devices is by using Qt/Embedded.
That's a good deal for Troll Tech, who gain lots of Qt developers if Qtopia catches on. It's not such a good deal for users, because their choice of toolkits and applications is greatly restricted, and because Qt/Embedded is not a particularly efficient toolkit. Furthermore, the PIM applications that Qtopia ships with simply are nowhere near as good as those on Palm (I have had several Sharp Zaurus PDAs and I wouldn't want to use them as a PDA). It's unfortunate that Linux's first shot at the PDA and phone market is hampered by Qtopia.
Most people will never have use of an EPIRB. Having that feature available would be cool, but I can hardly imagine the fallout of multiple accidental activations of the device. Activation of an EPIRB causes a serious response.
The WAAS enabled GPS would be most beneficial because it WILL help with getting directions and emergency response times. Through use of tower tracking the precision and accuracy is much enhanced with existing infrastructure.
I am still on the lookout for a waterproof compact flip phone. I go fishing in rivers and have drowned my phone a few times( it has survived every try though, after a week of drying!) I don't even need fully waterproof or JIS-7, even though I would appreciate that as a standard.
Just think for everybody else: You are outside and have a rain shower, or what I call a "Sun Shower" where the cloud that is raining is not blocking the beautiful summer day. Now that conference you didn't go to the office for is ruined, and your boss is pissed, AND you are out your nice phone!
I have also heard many people state that they spilled some drink across their desk/table/lap and got enough coffee/tea/juice into their phone to cause it to quit. I have told these people to take out the battery and open every cover or shield it has. Get a bottle of the strongest rubbing alcohol they can, and go to town flushing out the phone. Let the phone sit in pieces for a week, and give it a go. I have had most of these people tell me that their phone survived the experience, and that funny problem or sticky button it had went away too!
Now, about Linux on a phone... It WOULD be nice to have a shell function available to run some type of software. I am sure that the hooks for the games functions are going to be published, but people might find it strange to have some productivity something under "games".
I think that Linux on a phone is important because of the stability the system offers. Since Joe Sixpack is going to be the normal user there really is no worry about the additional features that COULD be included. Even the highest Linux Guru will probably not care in the end as long as the phone performs properly.
Then again phones are going to act more like PDA's, and are already well on their way. It will be important to have stability and the ability to handle broken software without disturbing the "basic" functions of the device such as telecommunication, address and date book functions.
I hope that my $0.02 is at least worth rubbing together
Phil
Laugh, it's good for you!