...seem destined not to converge in any significant way, in spite of some pretty awesome hacks:

http://benno.id.au/blog/2007/11/21/android-neo1973 [benno.id.au]

-theGreater.

After the endless iPhone hype and the actual product turning out to be an overpriced and underfeatured commercial dud

Uhhh...I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but by exactly what standard is the iPhone a "dud"? Last I heard, [arstechnica.com] it was beating every forecast sales target and had already captured 20 percent of the smartphone market in less than a year. In fact, if you haven't seen one at your local coffee shop, bar, or train station yet, you probably live in a cabin in the Ozarks.

Not only are the developers good, they have implemented exactly this system before and run it on low-end processors: they developed Danger's Hiptop (a company built from the ground up on Java, strangely enough recently purchased by Microsoft).

It is only open until someone decides not to publish the source (which google is free to not publish).
Then it is closed.

hahaha, the software for android [android-freeware.org] is already available and is waiting for the devices

We might think that browsing Facebook on your phone is cool, but that's obviously not the case for most consumers.

I often browse Facebook on my phone. It's a Sony Ericsson K800i - high end 18 months ago, nowadays it's getting to be the standard issue free-with-cheap-contract phone that everyone in the world seems to have. Certainly it doesn't compete with the iPhone as a web browser, but it's capable enough, and Facebook has a perfectly good mobile-optimised site. And you can always install Opera Mini.

I've got a Blackberry 8800 with all of the features you require (free apps for SSH and everything, I also run my own IMAP server) on T-Mobile, which has a flat-rate data plan and doesn't lock any devices. In fact, I just got a cheap Motorola L6 to toss in my pocket for when I don't feel like putting my crackberry on my hip when I go out. It has GPS, but no wifi. It does support music, but only MP3's, and no camera unfortunately. But the Pearl has Wifi and a camera, just no GPS that I'm aware of. So you can have most of your requireds and would-be-nice's.

Can you tell I'm a fan? ;) I also like how T-Mobile treats me over Verizon... the only bad thing is that the mobile Internet isn't as fast as it is with a CDMA phone, since T-Mobile is GPRS/EDGE.

Just use Google!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=android%20open%20source [google.com]

Then you find:

http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/android_overview.html [openhandsetalliance.com]

"Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications."

It's all right if you don't want to leave town. If you're up for a 45 minute drive, go to Ferndale Pizza Company instead.