Trolltech Qtopia Greenphone and SDK Review

An anonymous reader writes "The Greenphone comes at a time when there are countless mobile Linux platforms, but not many of them are open for easy development. This little device aims to fill a niche for a community-oriented mobile development platform. How does it perform? Linuxlookup.com has the Trolltech Qtopia Greenphone and SDK review."

Comments

Eeek

[Yetihehe]

Yes, it IS open source. But from DULA (Device User License Agreement) "...This device may only be used with Trolltech's Qtopia Software. You may not use this device in any other hardware/software combination other than in the combination of hardware and software that was delivered to you...". So no, it's not going to run (any) linux.

Re:Eeek

[GauteL]

Ridiculous License Agreement that is probably invalid in most countries in the world but still cause some legal problems due to some ridiculous laws in some countries (read: USA and the DMCA). If I purchase the phone, it is mine to do WTF I want to with.

Being from an open source company, it really sticks out like a sore thumb and makes this device a non-starter for anyone who cares about software/hardware freedom. Excactly the type of people that Trolltech is trying to sell the device to! The sheer stupidity....

Re:Eeek

[EnglishTim]

I think we can take it as read that when he says he can do WTF he likes with it, he's ruling out activities that break the law. He's also not allowed to stick it into a spud cannon and shoot it at his Congressman, but there's no real need to point that out.

Pricing

[Romwell]

At that price you reaally regret that Greenphones do not yet grow on trees.

Huge potential, bad licensing

[bonefry]

For more information on licensing, which is a real PITA for open-source developers, see here: Greenphone SDK.

On the bright side, with projects like OpenMoko and OLPC I think the world will start to realize the power and potential of these little Internet-enabled devices when combined with open-source software.

That's Great...

[jeevesbond]

That's great, but can it run the OpenMoko software? From the license:

...This device may only be used with Trolltechs Qtopia Software. You may not use this device in any other hardware/software combination other than in the combination of hardware and software that was delivered to you...

Oh, I suppose not. Sorry, but if I spent USD695 on a phone I'd want the freedom to do what I liked with it! That is a stupid restriction Trolltech cannot hope to enforce (although this does make me think of Trusted Computing).

Also, someone should tell this chap to get hold of an OpenMoko to review. They hold far more promise, in my opinion, and seem much more 'community driven'.

Not open enough for me

[jonwil]

What I want to see is a phone which has a baseband processor that does all the stuff like talking to the cell towers. Such processor would present a fully documented and open interface (GPIO lines, AT commands, data ports, whatever) which the applications processor can talk to. Everything on the AP side would be 100% open source (GPL or whatever) from the phone dial app down to the daemon that actually sends AT commands to the baseband side.

So far the closest we have to that is the OpenEZX project for motorola EZX linux phones although a lot more work is needed in reverse engineering the proprietary AT commands sent by the proprietary tapisrv app before it can do everything the motorola software stack can do.

Re:Not open enough for me

[queazocotal]

It is.

OpenMoko is the OS, there may be many phones.

At the moment, on the Neo1973 - which is the phone that FIC is releasing first, you talk to the GSM modem via AT commands.

The dialer app is at the moment broken, and you use minicom or something :)

The only closed source bit of code that will ship with the phone is the code that takes the output from the very dumb GPS hardware, and 'cooks' it into an actual position. And there are moves to - when a working version of this is shipped, reverse engineer it, and make it open source too.

You can run _any_ 'normal' linux app on it, with the obvious limitations (no keyboard unless you've bluetooth, 2.8" display, touchscreen, one uncommitted button).

You can even put GCC, and a full normal toolchain on the microSD, and do native development work, if you really want to.

(think of a Pentium 100 laptop sort of speed)

http://wiki.openmoko.org/ - the wiki. http://rapidshare.com/files/18781887/rect.avi a 1 hour talk (60M) on OpenMoko, by one of the instigators of the OpenMoko project.

Can I buy it NOW?

[saikou]

What really makes me mad is there's no big buttun "BUY" with a price next to it. I spent 5 minutes clicking everywhere on OpenMoko trying to find a way to buy it, simple and easy (I remember they used to say somewhere about how/when I can buy it but it's buried in their wiki with no hit on the word "buy"). If it can't be bought now it should be marked on the first page as "coming soon/preorder" or something. Same goes for Green phone thing, that doesn't even have a mentioning in the list of the devices.
I think if more linux phones are to appea[l|r] to general public, there should be easy ways to get them :)

Everthing you need to know:

[jav1231]

"As far as pricing is concerned the phone itself costs $695 USD"
Like most Linux mobile devices, these are priced completely out of the market. Is there a conspiracy to keep Linux out of the mobile market? Could all of these efforts actually be funded by the big mobile makers? Okay, I know its not possible but you begin to wonder. I remember when the Zaurus came out. Let's see, a Palm or (shudder) WinCE device for $299 or a Zaurus for $599. Wow! How's a consumer to choose!?