Announcement: new batches of GTA04 ready for (pre)order
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:
openmoko-panel-plugin for current kernel and FSO
Hi, I revived the old openmoko-panel-plugin. The project is abandoned by its authors, but I decided to revive it, at least on my OpenMoko FreeRunner running Debian Sid. I dropped support for older kernels and old FSO implementation, because I have not enough resources to mantain them. At the moment consider it just a personal project, but you can find the souce, a tarball and the Debian package: http://sourceforge.net/projects/openmoko-panel/ I renamed the project openmoko-panel, the Debian package conflicts with openmoko-panel-plugin. I wish to thanks the developers which wrote the software and realeased it under a free license: xaos x, Sebastian Ohl and Christian Adams. Any feedback is apreciated. -- Niccolo Rigacci Firenze - Italy Tel. ufficio: 055-0118525 ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Announcement: new batches of GTA04 ready for (pre)order
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 h...@goldelico.com 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
Re: Announcement: new batches of GTA04 ready for (pre)order
This is awesome! Thank you very much! I already convinced a friend of mine to buy one as well. And I'm happily experimenting with my GTA04A3 EA board. Lukas On 14.11.2011 17:51, Marc Verwerft wrote: 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 h...@goldelico.com 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).
Re: Announcement: new batches of GTA04 ready for (pre)order
On 15/11/2011 4:02 a.m., Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote: Q: Does it work with a GTA01 case? A: Yes. You will even get stereo speakers since the speaker box of the GTA01 has two. One was sacrificed in the GTA02 to provide WLAN. If anyone in New Zealand wants to buy my GTA01 for NZ$150 let me know. Just think how awesome stereo speakers would be on your GTA04 :D Ben. On 15/11/2011 4:02 a.m., Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller 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:
Recommendations for a data-only GSM/UMTS device in USB stick ff
Hello Om community, Given that the GTA04 contains an off-the-shelf UMTS module and, if my understanding is correct, truly off-the-shelf GSM/GPRS/UMTS modems in the consumer USB stick form factor have been used during the BeagleBoard prototyping phase for the GTA04, I've figured that someone here might have some experience with / knowledge of these USB sticks, hence me asking here... I'm looking for a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS cell modem device in the USB stick form factor which I would plug into my x86 laptop, running Linux, currently Ubuntu, hoping to switch to Slackware or Linux From Scratch some day. My requirements / wish list items are: * USB stick form factor, encased as it would be for a normal consumer, internal antenna and all. * No battery, drawing power from the laptop when in use, no possibility of any internal components being powered up when the stick is not inserted into a laptop's USB port. * I want to buy this thing from someone who just sells equipment, not service. I need this thing to take SIM cards, and I know I can get a SIM card from my local GSM/UMTS service provider without getting their equipment. * I need something that is sufficiently well documented in terms of its external interface (AT commands?) so that I can drive it from, say, minicom. * I need this device to be capable of placing old-fashioned data calls, not just Internet access. By old-fashioned data calls I mean the arrangement where one dials a number from the mobile device with ATDnumber (no semicolon at the end, making it a data rather than voice call), and the number being dialed is a POTS land line with a plain old analog modem answering the call. I want to be able to connect to my personal data center from remote locations bypassing the Internet. * I need this device to support GSM/GPRS/EDGE fallback, not just UMTS. I would like to have UMTS capability, but only in addition to plain GSM/GPRS, not instead of. I would also very much like to be able to switch between GSM and UMTS manually with AT commands, e.g., to force GSM/GPRS mode even when UMTS is available. * I need this thing to support the 1900 MHz band when operating in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE fallback mode, so I can use it with T-Mobile USA. So, would anyone here be able to recommend such a USB stick device for me? Maybe even with pointers to where I can buy one? My original plan was to use my GTA02 for this purpose, but I'm not currently able to do anything with that device because of the community's discriminatory handling of the Calypso FW semi-source code. Let me clarify: while of course the ideal situation would be for everyone in the world to have free access to the GSM fw source code, I can grudgingly accept using consumer off-the-shelf hardware for which *no one* in the supposed-open-source community has any firmware source. But I philosophically object to using a device for which Paul Fertser has a copy of the AT interpreter source code while I'm denied a copy of the same. Not being able to use the GTA02, I'm still using my old Motorola V66 phone: it's a *very* dumb phone (well below what one would call a feature phone) and it's full of misfeatures which I don't like (a UI design that suits me very poorly, bad pre-USB connector for the charger and data port interfaces, no ability to connect the data port and external power at the same time, etc), but what makes it morally acceptable is that I'm not aware of any supposed-open-source developer(s) hoarding a copy of its firmware source, selectively denying it to new entrants into the field. With the Mot V66 poorly suited as a device for making data calls from a Linux/x86 laptop and the GTA02 unusable altogether for moral / philosophical reasons, I'm now looking into the possibility of getting a separate data-only device in the USB stick form factor and keeping it separate from my voice phone, as in a separate SIM card from my service provider. (I already have several lines on my account for my large pseudofamily, no difficulty with adding one more.) I'm not aware of any cellular data USB sticks with hackable GSM/UMTS/ whatever firmware, but I can grudgingly live with that because it isn't the same as having a clique of supposed open source developers exclusively hoarding the FW source. From what I understand, the GTA04 developers were able to get docs for the external interface (AT commands or whatever) to their UMTS modem without having to sign their lives away in NDAs, right? Oh, and before anyone accuses me of being a hypocrite and hoarding or not-sharing the TSM30 FW source which I have finally located, let me reiterate I *do* freely and readily share this source with everyone in the world, just not via the Internet. Not via the Internet because my current FTP server doesn't have enough disk space and my external Internet connection is too slow. Instead I am offering a CD-R copy by snail mail to anyone in the world who wants one. Just give
