uPhone: Explore the Open Mobile Space
Sometimes I question what really deserves attention nowadays.
1. No, the iPhone is not in my “to get list”, not even close.
2. I may consider hacking an iTouch with a mic and Wi-fi based VOIP plus free SMS.
3. Or to look at an OpenMoko and its Linux-based environment. Or some of the new LiMo phones.
4. But the short term is just too much hype. What about listening to what Doc Searls has to say at his EOF column in the LinuxJournal:
“Why chase the iPhone, when we can free the world with open mobile things”
Following on that, check the Bug Labs blocks: (after the Ethernet and Wireless blocks are shipped) it will include pretty much all you need to hack your own [U, mine?] phone. LinuxJournal also has a nice introduction to the currently available components. Hackable to the extreme.
And check out Chumby for that matter, which could easily make my list.
5. Oh, and there is Android. Open Sourced?
6. Or even an Open J2ME.
7. And don’t forget Open Symbian, according to Nokia. [Have you looked at the Greenphone Open Source codebase?] And Motorola’s OpenEZX, its Open Source effort.
So, it is an open space out there, you don’t need to get yourself locked up.
More Links @ Del.icio.us
Photo Credits by smardio
