Motorola Readies Music-oriented Linux Mobile Phone

An anonymous reader writes "Motorola has announced several new multimedia-enabled mobile phones supporting music and video playback, including one new device based on embedded Linux, according to LinuxDevices.com. The Linux-based Motorola E680 could see US distribution, making it the first of Motorola's Linux-based mobile phones available outside the far East. The E680 will include multimedia playback software supporting a variety of formats, including MP3 audio, MPEG4 video, and RealPlayer multimedia content." The article notes: "Motorola's previous Linux-based phones have been based on MontaVista Linux, and have used the Qt/Embedded graphical application framework."

Re:Replacement for iPod?

[evilviper]

I wonder how many songs it can hold

As many as you can fit onto a SD card... No built-in hard drive, so it's not much of a challenger for the iPod.

Re:Replacement for iPod?

[jetfuel]

Apple will replace your iPod battery for free if it's under warranty. If not they charge $99. If you want to install it yourself, you can buy one [google.com] and do so.

Re:Why is SD popular?

[dabadab]

Well, it's size, really. Phone manufacturers are really trying their best to make the phones as small and light as possible, and CF's size and weight is a real impediment in this effort.
It seems now that the trend is:
Small, light gizmos: SD/MMC (or even xD)
More robust gizmos: CF Type I
Pro stuff: CF Type II

Re:Why is SD popular?

[dabadab]

I guess the difference is something like 10g (guesswork based on how much my Diva mp3 player and a 128MB CF weighs) - and in the era of sub-100g phones that is a lot.

Re:Great, so where is the source?

[TEB_78]

That's enough.

From the GPL:
3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,