Openmoko Freerunner: the open-source phone

[pm]

I saw on Engadget that the OpenMoko Freerunner open-source, touch-screen phone is readying for a July 2008 release.

There's not many details available that I could find, but a co-worker has a Neo1973 (a previous phone aimed at developers) and he gushes about it like you normally only see iPhone people gush. He absolutely adores it. I looked at it and I... well, I wasn't quite as excited as he seemed to hope that I would be as he demo'd it.

But the Freerunner seems to be more my type of phone. From:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ar...for-phone-freedom.html

The new model, which is called the FreeRunner, includes a 500 Mhz processor rather than the 266 Mhz processor of the Neo 1973. The FreeRunner also adds WiFi, motion sensors, and hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics rendering capabilities. The FreeRunner inherits the Neo1973's ovoid form-factor and 2.8-inch touchscreen.

A demo of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9QLdK6pFCI

You gotta love a phone that spews out Linux boot-up code to the screen. Ok, well, I think it's neat. I thought it was pretty cool when I got my iPhone to show it's bootloading screen. The demo's make it look a bit like a phone that a Linux geek would love - and I like Linux... but I'm not sure that I want to be able to open a terminal window from my cell phone.

Another demo showing the GPS and websurfing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAl0T1emRtw&NR=1

Maybe it's a sign of my old age, but I'm thinking Android might be more my cup of tea.

 

[uli2000]

I thought they canceled the openmoko project when Android was announced? They put out a sdk and developer phone kits about 2 years ago, but I didnt hear much about it untill the rumors they canceled due to android.

 

[Raduque]

Those phones are reeeaaaallly ugly.

 

[aphex]

Yikes, http://www.vimeo.com/1366042?pg=embed&sec=1366042