Due to various personal reasons and the general direction of the OpenMoko platform I am going to call it quits on the blogging front.  I haven't updated in a while, but have kept the page up since it still continues to get traffic.  It's a real shame since I was excited about the project, and still am, but I just don't feel that the progress made on OpenMoko in the last few months is enough to warrent my attention.  It's a shame since right now I am locked into a Verizon ENV2 phone, but it's stable.  I may even shift my interest towards developing iPhone applications, since the dev kit is very impressive and the software usable and stable.

Thanks to those of you who visited and commented, I wish you luck with the Moko, and I will continue to follow news about the projects

Engadget, among others, is reporting that a new piece of OpenMoko hardware will be announced in either March or April. Unfortunately, due to lack of details this could be nothing more than the offical debut of FreeRunner which was announced right before CES. I think it would be very exciting to see a complete redesign of the hardware.

A half serious interview with Sean Moss-Pultz

http://www.fsckin.com/2008/01/20/interview-with-sean-moss-pultz-ceo-of-openmoko-ninjas-are-better-than-pirates/

he likes ninjas more than pirates and can bench his own body weight.

Hey, sorry its been almost a month since updating, but we finally have some new interesting news about the mass market version of the neo

The details are all here:

http://gizmodo.com/339965/openmoko-launches-neo-freerunner-open+source-smartphone-for-the-masses 

next week we should have some interesting new info!

http://downloads.openmoko.org/snapshots/2007.11/

The link above is where to download the newest offical snapshot for OpenMoko. Apparently it can make and recieve calls most of the time, however battery life is still a major problem due to some power management problems

Off the the site:

Major changes since OpenMoko 2007.1 August Snapshot:

• Performance and stability improvements all over the stack
• New features in the PIM applications and the mediaplayer
• Revamped dialer, application manager, and neo device daemon
• New application: openmoko-browser (webkit-based)
• Lots of tiny little things under the hood...

Please see the OpenMoko Wiki for installation instruction

It looks like the software is maturing nicely, and we should have a usable phone too. I have also read that the Wifi drivers are very strong and getting ready for GTA02's release. Here is a guide to flashing your OpenMoko on Ubuntu:

http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Installation_guide

I recommend the Ubuntu environment, and a good place for any non Linux user to start is my buddies blog Ubuntu1501. It is a great place to learn about Linux and learning about all the powerful tools that comes with it.

I picked up the latest issue of Linux Journal today when I saw the Neo1973 on the cover. I havent had a chance to read it but I will update this post later after I do. I glanced at it, and it seems to be a developer interview about the project. Hopefully it will contain some new information since we have been a little bare on the news lately...

For all you Linux Journal subscribers here is the link to the digital issue
http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue/164

Update: I just finished reading the article, and It was mostly about the philosophy of the project, and how they hoped to cause a shift toward open source mobile phones. He talks about the evolution of the project and the community behind it, but no new details are really given. The most exciting thing is that they appear to be in contact with some cellular providers and are trying to make a deal with one to help promote the phone. The article explicitly states that OpenMoko will always be open, but they are looking for a service to help promote the idea of an open source phone.

It appears that the GPS drivers for the GTA01 have finally been released and the legal terms reported with the chip provider have been resolved. Hopefully we will see a lot of cool applications pop up as a result of this, since location driven services are some of the most exciting things the Neo1973 could offer. A good WarDriving application with integration into Google earth would be a start...

Here is an of a integration of wordpress, Google maps, and a mobile phone GPS to create a pretty interesting blog. I can't imagine doing this because of the rampant female groupies this site has acquired </sarcasm>, but it is a pretty cool idea for someone that never lies to their spouse or doesn't care for privacy.

Anyway instructions for install can be found here or read after the jump:

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