Hi everyone, I'm a little (actually quite) late in this scene so pardon my ignorance on any goofy questions. I am a LAMP (and uhm ... Java) developer and had always wanted/waited for a "dream box" like this. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I came across openmoko 1 year late. But better late than never... yeah. I'll be honest when I say I came pretty close to buying an iPhone when I went to US recently but the whole "Out of Stock" thing drove me mad. In fact I started harboring anti-Apple feelings ($20 for s/w upgrades, overtly-closed-and-controlled UI environment etc. etc.) that I decided to stick with my iMate SP5m until something really gets to me. And here I am. So, my first few questions (and I'm thrilled to know a thread on Neo Indian retailing exists!!) -
1. Where in India can I purchase Neo FreeRunner and its related accessories once it gets released. I know Rakshat is the man here but can we get some more info on this please? Can I pre-order one (just in case it runs out of stock!) 2. Whats this talk of 15.4K discount Mr. Krishna is talking about. How can I be entitled to it as well? :D :P Thanks! Rahul J aka sector7 *Ganesha Krishna* ganesh.krishna at gmail.com <community%40lists.openmoko.org?Subject=Freerunner%20Sale%20Price%20in%20India%20-%20Official%20partner%20with%20Openmoko&In-Reply-To=> *Tue May 6 11:45:30 CEST 2008* > Hi, > First off, my 'thank you' s are due.. > 1. To Rakshat for setting up the Indian distribution. You obviously have > the know how of open device and open source which is great. This shop has > greatly relieved my anxiety of shipping and customs which tends to become a > hassle. > 2. To Harry, for the official announcement on Indian distribution.Always > good to know that you are buying from the official shop. > On the price point: > I feel 20,000 for Free runner is very decent, (BTW I am eligible > for 15.4K discount so that is very very decent :-) ). Neo has a potential to > become the "office PDA phone". Conference calls to the US and other oversea > destinations are extremely common in Indian IT industry. neo +wifi+skype = > ridiculously reduced cost. > A GSM +GPS (GTA01 like ) box would be great for the rural India if priced > around 10,000. Imagine a post man plotting the shortest path to cover all > the villages that he has to deliver mail to > ( > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/south_asia_indian_postman/html/1.stm ) > with the right features the government might want to buy the neo for > them. > A VGA screen with GPRS means the farmer can consult the market price > of his crops, and the wealthy ones can lookup Stock market. (Oh, yes. > Commodity trading and stock trading are huge in my native village!! but > there are only few brokerage houses that are miles away in the town center, > one needs to call them frequently to be in touch with the market. The > village itself has GSM+GPRS coverage) > Students and universities: > Rakshat, have you considered talking to Universities/engineering > colleges. There are mind boggling number of engineering colleges in > Karnataka(my state) and all of them run some kind of telecommunication > course. a couple of neos to each college with a smartly packaged SDK and > presentation on getting hands on GSM experience would help you sell many > phones. I know I would want to work on such a device If I were a student > now. > Regards, > -GK > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > From: "rakshat hooja" <rakshat at gmail.com> > > To: community at lists.openmoko.org > > Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 12:57:48 +0530 > > Subject: Re: Freerunner Sale Price in India - Official partner with > > Openmoko > > > > > Shakthi, > > > > > > I have been using GTA01 (Neo 1973) my main phone for some time and felt > > that at its price point (under INR 12000 for GSM and GPS and VGA display) it > > would make a great phone for the Indian market. Unfortunately with its power > > draining problems (I carry 2 spare batteries in my pocket) it can not be > > mass produced (My initial email to Micheal was about reselling the GTA01 in > > India). > > > > Anyway the good part is that the Openmoko and Qtopia software is GPL and > > porting these to a GSM only hardware should be considerably easier than > > writing a new GSM stack! We have plans get it to run on the CompuLab X270em > > board but thats kind of stalled at the moment. If that works out one can > > bring out GSM only, GSM+GPS, GSM+WiFi and GSM+GPS+WiFi versions of a phone > > running Openmoko. > > > > Maybe after the success of the Freerunner (I am quite confident on that as > > I have seen the software really improving over the last 6 months and the > > price point is pretty decent too) Openmoko themselves may consider bringing > > out a lower spec cheaper version. > > > > Right now I think it would be best to support the Openmoko endevour and > > try and make the Freerunner a great success, both at the market and as a > > philosphy. > > > > Rakshat > > > > > > > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > > From: "Shakthi Kannan" <shakthimaan at gmail.com> > > > To: "List for Openmoko community discussion" < > > > community at lists.openmoko.org> > > > Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 09:53:15 +0530 > > > Subject: Re: Freerunner Sale Price in India - Official partner with > > > Openmoko > > > Hi, > > > > > > --- On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 9:09 AM, Harry Tsai <harry at openmoko.com> > > > wrote: > > > | I am so glad to introduce Mr.Rakshat to you all, actually they are our > > > | first partner in India market, if you are developer come from India > > > that you > > > | can buy Freerunner from him directly for reduce your shipping cot and > > > | customs process effort. > > > \-- > > > > > > I would like to thank you guys for this initiative. It greatly eases > > > our shipping+customs+tax import issues. Yes, I have made my order :) > > > > > > I just have one request. If you guys can strip the current model to > > > just have 1. a GSM (say INR 5k, or USD 125) , or 2. a model with > > > GSM+GPS (with a reduced price, of course), it will be extremely useful > > > for the "mass" market in India. I would assume the GSM takes > > > one-fourth of the total price of the product. Not sure what is the > > > proportion of the GPS component. > > > > > > INR 20k (with four RF components) is quite affordable to most people > > > working in the Industry here in India, but, a basic, customizable > > > phone would be really something that will be usable, and affordable > > > for the "masses". > > > > > > Just my thoughts, > > > > > > SK > > > > > > -- > > > Shakthi Kannan > > > http://www.shakthimaan.com > > > > > > > > >
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