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Trolltech Woos Developers with 'Open' Linux Phone

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the toys-for-penguins dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Trolltech, best known for its Qt graphics framework and toolkit that form the basis of KDE, will ship the Greenphone, an open Linux-based phone in September. The working GSM/GPRS mobile phone features a user-modifiable Linux OS, and is meant to jumpstart a third-party native application ecosystem for Linux-based mobile phones. Users will be able to re-flash the phone with modified Linux-based firmware, via a mini-USB port. The device is based on an unspecified Linux kernel along with Trolltech's Qtopia Phone Edition (QPE) application framework and mobile phone stack. Gosh, this has gotta be the perfect phone for KDE lovers!"

5 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Re:No details by JabberWokky · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It doesn't matter -- it's a development device intended for developers, not a product for the general public. You'll likely not be able to get hold of one... unless you have a Qtopia License and/or are an active developer.

    --
    Evan

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  2. Kphone by camcorder · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kphone is the name that KDE users will mostprobably call it, not Greenphone. Greenphone is GNOMEish.

  3. For goodness sake, actually READ the article by IEEEmember · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The phone will not be available standalone, but rather as part of a development kit. The kit will be offered under separate licensing terms to open source developers, educational institutions, "major" software vendors, and to "phone designers and manufacturers," Trolltech says.
    Comment: No carrier is going to stock this phone.
    Answer: This phone isn't intended for commercial use. It sales will be limited. It is intended to allow developers to create content so that when real phone manufacturers consider QPE there is a suite of software to make it competitive.

    Comment: Carriers won't allow this phone on their network.
    Answer: It is a GSM phone. If it is certified, it will work on GSM networks.

    Comment: Users will screw up their phone reflashing it.
    Answer: It isn't intended for the average Joe cell phone user, it is intended for developers.

    Comment: "Jack of all trades" ...
    Answer: For a development platform having all the functionality you may need to test against is critical. Actual real world usefulness, not so much. This phone could be considered as a piece of test equipment, the fact that it looks like a phone is probably just to spur innovation.
  4. It's GSM. Stick your SIM card in it!... by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Or are you one of those "backwards" users stuck using CDMA and thus (in North America and most other CDMA-using places (except Korea)) locked by phone and provider?

    One of GSM's major features (and less so in Korea) is that your subscriber info is stored in a tiny chip. That chip came on a credit card sized piece of plastic a la a "smart card" (if you've used GSM phones in the 90's, you'd know that there were phones that accepted the entire card as is). That chip enables you to take it out of your current GSM phone, buy a new phone (unlocked or same carrier), stick the chip in the new phone, and voila, you have a new phone, with your existing subscription info!

    And look, you can get those 10 phones for $1 contract deals and use those chips in different phones than what was provided (depending on the provider, this route may be more economical than just buying the activation kit).

    This is one reason why I went GSM looking for a new phone - so I can use it with my phone, but then stick it in a PC card modem when I wanted to use it with my computer. One subscription. Two devices. Only one can be used at a time, of course, but I have the freedom to change phones willy-nilly, or in this case, surf the web using the modem's faster GPRS modem. (The provider can tell, since the IMEI number changes, but there's little they can do).

    Korea is special for CDMA because they force CDMA providers to do the same thing ("RUIM" cards) but in North America, most CDMA phones are locked and activated by carrier. But from what I can tell, Cingular and T-Mobile both provide GSM service, and thus would work just fine.

    All you have to do is make sure the phone supports the frequencies of your local area. "Quadband" phones (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) work pretty much anywhere. Triband phones are often 900, 1800 and 1900 and work in most places in North America (850 being the old AMPS frequency, and isn't in widespread use where a Triband phone will leave you stuck vs. a quadband phone).

  5. Developers! Developers! Developers! by jtwronski · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok, I want one. I don't care if its meant for the "masses" or not.

    Trolltech is making a smart move here. Once these phones are sold out, and nerds everywhere are hacking on it, they'll have a ton of good software to choose from when they start pushing their stack onto the major carriers.

    Here's what I want:

    1. Apt. I want to fire up a telephone version of synaptic (on my phone and/or my computer) and have debian style repositories to pick and choose from for software.

    2. Real calendar/todo/whatever syncing with Evolution/Kontact. My current Sony/Ericsson Z520a can do this pretty well over bluetooth with multisync, but its not perfect, and the native PIM software on the phone blows goats.

    3. Nethack. Had to say it :)

    4. SSH - no nerd is complete with a ssh terminal in front of them at any time. Sadly, that includes me.

    5. A stable API for companies like Opera, Yahoo, AOL, etc. to port their software to.

    6. Push style email would be nice, but then Trolltech would get sued, a la RIM.