Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Here you have a tricky question (i think).

If next maemo is totally open source and next tablet is going to have HSPA data... does it means that some hacker could use HSPA data chip to put calls on it?

Is HSPA clear enough so you can code a driver against the HSPA data chip that tells the network you are a phone?

Just curiosity.

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Any hacker determined enough could easily do that. The question remains, does anyone actually want it bad enough. If the answer's no, then nobody will. And I'm gonna lean towards nobody doing it, or if anyone does, it'll be a tiny group of DIY's who just want the honor of saying they did.

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Next Maemo is not totally open source, but nothing's bulletproof, and I don't think they'll even be specifically trying to stop us from adding that until it happens.

That said, Raiden's right, it's unlikely to happen without substantial help from Nokia; OTOH, the Fremantle releases seem to have some measure of phone support included -- whether that means the "N900" (RX-51) will be a phone, will be a few tweaks away from being a phone, or will have no phone support at all, we can't say at this point. What it does mean the platform is intended to support phone-capable models at some point. The likelihood of phone calls on the RX-51 varies strongly with the applicability (and quality, quantity, etc.) of any phone support from Nokia.

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Depends on your definition of easy. If just one of the necessary bga pin/balls is not soldered, it will be practically impossible. Take the NSLU2 for example - in theory it could have two ethernet ports (the chipsets supports has two ports, the drivers could be hacked), but the 'motherboard' is missing the leads, so no extra port. Same here, if they physically don't connect it to the audio mixer, that's it.

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Do you really mean to say "a phone" or do you mean merely "voice capability" or what do you mean (exactly)? I hate to be one of those sly rats that can only provide innuendo, but I also hate to see an important thread go in entirely the wrong direction...

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

To me, HSPA VoIP = Phone. What's there to hack? The problem is not whether you can get your HSPA chip to serve you some proprietary 3G format (rather than TCP/IP), but whether you can use VoIP without it being blocked / throttled by your jealous telco ISP and without incurring extra data charges because you go over your limit...

Trying to get a data HSPA chip to act like a voice chip seems as silly as converting your 4WD off-road vehicle to run on railway lines. Why would you lock yourself into that narrow little track when you've got something that can take you anywhere?

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

having gsm baseband chip doesnt mean access to it's stack interally.
Look at motorola's phones or even openmoko project.
Even detailed datasheets of baseband chips are avaliable only for manufacturers that are good enough to sign nda with them.
So at least You'll gain access via some AT+ specific limited interface - if audio is routed then Yes - You can set up a voice call succesfully no matter the OS.

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Definitely. And that's why (comparatively) nobody will be hacking voice calls... unless Nokia does give us most of the code. After, who wouldn't put railway axles under their truck and take it for a spin, if they had all the parts sitting in their garage and nothing else to do one weekend?

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

Depends on where you live (and your provider), I guess - especially with regard to incoming calls. Keeping your existing number can prove to be tricky, and you cannot apply local rates, which might (or might not) actually be less than voip rates. All this on the assumption your voip traffic doesn't get filtered, and the bandwidth/3G coverage and gateway quality is good. So not really a foolproof solution for everybody :) :(

Re: Can we say that N900 is for sure going to be a Phone?
 

In industry nomenclature, phone = GSM (CDMA, etc) telephony network interoperability. But to users like you and me, VoIP is acceptable equivalent. Not only no hack required, VoIP makes it easier to integrate voice with other apps on single mobile device.

Thank you for bringing the thread back on track.