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OpenMoko Schedule Announced
levell writes "The schedule for the OpenMoko, an open source, Linux-based Neo1973 smart phone was posted to the community mailing list by Sean Moss-Pultz this morning. On Feb 11, free phones will be sent to key community developers and the community websites/wiki/bug tracker will be available. Then on March 11 (the official developer launch) we'll be able to buy an OpenMoko for $350. After allowing some time for innovative, slick software to be created there will be a mass market launch at which point Sean hopes that 'your mom and dad will want one too.'"
Moko has an unfortunate homonym “moco”; if it manages to live that one down, however, here's hoping it has ssh.
What's wrong with the interface? Describe one you think would be better, maybe someone will implement it.
Just FYI, at the moment only Cingular and T-Mobile will be able to support the phone in the US at this time.
The website states the following:
First one? I beg to differ. Should I point out Trolltech's Qtopia Greenphone? I believe it precedes OpenMoko by a considerable notch.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
I rely on EDGE for high speed access throughout most of the West (US) and a large part of the East that I visit (Poland, Switzerland, India). This phone looks nice, but no EDGE means antiquated technology.
That, by itself, makes it a non-starter.
Okay, I grok the "Open software uber alles" mentality; it's certainly a valid point of view, but of course that's a very VERY tiny market. Reading through the linked post, however - which is just a mailing list submission - I don't really see why anyone would think there'd be any mass market appeal at all regarding this project.
That's fine, if that's what the expectations really are; but the Slashdot submission makes it sound like the people behind the phone think they can take on the world. So please, seriously - tell us WHY anyone outside the "live open or die" community will care?
#DeleteChrome
I think you're being overly cynical, the people who are involved in this include people like Harald Welde (of the campaign to stop GPL violations. I think they genuinely believe in this, they're not just marketing weenies out to make a quick buck.
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Explicitly free (modifiable) device with integrated GSM functionality available for development prior to launch. Please point to equivalents? Or, I suppose that if you could, you already would have in your post.
I don't really see why anyone would think there'd be any mass market appeal at all regarding this project.
[snip] So please, seriously - tell us WHY anyone outside the "live open or die" community will care?
Au Contraire, everyone cares -- because the wireless companies have such control that the current offerings in the phone industry really suck.
Witness the current excitement over the iPhone -- it's one step closer to actually doing something really useful with all the processing power of the phone in your pocket, and people are going wild over it. Sure it's not open by any means, but the whole "open" thing means that everyone will now get the chance to try to realize their own version of a useful mobile computing device.
The weekend before the iPhone came out, I was seriously considering getting a PSP just to have a small portable wireless browsing device, but the thing was dog-slow and I couldn't enter text in any decent fashion.
My Verizon phone has bluetooth mangled on it so that I can't transfer pictures and ringtones on it, though I can use it as a wireless modem through bluetooth, which rocks. I just don't want to have to carry my Macbook around just to check bank balances and email when I am traveling or running errands. The more competition is in this space, the more we will genuinely get useful devices, not just the tiny mobile versions of the black AT&T phone (with camera) that most people have. I would buy the iPhone even if it didn't make phone calls.
Apple sees this need, and everyone is wildly excited about it. The "open" phones will be the competition that helps make the next generation of cellphones truly useful
The OpenMoko is a GSM phone. The only primary networks using GSM in the US right at the moment are Cingular and T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint/Nextel are CDMA...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I'm with you on this. At first I was really excited about the iPhone, and then details came out. This looks like real competition for the iPhone. I don't understand why there are so many negative comments. There are plenty of people who want a phone+computing device. Perhaps not as many as those who want a phone+ipod, but so what. And when you compare specs, this thing isn't bad at all. For example, the OM has a 640x480 resolution. The iPhone has 320x480. The iPhone has a larger built in memory capacity, but the OM will take memory cards and as we all know, they are continuously getting larger and cheaper. As I'm currently in the market for a replacement PDA and phone, I'm interested in the OM. The price isn't bad either.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
I think that's wrong. From the specifications, it looks like it's a GSM phone (they don't specifically say it's GSM nor do they say which frequencies it's radio supports) from the fact they say it supports GPRS.
As a result, it should work on *any* of the GSM carriers in the US that support the frequencies it uses. Let's assume for a moment it supports at a minimum 900/1800/1900 (hopefully 850 too) - like most tri-band devices do.
Take a look here. According to GSM world there are quite a few GSM carriers in the US. That list seems to exclude Unicel, which is actually a fairly large company in it's own right. Most of the carriers do support the 1900mhz band at a minimum though there are a few 850 only carriers.
The only problem is that there is no wifi and probably won't be for a long time. The openmoko crew refuse to implement it cause there's no chip that comes with open driver as of today and there isn't any on the horizon.
One of the greatest advantage of having an open phone is so that you can install a SIP phone on it and use it when there's a wifi connection available which is almost everywhere these days (at work, at home, lots of public places...). When there's an open phone that comes out with wifi integrated I'll be the first to get it though.
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For an on-topic thought. I had seen this quite a while back and was excited about the potential, but had the faint scent of vaporware on it. The screen will be very nice, but more pixels = more battery draw...which is why most of the HTC devices are stuck at qvga instead of full vga. I wonder if they have some tricks up their sleeve to mitigate that factor.
An open platform will only get so far (although it is a HUGE bonus). The hardware will have to be able to keep up its end of the bargain as well. Battery life will be a KEY factor in its overall success (as with any phone). More features doesn't make a better phone. A better experience will make a better phone. (Sorry to bring it up, but...) That is what the iPhone is promising...a better phone experience. If they can pull that off, then they can charge what they want, keep it closed, spit in your face while trying to purchase it and they will still not be able to keep them on the shelves.
When I have a kid, I want to put him in one of those strollers for twins and then run around the mall looking frantic.
Sounds great, shame about the WiFi.
Your average consumer might not need WiFi on their phone, but I think it is very important for the slashdot/techie/FLOSS crowd. The main reason is that we want to be able to bypass the cell network whenever possible to avoid paying. WiFi is free and plentiful for me at home, at work, and in many other places, whereas cellular bandwidth is slower and much more expensive. For syncing, downloading music, uploading pictures, and VoIP, WiFi is a requirement for my next phone.
For one, why does the display always have to be 'on top of' the keypad? You have to hold the thing with both hands, or nearly drop the phone while reaching for the * 0 # keys. Instead, flip it around so the display is *below* the keypad. Go on,try it with your own phone, right now (just ignore for now that your keys will be upside down):
-- One-handed typing will be much easier, as you can hold onto the phone more firmly while typing. Also note how the 'thigh' of your thumb will not obscure the display.
-- Two-handed speed-texting will be much more 'private' because your thumb's thighs will keep your display hidden from everyone but you (the teens will love this!).
For another, who the hell decided that a phone's keypad should be the inverse of a standard numeric keypad??!? That's just plain daft! Not so long ago, some phones were one way, some the other; but then some moron decided that the One True Way was NOT the way of every single keyboard. What?!?! That makes no sense!
How about that? Who will be the first to implement that? And, will they be able to patent it, now that it's described here?
"Good news, everyone!"
which I think Apple has the patent on.
Apple does not have any patents on the iphone. They have applied for about 300, but none have been granted yet. Regarding the multitouch interface, if you search the internet, you'll find that research has been going on in this area since the 1980's. At best, Apple might be granted a patent on the specific technology they've used to support multitouch in their touchscreen, but there are several other ways to accomplish the same thing, some of which are already available.
Small phones are no use if you want to do anything interesting with them. If you only want to phone your girlfriend, then fine, get a totty little device. But if you want to present or work with data it's useless. And increasingly as we move into location-aware, network connected devices there is a huge number of applications which just weren't possible before. I've moved from a Sony-Ericsson P910i to a Hewlett Packard IPAQ 6515 - the Sony-Ericson is bigger than OpenMoko, the IPAQ a lot bigger. Why? Because to run real applications you need more screen real estate (and the IPAQ has built-in GPS, which I need for the applications I'm building, but so does OpenMoko). 640x480 pixels is great news. Open API is even better news. I will definitely be playing with one of these, and soon.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.