One of the world"s largest computer and consumer electronics manufacturers will ship a completely open, Linux-based, GPS-equipped, quad-band GSM/GPRS phone direct, worldwide, for $350 or less, along with a full range of softwares and the accessories like a car mounting kit, straps, chargers etc. In Q1, 2007. First International Computing"s (FIC"s) "Neo1973" or FIC-GTA001, is the first phone based on the open-source "OpenMoKo" platform.
Almost everything in the OpenMoko, sans very specific cellular components, is open source. The device even runs the latest Linux kernel ( 2.6.18 ). Software can be fetched via repositories using apt-get.
The tech specs of the OpenMoko include a 2.8-inch VGA touch screen, microSD slot, Bluetooth 2.0 support, USB 1.1, two 1watt stereo speakers. While you can get the base configuration with 128MB flash and 128MB of DRAM, you can also opt for the version with 1G flash. The battery time of OpenMoko is somewhere around three hours. The sleek phone also comes rocking a Globallocator GPS unit but it lacks WiFi. But hay the Moko team said :"Note: These are _not_ final. But since we"ve had so many questions on our mailing lists,it"s probably best to post them in one place:"
Even though the unique, oval design omits a keypad, the OpenMoko is sure to be an intriguing alternative to Palm, RIM, and Windows Mobile devices.