OpenMoko Ship Out Open Source Phone
Posted in Openmoko has started to ship out its Linux-based, Neo Freerunner phone to five newly announced distributors in Germany, France and India. Completely open source, the phone allows users are free to modify the operating system as much as they like.
Up-till now, Openmoko phones have only been available in limited quantities, mostly to open source phone software developers. With this announcement would seem that Openmokos’s technology is aimed at the mass market. The company had originally wanted to ship out the phone last October but numerous hardware problems caused the delay.
The Neo Freerunner (GTA02) is an updated version of Openmoko’s earlier Neo 1973 model. As with the Neo 1973, which shipped last year, the Freerunner is billed as a completely open, hackable hardware platform, which allows users to install and run new operating system firmware.
Compared to the Neo 1973, the Freerunner now has WiFi, 3D accelerometers, improved graphics, and a faster 500MHz Samsung S3C2442 system-on-chip (SoC) processor. Other features include:
Samsung S3C2442 500MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 256MB Flash, a 4.3-inch diagonal 640×480 VGA colour TFT LCD Screen, SMedia 3362-based 3D graphic acceleration, 2×3D accelerometers, 1.1 USB Socket, 2.5G tri-band GPRS/GSM (900MHz or 850MHz, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth v2.0 and AGPS (assisted global positioning system).
The Neo FreeRunner uses the open source mobile phone software stack maintained by the OpenMoko project, along with the open source Jalimo JVM (Java virtual machine), which is maintained by German software development company Tarent GmbH.
Steve Mosher, Openmoko VP of marketing said, “We have moved beyond the early adopter stage and are now ready to release the next generation Neo Freerunner to markets where we are seeing early traction.” Mosher added that the distributors could provide “software and exterior customization” for the phone.
The Openmoko Neo Freerunner will have go on sale for roughly $400. In addition to being offered by the new European and Indian distributors, it will continue to be sold direct, online.
