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Trolltech GPLs Qtopia Phone Edition

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the all-the-cool-kids-are-doing-it dept.

Provataki writes "Trolltech has announced that they are releasing the new version of Qtopia Phone Edition under the GPL along with a port on the FIC Neo1973 smartphone. Trolltech also continues to support Greenphone as a reference platform for mobile development within the company and through its partners. Benoit Schillings, CTO of Trolltech (also of BeOS fame as one of the original Be, Inc. engineers) commented on the news."

10 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. QTopia vs OpenMoko by Aladrin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So... At this point, QTopia runs on several phones while OpenMoko only runs on the one they designed. I have to say, I've been planning to buy a neo9173 for a while now, but I'm starting to seriously thinking about re-flashing it with QTopia or just buying a green phone with QTopia. In terms of how many apps will be ported to it, I think QTopia already has a huge advantage since it works on multiple phones already.

    As I stated in the other news topic, I want a phone that has Skype and will let me answer with Skype or via cell tower when both ring at once. I use Grand Central to ring both numbers at the same time, and I'd rather have just a single phone to do it with. I think QTopia is likely to offer that more quickly than OpenMoko.

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    1. Re:QTopia vs OpenMoko by Directrix1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      OpenMoko runs on other phones already. They designed it to run on anything the user wants it to run on.

      --
      Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
    2. Re:QTopia vs OpenMoko by AVee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why Skype? You're buying an opensource phone, you want choice when it comes to who delivers you calls to you, yet you choose to use a closed source VOIP provider?
      Seems kind of strange to me. I can understand what you want, I want functionality like that, but I want it useing standard open SIP. Otherwise your just trading one lock-in for the other.

    3. Re:QTopia vs OpenMoko by mrslacker · · Score: 2, Informative

      And a little bit of research is a little different to posting to Slashdot, isn't it?

      FWIW http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Supported_Hardware. Of course, on any platform, it's clearly WIP.

      In any case, the Greenphone is way too expensive to purchase for personal use:

      http://trolltech.com/products/qtopia/greenphone/greenphone_pricing ($695)

      The user version of the Neo will be around $450 or so - still pricey - but I might be able to justify it. I'm still considering one of the iPhone clones (Cect P168 et al at $160 or so), despite some of their nastiness (including being nothing to do with Linux). Either way, I'd only make $5 of calls per month.

    4. Re:QTopia vs OpenMoko by AVee · · Score: 2, Informative

      1 seconds of google usage brought me a list of 670 voip provider in the USA. There are plenty (if not most) of Voip providers which are cheaper then skype. There is also is a far wider variety of hard and software which can be used with SIP, you can even set up your own PBX if you like.
      There really is no good reason to use a totally closed Voip protocol over SIP. There are a whole lot of reasons not to promote closed communication protocols. I don't even care if you choose to use closed source software, but for crying out loud, use a standard, open and portable protocol for you Voip communication.

  2. GPLv2 by samkass · · Score: 3, Informative

    For those too lazy to go read the press release, it's GPLv2, not GPLv3.

    --
    E pluribus unum
  3. Re:just read that a minute ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The polling issue described in that blog is not a restriction in Qtopia, but a workaround for 2.4 kernels because inotify support is missing. The kernel from OpenMoko is a 2.6 kernel so if your toolchain is configured properly, this will be detected and you get the inotify implementation instead of the polling implementation.

  4. I'm curious... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...if any open source developers will start making Open Hardware phones. With the rise of the cell phone as a complete multimedia platform (a wave to Apple in particular here), the market is ripe for sophisticated embedded hardware of the type that OSS developers have been toying with for some time now.

    Obviously, the biggest hurdle is FCC regulations. You can't actually install and run the radio without an FCC license and/or a shielded area to test radio communications from. I don't know what's involved in being licensed for public airwaves (especially for development purposes), but even finding a mini-tower to install in your "Faraday garage" that you're sure properly emulates a true cell tower could be difficult.

    Hmm... unless someone OSSed that first? An OSS cell network? (Yeah, right.) ;-)

    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    1. Re:I'm curious... by richlv · · Score: 3, Informative

      hmm. actually, the device the article is about - Neo1973 - is pretty much open.
      http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo1973_Hardware

      few things are closed for quite valid reasons, but hopefully with time this will have a chance to improve.

      --
      Rich
  5. Re:FIC problems by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you already have the phone, it meant you bought a phase 1 device, about which the site clearly states (in bold, on the front page) that "currently it is not suitable for users". I'm sorry, but your complaints are entirely your own fault.

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz