From: Ad 

Tony Williams wrote:
> Not sure if I'm the Tony you were thinking of, but this is quite
> interesting news. Here's the crucial part:
>
>> The point is simple, where others have a Linux kernel with a locked
>> proprietary stack on top of it, this one is open, top to bottom.
>
> If they really mean that the whole phone stack is open source then
> that's a big deal. In the past the phone stack was usually a magic black
> box supplied by the hardware manufacturer, certified by the relevant
> telecoms authority and Not To Be Touched.
>
> The potential for hacking (both good and bad) is huge.
>
> On the other hand:
>
>> There are only two buttons on the phone, the rest is handled by the
>> touch screen, a microSD slot, Bluetooth 2.0, and USB for connectivity
>> and charging.
>
> Nothing beats having a real keyboard, even if it is tiny.
>
More:

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS2986976174.html


looks well kewl...

"The Neo1973 will also ship with an "apt-get-like" software
manager (pictured at right) that makes it trivial to add, remove, and
update applications packaged in the OpenEmbedded package format, including
"literally thousands of existing open source applications from the
OpenZaurus, Familiar Linux, and Angstrom projects," according to
Michael Lauer, founder of OpenEmbedded and an early OpenMoko developer.
"


"The Neo1973 will charge when connected to a PC via USB. It will also
support USB network emulation, and will be capable of routing a connected
PC to the Internet, via its GPRS data connection."


Heh heh heh & vice versa.....so plug your phone into your PC & run skype....

& wrt upgraded (non USB) storage:

"User apps can also be run from MicroSD cards, which can be found in
capacities up to 1GB, Moss-Pultz said. "[Linux navigational device
maker] TomTom Go did some really good work [on SD card support], and we're
basing our work on their patch set.""

"And, one early contributor is working to port gTune -- a guitar
tuning application -- to OpenMoKo. "If you have access to the
microphone, and the different drivers, all is open, so it's no problem to
do that kind of thing," Moss-Pultz said.

"That's the main thing I want to push with this phone -- it's
customizable in any way you see fit."

He adds, "Mobile phones are the PCs of the 21st century, in terms of
processing power and broadband network access. It's quite a shame that
today, when you buy one, the software is already out of date.""

A) Indeed & (B) the guitar tuning app is the sort of unexpected thing
I'm talking about.....now if there's a port of Amarok...

Now if only it would do Wifi.....& if only you could actually turn off
the networking part (inc GSM etc.) so you could use it on a plane & in
general preserve battery life when you don't want to be called/you're out
of network coverage anyway....

I'm

Adam

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