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A Truly Open Linux Phone
skelator2821 writes to tell us about the debut of the OpenMoko, a Linux phone with GPS that is open from top to bottom. The device is set to debut to developers this month for $350, according to the article, but there is no detail on how to get your hands on one, and no link to the manufacturer (FIC). From the article: "This is the first phone in a long time to get us really interested in what it is, what it isn't, and the philosophy behind it. The philosophy is the thing that makes Linux great... it is really open. It runs the latest kernel, 2.6.18 as of a few weeks ago, and you can get software from a repository with apt-get."
Wifi.
Oh, when will companies realize we want wifi!
...no headphone socket, no memory card socket, not enough memory to be a great mp3 or video player.
Great software can't fix harware problems, so no sale here.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
I own a Sharp Zaurus, and aged as it might be, it pretty much keeps pace - absent the GSM bit.
Of course, I will buy.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
I doubt very much that carriers will be friendly towards open,hack-by-anybody, phones. Most/all carriers require all kinds of certification & testing before they allow vendors to hook up a phone to their network. They also don't like time wasters trying to hook up low volume/low profit phones to their networks. The testing can cost a big bunch of dollars -- ballpark $250k. Now if Joe hacker wnats to spend that, and he can convince the carrier he's going to sell many thousands, he's welcome. Otherwise, at least some part of the phone firmware will be locked down and tamper proof to keep ceritication valid.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Why the hell is every thing tagged as itsatrap today!?!?! Slashdotters need to take some paranoia meds.
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed H
Why not make a 100$ one that simply, lets me make phone calls, and not much else? I don't care if the are Wifi. Or Wii. Im 34, and I'm over that.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
Yup. Just like ethernet is becoming the new AT&T.
Your analogy sucks. You are an idiot.
Did anyone read that at the top right of http://www.fic.com.tw/ it reads "FIC RECOMMENDS WINDOWS XP". Open source friendly?
So if it's an open phone... Does it come "Locked"?
OpenMoko does not yet return results on Google.
Yahoo shows 2 results for OpenMoko.
The $350 price tag is looking a lot better than the $600 tag attached to a similar Linux phone from D-Link.
huh?
Hi,
Please clarify, is this some agreed community GPL violation fee that Novell are paying?
This is a joke, right? The drivers are probably the most important part of any piece of hardware, so calling this thing "open" but keeping drivers proprietary is ridiculous.
Yeah, and I am to buy a Linux product from you? Dream on...
if(!at_home && distance(get_current_location(), get_house_location()) lessthan FIFTYYARDS) ) {
FILE* mail = openMailStream(girlfriend@house.com, "Hi honey!");
fprintf(mail, "I'm home!\n");
closeMailStream(mail);
at_home = true;
}
... can be found on Linux Devices: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2986976174.html and also http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7056478804.html
So it can't, in all honesty, be called fully open.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Hope they are using Novell SUSE Linux, if not they are open to litigation from Microsoft for patent infringement.
I don't care about the camera. I never seen much of a point to a camera phone. Makes about as much sense as a mp3 playing bathtub, which I am sure somebody somewere made.
Sure it's convient, but so what?
And your absolutely wrong about not having enough memory. It takes miniSD cards and has 128 megs of RAM. Right now I have 2 1gig miniSD cards and a 128 meg SD card. Also you can buy up to 4gig MiniSD cards.
So frankly with miniSD slot your disk space is practically UNLIMITED.
For instance many possibilities:
* Go the 'Slax' route. Slax is a customizable Live Linux cdrom. It has various modules that you can use that you can add-on applications and other things to a already existing live cdrom. You can do this because the modules are compressed read-only file systems and you use UnionFS to mount them over the existing file system transparently. You can mix and match applications in that manner.
You can do the same thing with this. No problem.
So other possibilities.
* Remote X11 applications. Need I say more? (and yes NX compression will make them perfectly usable)
* Simple games.
* VoIP.
* remote access of systems through a veriaty of means such as voice command, terminal, tones.
* 266mhz CPU is fast enough for video.
* GPS kicks-ass. Interact with other GPS systems and keep track of things via GPSD and such.
* secure encrypted file systems for passwords and other sensitive information.
* stream audio
What this thing is is a Linux PC that fits in your pocket. Pretty much anything you can do with a PC linux box you can do with this thing.
This thing literally kicks the shit out of any sort of propriatory hardware phone you can think of. Even with out the camera. The possiblities are endless.
When is this ITSATRAP shit going to end?
I just want a basic phone that can make and receive calls. And get off my goddamn lawn.
...and it didn't seem to work:
... User unknown
From: Postmaster
To:
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Sender: Postmaster
Your message to home.com was rejected.
I said:
RCPT To:
And home.com responded with
550 5.1.1
from the Open Source in Mobile conference in Amsterdam is available here:
Open, but not as usual
Click the blue square at the bottom of the page
I'm taking odds on how long it is before someone mods the hell out of one of these things.
:D
Next, just think of a worm that will spread from phone to phone making a several thousand node Internet/telephone connected Beowulf cluster.
But, for the record, this was indeed tagged 'itsnotatrap' before 'itsatrap'.
Your efforts at countering today's 'itsatrap' initiative, while numerically significant, aren't really helping.
Begun, these tag wars have.
youreit!
snarkd
Keeps losing small bits and pieces, sometimes the battery also falls out.
glommed from the net...
Neo1973 Handset Hardware
The Neo1973 is based on a Samsung S3C2410 SoC (system-on-chip) application processor, powered by an ARM9 core. It will have 128MB of RAM, and 64MB of flash, along with an upgradable 64MB MicroSD card.
Typical of Chinese phone designs, the Neo1973 sports a touchscreen, rather than a keypad -- in this case, an ultra-high resolution 2.8-inch VGA (640 x 480) touchscreen. "Maps look stunning on this screen," Moss-Pultz said.
The phone features an A-GPS (assisted GPS) receiver module connected to the application processor via a pair of UARTs. The commercial module has a closed design, but the API is apparently open.
Similarly, the phone's quad-band GSM/GPRS module, built by FIC, runs the proprietary Nucleus OS on a Texas Instruments baseband powered by an ARM7 core. It communicates with Linux over a serial port, using standard "AT" modem commands.
The Neo1973 will charge when connected to a PC via USB. It will also support USB network emulation, and will be capable of routing a connected PC to the Internet, via its GPRS data connection.
Moss-Pultz notes that the FIC-GTA001, or Neo1973, is merely the first model in a planned family of open Linux phones from FIC. He expects a follow-up model to offer both WiFi and Bluetooth. "By the time one ships, the next one is half done," he says.
You forgot at the end:
set_Destination(couch);
start_navigation();
}
Please help metamoderate.
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
Sure it might be open, but you think there'd be some way to get more than just GPRS on these kind of phones? It's not as if GPRS is the only game in town for data, there's certainly no credible reason why it's omitted on these phones
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Does anyone have a clue about the dimensions of the thing? I currently own an old Sony-Ericsson T100 and most modern phones are way bigger and heavier. If it isn't, it might actually be an interesting gadget, since I've been annoyed by a couple of design choices made for my phone - a non-issue for an open-source phone...
A company proposes an open linux cellphone, and there aren't enough nerds left on slashdot to even fill a page with intelligent comments.
That's lame, my friend. Slashdot is bleeding it's best readers.
snarkd
Moko (well... moco) means snot in Spanish.
First of all, the Carriers have little choice here. Fully functional Reference kits are available in the under $1000 range. For GSM, you can get them for about $200-300. These are the kits that companies who build cell-phones use to jumpstart their designs. So what's a Carrier going to do? Outlaw these? And kill development for cell-phones? I don't think so.
The most they might do is to tighten down on the registration. But that involves overhead and hassle. Unless these kits prove to be an issue, it's not going to happen; at least not with the GSM market. And not worldwide.
You are also wrong about the "time wasters" who supply low volume and low profit phones. What the Carriers want (at least some of them) is to sell the airtime. Some of these Carriers really don't care where it goes, as long as they get paid for it.
There's a whole resale market here which underscores the point. You want to to become your own cell-phone company? You can, if you have the money. And if you don't think *those* resellers are hungry, you're kidding yourself.
I admit that as far as the standard view about "time wasters" goes (for the big companies) you are correct. And it's explicitly been this attitude which has severely hindered innovation in the cell-phone market. There are a plethora of uses for small markets. Some of the hungrier carriers fully realize this, and are supportive of anything which will make them money.
Finally, the lockdown on GSM transceivers is a bit silly. The interface is extremely simple; it's a variation of the old Hayes Modem interface. I kid you not. "ATDT....". There's even an Open Source Project for this. Here's the link:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libgsmc
Finally, there's even a group dedicated to a fully Open Source phone. Namely, the Silicon Valley Homebrew Mobile Phone Club. They are having a meeting tomorrow night in San Francisco. Here's a link to their mailing list archives:
http://telefono.revejo.org/pipermail/svhmpc_telefo no.revejo.org/
Check out the list, and the information on various associated websites. There's really a groundswell building in this area. And those Carriers which close things off are going to miss an opportunity that their competitors are actively interested in.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker.
so if it's a free phone.... does it cost money?
Your overly suspicious girlfriend installed tracking software on your phone and remotely polled your locations while you were gone with her phone. Hence her automated reply to your message read: "Re: Hi honey!" "Don't bother. Since you were visiting that bitch Laura again I switched the locks. We're though."
And when you gaze long enough into the code, the code will also gaze into you.
It seems to me that trolls are becoming the new Slashdotters.
110100 1101000 1101000 1100110 0 1101111 1101000 1100011 1
This will never be available in the United States.
Purchase of it and use of it on U.S. GM networks will be punishable by death.
(I'm only half kidding)
+++ATH0
It can do ANYTHING, because it runs Linux. It's GSM so it can send and receive text messages like anything else. It can do web browsing, IRC, VOIP, whatever else you want, because it runs Linux.
What else are you looking for? What can your "cheap candy bar Nokia" do that this can't?
The reason this will be outlawed by cell phone carriers is precisely because it can do anything... because it runs Linux. Anything that loosens their ironclad control over handsets is verboten.
+++ATH0
Looks great, has touchscreen, memorycard-slot, GPS, and even runs linux. If it only had a camera and a headphone-socket (is it really missing such a socket? I find that quite hard to believe), this would be the perfect phone I was always waiting for!
Does it have Wifi? I think Wifi is really important, because while at a hotspot, like in your home, you could route your voice calls over VoIP. That would make it so much cheaper, and could be a killer app for Joe Average. I really think we ought to do this.
That said, I'll stand in line to get one of these, if the hardware is a bit rough. I'm sick and tired of my Sony Ericsson K700i, I've had it less than a year, and it is just totally borked allready. It is important that a phone can take a bit of beating.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
Can someone pls explain what above poster meant by:
> GPS kicks-ass. Interact with other GPS systems and keep track of things via GPSD and such.
what's the point of GPSD? I know its a deamon that allows multiple GPS receivers to send GPS data but what is the point of that, why do you care where the device is.
wikipedia article doesn't explain why you'd want to use it
thx,
Ash.
Imagine encrypted SMS ?
Or encrypted voice conversations?
Imagine mapping/pinpointing locations and using the GPS to show your place, and have a map with bookmarked locations, to find a certain store on a certain street so you don't have to walk around lost not knowing where is what.
Does it run Linux?
Can it be reflashed? TFA does not mention it. Will the firmware for the baseband and the AGPS be provided along with code?
IANAL, but if this telephone utilizes non-free drivers and a Linux kernel then isn't it breaching the GPL? If that is indeed the case then it would be illegal for this to be bundled with an OS in the US as well as other countries that respect copyright law.
Belongs to Symbian! But yeah I'm all in for competition, however I don't think Linux or Windows can beat Symbian in this area.
The Motorola A780 (about 2 years old) has integrated GPS and runs the Linux Kernel and a heavy Linux filesystem. Its got the camera/mp3 player/GPRS-EDGE/320x240 color screen/Blue Tooth/microSD slot/USB blah blah blah... Its really cool. I finally got one, but only the European version has the integrated GPS. So I had to order it through ebay.co.uk and find someone willing to ship to the US. It even came with CoPilot preinstalled so you can really use the GPS functionality.
Why it isn't for sale in the US is beyond me, but I'm sure there is some Motorola/Microsoft politics going on. There's a community of Linux activists hacking the phone and Motorola offers the source downloadable from their website. In short this product exists and works well.
This recent announcement looks like vapor hardware. All the 'pictures' are CAD renderings. If you want it now, you can get it now. Though, unless you're in Europe, expect to work hard to get it.
Yes, vendors will try to lock you in, but when they can't, they'd rather have your business than not.
For example, I have a Treo 650. I could have gotten the newer Treo 700, but that only comes in Sprint and Verizon models, requiring that I choose which vendor into which I lock myself. The 650, on the other hand, has a "generic" version where I can choose my own vendor, so I chose T-mobile.
Now, T-mobile generally doesn't sell Treos. If you go to a T-mobile store and ask for one, they'll ask you to get a Windows-powered device, or at best Blackberry. But here I am with a Palm Treo, so, do they want my business? I asked them, and of course they said yes.
I am happily using my Treo, with the fairly inexpensive (+US$30) Unlimited Internet connection feature. Not only is it convenient to use the built-in browser to Google for nearby stores when I am travelling (Google: "barnes & noble [enter local zip code]"), but I can use Bluetooth dialup to connect my laptop to the Internet while I'm riding in the car, and never have to worry about finding a Wifi hotspot again.
If the makers of OpenMoko market the phone independently, I expect it to have appeal with Linux hackers at first. As the community develops and applications appear, it would have expanding appeal to borderline geeks, and then eventually to the population at large, although taking only a miniscule segment of the market. It would be similar to the Linksys WRT-54GL router, the improvements of which allow savvy IT staff to use it for their SOHO needs over a more expensive router.
What would be lacking would be the backing and marketing clout from a mainstream provider. Sure, they could sell a locked version to Verizon, who might promote the phones at their stores or sell at a subsidy, but then someone would crack it, and then we'd have cheap OpenMoki subsidized by Verizon being used on Cingular networks, or something like that.
Instead, perhaps the makers could partner with --oh, I don't know, some electronics retailers such as Best Buy, or computer makers such as Dell, to include the OpenMoko in some package. I haven't thought this through yet. But if they can get it out, then I'm sure the carriers would be happy to do business with them.
(Off-topic: one of the reasons I chose T-mobile over Verizon is that Verizon doesn't do GSM phones or SIM cards. How does Verizon expect their phones to work overseas if they don't use GSM? Or is it just that Verizon users never go anywhere?)
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]