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First North American OpenMoko/FreeRunners Arrive

Posted by timothy on from the reminds-one-of-sony-mylo dept.

holdenkarau writes "The North American OpenMoko FreeRunners are starting to arrive. It would appear that the OpenMoko still has problems with some 3G networks, including AT&T. Although, in my own personal completely unscientific test, 2 out of 3 AT&T SIM cards worked. Check out the unboxing of a complete FreeRunner (along with debug board) and my experience getting the FreeRunner up and running. Or a direct link to the pictures for those of you bored with text. If you feel brave enough to take the plunge, you can buy your own FreeRunner from the OpenMoko store."

46 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Pictures by holdenkarau · · Score: 5, Informative

    Take them OF the phone, not WITH the phone!

    The phone actually has no camera, so the pictures were taken with a kodak digital camera. I'm not very good at takeing pictures I'll admit.

  2. Re:Pictures by holdenkarau · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh sad. Well you can read the post and then you only have to look at one picture.

  3. I was about to order one by jacquesm · · Score: 5, Informative

    When I realized it did not have a camera. While a hackable phone has immense appeal having to lug around a second phone or camera is really too much a of a hassle. Oh well, we'll just wait for release II I guess.

    --
    MP3 Search Engine
    1. Re:I was about to order one by Simonics+Zsolt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They are "good enough" for a lot of things.

    2. Re:I was about to order one by quantumplacet · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While I certainly don't advocate the inclusion of cameras in cell phones, if the sole purpose of this device is to make phone calls, is a touch screen or linux OS really necessary?

    3. Re:I was about to order one by lymond01 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Oddly, a lack of a camera may give something like this a push into certain businesses where cameras are not allowed on the premises.

    4. Re:I was about to order one by Hannes2000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I use my phone's camera as a mobile scanner. works perfectly well.

    5. Re:I was about to order one by mhall119 · · Score: 5, Funny

      is there anything Emacs can't do?

      It's missing a good text editor.

      --
      http://www.mhall119.com
    6. Re:I was about to order one by Kelvie · · Score: 5, Interesting

      On that note, Emacs is known to be working on the OpenMoko. One of the primary reasons I'm getting one -- a phone that runs Emacs.

    7. Re:I was about to order one by mikiN · · Score: 5, Funny

      Passer-by: "What kind of voodoo ritual is that guy over there doing to his phone? It looks as if he's trying to pierce it with multiple little sticks all at once while at the same time poking it with his nose."
      Geek: "That's no voodoo, he's running Emacs on his Openmoko. Those sticks are styluses. Look, he just did a double-bucky! Without dropping his phone! Cool!"

      --
      The Hacker's Guide To The Kernel: Don't panic()!
    8. Re:I was about to order one by mustafap · · Score: 4, Funny

      >my next phone will almost certainly be an HTC Kaiser/TyTN II.

      I'm so out of touch. I thought that was a pop group.

      --
      Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
    9. Re:I was about to order one by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How do you correct the distortion caused by not aiming the camera exactly (compared to a real flatbed scanner) square-on to the page?

      --

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

    10. Re:I was about to order one by slartibart · · Score: 2, Insightful

      sorry, come from a linux background where we prefer one thing to do its job well, in this case, make phone calls. as opposed to making all things "multimedia extravaganzas!" there is always windows mobile and iphone for you to check out.

      I think you're comparing apples to oranges. In unix, you might as well have programs do one thing well because there's very little cost to installing more programs. It doesn't make your laptop any bigger or heavier.
      Separating your phone, camera, mp3 player, portable video player, etc into different devices is ridiculous, no one can carry that many things. People want one device that does it all, for good reason.

  4. CDMA areas in 4 years? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Informative

    Lots of North America is only served (or well-served) by CDMA networks. Hopefully, with Verizon embracing LTE for its next network build-out we'll finally have compatible transcontinental coverage. Next, the world.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    1. Re:CDMA areas in 4 years? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Informative

      hopefully CDMA areas are GSM in 4 years!

      Hey, at least click the link I bothered to include. :)

      First, 3G GSM adopted the W-CDMA air interface. Now, the traditionally-CDMA carriers are adopting the 3GPP's new IP-based protocol with an OFDM air-interface. The old definitions are just confusing at this point, but the upshot is the standards are converging. LTE allows for integrated fail-over to older tech, so the carriers don't have to have a build-out completely done on day 1 - they can do it incrementally and the phones will work as people move, but technically a Verizon user could roam on an AT&T tower.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:CDMA areas in 4 years? by gblfxt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      i've been able to use my GSM phone when i travel around the world, CDMA, not so much.

    3. Re:CDMA areas in 4 years? by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Informative
      I'm trying recall the name of the project that is the open radio system. With something such as a general radio and an antenna to handle multiple frequencies, couldn't the phone use either GSM or CDMA?

      *google*

      Ahh! http://hpsdr.org/

      The term I was looking for was software defined radio.

  5. Lowered bars by Goaway · · Score: 5, Funny

    Although, in my own personal completely unscientific test, 2 out 3 AT&T SIM cards worked.

    Sounds like Open Source to me!

    1. Re:Lowered bars by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 2, Funny

      And if you hack the radio, you'll get more bars. You'll also get a mugshot too.

      --
  6. Who is aware of the Neo Freerunner by GeneralSunTzu · · Score: 2, Informative

    Buddy, this is nonsense. Am located in Belgium and have ordered three days ago a Freerunner from Germany, likely to be shipped after the 25 July.
    On behalf of the European geeks,
    GeneralSunTzu

    --
    The Force actually is with me.
  7. Re:Pictures by jpellino · · Score: 2, Funny

    i suspect there is an actual macro button on that camera - it looks like a small flower.

    and tilt the unit slightly and you'll stop taking pictures of yourself taking pictures.

    unless of course you're the guy in the ebay tea kettle pic...

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  8. Re:American MVNOs? by holdenkarau · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here is the link I was looking for: http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=824482 For the most part it looks like they should work, but *shrugs*

  9. 3G network... by Etherized · · Score: 5, Informative

    OpenMoko still has problems with some 3G networks, including AT&T.

    This claim is misleading - the device has no UMTS radio, so of course AT&T's 3G network isn't supported. What's really happening is that some people who have "3G" SIM cards are having trouble accessing AT&Ts GSM network.

  10. Re:Audio? by Hannes2000 · · Score: 3, Informative

    the webbrowser currently available through the repositories is quite a pain in the ass. the rendering is butt-ugly, scrolling is only possible using scrollbars, zooming is only possible using the tiny zoom-buttons and the keyboard didn't show up when I focused the textfield at google. but I'm sure things will get better soon.

  11. and I'd want to buy it why? by arpad1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If I'm not mistaken, the phones are going for $400 per. It doesn't look all that good compared to the $200 iPhone so why would I want one if I wasn't interested in the "open" aspect of the phone?

    --
    Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
    1. Re:and I'd want to buy it why? by Tony · · Score: 5, Informative

      First and foremost, because you control the software.

      Secondly, the iPhone is *much* more than $200. That's the subsidized price. By the time you finish with the contract, you've spent quite a bit on your iPhone.

      Really, though, you'd only want one right now if you wish to hack on it. There's no reason to get one as your regular phone if you're not a hacker. The software stack is still in its infancy.

      Mine is supposed to arrive in a week. I'm pretty damned excited. I figure it needs some good games, like Nethack.

      --
      Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
    2. Re:and I'd want to buy it why? by pinkstuff · · Score: 2, Informative

      In New Zealand the iPhone is NZD$200, if you take that option then you are tied to a 2 year contract. How much is this contract? $250 a month! So over two years the iPhone will have actually costed you NZD$6,200. I think I will get a FreeRunner...

    3. Re:and I'd want to buy it why? by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Funny

      I figure it needs some good games, like Nethack.

      Wow, you mean it doesn't already have Nethack? I would have figured that would be a higher priority than the phone dialer!

      --

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

  12. Re:WHAT??? no Ninja backflips????!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    That ability is currently pending inclusion into the next firmware update. Please be patient.

  13. touch the glass to be sure... by azzuth · · Score: 2, Funny

    In soviet russia, mirror takes pictures of you!

  14. Downsides to Openmoko? by marklar1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Can anyone shed some light on the following statements, taken from:

    http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/08/23/apple-iphone-vs-the-fic-neo1973-openmoko-linux-smartphone/

    (after several points wraps up:)

    "...OpenMoko therefore isn't a new âoeopen phone,â it's merely a version of Linux designed to run on a specific vendor's proprietary implementation of Windows Mobile. Buying an FIC phone to run OpenMoko is like buying a Dell Windows PC to run Linux. You're not changing the world, you're merely funding development of Microsoft's platform while giving yourself the opportunity to work with community software."

    I don't understand the differentiation or point made regarding the serial port connection to the the GSM/GPRS run by proprietary Nucleus OS -- is this like a BIOS for the hardware instead of an OS? Is it a problem with proprietary drivers?

    Perhaps more important, how does this compare to other Linux based phones out there?? Does this help the community in general, or is it really vendor specific?

    1. Re:Downsides to Openmoko? by ThogScully · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sounds to me like they made a bunch of stuff up. The OpenMoko folks have gone to great lengths to develop the hardware platform from a completely open perspective, so that it developers can have full access to the hardware and full specs to program to.

      Ultimately, calling this a Windows phone running Linux is like saying that all ARM processors are really Windows machines that can also run Linux.

      The article really focused on OpenMoko vs. iPhone, but at least as far as I read, didn't get the point. The iPhone is geared toward those who buy things already working and the FreeRunner is aimed at those who want to make it better.
      -N

      --
      I've nothing to say here...
  15. Re:500 by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dude! The best part isn't that it can be used anywhere. That's an added feature. The best part is that the platform is completely open!

  16. Re:Only ATnT? by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Informative
    Looks like I was wrong:

    http://www.openmoko.com/product.html

    * GSM
    o Tri band 850/1800/1900 MHz
    o Tri band 900/1800/1900 MHz

  17. There are hardware issues with GPS this iteration. by Kelvie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2008-July/021774.html It seems that GPS doesn't work very well with a microSD card plugged in ... and this appears to be a hardware issue. If this is the case, I am thinking about sending the package back when it arrives (it's scheduled for tomorrow via UPS). It'll cost an arm and a leg to send it to the US and back otherwise (from Canada, thanks to UPS and customs).

  18. Re:Only ATnT? by tchuladdiass · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, they have two models -- 900/1800/1900, and 850/1800/1900. Both will work with t-mobile. AT&T uses mostly 850, so the second model is the one you'd want if you are on at&t, or if you are on t-mobile and want to roam to 850-only areas.

  19. Shawn the Anonymous Coward. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just got mine, and all I have to say is....

    game over!

    This is not just a phone. It is a handheld Linux based router! It has a full stack via USB, and in the other direction via the GSM. It is open source hardware, using open source software. I hope a few of you realize what I am talking about. I don't think a device like this (this small, and compact) existed which has this functionality. Routing.

    After testing three different sim cards I finally got it to work with ATT. (G3 Fireball, not the one with the round contacts on the back, the one with the square contacts on the back it ends in G 4003 or something to that effect, its posted on the openmoko wiki.

    Mark this post, this is the beginning of the end my friends!

  20. Get both release 1 AND 2 when it's ready by rekrutacja · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Waiting for second release is a good way to kick a company out of the market. I understand this desire for some businesses, but with Freerunner and OpenMoko you do want this second release to happen, right? So buy this release, and than buy the second when it's ready.

    --
    This Is Not a Sig
    1. Re:Get both release 1 AND 2 when it's ready by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Which is why the lack of the camera and 3G is a huge problem. I'd be happy to pay slightly over market value for a phone with an open software stack, but only if it's an upgrade. My current phone is almost three years old now. It has 3G, works for Internet access from my laptop via Bluetooth and has a 2M pixel camera. Trading it in for one with only GPRS (getting off GPRS having been the reason for my last phone upgrade) and no camera is just not going to happen. My next upgrade is likely to be to HSPDA and something with enough flash for my music collection, and I'd really like it to be based on an open stack, but if they are going to build products based on three of four generation old technology and price them in the premium segment then it's really hard to justify buying them.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  21. Re:There are hardware issues with GPS this iterati by holdenkarau · · Score: 3, Informative

    Before you send it back check out this thread, it seems like there might be a simple work around.

  22. Android? by autophile · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Will Android run on it?

    What access does it have to wireless data connections?

    --
    Towards the Singularity.
    1. Re:Android? by alphabeat · · Score: 2, Informative

      Only via crazy hackery unbeknownst to man. The Freerunner uses ARMv4 and Android requires ARMv5 [1]. Note that this article is for the older Neo1973 but the same applies. [1] http://benno.id.au/blog/2007/11/21/android-neo1973

  23. Re:500 by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ahh! But they are two different things. My Blackberry from T-Mobile is unlocked, but I can't change the OS, although I could write apps for it if I wanted to. Most, if not all GSM phones can be unlocked to work on any other network. No phones (except the Freerunner to my knowledge) provide open source access to the OS.

  24. Re:3 Minutes boot-up time - No more questions by Boogaroo · · Score: 2, Informative

    Blackberries take 3 minutes to boot up too, so it's certainly not a unique issue.

  25. Beware of GPS problems by efalk · · Score: 2, Informative

    I received mine yesterday. By evening, I found out that the GPS wouldn't lock on unless I used an external antenna. By this morning, users had discovered that the GPS works fine if the memory card is removed, pointing to probably electronic interference behind them. If they don't find a field fix for the problem, I'll have to send mine back because I bought it for the GPS applications that I would write for it.

  26. Re:Only ATnT? by storkus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually that's not quite true: while most of AT&T's markets are 800/850, there are a few, such as here in Phoenix, that are 1900 only--Alltel has the
    A side and Verizon the B side. There are also a small number of markets where T-Mobile aka the old orange Cingular network, operates on 850 only: I
    believe the largest is in the Great Lakes area.

    What I'd like to know is that, with the proliferation of quad band radios, why they didn't use one of those instead?

    Mike