Great news! I will definitely buy one of those. Not just becouse I have a dead-by-drown FR collecting dust (wich case an lcd screen I can reuse), but also 'couse the FR is the best phone I have ever, I want to support opendevices development and this is the best way I can thank all FR users and developers effort have made so far.
Cheers! Kosa - Un mundo mejor es posible - El 21/12/10 09:33, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller escribió: > Dear all, > > we are happy that we can make an announcement to the Free and > Open Hardware Community, right in time for X-mas and New Year: > > We have finally tested, understood and patched the bugs of the > first GTA04 sample board (a.k.a. GTA04A2) and have successfully > started U-Boot. We can access the important peripherals like > display, touch screen, and MMC card. > > So we are very confident that the already scheduled redesign > (GTA04A3) will work right from the beginning and boot Linux. > > This looks like the start of the aera of new Openmoko devices. > > > -- what it is -- > > For those who have not followed or are new to this project, the > GTA04 is a OMAP3 based Smartphone Platform/Module [1] > that fits as a motherboard replacement into a Openmoko > Neo1973 or Freerunner case [2]. It is more or less the idea to > squeeze a BeagleBoard into a handheld and was started > by connecting a Openmoko Display to a BeagleBoard [3]. > > It will finally come with UMTS (HSPA), GPS, WLAN, Bluetooth, > Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Altimeter, Compass, FM and an > optional camera. An expansion B2B-connector allows to > base a custom design on this module. > > A demo video of the GTA04A2 controlling the display and > blinking the illuminated buttons is here [4]. A brief > project description is [5]. Please excuse the low quality of > the pictures, since our small team has so far focussed on > hardware and software. > > The difference to off-the-shelf smartphones is that it will be > well documented (CC-BY-SA) and schematics will be included > in the spirit of the original Openmoko devices so that you can > access all the nice peripherals we have designed into it. > And through the expansion connectors you can also use > it as a module in your design. > > And, it is a community project. Everyone is welcome to > contribute. > > The driving force behind this project is Golden Delicious > Computers (www.goldelico.com), a specialist for embedded > hard-, firm- and software development located in Oberhaching > near Munich, Bavaria, Germany. > > > -- next steps -- > > A closed and safe process would be that we silently redesign > the board (i.e. develop a GTA04A3), order some sample > boards and test them. If everything finally works, we would > order components and sit there and wait for them to arrive. > > Then, we would announce generaly availability in big ads in > NYT and FAZ. > > In this mode, you may deduce, that you will not be able to get > a GTA04 earlier than Summer next year if we don't run out of > money before. > > > -- early adopter program -- > > Therefore, we have thought hat we offer an early adoper > program to the benefit of everybody. > > The idea is that you can order a GTA04A3 immediately. At > a fixed price (280 EUR). And we take the risk that prices of > components will change. You only take the risk that we may > need more time to get the components and have to spin > another PCB. > > Using your money, we will order the core components with > a long lead time (OMAP, Memory, UMTS module) as soon > as possible - and early enough before the GTA04A3 design > is finished. > > This makes sure that we have enough components for the > first batch to be produced. And we will not spend the money > for anything else so that you could even visit us to see your > chips... But please don't touch. > > Once, the GTA04A3 boards arrive, we will test some of them > and if everything looks ok, we will produce your early > adopter devices. Only in the case that the A3 board has another > serious flaw, we will have to design a GTA04A4 board first. > > This all speeds up the process dramatically so that we currently > estimate delivery of the first units by March 2011. > > The price has been set very low so that it just covers component > and production cost at a reduced feature set (there are not all > peripherals installed but UMTS and GPS will be). It might be > possible to retrofit some of them. > > Please note that it does *not* include the LCD module, case and > battery, because it is a motherboard-replacement to existing > Openmoko units (Freerunner and Neo1973). > > And, we can't specify yet which version of the OMAP3 > we will get (600/720/1000 MHz) and how big the RAM/NAND > flash will be. But expect something similar to the BeagleBoard. > > Please note that we also have chosen to switch from a GTM501 > UMTS module to a GTM601 which has even better performance > (HSPA+). > > > -- how to participate -- > > Here is the link to the EAP offer with more detailed conditions > (there are some restrictions): > > http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04-Early-Adopter > > You can also support us by purchasing a Openmoko Beagle > Hybrid development tool to extend your existing Beagle Boad > or by donations. > > The git repositories and binary downloads of our U-Boot and > Kernel can be reached through [6]. > > And, come to FOSDEM 2011 to see and touch a GTA04 > and discuss with us about this new gadget. > > > We wish you all merry christmas and a happy new year. > > > -- links -- > > [1]: http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00710.jpg > [2]: http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00708.jpg > [3]: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/ombeagle/ > [4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjFKQx18DgA > [5]: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GTA04 > [6]: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-main/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Openmoko community mailing list > community@lists.openmoko.org > http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community