Open Source Cellphone

[XxionxX]

I was surfing the net and I wondered if there were any cellphones which were similar to the Pandora (the way we have contributed to its development and such). I thought it would be a really cool addition to the Pandora. I really like our little movement and I would be just as amenable to funding an open source cellphone.


The closest thing I found was this. And while that's cool, it wasn't what I had in mind.


I would really like something streamlined like the Pandora. I don't know that much about this, and forgive me if this has already been discussed. I just want my money to go to a better place than Sony or Toshiba (no offense to anyone who likes those companies). I really like how I know the people who are running these companies, and I would like to see more of them crop up.


I don't have a lot, but as in another topic I posted (Is that ok to link to my topic like that mod? I will remove it if necessary.), I got $300 for my b-day. It would be nice to see it go somewhere that would make a difference (I don't like giving my money to certain types of charities, I have my reasons). I would like to give it to the Space Elevator Program, but I don't like the idea of being a drop in the ocean. And I would like to invest it, not give it away <_< . I am not a big fan of burning my money, I want to hold people responsible because it keeps them motivated.


Comments? Thoughts?


Edit: That liftport site makes me sad (its totally not maintained). I want to live in space.

 

[EvilDragon]

Yes, there is


It's not yet finished, but the GTA04 will be an upgraded OpenMoko with an OMAP


I know the guys that are doing this (don't live too far away from here, and owns a Pandora as well), definately a cool phone

 

[Asiyura]

Do you know OpenMoko?


They make a mobile phone called the FreeRunner.


It's not as powerful as current mobile phone, but it's truly open

Edit: ED was faster than me

 

[XxionxX]

Cool, thanks guys!

 

[XxionxX]

Is this your store?


Edit: Never mind, I was reading the wiki, and I see that you guys have nothing to do with gp2x.

 

[EvilDragon]

Mine is this GP2X Shop


So yeah, I have something to do with the GP2X, but I don't sell OpenMokos


I plan to sell the new OpenMoko though, if I can

 

[delicator]

We can imagine fully integration between this phone and pandora, and, i'll be great

 

[relliker]

There is a big difference between the Pandora and OpenMoko. Pandora software was quite mature before it was even shipping with only minor niggles here and there.


Only now, after more than 3 years of development, the software for openmoko phones is starting to look "ok". OpenMoko themselves (the company) only came up with one revision of the first phone, the neo 1973 (the 2nd one called neo FreeRunner) and then stopped investing in the project, which has now been taken up by these hardcore hardware/software hacker communities.


I think the real challenge of the openmoko proved to be the actual phone software stack, like actual calling, sms, mms, gprs etc. which required lots of reverse engineering of gsm chip hardware, firmware and software to make a really "open", Linux-based phone OS. Now there are several distributions shaping up quite nicely that make the phone "almost" completely usable for day to day use but many are still not "there yet". I'm not an active developer of the phone but I have one and I follow regularly how some of the distributions are shaping up. The best one so far (for me) looks to be the old Android 1.6 (yes, very old by modern standards) but still, the only niggle I have with it is one BIG one. I have no audio during calls. I can't hear anyone and no-one can hear me!!! Makes a phone a bit useless, no?


Compared to this, the Pandora is in maturity heaven because it does not have all these telephony issues and most of the Pandora software just works, sometimes with some glitches but nothing out of this world. So, integrating the latest Neo Freerunner with the Pandora can be done best if the phone is just thought of as another microscopically small computer with no phone functions. The nearest to the Pandora this phone has yet come is via the "GameRunner" distribution which aims to be very Pandora-like in that it is geared around emulators and gaming and completely ignores the actual phoning hardware.


Oh, and by-the-way, my FreeRunner also runs a full desktop OS (ARM debian)but it's screen is small (and only 640x480), there is no physical keyboard and little mouse-like functions that you won't be using it to do much more than you would with a normal pda.


What would be cool (as an example, for me at least) would be using it's accelerometer data via bluetooth to control Pandora games!! Just watch your step if you invest in this phone. Do not expect it to be as fun and useable software-wise as the Pandora, unless your type of "fun" is hacking the OS itself.

 

[diegor]

Yes, there is


It's not yet finished, but the GTA04 will be an upgraded OpenMoko with an OMAP


I know the guys that are doing this (don't live too far away from here, and owns a Pandora as well), definately a cool phone

The project is cool, but i'm quite worried by the duration of battery. It's only 1200mA/h, just 1/3th of the pandora battery. Does it means that it can power the gta04 for about 3 hours?

 

[Asiyura]

The project is cool, but i'm quite worried by the duration of battery. It's only 1200mA/h, just 1/3th of the pandora battery. Does it means that it can power the gta04 for about 3 hours?

Well, many phones have such small batteries.


And yet, they're still able to work for a few days on one charge.


I don't know if the GAT04 is able to use the low power mode that caused some problems on the Pandora, but if it does, there would be no major difference from a mainstream cellular.

 

[Granitehead]

Yes, there is


It's not yet finished, but the GTA04 will be an upgraded OpenMoko with an OMAP


I know the guys that are doing this (don't live too far away from here, and owns a Pandora as well), definately a cool phone

The project is cool, but i'm quite worried by the duration of battery. It's only 1200mA/h, just 1/3th of the pandora battery. Does it means that it can power the gta04 for about 3 hours?

Not if they use parts which use less energy. I /guess/ the battery can power it for more than 3 but less than 10 hours. ;-)


And I wonder when it will be available?

 

[elwing]

Yes, there is


It's not yet finished, but the GTA04 will be an upgraded OpenMoko with an OMAP


I know the guys that are doing this (don't live too far away from here, and owns a Pandora as well), definately a cool phone

The project is cool, but i'm quite worried by the duration of battery. It's only 1200mA/h, just 1/3th of the pandora battery. Does it means that it can power the gta04 for about 3 hours?

on a low power device like a phone or a pandora, on of the great power consumer is the screen backlight... smaller screen = less consumption. and as a phone I'dd imagine it turn of the backlight as soon as possible like phones generally do

 

[ethereal]

Do these opensource smartphone projects have a keyboard and gamepads like the Pandora does? Are there any true pandora phone projects in the works?