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An Open Source Phone That’s Completely Unlocked, Hardware Too
- kunai 13y agoI'm still puzzled as to the manufacturing of these devices. Is the Neo900 just updated internals in a refurbished N900 case, or is it actually a fully manufactured phone based on the design of the N900?
- wmf 13y agoIt's a new mobo for an existing N900.
- kunai 13y agoThat's disappointing. I wish it had been an original venture, but with Nokia's, and really every other OEM's massive patent warhead I guess we can't expect these sorts of things anymore.
- wmf 13y agoIf you have the money I'm sure a desperate phone maker like ZTE, HTC, or LG would be willing to build any phone you want.
- jmillikin 13y agoAccording to http://neo900.org/faq http://neo900.org/faq, an assembled device is expected to cost from €600 to €850. For that price you get a bunch of obsolete[1] hardware packed into a case design so outdated it's still got a physical keyboard. Also from the FAQ, their goal is to manufacture somewhere around 200 devices. [1] http://neo900.org/specs http://neo900.org/specs * CPU: Texas Instruments DM3730, 1 GHz * RAM: 512 MB/1 GB * Storage: 1 GB NAND + SD card * Screen: 3.5" TFT, 800x480, resistive * OS: Debian GNU/Linux
- MrVitaliy 13y agoI really, really want a physical keyboard.
- catmanjan 13y agoMe too, I've just bought a HTC ChaCha! I was disappointed in my research that Android phones haven't been built with physical keyboards in years! I don't like the sliding keyboard either.
- ekianjo 13y agoThere were a couple of Android phones in Japan with sliding keyboards, but they were kind of crap...
- barbs 13y agoThat's why I've held onto my Sony Xperia Pro for ages...
- brdrak 13y ago> Android phones haven't been built with physical keyboards in years Droid 4 is a currently shipping phone that has one. I've been using it since Droid 2. Don't care for the extra heft and sub par picture quality, but love the keyboard when an emergency comes up and I have SSH into a server while away from a proper computer.
- shinratdr 13y agoThis may be true, but it doesn't make a phone with one any less outdated. Almost every company has eliminated phones with physical keyboards from their portfolio, and even the company that pioneered them is downplaying them and has shifted them off of the flagship models. They're as outdated as rotary phones or cellphones with a physical number pad. Can you still buy them? Sure. Are there still those that desire them? Absolutely. None of that makes them any less arcane.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
- joenathan 13y agoI just get a blank grey page.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- g8oz 13y agoLife inside the Matrix is pleasant isn't it?
- wmf 13y agoI love this comment because there are two opposite but legitimate interpretations: that N900 fanboys are living in the Matrix or that mainstream Android/iOS users are stuck in the Matrix and haven't "woken up" to the superiority of the N900.
- selectodude 13y agoFor those who want a Nokia N900 and only want to pay $199, it's still on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-N900-Unlocked-Computer-Touchscreen/dp/B002QEBX5E/ref=pd_cp_cps_0 http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-N900-Unlocked-Computer-Touchscre...
- milkandtang 13y ago"Smartphones only become obsolete because the manufacturers design them to." …and hardware getting faster, new sensors, etc. This line is getting pretty tired.
- groups 13y agoI agree. In 2011 when I got my smartphone, I remember mobile websites being simpler than they are today. My phone isn't as zippy, not because of planned obsolescence, rather the internet has become more demanding in two years. It's like PCs in the 90s. People used to complain about their PCs being obsolete in six months. You don't hear that any more because PCs are fast enough.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago> It's like PCs in the 90s. People used to complain about their PCs being obsolete in six months. You don't hear that any more because PCs are fast enough. Instead, you get people pining for the days when PCs were obsolete in six months, "before consoles dumbed down PC development." There's just no pleasing some folks.
- TillE 13y agoWhile I don't understand people who scream for ever-fancier graphics year after year, the previous generation of consoles did badly cripple PC game development for one reason: their lack of memory. As a quick illustration, look at the size of levels in Thief 1/2 vs Thief 3. Or the seamless outdoor world of Morrowind, compared to the loading screens of Oblivion and Skyrim. With just a little bit more RAM (say 1GB instead of 512MB), developers could've done so much more. Instead, we've had a whole generation of 3D games in cramped and/or lifeless worlds with simplistic gameplay. But hey, they're pretty. It wasn't always thus.
- gwu78 13y agoThis is beautiful. I'm not a Linux fan, but if I can get BSD to run on this, it's instantly more powerful[1] than any "smartphone" I can buy. 1. My definition of "powerful" includes IP forwarding and packet filtering. iPhone could use one of these as a gateway.
- citrin_ru 13y agoI doubt it is fully open phone. At least soft, that works on baseband processor probably closed. More about this problem: https://laforge.gnumonks.org/papers/gsm_phone-anatomy-latest.pdf https://laforge.gnumonks.org/papers/gsm_phone-anatomy-latest...