Monday, December 11, 2006
FIC Prepares OpenMoKo-based PDA Phone
Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "HARDWARE" @ 08:00 AM
"One of the world's largest computer and consumer electronics manufacturers will ship a completely open, Linux-based, GPS-equipped, quad-band GSM/GPRS phone direct, worldwide, for $350 or less, in Q1, 2007. First International Computing's (FIC's) "Neo1973" or FIC-GTA001, is the first phone based on the open-source "OpenMoKo" platform."
A Linux-based PDA phone frontpaged on PPCT? Call the Marines, the barbarians are at the gates!! :takethat: Actually, the Neo1973 was designed from the ground up to take both OpenMoKo and Windows Mobile, so we've at least got a tenous excuse for looking at this interesting device. Due to be shipped in volume in Q1 2007, the Neo1973 is quadband GSM, and has integrated GPS, 128MB RAM, 64MB ROM, micro-SD slot and a 2.8in VGA screen. The processor will be a Samsung which from the model quoted is probably a 200MHz-266MHz model, and the device seems to lack almost any kind of hardware buttons at all, much less a keyboard. While not exactly earth-shaking, the Neo does represent a pretty fresh approach and some interesting design trade-offs. The price is right too, for an unlocked GSM phone with as much potential as this has. My first thought was - Access might have a lot more competition than it bargained for in the Linux PDA-phone space. My second was - we're going to be hearing a lot more from FIC in the future.
A Linux-based PDA phone frontpaged on PPCT? Call the Marines, the barbarians are at the gates!! :takethat: Actually, the Neo1973 was designed from the ground up to take both OpenMoKo and Windows Mobile, so we've at least got a tenous excuse for looking at this interesting device. Due to be shipped in volume in Q1 2007, the Neo1973 is quadband GSM, and has integrated GPS, 128MB RAM, 64MB ROM, micro-SD slot and a 2.8in VGA screen. The processor will be a Samsung which from the model quoted is probably a 200MHz-266MHz model, and the device seems to lack almost any kind of hardware buttons at all, much less a keyboard. While not exactly earth-shaking, the Neo does represent a pretty fresh approach and some interesting design trade-offs. The price is right too, for an unlocked GSM phone with as much potential as this has. My first thought was - Access might have a lot more competition than it bargained for in the Linux PDA-phone space. My second was - we're going to be hearing a lot more from FIC in the future.
