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OpenMoko Might Live On With N900 Phone Base

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  • OpenMoko Might Live On With N900 Phone Base

    Phoronix: OpenMoko Might Live On With N900 Phone Base

    It's been a long time since hearing anything out of the OpenMoko camp, but Golden Delicious that worked on the GTA04 / OpenPhoneux is now trying for a new initiative. The company wants to develop the Neo900, which would be based around the once-popular Nokia N900 case but utilize upgraded internal components...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    You just learned of this now?

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    • #3
      The "minimum" key features would be a Texas Instruments DM3730 CPU with OMAP3 ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 512MB or more of RAM, 1GB+ NAND flash, and 32GB+ eMMC. For costing nearly one thousand dollars per unit if the funding campaign is a success for this low-end hardware, it's borderline insanity
      No no no, you don't get it at all! It's shoving quad-cores and 2Gb RAM in mobile phones that's borderline insanity. It's just that Android won't run on any less because they've cut down on software, and have to compensate for terrible performance in hardware. These specs are more than what a decent OS needs. Maemo 5 was brilliant on 256Mb RAM and single-core 600MHz Cortex-A8, and thanks to the "low-end" specs had excellent battery life!

      As for the price, the original N900 costed as much, and was very popular - mostly because of the brilliant OS. And in this upgrade the sensor list alone makes up for the price:
      Accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensors, compass, gyroscope, barometer, thermometer, RFID
      And that's on top of the already incredible hardware package in N900 that has even an FM transmitter.
      Last edited by Shnatsel; 02 November 2013, 03:07 AM.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Shnatsel View Post
        Maemo 5 was brilliant on 256Mb RAM and single-core 600MHz Cortex-A8, and thanks to the "low-end" specs had excellent battery life!
        No, it was slow. Overclocking to ~900MHz was easy and helped performance, but the 256MB RAM was a real problem as soon as you had a few web pages or other apps open. 1 GB RAM should be the absolute minimum in my opinion. Not that I want to go back to using a brick of a phone with buggy software in any case.

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        • #5
          I think the key question is how these specs compare to Jolla's phone:
          • Cortex A8 (1 GHz) vs Snapdragon (2x 1.4 GHz)
          • RAM: 512 MB/1 GB vs 1 GB
          • Screen: 3.5" 800x480 vs 4.5" 960?540
          • Expansion: additional sockets & I2C vs Other Half (power, I2C, NFC, also more convenient to attach).


          The Jolla comes out ahead for those, with the neo900 having the positives of:
          • appealing to people who refuse to give up their N900s
          • being available outside of Finland (for now)


          I have a N900, but it seems like the Jolla makes way more sense from a specs and cost perspective. That said, the neo900 already has more than half of the funding they need, so clearly there are a lot of people who disagree with me.

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          • #6
            I'd totally buy it for 300?. But 600?? Are you kidding me? The device layout is not new and the components used are old (by IT standards). How do they manage to come up with more than 600?? Do I get a cupper or platinum bar with it or something like that?

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            • #7
              It looks quite bulky ... why would anybody want to have such a brick?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Detructor View Post
                I'd totally buy it for 300?. But 600?? Are you kidding me? The device layout is not new and the components used are old (by IT standards). How do they manage to come up with more than 600?? Do I get a cupper or platinum bar with it or something like that?
                That seems to be the average going rate for any remotely interesting OSS hardware project using ARM based hardware. See the original NeoFreerunner, OpenPandora, Vivaldi tablet etc.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Shnatsel View Post
                  No no no, you don't get it at all! It's shoving quad-cores and 2Gb RAM in mobile phones that's borderline insanity.
                  Moore's law, it's getting cheaper and cheaper to put more cores and higher Mhz in the same thermal and power requirements envelope.

                  That and with 64 bit ARM things are going to get allot more interesting as they start getting pushed toward the server market by the likes of AMD with the Seattle platform. I can't wait to finally see ARM hardware with a good GPU that has OSS drivers. Time will tell if AMD takes their ARM tech mobile in further generations.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by aironeous View Post
                    You just learned of this now?
                    Larabel isn't known for being on the ball, or particularly accurate.

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