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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."

9 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. 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.

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    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 mhall119 · · Score: 5, Funny

      is there anything Emacs can't do?

      It's missing a good text editor.

      --
      http://www.mhall119.com
    3. 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.

    4. 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()!
  3. 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!

  4. 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.

  5. 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.