OpenMoko - Free Your Phone (1 Viewer)

[gray]

This is a project I've been following pretty closely since its announcement. I've been looking for a good phone to use for a while, and none of the smartphones I've read reviews on are quite what I'm looking for. Personally I'm willing to wait a while until this project matures a bit more, because it sounds like a very promising product.

OpenMoko™ is an Open Source project to create the world's first free mobile phone operating system.

The OpenMoko project is a community that anyone can join, to help design their ideal phone.

Eventually, phone software won't be tied to any particular phone.

You can install any OpenMoko software over the whole range of supported phones, and if you upgrade your phone, you don't lose that software. Bugs fixed on any phone are fixed on all.

It's not just the software that's malleable. The phone's components are openly documented, making it easy for tinkerers to pull it apart and modify the hardware to run any number of tasks. The phone even ships with a Torx screwdriver, so they can get right down to business.

"The key for me will not be that I write any particular app," Laroia says, "but that I can customize the apps I'm using on a daily basis. If the e-mail app doesn't have auto-complete, I can add it.

echo 1 > /sys/class/leds/gta01\:vibrator/brightness

That command could be used as the basis to write my own little app to signal caller-ID info by Morse-code vibrations in my pocket when someone calls.

One of the largest and funnest pages on the OpenMoko wiki is the wish list, a communal brainstorming session showing the ambitious spirit driving the project. Ideas range from simple improvements -- speakerphone functionality, a note-taking application -- to supercool, blue-skying hacks: Bayesian spam filtering for text messages, a Palm OS emulator, GPS-based reminders ("You're near the craft store, remember you need more candle wicks"), a walkie-talkie function, and even a feature to automatically give your location to emergency services if the accelerometer detects movement typical of a car crash. Imagination is the only limit -- why not a robust implementation of the Lovegety concept? Or laser tag?

The phone's still in its alpha stage, and the current model is labelled a "developers only" model, but it's encouraging that those have sold out, meaning there are enough people interested in working on this project.

Official Website
Development page (wiki)
Review - "A first tussle with Linux's iPhone Killer"

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[JCK]

I want one too, these stuff will wipe the floor with the overrated iPhone.

People in Sweden are buying pre-orders iPhone, sillier than TV games.

 

[Rami]

Ya I have been following this phone for quite sometime now...I just can't wait to get my hands on it. I actually thought of getting the developers version, but decided against it.

It has been in the developers stage for quite some while, and I am growing a bit impatient. I am worried that all is not well....

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

sounds interesting! thanx for sharing

 

[Rami]

echo 1 > /sys/class/leds/gta01\:vibrator/brightness

That command could be used as the basis to write my own little app to signal caller-ID info by Morse-code vibrations in my pocket when someone calls.

Thats pretty neat, albeit the geekiest thing I ever heard!!

 

[Martin]

I like the concept, but I can't get over how lame the OpenMoko gui is.

 

[Rami]

I like the concept, but I can't get over how lame the OpenMoko gui is.

You can change that

Some interesting stuff in the wish list:

Anti-stutter software

Delayed Auditory Feedback (DAF) has shown to reduce stuttering in individuals by 70%. By using the microphone, it should be pretty simple to implement this on the OpenMoko. The DAF functionality should also be present during phone calls. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_auditory_feedback for more information.

Conversation Recorder

An option to record phone conversations. Would be helpful to have the device always recording for every call, with the sound data encoded to low quality Ogg Vorbis or SPEEX and stored in RAM. At the end of the conversation the user would have the option to save to flash or discard the conversation. This idea could also be applied to voicemail so you could save voicemails locally.

Hold Button

Similar to mute, but plays a sound file for the user on the other end while they wait. The sound file could be chosen in some setup beforehand.

Sport tracker

Main article: Wishlist:Sport_tracker Sport tracker can be used to measure the distance/velocity from point A to point B (or it could have several intermediate stopping points) using GPS. This would be extremely useful for running, biking, hiking, etc.

 

[JCK]

I like the concept, but I can't get over how lame the OpenMoko gui is.

Why is it lame? Where did you see screenshots?

 

[Martin]

They were all over the web like a month ago.

 

[swag]

My prediction has always been that open phones will ultimately crush all the closed systems on the market with no margins for innovation -- even if it's going to introduce viruses.

 

[Eddy]

do all of you follow everything electronic ..

 

[Hambon]

Hey fellas enlighten us with great sites to keep up with all these technological manifestations. .

 

[gray]

Thats pretty neat, albeit the geekiest thing I ever heard!!

I must admit, it got me a little excited thinking about all the possibilities that could stem from such a simple concept

I like the concept, but I can't get over how lame the OpenMoko gui is.

That's very disappointing coming from you, Martin! Of all things that can be changed, surely the GUI would receive a huge amount of attention from the development/design community.

Some interesting stuff in the wish list:

I just had an idea myself: how about a feature that monitors your location using the GPS tracker, and doesn't allow you to make calls to a pre-selected list of people (ex-girlfriend, boss, mother-in-law) if it detects that you've been in a drinking establishment for a certain amount of time

do all of you follow everything electronic ..

Not really. I do frequent Gizmodo to check out the latest gadgets, but don't actually pay much attention to a lot of the markets (e.g. televisions, the HD/Blu-ray race etc.) Even when it comes to mobile phones, I'm only really interested in this particular project because it's completely open-source.

Hey fellas enlighten us with great sites to keep up with all these technological manifestations. .

I've mentioned Gizmodo before, but here are some of the sites I visit for the latest Linux/Open Source news:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=home
http://slashdot.org/
http://lxer.com/
http://www.linuxtoday.com/
http://www.linuxinsider.com/

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

Graham, so this whole thing is free, and taps into the cell systems without charging you?

I'm not really understanding this.

 

[Rami]

Hey fellas enlighten us with great sites to keep up with all these technological manifestations. .

In addition to Gray's input I would add:
http://arstechnica.com
http://gizmodo.com (he mentioned it but not in the list)

Would also check out digg.com and/or reddit.com ...most novel technological advances make it to the first pages.

Phoronix is a bit to geeky, from knowing you Hamid I wouldn't think you would be interested in that. Slashdot.com is a must see for any tech enthusiast.

 

[Rami]

Graham, so this whole thing is free, and taps into the cell systems without charging you?

I'm not really understanding this.

The phone itself is not free of course. But the software inside it is absolutely free (Think freedom of speech and in most cases free beer). The idea is that you can tinker around with it with no restrictions from the vendor. Think of the iPhone and how it is "jailed" right now and you can't install new programs for example. Or that you can't play a specific format of music on any given phone...etc.

It's your hardware and you shouldn't be told what to and what not to run on it.

 

[gray]

Graham, so this whole thing is free, and taps into the cell systems without charging you?

I'm not really understanding this.

It's not the phone or the phonecalls that are free, but you have complete freedom with the software that you choose to use (and hardware, if you're so inclined).

A lot of phones that you buy these days are locked so that they can only be used on a certain network, and you can only install certain software on them (case in point, the iPhone).

If you don't fancy the colour of the menus, or you don't like the web browser, music player, contact or scheduling software that's provided on your phone. Tough luck, you can't really do much about that, right? But if a phone's guts and inner workings are there for all to see, it makes it very easy for users to customise exactly how their phone looks and works.

Say for example you really want an application on your phone that uses the GPS tracker to determine exactly when you sit down at the bar, then starts a timer and calculates how many beers you consume on average in one sitting, and you'd like it to also check the internet for international exchange rates, so you'll know how much those beers would've cost you if you were in Brazil or the Czech Republic.

In a closed system, you'd have to call up Apple/Nokia/Samsung and ask them to write such an application for you, and I'll bet you my house that they'd say no. In an open source environment, you could either write the application yourself, or more likely browse the repositories of software that thousands of people contribute their own programs to, and chances are there'll be a like-minded person who's already written such a program.

 

[Rami]

It's not the phone or the phonecalls that are free, but you have complete freedom with the software that you choose to use (and hardware, if you're so inclined).

A lot of phones that you buy these days are locked so that they can only be used on a certain network, and you can only install certain software on them (case in point, the iPhone).

If you don't fancy the colour of the menus, or you don't like the web browser, music player, contact or scheduling software that's provided on your phone. Tough luck, you can't really do much about that, right? But if a phone's guts and inner workings are there for all to see, it makes it very easy for users to customise exactly how their phone looks and works.

Say for example you really want an application on your phone that uses the GPS tracker to determine exactly when you sit down at the bar, then starts a timer and calculates how many beers you consume on average in one sitting, and you'd like it to also check the internet for international exchange rates, so you'll know how much those beers would've cost you if you were in Brazil or the Czech Republic.

In a closed system, you'd have to call up Apple/Nokia/Samsung and ask them to write such an application for you, and I'll bet you my house that they'd say no. In an open source environment, you could either write the application yourself, or more likely browse the repositories of software that thousands of people contribute their own programs to, and chances are there'll be a like-minded person who's already written such a program.

Kick ass ...all of it is applicable, but how the hell will it calculate how much beer you consume??

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

Sort of like the widgets applications on the Macs?

....I get it now, and thanks for clearing that up....sounds bad ass.

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

Kick ass ...all of it is applicable, but how the hell will it calculate how much beer you consume??

For me it would be a constant:

Beer=~infinity/time