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Hardware Hacking Linux Business Portables Build Linux

Openmoko's Open Source Phone Goes Mass-Market 247

Posted by timothy from the long-may-it-wave dept.
nerdyH writes "Openmoko has begun shipping its Linux-based, open source Neo Freerunner phone to five newly announced distributors, in Germany, France, and India, says the company. The Neo Freerunner features an open hardware design, and a Linux-based operating system that users are free to modify. The project originally hoped to produce a mass-market offering last October. The $400 Freerunner will remain available direct, online, too. A 2.5G GPRS/GSM phone like the original iPhone, it boasts a 500MHz processor, WiFi, 3D accelerometers, a 4.3-inch VGA touchscreen, Bluetooth, and built-in GPS."
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Openmoko's Open Source Phone Goes Mass-Market More

Openmoko's Open Source Phone Goes Mass-Market

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  • Neo 1973 (Score:3, Funny)

    by niceone ( 992278 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:08PM (#23938099) Journal
    That's so last century.

  • 2.5G (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sglewis100 ( 916818 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:08PM (#23938105)
    That's about all I have to say... 2.5G... if not for that I'd keep my existing iPhone but because of it I'm upgrading next month.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by terevos ( 148651 )

      except, it's not EDGE, so I don't know how it's 2.5G, it's GPRS with boost, but I don't know that all the stuff with GPRS will be compatible with the EDGE network for speed. I'm doubting it will, which will leave you with speeds back at 2G GPRS.

    • Re:2.5G (Score:5, Informative)

      by Rei ( 128717 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:33PM (#23938489) Homepage

      To do a side-by-side rundown with the iPhone (correct me if I get anything wrong):

      Category: Neo FreeRunner / iPhone

      Price: $400 / $200-$400 plus specific service requirements
      Screen res: 640x480 / 480x320
      Screen size: 4.3" / 3.5"
      CPU: Samsung S3C2442 500MHz / 620 MHz ARM 1176, underclocked to 412 MHz
      GPU: SMedia 3362-based 3D graphics acceleration / PowerVR MBX 3D
      Ram: 128MB / 128MB
      Onboard flash: 256MB / 4, 8, or 16GB
      Card support: MicroSD (64MB to 8GB) / None
      Bluetooth: 2.0 / 2.0
      Wifi: 802.11b/g / 80211b/g
      USB: 1.x / 1.x
      Camera: None / 2.0 megapixel
      GPS: AGPS / None
      3D accelerometers: 2x / 1x
      Touch: Single / Multi
      Cellular: 2.5G tri-band / 2G quad band (just this month, now 3G)
      Freedom: Open / Closed

      Looks like a fair competitor.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by sglewis100 ( 916818 )
        You did say correct you if wrong... so here goes. iPhone 3G has a GPS. You are absolutely correct though, in that it does compete. I'm a happy iPhone user that wants to upgrade to get faster Internet, so obviously it's not a good choice for me. But it's a good phone.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Rei ( 128717 )

          Thanks! Hadn't seen that yet. Did they have to sacrifice anything for it? Modern phones are extremely space-limited, so you usually need to cut something to add something else. For example, for the Neo to support WiFi, they had to cut a speaker.

          • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

            by sglewis100 ( 916818 )
            I'm not aware of any hardware features being removed, so I guess nothing was sacrificed. I suppose in the last year they were able to miniaturize other components to free up physical space inside the case. Here's a link: http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/gps.html [apple.com]. You mentioned removing a speaker to squeeze in WiFi. iPhone has just one speaker too if I recall, although the bottom of the phone looks like there are two. The other one is a microphone.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by teh kurisu ( 701097 )

            Well the iPhone 3G is thicker than the old one, though rounded at the back. And there were no improvements to the camera, which is something a lot of people were asking for (autofocus takes up space, for example).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by kellyb9 ( 954229 )
          Are you sure iPhone 3G has GPS? I know my iPod Touch determines my location based on IP... I think.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by ohcrapitssteve ( 1185821 )
            The iPhone 3G has A-GPS, or assisted GPS. It is a real, honest-to-God GPS receiver, but queries a database of known wifi hotspots and their locations in the event GPS lock can't be obtained.

            Your iPod Touch does the latter already. It does not find you via the approximated location of your IP address.

      • Re:2.5G (Score:4, Informative)

        by svnt ( 697929 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:41PM (#23938605)

        The FreeRunner screen is actually a 2.8" VGA (640x480)[1]. It has got some serious DPI.

        [1] http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GTA02 [openmoko.org]

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Rei ( 128717 )

          That contradicts the linked article. Not saying that one is right, just that there seems to be some dispute. The wiki also says 400MHz, while this says 500MHz.

      • Re:2.5G (Score:5, Informative)

        by g4b ( 956118 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:41PM (#23938615) Homepage
        What I personally like about Moko is:
          * they do a lot of legal pioneering, in name of open source (imagine how long it takes to get contracts to little things like sim-cards)
          * they take it seriously
          * the Moko can act as USB Master. well. I can plug my phone into the moko and download its files. who can do that!?!?

      • Re:2.5G (Score:5, Informative)

        by ady1 ( 873490 ) * on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:58PM (#23938903)

        >>Bluetooth: 2.0 / 2.0

        Just to clarify that it means nothing to have a bluetooth 2.0 in iphone as it doesn't support any useful profile except mono handsfree.

        I would define it as:

        Bluetooth: 2.0 / 2.0 Crippled Edition

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        micro sd can go up to 16GB, I've seen 12GB cards, and heard rumors that sandisk has 16GB cards out, but haven't actually seen them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by canavan ( 14778 )
        Are you serious about the USB 1.x? What's 16GB internal storage good for if it takes all week to fill?

      • Re:2.5G (Score:5, Interesting)

        by intangible ( 252848 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @03:34PM (#23940509) Homepage

        These are the things I'm under the impression that the Neo phone will support that the iPhone does not have:
        A2DP (Bluetooth Stereo)
        MMS
        Replaceable Battery
        Expandable Flash Memory
        Cut and Paste
        Voice Dialing
        Bluetooth Tether / Modem support
        Flash Support

      • Re:2.5G (Score:4, Informative)

        by andyfrommk ( 1021405 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @03:41PM (#23940639) Homepage

        To do a side-by-side rundown with the iPhone
        Go here [openmoko.org]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by p0tat03 ( 985078 )

        Slick shiny UI: Priceless

        This isn't to rag on OpenMoko's accomplishments - much hats off to being open, but they don't stand a chance in the mass market unless they have as slick a UI as iPhone. This goes for all the other cell phone manufacturers too.

        ... and goes doubly for Motorola, whose cell phone UI is not only un-slick, but downright painful like eye-gouging.

  • Hmmm (Score:2, Insightful)

    by ZERO1ZERO ( 948669 )
    I'm still using a Nokia 6210 I got in about 1999 with an Orange contract, only on the second battery. In that time the life time counters are at about 50 hours total calls and rouhgly about 25 hours are outgoing calls.

    So blatantly I have no real need for a phone, why do they all have to be so gaddamn expensive? I can't afford much more than £5 a month for calls, will the open-ness and WIFI-ness of this phone allow me to say, use my internet (which I already pay for) to make phonecalls? (for free)

    W

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bandman ( 86149 )

      The reason they're this expensive is that they are so new. The price will become reasonable in a year or two. Ask any Apple early adopter.

      The phone you have now, that you bought in 1998, would have been insanely expensive 5 years before you bought it. It's just how technology goes.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Sancho ( 17056 ) *

        You're absolutely right, but there's a big but that you're missing.

        BUT, this is already using old technology. For heaven's sake, it doesn't even have EDGE! And iPhone non-adopters were whining about the iPhone not having 3G.

        Nothing about the Neo is new-fangled or particularly innovative except for the software. I'd say that it's expensive primarily because they aren't going to sell like hotcakes, and thus the profit margins have to be higher.

    • Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Informative)

      by holdenkarau ( 1130485 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:23PM (#23938299) Homepage

      So blatantly I have no real need for a phone, why do they all have to be so gaddamn expensive?
      Its non-carrier subsidized and not produced at the same volumes as some other phones, hence it is a bit more expensive.

      I can't afford much more than £5 a month for calls, will the open-ness and WIFI-ness of this phone allow me to say, use my internet (which I already pay for) to make phonecalls? (for free)
      Yes you can use VoIP if you so desire. If you only have £5 though, your money might be better spent on other things.

      What's with the 2.5G? Did n't the Iphone get absolutely slammed for the lack of it, something that British (european) users apparently Have To Have? Given that this is a french phone and not a US thing, surely it would come with the usual standards.
      Its not french, its from a company called FIC [fic.com.tw] which is in Taiwan. As far as I understand 3G is expensive. You might want to check out this thread on the openmoko mailing list for a bit more of the background [openmoko.org].

      Also, can I ssh into my computer and restart my webserver, motherfucker??? :)
      Yes you can.

    • Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Funny)

      by badboy_tw2002 ( 524611 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:25PM (#23938333)

      Given that you've talked on the phone less than a minute a day for the past 9 years, I'd say you're probably better off just working out a schedule with the pizza guy instead of always just phoning him up and saying "the usual". Though it might be useful to have one around for 911 in case your hermit beard gets caught in the blender or something.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Bert64 ( 520050 )

        You don't actually need cellphone service to make emergency calls...
        You can typically make such calls just from a handset without even a simcard, it will pick up the first available network, and the networks should all route emergency calls for free.

        • My grandmother had one of these for a while. I was still a bit hesitant, a cell phone is a much more complex piece of technology than a fire extinguisher, and with no plan for usage other than in an emergency I'd be afraid of finding the thing dead.

          Then again, makes me wonder if there might be a small market for 911 only cells powered by non-rechargable lithium batteries for the 10 year shelf life.

          • makes me wonder if there might be a small market for 911 only cells powered by non-rechargable lithium batteries for the 10 year shelf life.

            There are already external battery packs for cellphones which take alkalines. Also, many hand-crank flashlights have a cellphone charger output. I've been planning to combine my $5 flashlight which has one (it didn't document it, but I hooked up a meter) with one of the aforementioned battery packs to create my own hand-crank cellphone charger. You'd be sitting there cranking the whole time you made the call, but that's OK. I just hope I can split it with a Y-cable and charge my headset too :D

          • Then again, makes me wonder if there might be a small market for 911 only cells powered by non-rechargable lithium batteries for the 10 year shelf life.

            Good idea. Maybe it could be combined with a disposable emergency beacon. Very handy if you get lost in the bush.
    • but not every product is designed for you.

      I too only use a low level voice phone Nokia (1100) and have no use for a fancier phone. You can still get low-level phones for pretty low cost new, and almost free on eBay etc.

      But at least I can appreciate that there are other people out there who actually have a lifestyle/usage pattern that fits better with a more sophisticated phone and have the money to spend on it.

    • Go buy a Nokia E-Series phone. You can have 3G, VoIP for free calls and, yes, you can run putty to ssh in to your computer and restart the webserver. I haven't used Windows Mobile, but I'd expect most of those handsets can do likewise. Be aware though that if you buy a network subsidized handset some or all features maybe disabled.

      Why are you using a decade old phone and then complaining about other phones not having features that have been available on some handsets for at least 2 years?

    • WTF is up with mods lately, there's no way your post is trolling, at least that I can tell, you're asking perfectly reasonable questions and making perfectly reasonable statements.

      And yes, with this openmoko phone you'll be able to ssh into your computer and restart your webserver and your motherfucker.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Hatta ( 162192 )

      So blatantly I have no real need for a phone, why do they all have to be so gaddamn expensive? I can't afford much more than £5 a month for calls

      You're not kidding. I have essentially no need for a phone at all, I make and receive less than one (legitimate) call per month. Yet I cannot get phone service for $30/month, not even a land line with no long distance service.

      It's a fucking racket. There are still some rare and special circumstances where a phone is required. Mostly when dealing with burea

      • So blatantly I have no real need for a phone, why do they all have to be so gaddamn expensive? I can't afford much more than £5 a month for calls

        You're not kidding. I have essentially no need for a phone at all, I make and receive less than one (legitimate) call per month. Yet I cannot get phone service for $30/month, not even a land line with no long distance service.

        It's a fucking racket. There are still some rare and special circumstances where a phone is required. Mostly when dealing with bureaucrats. So I can't just go without. But that infernal machine sure as hell isn't worth $30 a month. I'd spend less just using a payphone, if only I could receive calls on it.

        When I moved to the US I bought a Nokia 6030, it takes the same battery as my old Nokia 1100 that I had in Europe. I buy AT&T airtime in advance, which works out to around $7 per month for my usage. The purchase price of $100 for the handset over 5 years is about $1.67 per month.

        This 6030 doesn't have a lot of superfluous features (no camera, no media player) but does have a lot of features that I use all the time, such as

        • alarm clock,
        • countdown timer,
        • appointment reminders,
        • notes.

        I use the old 110

    • Re:Hmmm (Score:4, Informative)

      by Znork ( 31774 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @04:10PM (#23940989)

      Didn't the Iphone get absolutely slammed for the lack of it

      Sure, but the IPhone is a highly hyped product, so it has to be appropriately buzzword compliant. Any poor IPhone user would get the lack pointed out to them; instant put-down for the device-chic.

      The OpenMoko is a different field entirely. For most prospective users there simply is no feature that carries a higher importance than freedom, nor are there many alternatives with that essential feature. I have no interest in the iPhone with or without 3g; it's even more locked than many other phones.

      And no, for the more pragmatic crowd, 3g isnt something you really have to have on your phone (especially not if you have wifi). 3g is more useful as a modem for a small computer like the eee; it's nice to have when you have the UI to fully utilize more bandwidth intensive applications.

      Also, can I ssh into my computer and restart my webserver,

      The more interesting question is, can you ssh into your phone and restart the webserver you're running there?

      • I absolutely want 3G on my phone because I want to use it as a high speed modem for my computer when I am outside WiFi range, but in range of the cellular telephone network. I've never bothered to do this to date because I've been on GSM all this time and the best I can get is GPRS. Now ATT has bought Edge Wireless, so I'm moving on again in December, when my contract ran out. Never underestimate the power of the dark side!

  • Some corrections (Score:4, Informative)

    by comm2k ( 961394 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:13PM (#23938183)

    it boasts a 500MHz processor, WiFi, 3D accelerometers, a 4.3-inch VGA touchscreen, Bluetooth, and built-in GPS."
    But will run @ 400 MHz. 2.8 inch VGA touchscreen.

    • Re:Some Experience (Score:4, Informative)

      by berating ( 1314335 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @02:16PM (#23939209)
      As I already have a Freerunner, here are my experiences:
      • old TI GSM modem, recamping once a minute(!) to the mobile station, eating battery like crazy and very unreliable. A TI engineer asked me if they (openmoko) got the chips for free, as they are so ancient - no EDGE, GPRS w/ 2KB/s. Openmoko is likely the last buyer.
      • audio quailty on the headphone is lousy due to a hardware bug - as mp3 player useless
      • headphone only mono. i.e. only one side works
      • headphone unusable for making phone calls due to EM-interferences
      • no bluetooth headset support
      • no bluetooth keyboard support (dropped since last version)
      • graphics sluggish and even slower than Neo 1973 despite 2D accel chip
      • GPS has >10 minutes TTFF - yes, in 2008 where every cheapo GPS gets a fix in 45secs
      • developer community alienated by Lauer & Co. GNOME knew why they kicked Rasterman out.
      • so called ASU software is pre-alpha and reinventing the wheel once again
      Unless your company pays for it, don't buy it.

      • Re:Some Experience (Score:4, Insightful)

        by mmontour ( 2208 ) <mail@mmontour.net> on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @03:11PM (#23940079)

        headphone only mono. i.e. only one side works
        Are you sure about that one? The speakers in the device went from stereo (GTA01) to mono, but I never heard about a similar issue with the headphone audio. Do you have one of the production models or an earlier prototype? Is your headphone using the correct 4-pin plug?

        no bluetooth headset support
        No support in the current software, but AFAIK the necessary hardware is there.

        For me the killer feature is the openness of the platform (datasheets for almost all of the modules, the ability to completely brick it and then restore with JTAG, etc). I'll forgive a lot of flaws in order to support that philosophy.

      • Re:Some Experience (Score:5, Informative)

        by wurp ( 51446 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @03:28PM (#23940389) Homepage

        You seem to have some misunderstandings about the expected state of the software, and you're conflating software & hardware issues.

        • I know internal tests have indicated a week of battery life is possible when the Freerunner is suspended.
        • I'm pretty sure you're using a Nokia compatible headset instead of the Motorola compatible one that the FR plug actually matches.
        • See previous - you do only get one audio channel on a Nokia compatible headset if you use it in a Motorola compatible plug. They *did* remove one external speaker in the switch from the developer's Neo to the Freerunner, but the headset is stereo.
        • See previous.
        • The software support for bluetooth headsets is not there yet, but it is well known that the software is nowhere near complete.
        • The neo supports *full* bluetooth. The software platform you're running may not have bt keyboard support, but I know e.g. the GTK software stack supports it.
        • There are known graphics issues, which will probably only allow video playback of mpeg4 format in 320x200 at reasonable (20+) framerates. I haven't heard of general issues with normal GUI use.
        • That GPS fix time was an issue early on, and still isn't as good as it could be, but I thought the production Freerunners had < 1 minute TTFF if you're stationary & outdoors...
        • I chat with Mickey Laurer and Raster (and other OpenMoko developers) fairly often on freenode #openmoko, and I have yet to hear anyone issue anything other than the normal low-grade grousing that you'll hear about anyone.
        • The ASU is currently a piece of crap, and is mostly reinventing the wheel from the mostly working GTK release. Don't use it; use Qtopia for now.

        The software is absolutely not ready for production, and no one is saying it is. I do think the new architecture at freesmartphone.org is going in the right direction, and it sounds as if it already supports stable calling.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by andyfrommk ( 1021405 )

        As I already have a Freerunner, here are my experiences:
        Where did you get it? whats your email on the lists? are there any good points about it? You seem to have just registered on slashdot, was it to troll on the neo freerunner? I call BS on that post

      • Re:Some Experience (Score:5, Informative)

        by raster ( 13531 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @07:41PM (#23943563) Homepage

        "developer community alienated by Lauer & Co. GNOME knew why they kicked Rasterman out."

        WTF? One thing to say here. No one kicked me out of GNOME - get your history right. Do your research. You demonstrate some serious ignorance here. I chose to not contribute anymore due to GNOME going one way, and me going another. I had plans for E and they had plans for GNOME as of course "GNOME needs no window manager. it can work with all of them!". Check your history mate.

        Thanks for registering your account now for some trolling fun.

  • 'Merica (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rinisari ( 521266 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:14PM (#23938193) Homepage Journal

    I iz American. I can has OpenMoko?

    translation: When is US getting sweet, sweet OpenMoko goodness?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Drantin ( 569921 ) *

      You can download openmoko already, but the Neo Freerunner, i.e. the phone to run openmoko, has yet to arrive...

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by kdean06 ( 1050592 )
      Right now, Openmoko is shipping devices to the Eu resellers. By the time the resellers get the devices, the American shipping hub in Fremont, CA should be stocked. You'll then be able to buy the Freerunner from direct.openmoko.com. There's no official date, but so far it's looking like the first week of July.

  • For all the people asking why X/Y/Z is missing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by comm2k ( 961394 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:21PM (#23938279)
    3G was never planned for this version and even subsequent versions only may get it thy can get buy it in low volume and can write/publish it with GPL'ed driver (if necessary for 3G module). Same goes for a lot of other things that your run-of-the-mill phone boasts. Most chip-makers wont even talk to you if you want low volume + open specs/drivers.
    WIFI wouldn't have been included if they didn't find an appropriate chip (for mobile phones) with open drivers etc. or at least the possibility to write an open driver with NDA'ed docs.

  • Can you set up the 3d accelerometers to do gesture-based calling? Because I can think of a few gestures I'd like to associate with some jerks I have to call on a regular basis.

  • Indubitably, morons (Score:4, Funny)

    by galexand ( 151650 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:24PM (#23938321)

    The linuxdevices story is wrong, see http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GTA02

    Indeed, 400MHz 2.8in screen.

    Further, the linuxdevices story doesn't say they have begun shipping, it says that they have announced distributors who they will ship to. The only thing they've begun shipping is contracts and red tape.

    nerdyH, you're a fucktard.

  • I'll be ordering online (Score:3, Interesting)

    by OglinTatas ( 710589 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:26PM (#23938357)

    I can't wait, I've developed _serious_ blueballs waiting for this thing. Lets see... www.openmoko.com... store...

    Invalid security certificate? D'oh!

    Hope that gets fixed soon too. wasn't there a discussion [slashdot.org] about that recently?

  • I guess I'm not geeky enough (Score:3, Funny)

    by HitekHobo ( 1132869 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:26PM (#23938369) Homepage

    Its a phone. Yah, lots of new wiz bang features, most of which the average person won't ever use. Most of the rest will be used a handful of times by someone to show off how advanced their PHONE is.

    If I wait a year, I'll get the equavalent of this model for free with a new service contract. Even then, I won't be using most of the functionality.

    The most I can ever see being useful in a phone is email, gps and voice calls. Even then, I think you'd need to be traveling for work to actually use those features enough to pay for them.

    But what do I know? I live in a van down by the river.

  • Finally a hackable phone (Score:5, Interesting)

    by oever ( 233119 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @01:33PM (#23938477) Homepage

    I'm really considering buying a Neo Freerunner. At 300 euros it's reasonably priced.

    Some improvements I'd like to perform to it that a normal phone does not have:
      - depending on who's calling perform any of these behaviors:
          * ring, vibrate or ignore the call
          * answer the call with a dynamic or static message for example where i am (coordinates or city name), why i'm not answering (eating, sleeping, meeting)
          * install an operator menu ("Jos is in a meeting, i'm openmoko his assistant. do you want to make an appointment for him to call you back?"
      - record my accelleration and position all day (because i can)
      - switch an annoying caller to a signal of strange noises or a helpfully scripted assistant or a nice song to put them on hold with
      - put a filter on incoming and outgoing sounds to give them echo or change the pitch
      - record every call i make

       

  • Dare I ask if it will be available or usable in Canada?

    $399 sounds entirely reasonable. A no-contract Treo or Blackberry costs about $600.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mmontour ( 2208 )

      Dare I ask if it will be available or usable in Canada?
      Yes. You'll have to order it from the US and pay customs fees etc., but it's a GSM phone and will work here. I'm currently using my GTA01 with a Fido Prepaid account. Make sure that you order the North American model (850/1800/1900) rather than the European (900/1800/1900) one.

  • Rasterman, who hardly anyone probably still remembers works there. $400 is incredibly high for GPRS. It's like reading about a new toaster oven for $1000. Maybe they're giving away free Moko 2's to everyone who buys a Moko 1 after May 31.

  • Why you may ask? After talking to AT&T the Wi-fi will be bricked on the iPhone 3G if you do not have a $30 data plan. Not so with the freerunner.

  • The images of this phone show an "External GPS port". I've never seen one of those before-- can I attach an external GPS antenna to this phone, or does this only attach to an external GPS?

    I'd like to use the GPS feature while walking/hiking/biking, but I want the GPS to stay in my pocket instead of carrying the unit in my hands all the time. An external antenna would work good for me.

  • here are teh REAL specs from openmoko's website:

    * 2.8" VGA TFT color display
    * Touchscreen, usable with stylus or fingers
    * 266MHz Samsung System on a Chip (SOC)
    * USB 1.1, switchable between Client and Host (unpowered)
    * Integrated AGPS
    * 2.5G GSM â" tri band (900/1800/1900), voice, CSD, GPRS
    * Bluetooth 2

  • In Canada, though... (Score:3, Informative)

    by hyades1 ( 1149581 ) <hyades1@hotmail.com> on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @02:26PM (#23939347)

    I wouldn't be surprised if it was illegal under that new legislation the current crop of fascists wants to enact. This thing sounds like it was made for card-swapping and flexibility.

  • Apart from the corrections everyone's made, the FreeRunner will allegedly go on sale July 4th (we'll see) and yes, I'm getting one. I don't have a phone now, because I despise the lock in and ridiculous pricing of US carriers/plans. Of course, I still need to get a plan of some kind, so that'll be the $100 PAYG T-Mobile, which at 1000 minutes, might even last me all year.

    There's a 10 pack group buy, which is 10% discount and includes some extras. If you add tax and shipping that comes to about $400 eve

  • Google's Android is Linux based... anyone know if the Openmoko phone will be able to run it?

  • Why compare it to an iPhone? (Score:5, Informative)

    by umStefa ( 583709 ) on Wednesday June 25, 2008 @05:02PM (#23941669) Homepage

    Everybody see's it as an iPhone clone because it has a touch screen, accelerometers, etc.

    The reality is this phone is aimed at a completely different market than the iPhone. This phone is aimed at those who value open source software / hardware, whereas the iPhone is aimed at the 'Cool' sector.

    I am going to be getting one later in the year when my current 3-year contract runs out. I am tired of locked phones with disabled features for the benefit of the phone company. To me the ability to control my own phone is more important than having a few extra bells and whistles like the iphone.

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