by 2 Cylivers
Snapshot
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The handset is manufactured by FIC (First International Computer, Inc.), a Taiwanese OEM that makes notebooks for HP and Gateway, and sold about a million phones in China last year. That company is also funding the development—OpenMoko is essentially an offshoot. The phone weighs 184 grams, and is just a bit thicker and taller than the iPhone.
Software
Why is the Neo1973 the anti-iPhone? Because it's totally open source. The idea is to collaborate with developers who will create all the basic apps. OpenMoko/FIC will then certify a bundle of those apps and mass market them with the phone along with support. The developers will be rewarded with some kind of revenue sharing deal for the software sold by OpenMoko. Power users will always have the ability to get freeware apps from the community as well.
This is why Moss-Pultz calls the Neo1973 the anti-iPhone. The iPhone is a closed system, and OpenMoko, obviously, is not. The SDK for the open platform is available starting today. The basic OS is running off of the Linux 2.6.17 kernel, with GTK and Matchbox running on top of it for the UI. While the drivers and everything else are under GPL, the data sheets for most of the hardware components are under NDA, in particular the touch screen, which is designed to be used with both fingers and styli.
Ubiquitous Computing
One of the cool software ideas Moss-Pultz had was for location-based profiles that would utilize the GPS system to automatically launch the phone into different settings based on where you are. For instance, there could be a "meeting mode" which would automatically engage various settings once you entered the office, and a different set of settings that would be triggered once you were home. Another interesting idea, feasible with an ecosystem of open source phones, would be scheduled "meetings" between two phones, where a conversation would be automatically set up at a certain time based on openings one each phone's calendar.
Lowdown
OpenMoko's goal is to change phones from being disposable gadgets with rapidly declining value and into mobile computers that get more valuable as you customize them. These ideas and concepts sound great in theory, and would do well if they ever make it to the mass market. The problem is implementation and access—will the promise be fulfilled any time soon? Will US carriers be willing to host a phone with an open development ecosystem? We would be a lot more optimistic about the prospects if Moss-Pultz had shown us a prototype with a screen that powered up. But given the sorry state of handsets and phone platforms today, we'd be crazy not to champion open software efforts like this one
Software
Why is the Neo1973 the anti-iPhone? Because it's totally open source. The idea is to collaborate with developers who will create all the basic apps. OpenMoko/FIC will then certify a bundle of those apps and mass market them with the phone along with support. The developers will be rewarded with some kind of revenue sharing deal for the software sold by OpenMoko. Power users will always have the ability to get freeware apps from the community as well.
This is why Moss-Pultz calls the Neo1973 the anti-iPhone. The iPhone is a closed system, and OpenMoko, obviously, is not. The SDK for the open platform is available starting today. The basic OS is running off of the Linux 2.6.17 kernel, with GTK and Matchbox running on top of it for the UI. While the drivers and everything else are under GPL, the data sheets for most of the hardware components are under NDA, in particular the touch screen, which is designed to be used with both fingers and styli.
Ubiquitous Computing
One of the cool software ideas Moss-Pultz had was for location-based profiles that would utilize the GPS system to automatically launch the phone into different settings based on where you are. For instance, there could be a "meeting mode" which would automatically engage various settings once you entered the office, and a different set of settings that would be triggered once you were home. Another interesting idea, feasible with an ecosystem of open source phones, would be scheduled "meetings" between two phones, where a conversation would be automatically set up at a certain time based on openings one each phone's calendar.
Lowdown
OpenMoko's goal is to change phones from being disposable gadgets with rapidly declining value and into mobile computers that get more valuable as you customize them. These ideas and concepts sound great in theory, and would do well if they ever make it to the mass market. The problem is implementation and access—will the promise be fulfilled any time soon? Will US carriers be willing to host a phone with an open development ecosystem? We would be a lot more optimistic about the prospects if Moss-Pultz had shown us a prototype with a screen that powered up. But given the sorry state of handsets and phone platforms today, we'd be crazy not to champion open software efforts like this one
