Motorola A768 Phone Loaded With Open Source

Supp0rtLinux writes "According to this article over at Linux Devices and noted on here at NewsForge.com, Motorola has released a newer version of its A76x line of cellular phones. This newest release, the A768, boasts of open source softwares from Monta Vista Linux, Trolltech, and Sleepycat. The only downside is that it appears to only be available in China right now. And the older A760 released last August is still only available in Europe and Asia. Why are we in the U.S. always the last to get new cellular toys? The good news, though, is that with a Linux base and an integrated PDA and MS Office file compatibility, at least syncing this to either a Linux system or a Windows one should be fairly seamless. (A760 Review)"

The last thing I want

[Slowtreme]

Reading Word Docs on my cell phone. Combo devices... Meh

Makes sense

[nil5]

This is pretty much a continuation of a trend that began a few years ago. We see many embedded devices using open source, particularly linux. It makes sense for many reasons, but the bottom line is that open source is inexpensive (ie free?) and widely used, which makes development more efficient.

The really interesting thing, as I see it, is the integration we will be able to get when many devices run linux. I would love to be able to integrate my cell phone with my pda with my computer with my wireless access point. the possibilities are endless when we converge on common standards.

...last in the US

[Anonymous Coward]

The US is generally last to get new cellular toys because of the lack of a single standard. By letting the market fight it out, the FCC - whilst promoting competition amongst vendors - kinda hashed things up for the consumers.

They did it again with Digital TV too, mandating an arguably inferior standard that isn't used much elsewhere, so that the domestic TV manufacturers would be happy. Now, if they'd gone with DVB-T, prices everywhere around the World for DTV tuners would be lower. Ho hum. It seems the US Government doesn't get wireless. So the population can't, either :(

Marketability

[Sheetrock]

Why are we in the U.S. always the last to get new cellular toys?

There is a certain reliability factor we expect in U.S. equipment. Keep in mind that these fancy Linux phones are bleeding-edge and likely quite unstable compared to your standard PCS or analog phone. Additionally, with the amount of geography we've got to cover, the support for newer technologies just isn't there in our cell towers.

Canada's in an even worse situation, technically speaking. Even though it's easier to deploy wireless than it used to be to get phone service out to rural areas, the towers still require service.

Handys in Germany

[derphilipp]

As I can speak for Europe (Germany), each kid (12 and up !) here needs the newest toy on the market.
Handys are everywhere - but not mainly to call someone - especially Teenagers are sending hundrets of SMS per month - for 30-40 Euro-cents each !
Photo-Handys and MMS are on their way, the market is growing and growing.

Handys are a definitely a status symbol -
You've got one ? - You're one of us.
You've got that old-styled Nokia Handy from last Season ? You're such a dork !

Re:US cell phones

[el-spectre]

Heh... no, the point is that we (in the US) have GSM, as well as several other competing techs. It doesn't make as much economic sense to start here.

Europe is ahead of the US in certain fields, cellular tech being one of them. It's just a fact, not an insult.

Re:US cell phones

[bluGill]

Oh, please, what difference does it make what protocol is used? Once you have the silicon designed it is just a "library" you plug into. Sure if you are a small cell phone designer you might not bother to create silicon for some of the other US standards, but that is no excuse for not at least designing a US GSM version. (Not when you already have 900Mhz (or was it 800?)and 1800Mhz phone to design.

Or haven't hardware engineers learned the value of well designed interfaces like us software people have. GSM will not be the only standard for long, 3g systems are coming out, and they are closer to the US systems than GSM. Nobody in their right mind knowing that would design a cell phone that they couldn't move to a different protocol.

Re:funny...

[dontspellsogood]

It is a downside for those of us who just want a fricken phone + phone # storage. Im surprised that most phone makes don't offer a basic model for each of model lines. No bells or whistles, just a good reliable phone. Imagine how long my Motorola V2260 would last with one of these new batteries (which have to power colour displays, sound chips, flash memory, mp3 players, an advanced OS, toast maker, Tony Hawk 3). I just hope mine doesn't die anytime soon.

Re:US cell phones

[skitz0]

Its acctualy a good thing we get them last. For the most part cellphones are bug ridden POS's when they first hit the market and since most cell phone producers make it hard to flash the firmware in the US (compared to the rest of the world where you can walk into a service center and have it done!) it really is a good thing. Ive worked in the cellular telecom industry for many years and usually picked up the latest and greatest as soon as it hit the employee rec site, even then they sometimes had problems.

Re:Why not in the US

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually the fact that it uses Linux at would suggest that there is a far greater chance that it will work with my computer. It could be be greatest phone in the world but if it will not interact with my other devices/systems then what good is it.

Re:A Few Reasons it isn't in the USA

[Anonymous Coward]

The real stoppers are:

• cell phone owners in the US are charged for receiving (!) calls
• local calls in the US typically are not charged by the minute (here in Italy we pay about 75 cents per hour), so getting a POTS line is cheap
• competing standards a no GSM until a few years ago made the market uninteresting to most cellular-companies (you mentioned this in point 3)