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GPL'd Linux stack supports touchscreen phones
linuxdevices.com — Trolltech will soon release its entire application development framework for Linux-based mobile phones as open source software, under the GPL license. Additionally, the stack will support FIC's iPhone-like GTA01 (aka Neo 1973) touchscreen smartphone.
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- kyrre, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Press release from Trolltech: http://trolltech.com/company/newsroom/announcements/press.2007-09-17.9260755578
Some screenshots of version 2.2: http://trolltech.com/products/qtopia/learnmore/screenshots2
The bad news is that they have a long way to go for the Neo1973 hardware to be released. As far as I understand the Neo can not reliably make phone calls yet. Phone calls are pretty important for a phone.- kyrre, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Version 4 looks a bit more like a phone interface: http://trolltech.com/products/qtopia/learnmore/screenshots4
- FuzzyCat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3
Actually the Neo can make calls, and the hardware is available... I think your info is old.- geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Except for when silly things happen, like you get a second call while you're on the phone. Oops, there goes your call. Or the dialer not remembering numbers you /just/ dialed. Examples of things that should have been solved months ago but haven't been.
I love the phone, think it's a great platform, but it's got a long way to go before it's ready for primetime. If the Qtopia software is better and is available now, it's going to win out developer support and basically kill OpenMoko. - vagarach, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Isn't there that Greenphone for qt development?
- geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Except for when silly things happen, like you get a second call while you're on the phone. Oops, there goes your call. Or the dialer not remembering numbers you /just/ dialed. Examples of things that should have been solved months ago but haven't been.
- morphir, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3"Phone calls are pretty important for a phone."
^^ - bradpitcher, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5The hardware has no trouble making calls, it's the software that is flaky. With Qtopia, calls on the Neo1973 work flawlessly.
- geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The hardware team on the Neo phone has been amazing, they've been good at getting to support requests, they've had incredible patiences with everyone involved. But the OpenMoko software team is lagging drastically. OpenHanded getting involved has picked things up quite a bit, but they still need a huge amount of help to get the snowball rolling.
The biggest fear at this point is that the phone will ship in December with firmware that's not much better than it is now; a broken dialer, a web browser that works every-other day to varying degrees, etc. Some of the scheduling/calendaring applications on the Phone work better than the dialer, which both sad and telling...
- geminitojanus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The hardware team on the Neo phone has been amazing, they've been good at getting to support requests, they've had incredible patiences with everyone involved. But the OpenMoko software team is lagging drastically. OpenHanded getting involved has picked things up quite a bit, but they still need a huge amount of help to get the snowball rolling.
- FuzzyCat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4
http://www.digg.com/linux_unix/Qtopia_running_on_a_FIC_Neo_1973 - jesperht, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Sweeeeeeeeeeet
- Canute, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18some guy at #openmoko @ freenode who have installed qtopia had this to say about it:
< folken> hmm the qtopia release works quite well.
< folken> i actually only managed to crash an application once so far.
< folken> i expected a lot more instability.. especially since i'm used to opie.
< folken> there are some quirks in the user interface.. the mixer settings are still incorrect.
< folken> but calling/recieving calls works well. Sms recpection works good.
< folken> i haven't been able to sync with libopensync-opie..
< folken> hey but it always asks for pin at startup.. and no gsmd that dies at random. :)
< folken> it blanks the display and wakes up reliably. Clock is screwed however.. doesn't run at the correct tic rate.
< folken> its actually useable yes. - nullcodes, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1The fonts suck (no anti aliasing is it .. i can't pinpoint what the issue is exactly)? Also, I hope that they dont expect people to use it at QVGA, that would be horrible. Phone displays need SVGA or high resolutions (at least it needs 800 width) .. even my iPhone's 480 px width is inadequate for casual browsing.
- Chandon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You're saying is that no existing phone-sized phone is good enough?
Sorry. High standards are nice and all, but try to keep it within the bounds of sanity. Even the $1000 Nokia Communicator only has a 800x350 display.
- Chandon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You're saying is that no existing phone-sized phone is good enough?
- FZero, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5> Additionally, the stack will support FIC's iPhone-like GTA01 (aka Neo 1973) touchscreen smartphone.
Can't wait for the Vice City version! - xtravaganza, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2you need a damn pen to use them???
- tangential, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6No, can use your fingers. We (at trolltech) have made sure it works generally with fingertip usage. Pen is just for fine-grained.
- amfantasy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Will they be coming out with a finger version too? I have nothing against using the pen, but some days I may feel like fingering my phone
- tangential, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5See my comment to xtravaganza
- Robotsu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Neat. Now do something cool with it.
- sqrt7744, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This is awesome news - nothing like a bit of healthy competition to get the developers of the various camps coding in high gear.... is Qtopia going to be the default when the consumer model ships in december? If it wins the fight then there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the openmoko devs.
- sirmikester, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1smells like failure to me... openmoko is already open.
- hackmeister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This is not a mature end user product. This is a open developer platform for coders to starting writing applications for. Phones have been closed up till now and it's finally starting to open up. It's going to take some time but it will mature to a usable level. For those who can't wait or want to contribute go buy an iphone or crackberry. You may already be using Qtopia on your phone and don't even realize it. Check out their customer list:
http://trolltech.com/products/qtopia/qtopiainuse/customers
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