First North American OpenMoko/FreeRunners Arrive

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."

Comments

Re:Pictures

[holdenkarau]

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.

I was about to order one

[jacquesm]

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.

Re:I was about to order one

[Simonics Zsolt]

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

Re:I was about to order one

[lymond01]

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

Re:I was about to order one

[mhall119]

is there anything Emacs can't do?

It's missing a good text editor.

Re:I was about to order one

[Kelvie]

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.

Re:I was about to order one

[mikiN]

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!"

Re:I was about to order one

[mustafap]

>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.

CDMA areas in 4 years?

[bill_mcgonigle]

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.

Re:CDMA areas in 4 years?

[bill_mcgonigle]

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.

Lowered bars

[Goaway]

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

Sounds like Open Source to me!

3G network...

[Etherized]

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.

Re:Audio?

[Hannes2000]

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.

Re:and I'd want to buy it why?

[Tony]

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.

Re:500

[TooMuchToDo]

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!

Re:Only ATnT?

[tchuladdiass]

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.

Re:Downsides to Openmoko?

[ThogScully]

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

Shawn the Anonymous Coward.

[Anonymous Coward]

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!

Get both release 1 AND 2 when it's ready

[rekrutacja]

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.

Re:Get both release 1 AND 2 when it's ready

[TheRaven64]

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.

Re:There are hardware issues with GPS this iterati

[holdenkarau]

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