OpenMoko, on the market and ready for hackers.

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World Debut: The First Completely Open Mobile Phone

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OpenMoko, on the market and ready for hackers.

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I've been avidly following the OpenMoko project for some time. OpenMoko is a community project to build an open Mobile Phone and personal computing platform. It's the PDA every geek dreams of. As of July 9th the development models of the OpenMoko platform developed by FIC, the Neo 1973, have been available for purchase at http://www.openmoko.com.

The current shipping model is the GTA01 Beta v4. Which has a fairly impressive array of hardware for an unlocked GSM phone. It runs on a 266Mhz processor, 128M of ram, 64M of flash storage, and GPS. The storage is expandable using microSD. The charging and computer interface are a single mini USB port.  This model is primarily a development model for early adopters and interested developers.

The 'Consumer' model the GTA02 is due to be released in October of this year, and has some impressive additions. The GTA02 is expected to ship with a 400Mhz Processor, 128M of ram, 256M of flash storage, GPS, twin accelerometers, and 2d/3d graphics acceleration. 

There are two options when purchasing the Neo1973. You can order just the phone with the USB interface, or the Advanced Kit which includes all the tools and accessories you need to get down and dirty with your Neo 1973.

I wouldn't expect the GTA02 to be the most user friendly phone on the market when it is released in October. I expect it to be a basic and functional PDA and phone, with it's fair share of quirks. The Neo1973 probably will not see mass adoption in its first two years of life. However, as more developers and mobile enthusiast mature the platform it will see wider adoption.

As a linux user I'm always frustrated by the available smart phones and their inability to integrate into my desktop environment, due to proprietary applications and platforms. I really hope the Neo1973 will break this mold.

I think this is an awesome move in the world of consumer electronics. OEM manufacturers partnering with open source software development projects can only mean a win for consumers in the long run. However in the short run there is a rocky path of poor compatability and buggy interfaces to tread.

https://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GTA02#.22Phase_2.22_.28GTA02.2C_.22Mass_Market.22.29