OpenMoko Freerunner - Free your Phone

Neo FreeRunner is an open source cell phone which is designed to run Openmoko software and is the direct descendant of the earlier FIC Neo1973. Its a Linux-based touch screen smart phone with all the specs of a killer device. A very high resolution touch screen (1.7" x 2.27" - 43mm x 58mm) 480x640 pixels, 128MB SDRAM memory (Expandable), Internal GPS module, 802.11 b/g WiFi, 400Mhz processor, 2 3D accelerometers, helps switching to landscape mode automatically, Tri-band GSM and GPRS for North America (850/1800/1900 Mhz) and the rest of the world (900/1800/1900 Mhz), USB Host function with 500mA power allowing you to power USB devices, etc.

Openmoko is a project founded by Taiwanese computer and components manufacturer First International Computer, Inc. (FIC), which aims at developing an open source Linux based operating system designed for mobile phones. The open access of the phone's software, under the General Public License, started a new trend in the mobile phone industry, following which Google came up with their own platform called Android.

Using the OpenMoko platform, developers can modify the software's function and appearance. The software package will allow third-party applications to be written and compiled for it using C/C++. The computer-aided design (CAD) files for the hardware are freely available under a creative commons license for designers to modify.

The only thing missing from the package is a camera. But who knows, the modders/hackers/developers would soon come up with an hack to add a custom camera. Yes, that's the beauty of open source, its YOUR phone in a true sense and you can customize it to suit your needs.

Its priced at $399 (plus taxes) and is available to be purchased from their online store or local distributors in a few countries (including India). Going by the reviews on the internet, this phone isn't ready for the primetime yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it beats the market leaders (read iPhone) in a few months from now. I am a member of Motorola Linux Development Community motorolafans.com and people have come up with some amazing mods and software for the Motorola phones, which hasn't revealed the source for OS, or doesn't have an SDK. Now, with all the source available, these guys would do wonders with this little baby, where they can take control over each aspect of the phone. (A few of them have already ported the Openmoko to their A780,A1200,E6 and E680.If you are interested to know more about this click here.)

It would be interesting to see the innovation this new openness would being to the mobile phone technology. I'm already excited...