Ever wished you had a copy of Wikipedia in your pocket? To be fair, as long as you have a reasonably recent phone, a data connection and a few minutes you can pull up the mobile version of the online encyclopaedia, but if you’re more interested in an offline version then the WikiReader might appeal. The palm-sized gadget has a monochrome touchscreen and a text-only backup of Wikipedia’s articles stored on a microSD card.
It was only at CES 2009 that we played with the latest iteration of the OpenMoko FreeRunner, there running the Google Android OS. Now the company’s CEO, Sean Moss-Pultz, has announced that production of the FreeRunner has ceased, and that 50-percent of OpenMoko’s staff have been cut in an attempt to bring costs down to manageable levels.
I stopped by OpenMoko’s booth and was given a quick outlook on its progress with Neo FreeRunner. Unfortunately, nothing has changed in term of handset’s specifications; but that does not mean the OpenMoko guys are sitting idle. They have made many under the hood (software) improvements since I last spoke to them, the phone is much more responsive to commands compared to my previous hands-on.
After being in development for quite sometime, OpenMoko Neo FreeRunner is now available for end users to buy. On July 4th, OpenMoko will be taking orders for the handset and expected to be shipping on July 7th.
The Linux powered handset will be available in two version, 850MHz or 900 MHz Tri-band GSM. It weighing 6.5 ounces and features a 2.8-inch touch screen with 480 x 640 VGA resolution, 802.11b/g WiFi, AGPS, GRPS 2.5G, Bluetooth 2.0, two 3-axis motion sensors, and 128MB WSDRAM / 256MB NAND Flash.
The OpenMoko Neo FreeRunner comes with the price tag of $399 and will be available directly from OpenMoko.com store or via distributors in EU, India, and North America.
If you don’t remember the Dash, it’s the new GPS unit that was co-developed with OpenMoko, and actually utilizes the OpenMoko Platform. It has WiFi and GPRS built in that allow it to do all sorts of cool things including search Yahoo on the fly for points of interest or upload, wirelessly, addresses, POIs, or even geological RSS feed, KML lists, things of that nature.
The video is of one of our other staffers getting his hands on the device, but I also got some hands on time, and I have to say, that for an open source phone, it’s not too bad. It is a little sluggish, and the menu’s can be confusing since they are all picture based and the pictures don’t make much sense, but other than that, I like it.
For those of you bored with the Neo 1973 hardware, OpenMoko is back with the Freerunner. It has 2D and 3D graphics capabilities, a 500MHz processor. There is also WiFi, and motion sensors, god knows how those’ll be used.
So do you remember that cool little cell phone that looked a lot like a Helio Ocean but it was from OpenMoko? It was called the Neo 1973 and it was a mobile phone that was completely open, due to the fact that OpenMoko is actually a completely open platform for many products to be made from.
It’s been a while since we’ve heard much out of OpenMoko and their open-source cellphone project, but we’ve just found out that not only will the first 1,000 developer units be shipping from China on July 9th but the Neo 1973 hardware has been upgraded along the way (no doubt in recognition of newer handsets like Helio’s Ocean and, of course, the iPhone). The retail version – Neo Base – will hit shelves in October at $450, while the developer’s kit – Neo Advanced – (full details of both after the cut) will be priced at $600.
We have been following OpenMoko development and FIC’s Neo1973 phone that will be powered by OpenMoko platform. Many things has happened since our last coverage and I’m excited to see where this platform is heading. OpenMoko community website is now officially in business, where you can find Wiki, SVN, Mailinglist, and Bugzilla (currently still password protected) on it.
Neo1973 phone has been delayed due to some changes deemed necessary by the development team, but I would rather wait, as it will be worthwhile. We have new pictures Sean sent to us of the Neo1973 phones, and a look inside the phone itself.
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