What a great achievement! Thanks a million for keeping the ideas of OpenMoko alive! I now know what to ask for as a Xmas present ;-)
On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 4:02 PM, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller <[email protected] > wrote: > Dear all, > I take for granted that you all are eagerly waiting for an annoucement > that another batch of GTA04 boards becomes available. We did wait > with an announcement until we can really answer all questions. > > Now, we think we can. > > Components have all been ordered for another (small) batch so that we > can get them from production in December. If everything goes well, we > can even ship out some boards before Christmas. > > The boards are named GTA04A4 (meaning the PCB revision). They > are fully featured from hardware side: > > * DM3730@800 MHz > * UMTS module with 3.75G (up to 14.4 MBit/s) > * Sensors (Barometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer) > * GPS > * connector for optional camera module > * well documented building blocks so that you can write your own > boot loaders and kernels. Nobody stops your creativity and > nobody is pretending to protect you from yourself! > > So you get something that is unique. A motherboard upgrade for > a handheld device. With open documentation to develop free and > open software. And, a community dedicated to continue the pioneering > work of the first Openmoko team. Last but not least, a team that listens > to your wishes for future upgrades and trying to fulfill them. > > How much will it cost? > > We know that most of you do expect that it is not too expensive, something > in the range of the GTA02. Unfortunately, we can't fulfill this specific > wish. > There are two main reasons (besides we are not financial magicians): > > 1. the device has some very expensive components (CPU + Memory + > UMTS module) > > 2. we have really small production batches and therefore, have to pay > much more for the components than e.g. Apple or HTC (factor 2-3 > compared to reports from iSuppli). > > And, we can't subsidize devices because this is not a feasible long-term > strategy from an economical point of view. > > But since raising the size of the batches ("bulk purchasing") has a > big effect ("economies of scale"), we have developed a strategy that should > make everyone happy: > > A) there will be units available from (limited) stock shortly before > Christmas, > at a high price. We try to produce more of these units to fulfill orders > within days. This offer is also good for getting samples for projects. > > B) you can participate in a group-buy at a lower price. This requires > that we reach a certain number of units before we can start production. > > So the price and availablility are: > > a) 666,66 EUR; available for shipment from stock; planned to start > on 19th December > > b) 499.99 EUR; requires 300 ordered units before 10th February 2012 > (week after FOSDEM); production start expected for April 2012. There > is also a rebate for the first 100 early bookings. > > There are rebates for quantites: 5% for orders of 5 units, 10% for 10 > units, > 12% for 50 units. So if you build buying groups (like for the Freerunners), > you can save some more money. > > Both offers are ready for preorder/subscription through this link: > > http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04 > > There is a third type of offer - a customized GTA04 board. This means you > can order a board variant where not all components are installed. And the > display connector can be replaced by a Board2Board connector. This allows > to plug the GTA04 like a module on a master board and develop different > handhelds and tablets based on the GTA04 design. > > An example of such a device can be seen here: > > http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Custom > > Finally, I have compiled some FAQ we have received in the past. If your > question is not amongst them, please ask. > > So let's prove that the Openmoko community can not only design and > build samples of a GTA04 but also go into perpetual mass production. > > Nikolaus Schaller > > > FAQ: > > Q: Do I need a GTA01 or GTA02? > A: Yes. The GTA04 is a motherboard that fits into a GTA01 or GTA02 > case. It does not have all electromechanic compontents. Missing are: > GSM antenna, internal GPS receiver, Earpiece speaker, Handsfree > speakers, Vibracall motor, Battery holder, Battery, USB power supply, > and very important: it does not include a display module. So you have > to take all missing parts from an existing GTA01 or GTA02. > > The only exception is the LCD module where we can provide spare > parts. > > But you can operate the board without these components - but then > it is not a handheld portable computer with phone functionality. > > Or you can try to build your own case. Some inspiring proposals > and samples have been shown recently (e.g. wooden case). > > Q: Does the device support the US frequencies? > A: Yes, it is Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (3.75G), but not > CDMA2000 1x nor EV-DO > > Q: Does it have FCC and CE approvals? > A: At the moment partially. The UMTS module and the WLAN chipsets > are fully precertified. And the GTA04 system has successfully passed > the CE emmission tests, that it does not produce harmful interferences. > We are just missing the CE ESD and safety tests. > > Q: Why do I have to wait so long if I participate in the group buy? > A: The reason is that our project has no external funding and needs > to collect enough money before we can order chips and components. > This introduces two types of delay: the preorder-window and then > the delivery time of components. E.g. PCBs are built to our specific > request and that needs between 20 and 30 working days. And > producing and testing several 100 units needs quite a while :) > > Q: Will there be variants? > A: We have decided to run only a single variant with all components > installed. It turned out to be cheaper in total than to have a low-end > variant (e.g. without sensors) and a high-end variant. > > We have one variant that we can provide on demand: the module > version. You can use it as the basis for connecting larger displays > and experiment with alternate cases. Details how to mount mechanically > and the pin layout can be found in the System Manual > > Q: Does it work with a GTA01 case? > A: Yes. You will even get stereo speakers since the speaker box of the > GTA02 has two. One was sacrificed in the GTA02 to provide WLAN. > > Q: Do you have complete phones? > A: We have a handful of complete phones built from returned GTA02 > units. They are also available in the shop: > > http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Complete > > Q: Do I get the money back if the group buy does not reach the minimum > quantity within the preorder window? > A: Yes. 100% (less money transfer cost). > > Q: What is the status of the software? > A: We (Goldelico) do offer a hardware validation kernel and a > Debian/LXDE rootfs, but this does not comprise a phone software. > Projekts like SHR, QtMoko and others are in the middle of porting > their distros to the GTA04 platform. So the software is not completely > ripe but on good progress. > > But we already can do phone calls by a simple shell script and > apt-get install through UMTS. > > Q: Is there driver support for every bit and piece of the hardware? > A: We do not yet have drivers for Camera, IrDA, Audio IN, Torch/Flash, > FM radio. If you can support the development, please help! > > Please also note that these hardware parts have not been tested in > detail. So they may not work at all. > > Q: Where are the schematics? > A: The System Manual includes the schematics: > > http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-main/downloads/37/ > > They will be updated soon to reflect the changes from the GTA04A3 (Early > Adopter) to the GTA04A4 board. > > Q: Do you have spare components like case, antenna etc.? > A: We can't buy or produce these parts and have no steady supply. > We will try to get some replacements, but can't promise. > > Q: Is it possible to downgrade from the GTA04 to GTA02? > A: If you swap the display again, yes. You can also get a second > display module so that you can simply swap the GTA02 and GTA04 > boards+display units within minutes: > > http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=LCD%20Module > > Q: Do I need a debug board? > A: No. The TI OMAP is "unbrickable" and you just may need a > RS232 cable to boot and reconfigure NAND flash parameters. > > Q: I want to use it in a project and need 50, 100, 500, 1000 units. > A: For samples or small quantities, please order them from our > shop. For larger batches, please contact us and we will find out > how fast we can produce and at which volume rebate. Depending > on quantities, we can develop and produce variants. > > Q: What can I do to increase the likelihood that the group buy > reaches the minimum quantity? > A: Convince your fellow GTA01/02 owners to think about buying > a GTA04 board. Talk, Mail, Blog about the GTA04 to make it > known that the Openmoko project did lift off again. > > Q: I don't feel comfortable to replace the motherboard myself. > A: The most critical part is to remove the LCD module from the > GTA01/GTA02 board. Either find someone to do it for you. Or > get a spare part. Or send the device to us and we will do it for > you at a small fee. > > Please follow the instructions like for a buzz rework: > > > http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Installation%20Service > > Q: I am a reseller. How can I get devices? > A: You are welcome to support the Openmoko movement. But > we can't give any big dealer margins because the components > and production are already very expensive. Please contact us > for details. > > Q: My country is not listed in your shop. > A: Running export into all countries on this world needs a > lot of paperwork and knowledge to follow all the customs > regulations. And worse, we have some US-Technology > inside the GTA04 that is classified by EAR. So we need > a re-export permission. This is all beyond our capabilites. > Therefore we have to regret that we can't serve all countries > on this world. But you may find friends who live in a country > we can directly serve and you manage the export yourself. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Openmoko community mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community >
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