Canadian Firms Get Behind OpenMoko/FreeRunner 140
mario writes "Now that the OpenMoko platform has stabilized enough to provide the OM2008 image (supporting the three major toolkits), things are starting to heat up. Linuxdevices is reporting on the start of a port of Devicescape's connect application. Koolu (another Canadian company) is also doing development for its W.E. phone (a branded FreeRunner). Which leads me to ask: Where are the American companies?"
This is a very good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
American companies (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
I consider that a plus. If I want to take pictures of something, I'm gonna bring a good camera with me.
A few Canadian thoughts... (Score:5, Insightful)
After looking at the Koolu.com website, I'd almost rather they not be referred to as Canadian... it makes us look bad...
So some Canadian firms think that an open-source handset is going to be worthwhile. Great, good for them. The likelihood is that even if they do get anywhere with it, the majority of their clients are going to be in the US anyway. The average person in Canada doesn't know or care about open-source handsets, and isn't going to care enough to learn.
It's kind of like RIM - they were the first to really get mobile, business e-mail out into the world, and now they're famous. Everyone who doesn't have an iPhone has a blackberry these days, and most of RIM's clients are in the US. Where were the American companies? What does it matter?
In this era of free trade and globalization, there's hardly any distinction between American companies and Canadian companies. I work for a Canadian company which is owned by an American company which is run by the Canadian company. We're traded on an American stock exchange, we all work in Canada, and we just bought an American company made up almost entirely of Brits and Irish. So what does that make us?
'Canadian company' these days only refers to locality - where people show up for work at every morning. Beyond that, it doesn't make a difference.
No we won't. (Score:5, Insightful)
American carriers are not only completely uninterested in a platform that gives the end-user complete control over their phone, but actively shunning it. Their business model is to sell slick-looking, crippled devices that push as much functionality through their networks as possible such that they can charge the end-user as much as they can for things that should be free. Verizon and the V710 debacle a few years ago come directly to mind (disabling OBEX, etc.).
I'll be shocked if we ever see a viable OpenMoko device in the next ten years.
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:3, Insightful)
Who is forcing you to use the camera? Nobody. If you don't like the camera, just don't use it. It's that simple.
Re:"Where are the American companies?" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:1, Insightful)
Yes, but a camera costs money. Ditch the camera and make phones cheaper. I'd rather have have a phone good at calling and SMSing than a jack of all trades machine that fails at everything.
You know... people said the same thing about SMS when it came out... "I just want a phone that makes calls, not one that sends text messages!"
Re:"Where are the American companies?" (Score:2, Insightful)
Last time I checked the map Canada was a country on the American continent. In North America, right next to the USA, to be more precise... but what do I know.
Re:American companies (Score:1, Insightful)
T-Mobile is a German company.
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:2, Insightful)
Being able to SMS doesn't add a lot to the price, having a useful camera does. ;)
Shunning? You forget Andriod. (Score:4, Insightful)
American carriers are not only completely uninterested in a platform that gives the end-user complete control over their phone, but actively shunning it
Android answers the description you provide, and there seem to be a number of carriers embracing it.
They are driven to do so by the iPhone but that makes little difference in that things are moving that way, and carriers realize now that it will happen sooner rather than later.
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:4, Insightful)
The first few releases of Linux sucked too. However, just like Linux, once people start using it for their own purposes, their improvements will make their way back for others to use.
OpenMoko right now is mediocre. OpenMoko in 5 years, after several companies sell products based on it, and dozens of hackers make those devices do new and novel things, and OpenMoko will rock.
If AT&T/T-Mobile could ban OpenMoko, they woul (Score:2, Insightful)
If AT&T and T-Mobile could legally and technically ban use of OpenMoko phones on their network, they would do it.
Re:This is a very good thing (Score:3, Insightful)
I must respectfully disagree.
Creating two separate product lines is quite a bit more expensive than one; that added expense will be passed on to the customer. Other manufacturers will create a single line, and not have extra expenses and thus be more competitive.
So, after doing the competitive analysis, most manufacturers will decide to make phones with cameras, which some people may use.
Me, I never use the popcorn button on my microwave, but I do not seek out or petition manufacturers to make microwaves lacking the popcorn button.
Re:Cellphones and America (Score:3, Insightful)
GNU Hurd was announced years before Linux, and look how far that project got.
In computing what counts is shipping / release date.