What is Digg?174 Comments
- stisaac, on 10/12/2007, -5/+57The iPhone actually doesn't have gps.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -11/+53stop with all the 'killer' articles...there has yet to actually ever be one
- krinthekuz, on 09/16/2008, -10/+52this submission is crap
1) the iPhone does not have GPS
2) the neo has a much larger screen than they quoted
3) most of the info is taken directly off the spec sheet on openmoko.com
4) the neo runs Openmoko Linux, not Unix.
finally, if you don't realize the power of an apt based application manager on a handheld, you're a total moron and deserve to be locked in apple's walled garden, where all you can do is browse the web and check your email.
the only thing the iPhone has on this is wifi (because a ***** camera is a disadvantage), but it's grossly limited by no 3d party apps
here, http://www.djlosch.com/article_Comparison%3A_iPhone_vs_A1200_vs_Neo1973
essentially, the iPhone would be awesome if it didn't have so much vendor lock-in. - iofthestorm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+43Umm, according to this page http://openmoko.com/press/index.html it's got a 2.8" VGA (480x640) screen. Not too shabby, eh? I don't understand why people are so skeptical about this, especially since this was announced before the iPhone and only gained publicity after the iPhone was announced. For me the shape is kind of awkward for use as a phone, but I think as a general purpose PDA it's going to rock. And unlocked for a little over half the price of a locked iPhone, seems like a no brainer to me.
- GerryBot, on 10/12/2007, -6/+36Wow, sounds very cool. Nice to see the prevalence of Linux on embedded devices like this.
- TheWorm, on 10/12/2007, -27/+54Ehh, this is not going to be an iPhone Killer.
Not bad, but not a competitor. The only thing its got on the iPhone is open source and third party apps. - gadgeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Unlocked quad-band GSM/GPRS
- drag, on 10/12/2007, -7/+26"Because it's going up against the iphone."
Ya, but Apple has lots of realy big flops in the past. Newton, for instance. Lisa. The later G4 powerbooks.
There were quite a few powermacs that were more then unremarkable.
Look I know people like Apple and all that (and I understand were your coming from.. I like the iAudio stuff much more then a Ipod), but lets look at it from a geek perspective.
Answer me this:
Why did technical sorts of people always like PC hardware more then Apple hardware, say in the past 5 years?
Because you can take it apart and mess around with. Overclock it, install games, install different sorts of hardware. It was all standardized componates and you could switch this and that out. Whatever.
So most Digg folk like to tinker around with this sort of stuff. Keeping this in mind...
Key differences:
1. IPhone is singular-only. Despite people's hopes no other major phone company has come up and taken the bait. Some have even announced that they have no intention of supporting the iPhone.
This FIC/Linux phone is GSM. It's a open standard and can work with anybody's network and all you need is a activation card which is aviable from anybody that supports GSM, which is most people. You can use it in almost any place around the world with any sort of carrier you want.
2. With the IPhone your not allowed to install applications. What you get when you buy the thing is probably all it's ever going to be.
With this OpenMoko phone it's completely open. Open kernel, open userland. Open source drivers, even. It's essentially Linux box with 266mhz proccessor, 128 megs of RAM, a 64meg disk with up to 2gigs (per disk) of removable read/write media.
Now the hardware specs are not impressive, but since it's open it takes it beyond a mear phone or PDA; It's a complete Unix box you can carry around in pocket and make phone calls with. Have a bluetooth keyboard and you can even program with Vi on it, if your a huge nerd like me. Run X applications on it. Play video.
Whatever you want. It even treats the GSM stuff like a modem with a virtual serial port and AT commands.
It's yours, it's open.
They are even going to sell a 'Hacker kit' so you can interface with the hardware directly via a JTAG port. NO OTHER PHONE does it. Not one. All of them are designed to keep you completely locked out of the hardware and everything, this thing is specificly designed to be open and not only be sold, but set a standard other phone makers and use.
If it was closed off and regular phone, then it would be just another generic smartphone running Linux for the asian market were they are fairly popular. There is nothing realy remarkable about the hardware (other then the display and Jtag). The Iphone has it outclassified if that was the case.
The 'killer feature' is that this thing is truely being designed to be as open as the law allows. They are not even being open, but the lead developer had to do a sort of culture shift in the company to get people to get out of the mindset of being a propriatory producer of phones and not only release all the source code to the open, but also code it correctly and make it specificly so that it's maintainable and usable by regular hackers everywere.
This isn't just another company saying 'Oh this is going to be lInux' and use some obsolete hacked up kernel with bizzare closed source drivers running some prorprietory userland. This thing is as open as a PC with Ubuntu installed on it. - shawnz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21breaking news, new iPhone killer being released called EVERY OTHER PDA PHONE IN EXISTENCE
- thatgirlismine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Here's a video of the Neo1973 at a tradeshow: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jRvtAAXTIlg
- geoken, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18"Its only 2.5 generation GSM not even on the edge network. All its got going for it is an adaptable OS, a touch screen, and this Digg based hype."
and no vendor lock in
and a low price
and GPS
and the ability to install a huge variety of apps
Maybe it's getting hyped because it's a good product. I'm sorry if that makes your Apple tattoo throb. - iofthestorm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Considering that this was announced first, I think not.
- burntfire, on 10/12/2007, -8/+22Anyone else think that it is kind of sad that people are already trying to come up with the "iPhone killer" and the damn thing hasn't even been released yet?
- Ignignokt01, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16Its not a regular phone, $350 is pretty good for what it can do. (also a functioning navigation system with built in GPS)
And SD cards aren't that much: 4GB for like 50 bucks? Sorry but thats like the original ipod's storage, which was plenty back when I owned it. For music, at least. - Andytom, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15This might be a stupid question but what networks does it run on if any? Could I just plug in my sim card from my current phone and have it work fine or what?
- miyamotofreak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10How can something kill a unreleased product?
- DeFex, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11iphone killer? AT+T will do that.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Who is everyone? The delusional people on Digg and their equally delusional websites?
In the real world, I haven't heard ONE person even mention the iPhone since about two days after MacWorld. - jcaino, on 10/12/2007, -8/+16well, that and it's ugly.
i don't plan on getting an iPhone...but it does look much better than this.
face it, image sells. jon q. public doesn't give jack squat about open anything or standards. they just want it to look cool. - barius, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10The silver version actually looks 'acceptable', I could see myself carrying one. The orange version? Not so much.
- danjal, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9while i'll openly admit i'm not a huge linux fan.. i will say this, they are warming upto me, and if it can do 'most' things the iphone can do.. count me in.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14Again everybody...reality check. Other than the iPod/iTunes, NONE of Apple's products have any significant market share. tehy have FAR more failures than successes.Why? Because most people do not see Apple as this "Can't Miss" company. More iPod owners have Windows PCs than Macs.
Remember the iPod HiFi? Steve Jobs said it was going to put Bose out of business. And many Diggers agreed.
I think Apple sold about 12 of them. - shad0walker, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13Just one problem with this phone: The demo colours.
- geoken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"In the real world, I haven't heard ONE person even mention the iPhone since about two days after MacWorld."
Then you've already heard more people mention the iPhone than I have. - iofthestorm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Have you seen the press pictures? They might be mockups, no idea really since it seems like they keep showing the ugly orange ones but these definitely suggest the ability to compete with the iPhone in terms of looks.
http://openmoko.com/press/index.html - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Moss-Pultz described the OpenMoko community as "going berserck,"
don't mess with these guys, they're berserck! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Nothing needs to kill the iPhone.
If anything, it committed suicide about a week after it was introduced. - dynacrylic, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10I like the colors!
:P - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9No...it is sad that people on Digg think that others are trying to kill the iPhone, when in fact, this phone was introduced MONTHS before hte iPhone. And no one is afraid of hte iPhone. Not RIMM, not Palm, not Cisco...no one.
The only ones maybe afraid of the iPhone are AT&T/Cingular. They don't want their stock to plummet 15% in a month like Apple's has since the iPhone announcement. - moosepile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Let's pretend all phones cost the same, and used all networks. You want an iPhone.
Let's assume, if the iPhone truly runs OSX, that it will be open in due time - likely only closed because of Cingular in the first place.
I'm a realist with Apple-Fanboi(tm) leanings. I believe the rumours that the iPhone costs are high because Apple won't cave to the same crap we've all dealt with in the cell market with bundled phones. Call me an optimist, but Apple is using Cingular like a burr on a deer - you need them for the initial ride, or you will never reproduce.
I'm all for cheaper options, but to be honest the "killer" tag is hard to apply to an un-released product.
Apple make stuff that works - that's all I really care about. It's the irony of the industry that people are so willing to admit they make great iPods but cant fathom that they put the same quality in their computers.
And for my fellow Canucks - Rogers blows. Quite frankly this is a Telus/Bell country, and other companies like Virgin use their networks. Rogers, imho, is still on their own towers, which may jive with the iPhone, are SPARSE in comparison. Rogers is major urban only. - tmatyt95, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I have dugg you down because the open source phone was first shown to the world before the Iphone. If anyone is copying (which by the way I think is one of the most childish arguments used in this discussion) then it would be Apple as they released their phone last
Regards,
Matt - Hortinstein, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4dam...was interested in this till i saw no WIFI....
- grexeo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Good point, it should run Windows Mobile instead - that crappy, slow, incomplete mobile operating system that limits the potential of PDAs and smart phones and causes unneeded stress every day.
- Pic0, on 10/12/2007, -10/+13breaking news: iPhone is it's own killer, it is suck.
- Darph.Bobo, on 10/12/2007, -14/+17iPhone killer? Anyone stupid enough to bet real money?
- growler1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@djlosch
"the only thing the iPhone has on this is wifi (because a ***** camera is a disadvantage), but it's grossly limited by no 3d party apps"
Excellent points. I'm on the mailing list, and if memory serves they're hoping for wifi in the nextgen hardware. - iofthestorm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5http://openmoko.com/press/index.html
The pictures on this page look much better. - Quix, on 10/12/2007, -10/+13"the ability to run homebrew apps (skype?) _might_ win out"
Yes, because the general cellphone-buying populace, who aren't even aware there are other web browsers besides IE, are all about homebrew apps. :| - MacParrot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You have to forgive broomett. He and a few others leave their brains at the door of every Apple post
- macbookpromat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7See unlike the iPhone, I could probly afford this, not have to use Rogers Wireless, and customize it to work as a PHONE!
- MagicBobert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Problem? I think if it ran Windows Mobile that would be a problem...
- Rodinau, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It being closed seems less like Cingular's decision, afterall, Cingular allow other open phones, and more like Jobs. Especially considering some of the things of which he has said, he seems to dislike giving control to the user, such as
"We define everything that is on the phone. You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers." or "You don’t want your phone to be an open platform."
And his dislike against and lack of including things such as Java (which allows easy and open application development)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=238
As for running OS X, it's going to be a cut-down limited version of OS X, with a different GUI and running on a different architecture. Unlike what some people seem to believe that you're going to be able to copy over Photoshop from your Mac and run it on your iphone. - thtroyer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Linux != Unix.
They are not the same. Linux is a Unix-like OS, but they are of no blood relation. Both have advantages over one another in different areas.
For many, Linux _is_ an advantage over Unix (free, open source, modifiable, etc). - aiten, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Yeah.
You know, I really want this phone. I am a zealot when it comes to open standards, and I love the concept, price everything.
BUT IT IS UGLY. I like my aesthetics too.
Sorry :( - jonshipman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It has Bluetooth. Gen2 that comes out in November will have WiFi. Gen1 that comes out this quarter is mainly for developers to get apps made. Gen2 might possibly even look different - but I doubt it.
- morphie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4iPhone killer.... the iPhone isn't a succes yet, so what is there to be killed? Technology-based: this linux-phone doesn't even have half the features the iPhone supports.
- catalysis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3GPS on this thing is going to rock. I think its nokia that is coming out with free linux mapping software (charging for add ons). It will be perfect for this phone. Just a reminder: the march release date will be more like a beta and if you want the finished, polished product with lots of community-made apps, you should wait for september. This might be important if its your only phone.
- robman8023, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I think it's ugly. Half the reason these ipod products are so popular is because they look cool. Make this thing look cool and I'm in.
- geoken, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Ya, the concept is great, but that orange phone is as ugly as sin."
So then get the black one which essentially has the same color scheme as the concept.(the pic is in the article along with a third color scheme towards the end of the article) - likwidoxigen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dear Deviceguru,
Please get the facts. This is the version for DEVELOPERS. This is not consumer ready. -
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