[GLLUG] Open source phone Openmoko

[Karl Schuttler]

I thought this was cool, but I'm really more interested in Google's
Android operating system for telephones. I get the feeling it will be
harder to get vendor buy-in with open moko, due to the infancy of the
system itself, whereas google funding R&D of android will make more
headway so we will have more phones to use it on.

I think the biggest advantage with these, personally, is customization
and reliability. Good software is something that seems to be difficult
to find in a phone; I've used several of the hot phones on the market,
and am unimpressed by them because of little details like a delay in
button pushes and activity happening on the device (specifically with
the Chocolate models). I think an open platform would be nice because
it also eliminates paying fees to transfer data; I've had a couple
camera phones, both of which required that you either purchase a
special usb cable, or pay a data plan to send them to yourself over
email. It would be nice to use a standardized cable on the hardware
(although I realize that having an open OS doesn't necessarily mean
having open hardware). Also, it would be nice to be able to use
bluetooth to it's full ability, where most telephones restrict you to
using headset peripherals entirely.

Mostly, though, I want the ability to configure the gui how i want it
to be. Menu's should operate how you like them to, and I should be
able to use buttons how I want them to (i can do this with one button
at the moment, but given that I don't have a data plan or a two-way
plan, i should be able to use those buttons for something else). Other
things are rather irritating in this regard too; my girlfriend has a
cingular ("Now AT&T") phone which tries to connect to the internet
when you press the button in the center of her d-pad; she doesn't have
a data plan, so if it connects to the internet, she gets charged.

Phone interfaces are trash, for the most part. I haven't had the
opportunity to demo an iPhone at all, and while their software is
probably nice, i find their hardware to be a bit of a turnoff. It's
slick looking, sure, but I've got to say that I would rather have a
full qwerty keyboard and buttons that press for my data phone, rather
than something that just looks pretty. 3rd party applications are
something that everyone wants, and it would be nice to use them on my
phone.

I see it very akin to my mp3 player...I've purchased them based on
what I would be able to do with Rockbox firmware, because it lets me
customize things how I want them. I think that is how electronics
should be...or at least have defaults that are sensible.

$.02,
KArl

On Dec 13, 2007 9:50 PM, Richard Houser <rick at divinesymphony.net> wrote:
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> Stanley C. Mortel wrote:
> > Anyone have any experience with this thing?
> >
> > It sounds promising, both as a useful device (phone, PDA) and as a GLLUG
> > project.
> >
> > http://www.openmoko.org/
> > http://www.openmoko.com/products-index.html
>
> Several of us on the list have been following this for some time, but
> the full hardware is not yet available outside of internal FIC
> development.  The current hardware is a developer preview only and has a
> slower processor, no wifi, etc.  The mass market hardware was expected
> to go on sale around the end of this month.  Personally, I've been
> waiting for this version, but I might need to wait even longer due to
> cash-flow concerns.
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