[Haifux] invitation to work hands-on with Openmoko linux phone

[Shachar Shemesh]

Sorana Fraier wrote:

> The wifi is for independent browsing the internet and not through gprs?
> What flavor of linux it has?
>   
The distribution is called "OpenMoko". The phone itself is called "NEO1973".

The GUI is based on GTK, and the entire phone, top to bottom, is going 
to be open source, with the exception of the GSM and GPS firmwares 
(regulation restrictions). The version currently out (called GTAv01) has 
a GPS firmware that is CPU assisted, and so requires a binary driver to 
work, but the GTAv02, which is what Tom is referring to, comes with a 
different GPS unit that does it all itself, and outputs cooked data, so 
the driver will be FOSS. Another important difference between the phones 
is that the 01 version has two speakers, and the 02 has one speaker 
removed in exchange for the WIKI unit (version 1 doesn't have WIFI).

Aside from that, the phone is a full touch screen (no buttons, with the 
possible exception of a power button). Version 2 will have 2D and 3D 
accelerators, accelerometer (i.e. - the phone will know when it is being 
turned), and there was some talk on the mailing list about a driver only 
change to allow its screen to be multi-touch. In other words, it has the 
potential to be an iPhone replacement, except in open source.

Let me now ruin my chances for Tom to pick me to test the phone by 
saying I intended to buy myself one of those, and if Tom doesn't pick 
me, I will.

Shachar