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Open Source Linux Phone Goes On Sale
An anonymous reader writes "Sean Moss-Pultz has just announced on the OpenMoko mailing list that the Neo1973 is finally available for purchase. OpenMoko.com is now taking orders via credit card. OpenMoko intends to 'free your phone' through a hardware-independent and open source user interface backed by the Linux kernel. This device could very well stand as a competitor to the more expensive Apple iPhone, but at a fraction of the price and with no vendor lock-in. Although the devices in this release cycle (GTA01) are mainly intended for developers, the up-and-coming devices targeted to the consumer market (GTA02) will also feature WiFi capabilities, a 3D acceleration unit, and 256MB of on-board flash. Both units will use the MicroSD card interface for removable storage and have USB client / host capabilities. For a full feature list, check out OpenMoko.com or the OpenMoko Wiki."
I really want a linux phone. It's pretty cheap at 300$. One thing bothers me, do providers allow random phones to be used on there network? Do some cellular providers block phones that they don't approve off?
Hard to tell from the press release which mass market (GTA02) model (if either) is really close to feature parity with the iPhone, but if you compare the two top end models, the price is the same.
If by fraction you mean 1/1, I guess so.
The inclusion of a 3D accelerometer intrigues me. I'm guessing/hoping there are plans to integrate this into some sort of user interface. An interface designed at least partially around physically moving the unit would be great to have on something as small as a cellphone, as it would reduce the need for thumb-typing or any other kind of extreme dexterity
There is an interesting comparison between the OpenMoko and the iPhone. The iPhone hardware gives more power but may be the openness of the OpenMoko can provide better user experience with adaptability lacking in the iPhone ?
http://aptustech.com/?q=node/9
Can the Openmoko challenge the iPhone ? Does the opensource philosophy can overcome one of the best designed phone ?
This smacks of the same sort of complaint-response attitude that drives the also-ran category in the music player market.
.Mac subscription. The iPhone view of the world is broken as far as I'm concerned.
Possibly. Or possibly Apple got it wrong with the iPhone. Or possibly Apple got it wrong and they are still going to win through monopolistic practices and marketing. All one can do is try to develop a better product and see whether one can compete.
Wake me when it syncs with iTunes and automatically pulls my contacts, music, movies, TV shows, and calendar.
Why the hell would I want to sync with anything on my desktop? I want to sync with Yahoo! and Google and eMusic and Democracy and applications like those, over the air, without having to rely on a flaky and bulky desktop PC or Mac and without having a costly
The only mobile phones that I ever owned were the Nokia Communicator series (9110i, 9250 & 9500), and I am SICK of Symbian. Yes, the keyboard is very nice, but the crappy OS which crashes on very inconvenient times is just too much. When I pay $900 for a phone, I expect it to work for at least 3 years before crapping on me.
Nokia has moved away from reliability long time ago and got on the fancy-wagon. Their new E90 phone (new communicator) is very sexy, especially with the built-in GPS chip, but I guess I'll make a sacrifice for a phone that is willing to give what I had paid for.
I've been waiting for a very long time for a Linux phone, 3 more months won't make much of a difference.
Nokia: UP YOURS!
Mod points are a dangerous tool. Abuse them wisely.
I wonder how this compares to the Motorla MING which claims to be Linux-based also.
WHY would carriers want this thing on their networks again?
Because WiFi only covers a nanopercent of the area that GSM/3G covers. This means that any service you provide via WiFi, you'll also want to be able to use over EDGE/HDSPA/GPRS/whatever which uses the network and generates revenue. You'll also be using it to make calls.
In general, a carrier will just want you to have something connected to their network that you want to use and which you'll want to use a lot. I, for one, mostly just use my phone for SMS and actual phone conversations, but if I could get the phone to use WiFi for e-mail/messaging (ICQ+MSN) then I would be more likely to accept a few bytes flying over GPRS or something to get those messages when WiFi is not available. A lot more willing than I would be knowing that ALL of that data goes over an expensive network.
The only thing I'm worried about is the potential for hackers to hack the network stacks and trying to get free phone calls/data transfers with this device. If that happens it will be banned faster than you can say iPhone.
Badgers, we don't need no stinking badgers! - UHF
Wasn't this originally supposed to be all touch screen... as in with fingers, no stylus and what-not? They're providing a stylus which seems to imply they've given up on the idea (I know they were having a lot of trouble with it previously). I'd rather the stylus-free approach than an overpowered stylus; although, I can't say I'd complain much if I got the latter.
Our wealth breeds emptiness
Yes everything we wanted... except it looks stupid. It's stubby vs. slim slender and sleek which is what everyone is marketing these days. But other than that... yeah it's friggin' AWESOME.
I am eager to replace my current phone with Openmoko. However, I use a SIM Toolkit application for my banking. I wanted to look up whether Openmoko plans some STK support, but I have only found this post in gsmd-devel archives from March. Does anybody know what is the state of SIM Toolkit support in Openmoko?
-Yenya
--
While Linux is larger than Emacs, at least Linux has the excuse that it has to be. --Linus
Here's an example: Ring tones. Ring tones, wallpapers, screensavers, and assorted bullshit. The typical way you get this on a closed phone is, you dial some number you saw on TV, and you get charged something like $1 to download some tiny fragment of a song you doubtless already bought on CD.
On an open phone, you just rip the CD, then send the file to your phone -- like you would with an iPod, say.
The real reason for DRM -- not that people listen when I point this out -- is to be able to do crap like that. Sell you the same song five times -- once on a CD (which can ONLY be played on CD players, and not even all of them), again for your iPod, again as a ringtone on your phone, again as a soundtrack for your game console, and a fifth time because you'll lose one of the others and can't make backups.
But I don't think developers are going to create an amazing consumer application. If we do, someone will find a way to charge everyone on a "normal" phone to get the same thing. I'd settle for an amazing developer phone, and if we do create something useful, and users buy the phone and download our useful software, more power to them. I just want something I can hack.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
The iPhone already has accelerometers, and the reason is simple: It can then figure out when you flip it on its side. Thus, it automatically changes the interfaces to reflect whether you're holding it vertically or horizontally. Combine that with other sensors, and it can figure out when you're holding it to your ear (and thus disable the display).
Others have already mentioned a lot of the creative things that could be done with it beyond that, so I'll mention one -- scrolling. Put simply, if it's accurate enough, imagine having a document that is digitally the size of a wall -- rather than scrolling through it, you simply move the phone around the document.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!