Openmoko is not a cell phone, it's a development platform
The maker of the world’s first totally open mobile phone has a long way to go before it can compete with Apple, RIM or Nokia.
At a special session during the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) today in San Jose, Calif., Openmoko CEO Sean Moss-Pultz discussed how developers could use its FreeRunner to create mobile products.
The device is targeted at developers – not consumers – who then can totally change everything, from its physical aspect and hardware components to the operating system, installing Google Android or Debian Linux, for example.
The ultimate open source smartphone: Openmoko+Google Android
“If you want to write applications, buy an iPhone. But if you want to transform the way the physical product looks, then buy a FreeRunner,” said Moss-Pultz. “I don’t think Apple will let you resell their products with a different operator, with a different market, with a different software stack. But we can.”
Moss-Pultz also argued that at $299 (the show’s special for 30 days), the FreeRunner is unbelievably cheap. “It has all the things you will find on a $3,000 development board [...] You have all the major RF components you want to do real development.”
Openmoko doesn’t do 3G because of “monstrous patents issues”
“The moment we try to do a design with 3G, the cost of this device goes up by $200. And then you have serious issues with documentation, etc.
So we decided that for the first version – to get this concept out there – the free networks like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth were more important for development early on than 3G.
Our stand on 3G is that it is something that at some point we will make. But really, we use this device first to see what markets are interesting out there. And then based on those markets, someone will come back to us and say “I want to place an order for 50,000 of these things with 3G.” And we’ll make it.
That would be for a specific project that they would not care about the openness of the mobile part.”
Here’s a video excerpt of Moss-Pultz presentation at ESC’09:
Posted by TechPulse 360 
