They are completely closed because they are very intimate with the chipsets they are using. In fact the chipsets are specifically designed for the company that builds the phone. While you can buy something with the same core, typically you can't buy the chips that are actually in the phone.
The fact that you can buy a GSM/GPRS module that runs off the AT command set is the big innovation. I don't know how long this has been possible, but I've only heard about this recently. Whether Open phones have timed the market or not, I'm not sure. You could look at browsers for some examples Netscape->Internet Explorer->mozilla for some examples. But I don't think other than the fact that it can be done it's appropriate. You really have not had the ability to write/port an integrated application and run it on your phone like you do your PC (i.e. I think the coldfire only dealt with the Palm PDA aspect). It may be more appropriate to look at what Honda did to Harley Davidson in the 60's from a market/business perspective. Marty > Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 06:47:04 +0100 > From: larpoux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > I just decover Openmoko, and it is exactly what I was dreaming for the > past few years. > I already have two cellular phones running linux, but, (strangely), they > are completly closed. > My phone operator download a new software release from time to time on > them, but I have no documentation, no possibility to develop my own > packages, no comunity working on them, ... > Too bad that this project is somewhat now a little late and will be hard > to have great impact on the mass market. But Openmoko seems exactly what > was desesperaly needed for us, the hackers. > /larpoux _______________________________________________ OpenMoko community mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
