OpenMoko Divorces FIC, Gets New Product

OpenMoko has today announced that they are now a separate company from FIC. While FIC will continue to invest in OpenMoko and will manufacturer products for the OpenMoko platform, it has become a separate company in order to further develop its brand leadership and develop new open-source business models. FIC, the creator of the Neo 1973 mobile phone and other consumer electronic products, had originally started working on this open-source mobile project back in 2006. The OpenMoko project has been selling its Neo Base Developer Preview since July and has seen new features recently added such as a new user-interface. OpenMoko is competition to Google's recently announced Android project.

In addition to becoming a separate business entity, OpenMoko has announced a partnership with Dash Navigation and have announced a new OpenMoko-based product. The Dash Express is an Internet-connected GPS device for consumers that runs on the FIC Neo mobile hardware and the OpenMoko Linux software stack. Specifically, Dash Express is based upo0n the OpenMoko GTA0X reference design with the OpenMoko kernel, while Dash Navigation has added in their own applications. The press release for this announcement can be read here.

Look for more information on the OpenMoko next week as we cover the 2008 International CES trade-show.