new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

(found via: http://www.golem.de/news/openmoko-ne...202-89659.html (German) )

There is a new mainboard for the Openmoko Freerunner / Neo 1973 called GTA04:
http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04

some specs:
CPU: Cortex A8 DM3730 (OMAP3)
RAM: 512MB
storage: 512MB NAND + microSDHC slot

For a complete list please see:
http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta0...e/FeatureList/

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Are they seriously expect people to pay 666 Euro for those boards?

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Quite the devil, I see

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

I saw them demoing gt04 at fosdem :

http://android-on-freerunner.googlec...2012-02-04.pdf



but the idea is to group buyers to produce a bigger serie and then half the price ...

--
http://rzr.online.fr/q/live

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Small producton runs...

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Well, yeah, but what's the point? There are other boards out there that are much cheaper and better..

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

That can slot straight into a phone sized shell with screen and battery?

Remember, it is designed as a upgrade/fix for the original openmoko models. It is not a beagle/panda-board contender. And if your thinking about gumstix, i do not recall seeing anyone using them as mobile phone cores.

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

I was thinking more of the Beagle, but also the Raspberry Pi.
True, you can't put them directly into a phone, but you can put them in a small package with some effort.

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Neither of those come with a HSDPA radio chip on them tho, nor any off the sensors and such that one expect in a smartphone. The GTA04 is a single board smartphone, that i think i theory could be used as the basis for any number of open device if one could source a appropriate screen (not sure how flexible things are there in contrast to the desktop world), case (tho Shapeways and other 3d printing services may help there) and battery.

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Yeah but you can always buy an USB modem, strip off the case and just glue it to the board.
666 euro is almost 900 usd, that's very expensive. Even the best phones out there are much cheaper.

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

That is thanks to bulk discounts on the parts, and having production runs counted in the millions.

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

The point of Opernmoko and its hardware is to have a fully open phone. All the source code is open and if you have the right equipment you can even build the hardware on your own (e.g. there are casing templates for 3D printers).
There is no other phone that has a truly open OS (Maemo is full of blobs) and even the Raspberry has a closed source graphics firmware.

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

Yes, but how many people REALLY care about playing with the GPU registers, rather than using OpenGL?
And I am not talking about: "Omfg not open source not good enough for me because its ghay". I am talking about: "I have a real need to program the GPU at a hardware level".

Re: new mainboard for Openmoko Freerunner
 

@Radu - what's your point? Yes, it's pricey, but they must have their reasons for pricing it this way. Let's see what the market will bear. Good for them on putting together the package. I'm sure it was a ton of work.