Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
That was usually called HXD8 IIRC. I wonder about GTA03, too... Ortwin On 5/11/08, JW [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: or gta03 was the board for that gps (DASH) thing hence next phone is gta04 JW ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Cost. (was Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date)
Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8 GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner). As per the SDHC thread, any standard microSDHC card will work. I think the plan is to include 512MB by default. But you can buy an 8GB card on your own, then you've got 8GB. And as I understand, 16GB cards will be on the market soon. Why is the Free-runner cost so high? With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least be at par with I'm not sure why you're focusing exclusively on the iPhone. It is a Smart Phone, so that includes iPhone, Blackberry, Dash, etc. all in that class. Such phones seem to be generally in the $300-$600 USD range (purchased separately from a contract), so $400 USD doesn't seem too unreasonable to me. Maybe the Indian market is different. Then there's the simple supply and demand issue. OpenMoko's current audience is techies and developer types. It doesn't quite seem ready for mainstream anyway. And since it's inherently unlocked, I wouldn't expect to see it as an option from any cell provider until/unless the concept catches on more widely. So, the demand is tiny compared to the iPhone. And it doesn't have a well established foothold for businesses like BlackBerry. I'd love cheaper too. But, I'm OK with paying the current price, since I'm interested in supporting this project from a political perspective. There have to be early adopters to get such an initiative really off the ground. Ted ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Hello I am not a phone production expert, but I will try to explain my point of view. Kunal Singh wrote: Hi, I am located in India, and I have decided to go for Free-runner. But, I am really wondering about why this phone is so costly? Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner (free-runner is currently available for $500 in India). I don't know how cost the iphone in India. I can do the comparation with the US price of Iphone. The iphone cost 499$ for 4 Gb version and 599$ for 8 Gb version. (please correct me if I am wrong) + 1 abbonament of 1 year (or 2, I don't remember with an Operator). Also this is a cost because by fact limit the possibility to activate the abonament with the operator that you prefer. May be you will like also, but it is a cost. The FreeRunner cost 399$ + expedition (that in europe are around 70 $) + taxes (but they are valid also with Iphone). So I think it is a bit cheaper. In every case this kind of comparation is a bit senseless because we are comparatin two different type of device. 1. IPhone want to be a phone easy of use, powerfull, styled (they used the best designer to create it), closed (you can use only firmware released by Apple), protected (the program you can install must to pass by apple store. 2, FreeRunner want to be (for now) a more Power user phone, powerfull, very open (in every this, from source code of Firmware to cad files), where the user has all the freedom to install and to develop the program that it want. You can put your had in it, to customize it in a way that I phone don't permit. If you want you can change also the operative system. It is like comparating PC compatible with a Mac. Are devices can not to be comparated. There is who want to be able to build his pc piece by piece, and who want that it just run. If you want to put your hands in or to partecipate as viewer to an opensource developent or you have some ethical reason (like me), I think is good for you a Freerunner. If you want it just run (and well), that is styled, that use wallet garden services, and IPhone is ok for you. I was able to explain? Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8 GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner). It is expandible with micro sd bigger that 8 Gb, but you can do it only if you need. Freerunner is not very usable as video playback device. Than Openmoko is trying to use when is possible device with open specification, and this is not very easy for a firm. Doing me they are doing a lot to bring chip firms to open their specification, and this, according me, help to make a better world! On a plus side, iPhone is fully tested. Their is official performance rating for each feature. They can not to test all the feature possible, because it is a open box :) Why is the Free-runner cost so high? With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least be at par with the commercial products. Open-source development doesn't mean that the programmer work for free! This is a common error that a lot of person do. In Openmoko there are a lot of talented persons that has a family and they need a salary. Openmoko, with difference of Apple, take money only on the sell of Freerunner, not also, like Apple, on the sales of the music that they sell with I Tunes. Is normal that in case of Freerunner the price go up Is the high cost due to the low volume production? Or something related to the location of production units? If the cost is high because of above (or similar) factors, I assume that costs will come down in long run. In such a scenario, does any one have a (rough) idea about what the final (appx) costs would be? Will it be any better than the commercial products? It is volume related, it is target related, openess related, etc. I hope it will become other device comparable in a short future, I hope a lot, but for now, it can be comparated only thinking well which are their particular characteristics. My interest in openMoko is purely from a developer's point of view (I guess every one currently using it is has similar interests). And the reason why I want to participate in open source development is that I want technology to proliferate and become affordable to the common masses. If this objective is not going to be satisfied, I am going to feel a bit dis-appointed with the loss of time which I spend on my efforts. Also, I really find the Free-runner too expensive just for the development purpose. I am hoping that if I can use it as my cell-phone, I can feel a little better. In case the phone is not practically usable (very poor battery performance, or loosing networks, going to infinite sleep etc), that will add to dis-appointment too. Another
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Kunal Singh schrieb: Hi, I am located in India, and I have decided to go for Free-runner. But, I am really wondering about why this phone is so costly? Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner (free-runner is currently available for $500 in India). Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8 GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner). On a plus side, iPhone is fully tested. Their is official performance rating for each feature. Why is the Free-runner cost so high? With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least be at par with the commercial products. Is the high cost due to the low volume production? Or something related to the location of production units? If the cost is high because of above (or similar) factors, I assume that costs will come down in long run. In such a scenario, does any one have a (rough) idea about what the final (appx) costs would be? Will it be any better than the commercial products? My interest in openMoko is purely from a developer's point of view (I guess every one currently using it is has similar interests). And the reason why I want to participate in open source development is that I want technology to proliferate and become affordable to the common masses. If this objective is not going to be satisfied, I am going to feel a bit dis-appointed with the loss of time which I spend on my efforts. Also, I really find the Free-runner too expensive just for the development purpose. I am hoping that if I can use it as my cell-phone, I can feel a little better. In case the phone is not practically usable (very poor battery performance, or loosing networks, going to infinite sleep etc), that will add to dis-appointment too. Another possibility - is it that Free-runner is much beyond iPhone in feature list (which I have failed to capture)? I think the cost is that high because you get an Iphone usually with acontract to a specific firm. the other thing is that the Iphoneis closed sothey make the real money by selling music and stuff like that. for the hardware features i think they are pretty even. the iphone has multituch but no GPS and lower resolution. but the big feature of om is, that you are independent. you can do what you want with it. Iphone contracts dont allow you that. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Hi, --- Kunal Singh wrote: | Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. | This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner \-- Actually, the iPhone is costlier (around INR 27-28k, or USD 700) than the FreeRunner (INR 20k, or USD 500). But, one cannot compare price with software freedom (priceless). http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/16apple.htm http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/04/18/vodafone-will-reportedly-carry-iphone-in-india-in-september http://www.iphonenirvana.net/ --- | And the reason why I want to participate in open source development \-- ... in which case the iPhone is out of the question. So, why bother about the cost? Even if you imported hardware development boards from China/Taiwan to India, you will end up paying 70% of the product prise for customs+tax. If you want to do it as business, then, add some percentage for your profit, which, will again increase the consumer price. Or, do it the usual way. Buy it in US/Europe/Singapore, and if someone known to you is flying down to India (which always happens), ask them to hand-carry it. SK -- Shakthi Kannan http://www.shakthimaan.com ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Just to clarify the Rs 2/- price in India includes shipping to your address in India, customs and VAT duties, a 30 days return policy (We added to the Openmoko DOA return policy at our own risk as we want the initial lots of phones to go to people who are aware that the software needs polishing and are comfortable using the phone; this is something that no other phone company is offering in India though is a norm abroad) and a one year warranty ( we are again keeping 5% of our stock in reserve to deal with warranty returns that can not be repaired that adds to our costs). Keeping the above in mind Rs 2/- looks like a reasonable price. On another note I have used the GTA01 as my main phone for some time and on qtopia and (as far as I know) on mwester's suspend resume worked kernel I don't get calls that don't wake up suspend as long as I do a full shut down and boot up every morning. Battery life is a problem (5-6 hours if you talk a lot or dont talk at all) but I keep a spare battery and almost always am near a wall socket, car or computer (HTC Universal chargers seem to work for me - not too sure if fast charge is actually enabled but the phone charges up). Rakshat www.idasystems.net -- Forwarded message -- From: Kunal Singh [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: List for Openmoko community discussion community@lists.openmoko.org Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 09:43:22 +0530 Subject: Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date Hi, I am located in India, and I have decided to go for Free-runner. But, I am really wondering about why this phone is so costly? Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner (free-runner is currently available for $500 in India). Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8 GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner). On a plus side, iPhone is fully tested. Their is official performance rating for each feature. Why is the Free-runner cost so high? With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least be at par with the commercial products. Is the high cost due to the low volume production? Or something related to the location of production units? If the cost is high because of above (or similar) factors, I assume that costs will come down in long run. In such a scenario, does any one have a (rough) idea about what the final (appx) costs would be? Will it be any better than the commercial products? My interest in openMoko is purely from a developer's point of view (I guess every one currently using it is has similar interests). And the reason why I want to participate in open source development is that I want technology to proliferate and become affordable to the common masses. If this objective is not going to be satisfied, I am going to feel a bit dis-appointed with the loss of time which I spend on my efforts. Also, I really find the Free-runner too expensive just for the development purpose. I am hoping that if I can use it as my cell-phone, I can feel a little better. In case the phone is not practically usable (very poor battery performance, or loosing networks, going to infinite sleep etc), that will add to dis-appointment too. Another possibility - is it that Free-runner is much beyond iPhone in feature list (which I have failed to capture)? Regards, Kunal Singh www.singhkunal.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Hi all, thanks for so much of information. Now I have a better knowledge of what extra I am going to get with Free-runner: (1) no contract with service provider (2) no hidden costs like i-tunes (3) openness; freedom to experiment In addition I will be supporting open source. another point which I wanted to reply to Michele wrote: Open-source development doesn't mean that the programmer work for free! This is a common error that a lot of person do. In Openmoko there are a lot of talented persons that has a family and they need a salary. Hi Michele, fully agree with you on both the facts. (1) Open-source development does not mean free. But effective cost come down as (a) As there will be some contributors (though it will be very less % of total, and this type of free support will mainly come during later stages of the project) working for free (b) making big profits is generally not the goal of open-source projects (again i say generally, there will be exceptions), whereas profit is the sole objective with other projects. the open-source projects have other motivations (in addition to profit) (2) There are lot of talented persons on project - hats off to them. They have developed a phone which is comparable to any other smart phone in the world. Those phones have hundreds of developer working on it with budget of hundreds of millions US$. And they take years to perfect their designs. openMoko is a wonderful product. Regards, Kunal enaut wrote: Kunal Singh schrieb: Hi, I am located in India, and I have decided to go for Free-runner. But, I am really wondering about why this phone is so costly? Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner (free-runner is currently available for $500 in India). Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8 GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner). On a plus side, iPhone is fully tested. Their is official performance rating for each feature. Why is the Free-runner cost so high? With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least be at par with the commercial products. Is the high cost due to the low volume production? Or something related to the location of production units? If the cost is high because of above (or similar) factors, I assume that costs will come down in long run. In such a scenario, does any one have a (rough) idea about what the final (appx) costs would be? Will it be any better than the commercial products? My interest in openMoko is purely from a developer's point of view (I guess every one currently using it is has similar interests). And the reason why I want to participate in open source development is that I want technology to proliferate and become affordable to the common masses. If this objective is not going to be satisfied, I am going to feel a bit dis-appointed with the loss of time which I spend on my efforts. Also, I really find the Free-runner too expensive just for the development purpose. I am hoping that if I can use it as my cell-phone, I can feel a little better. In case the phone is not practically usable (very poor battery performance, or loosing networks, going to infinite sleep etc), that will add to dis-appointment too. Another possibility - is it that Free-runner is much beyond iPhone in feature list (which I have failed to capture)? I think the cost is that high because you get an Iphone usually with acontract to a specific firm. the other thing is that the Iphoneis closed sothey make the real money by selling music and stuff like that. for the hardware features i think they are pretty even. the iphone has multituch but no GPS and lower resolution. but the big feature of om is, that you are independent. you can do what you want with it. Iphone contracts dont allow you that. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Hi SK, Just to clarify, iPhone 8 GB (including the this 8 GB memory) is 399 US$. Of course the other issues like service provider agreement is an added pain. But the days of US$700 iPhone are gone. Regards, Kunal Shakthi Kannan wrote: Hi, --- Kunal Singh wrote: | Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. | This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner \-- Actually, the iPhone is costlier (around INR 27-28k, or USD 700) than the FreeRunner (INR 20k, or USD 500). But, one cannot compare price with software freedom (priceless). http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/16apple.htm http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/04/18/vodafone-will-reportedly-carry-iphone-in-india-in-september http://www.iphonenirvana.net/ --- | And the reason why I want to participate in open source development \-- ... in which case the iPhone is out of the question. So, why bother about the cost? Even if you imported hardware development boards from China/Taiwan to India, you will end up paying 70% of the product prise for customs+tax. If you want to do it as business, then, add some percentage for your profit, which, will again increase the consumer price. Or, do it the usual way. Buy it in US/Europe/Singapore, and if someone known to you is flying down to India (which always happens), ask them to hand-carry it. SK ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
also days of 399$ Freerunner will go:) and GTA04 is already under early development...I think I'll wait a bit more to purchase 2008/5/10 Kunal Singh [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Hi SK, Just to clarify, iPhone 8 GB (including the this 8 GB memory) is 399 US$. Of course the other issues like service provider agreement is an added pain. But the days of US$700 iPhone are gone. Regards, Kunal Shakthi Kannan wrote: Hi, --- Kunal Singh wrote: | Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. | This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner \-- Actually, the iPhone is costlier (around INR 27-28k, or USD 700) than the FreeRunner (INR 20k, or USD 500). But, one cannot compare price with software freedom (priceless). http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/16apple.htm http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/04/18/vodafone-will-reportedly-carry-iphone-in-india-in-september http://www.iphonenirvana.net/ --- | And the reason why I want to participate in open source development \-- ... in which case the iPhone is out of the question. So, why bother about the cost? Even if you imported hardware development boards from China/Taiwan to India, you will end up paying 70% of the product prise for customs+tax. If you want to do it as business, then, add some percentage for your profit, which, will again increase the consumer price. Or, do it the usual way. Buy it in US/Europe/Singapore, and if someone known to you is flying down to India (which always happens), ask them to hand-carry it. SK ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
On Sat, 2008-05-10 at 18:17 +0200, Andrea Debortoli wrote: also days of 399$ Freerunner will go:) and GTA04 is already under early development...I think I'll wait a bit more to purchase You are a lot more patient than I am. The only reason I didn't get the GTA01 is because I knew wifi was on it's way. I have been watching this project since pretty much the beginning, dreaming of when I will have one of these phones in my hand. This is coming from a person who has never paid more than £20 for a phone, and has never had a new one (always second hand). I never cared about mobile phones until openmoko. Can't for the life of me remember how I first heard about it though =S. Also... why is it going from GTA02 to GTA04 ? Won't the next phone be GTA03 (even if it is a developer model like GTA01 was)? Mo. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
I heard about GTA04 on lists but fairly never about GTA03 btw I heard that numer 3 could be a particular numer that's better to skip in naming devices... I don't know if it's a religion/culture thingbut I don't careI WANT IT!...:) 2008/5/10 Mo Abrahams [EMAIL PROTECTED]: On Sat, 2008-05-10 at 18:17 +0200, Andrea Debortoli wrote: also days of 399$ Freerunner will go:) and GTA04 is already under early development...I think I'll wait a bit more to purchase You are a lot more patient than I am. The only reason I didn't get the GTA01 is because I knew wifi was on it's way. I have been watching this project since pretty much the beginning, dreaming of when I will have one of these phones in my hand. This is coming from a person who has never paid more than £20 for a phone, and has never had a new one (always second hand). I never cared about mobile phones until openmoko. Can't for the life of me remember how I first heard about it though =S. Also... why is it going from GTA02 to GTA04 ? Won't the next phone be GTA03 (even if it is a developer model like GTA01 was)? Mo. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Mo Abrahams wrote: This is coming from a person who has never paid more than £20 for a phone, and has never had a new one (always second hand). I never cared about mobile phones until openmoko. Same here. In this moment I am using two phone payed 10 Euros (without abonament :) But now I want a phone nice! And I think GTA02 will work fine for me! Can't for the life of me remember how I first heard about it though =S. Also... why is it going from GTA02 to GTA04 ? Won't the next phone be GTA03 (even if it is a developer model like GTA01 was)? Mo. Right, where is GTA03? :) ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
On Sat, 2008-05-10 at 19:04 +0200, Andrea Debortoli wrote: I heard about GTA04 on lists but fairly never about GTA03 btw I heard that numer 3 could be a particular numer that's better to skip in naming devices... I don't know if it's a religion/culture thingbut I don't careI WANT IT!...:) Hmm, hopefully someone else will shed more light on that. I know different cultures have numbers that are considered unlucky, for example 13 in a lot of western cultures (not sure why), and the number 4 in Japanese culture (due to it having the same pronunciation (shi) as the word for death)... I think that also applies to chinese... but I have never heard of 3 being unlucky. Wasn't it meant to be the magic number? ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 06:22:00PM +0100, Mo Abrahams wrote: Hmm, hopefully someone else will shed more light on that. I know different cultures have numbers that are considered unlucky, for example 13 in a lot of western cultures (not sure why), One theory is because it was the number of people present at the Last Supper. Hugo. -- === Hugo Mills: [EMAIL PROTECTED] carfax.org.uk | darksatanic.net | lug.org.uk === PGP key: 515C238D from wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net or http://www.carfax.org.uk --- All mushrooms are edible, but some are only edible once. --- signature.asc Description: Digital signature ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
According to De La Soul it is! 2008/5/10 Mo Abrahams [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [snip] Hmm, hopefully someone else will shed more light on that. I know different cultures have numbers that are considered unlucky, for example 13 in a lot of western cultures (not sure why), and the number 4 in Japanese culture (due to it having the same pronunciation (shi) as the word for death)... I think that also applies to chinese... but I have never heard of 3 being unlucky. Wasn't it meant to be the magic number? ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Hugo Mills ha scritto: On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 06:22:00PM +0100, Mo Abrahams wrote: Hmm, hopefully someone else will shed more light on that. I know different cultures have numbers that are considered unlucky, for example 13 in a lot of western cultures (not sure why), One theory is because it was the number of people present at the Last Supper. Hugo. Or simply there are 2 ideas that come in my mind: 1) GTA03 as a development release (like the kernel tree, 2.4 usable, 2.5 development, 2.6 usable) 2) there is another milestone for the GTA02, the mass market phone, actually the hardware is fine, but the software still has some bugs and it's incomplete in some part Cya! Pietro ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
or gta03 was the board for that gps (DASH) thing hence next phone is gta04 JW ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
On Fri, 9 May 2008, kid charlemagne wrote: I've done some extensive digging on the community site but it's very hard to tell what information is outdated, what information is current, and what information will be true in the future but not now. Specifically, before I buy a fresh GTA02, I would like to know: 1. Will it be usable as a simple GSM phone? Will I be able to reliably make and receive voice calls with it? I don't need fancy features right off the bat, but this is a bare minimum. I don't have answers to your other two questions, but I can help with this one :) The best source of information to answer that question is Kevin Dean's *excellent* snapshot reviews. He's been using a GTA01 with the same software that will be available for the GTA02 as his daily phone for quite some time now. If you read the most recent review, though, you'll find the phone doesn't always turn GSM back on after it's gone to sleep. While I'm sure they are working furiously to fix that problem, I think my personal advice would be: 1. As an opnmoko enthusiast, I would love for you to use the phone as your regular phone so the softwre gets more exposure to the world. 2. As an opnmoko enthusiast, I would not want you to use the phone in any situation where alpha or beta quality behavior from it will make you start telling your friends what an awful device / software it is, because it will almost certainly exhibit that behavior from time to time. - Michael ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date
Hi, I am located in India, and I have decided to go for Free-runner. But, I am really wondering about why this phone is so costly? Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year. This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner (free-runner is currently available for $500 in India). Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8 GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner). On a plus side, iPhone is fully tested. Their is official performance rating for each feature. Why is the Free-runner cost so high? With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least be at par with the commercial products. Is the high cost due to the low volume production? Or something related to the location of production units? If the cost is high because of above (or similar) factors, I assume that costs will come down in long run. In such a scenario, does any one have a (rough) idea about what the final (appx) costs would be? Will it be any better than the commercial products? My interest in openMoko is purely from a developer's point of view (I guess every one currently using it is has similar interests). And the reason why I want to participate in open source development is that I want technology to proliferate and become affordable to the common masses. If this objective is not going to be satisfied, I am going to feel a bit dis-appointed with the loss of time which I spend on my efforts. Also, I really find the Free-runner too expensive just for the development purpose. I am hoping that if I can use it as my cell-phone, I can feel a little better. In case the phone is not practically usable (very poor battery performance, or loosing networks, going to infinite sleep etc), that will add to dis-appointment too. Another possibility - is it that Free-runner is much beyond iPhone in feature list (which I have failed to capture)? Regards, Kunal Singh www.singhkunal.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Fri, 9 May 2008, kid charlemagne wrote: I've done some extensive digging on the community site but it's very hard to tell what information is outdated, what information is current, and what information will be true in the future but not now. Specifically, before I buy a fresh GTA02, I would like to know: 1. Will it be usable as a simple GSM phone? Will I be able to reliably make and receive voice calls with it? I don't need fancy features right off the bat, but this is a bare minimum. I don't have answers to your other two questions, but I can help with this one :) The best source of information to answer that question is Kevin Dean's *excellent* snapshot reviews. He's been using a GTA01 with the same software that will be available for the GTA02 as his daily phone for quite some time now. If you read the most recent review, though, you'll find the phone doesn't always turn GSM back on after it's gone to sleep. While I'm sure they are working furiously to fix that problem, I think my personal advice would be: 1. As an opnmoko enthusiast, I would love for you to use the phone as your regular phone so the softwre gets more exposure to the world. 2. As an opnmoko enthusiast, I would not want you to use the phone in any situation where alpha or beta quality behavior from it will make you start telling your friends what an awful device / software it is, because it will almost certainly exhibit that behavior from time to time. - Michael ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
