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Monday April 6, 2009
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 OpenMoko executive director Sean Moss-Pulz has announced at OpenExpo in Switzerland
that the company has put the next version of its open-source Neo FreeRunner smartphone on hold indefinitely, according to Slashdot. Moss-Pulz also plans to reduce the number of staffers in order to stay in business supporting the existing units sold, and "hopes the
community will support the FreeRunner" while focusing on a new, non-cellphone product.
This is a sad but unsurprising end for the OpenMoko phone. When we first saw it at PC Mag headquarters a couple of years ago, it showed tremendous potential. OpenMoko looked to be a way to give developers--and therefore, end users--much more control over the software running on cell phones, and therefore reduce the tight grip that wireless carriers exercised on mobile OS platforms.
Since that time, though, we've seen all of the carriers make overtures toward more open environments. Plus, the iPhone, Google Android, and other efforts have brought smartphone apps more into the mainstream, leaving OpenMoko less and less room to maneuver. And all of the usual caveats about open-source development applied--meaning, corralling the necessary resources and just getting the damn handset finished. Unfortunately, it all came together too late for OpenMoko.
Update 4/9/09: An OpenMoko representative contacted us to point out that the current, non-3G version of the OpenMoko smartphone is still for sale; the original Slashdot article was partially incorrect.
Posted By:
Jamie Lendino
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April 6, 2009 12:48 PM
Hogwash and complete drivel -
the Neo FreeRunner and surrounding community is alive and well.
The only announcement made by OpenMoko is that the GTA03 revision of the hard will not go on sale on schedule - but the sale of the GTA02 current revision has been extended.
April 9, 2009 4:41 PM
Openmoko is alive and well and the Openmoko FreeRunner (GTA02) continues to be supported by the open source community.
Most recently Openmoko had great response from embedded developers at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose for its mobile platform.
The next gen product, the GTA03, which was just in planning stages, has been put on hold.