Google Android, Open software platform for mobile devices Options

[snk4ever]

http://code.google.com/android/index.html

Will it kill OpenMoko ?

[koan]

http://code.google.com/android/index.html

Will it kill OpenMoko ?

My opinion is no.

OpenMoko is not going to suddenly disappear, those guys are way to advanced to give up now.
Besides some people see Google as the new MS in waiting; they will prefer OpenMoko because it is "more free"
than Android. If OpenMoko dies it will be because of it's own weaknesses, not because of Google.

It is worth noting, there have been other projects supported by many big companies that failed. Android still has
to prove it's worth, whereas OpenMoko has probably cleared that hurdle already.

[zmiq2]

My guess is that anyone now is focused on android, so an companies wondering about openmoko will decide android now !

I think openmoko is way too slow now; it should have been the android foundation, in my view, but the did't get into that.

[speculatrix]

five problems with google android:

http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.c...le-android.html

[Mickeyl]

I can't see anything in Android compromising OpenMoko's goal. OpenMoko is for people who want to be able to experiment, able to replace anything on their phone, able to have full control over every software component. Android won't give you that. Android may as well be the next Symbian, but it's not sharing the same goal of openness as OpenMoko is. OpenMoko has some years to go until it's ready for mainstream market, but I think until then, we can have enough fun with R&D labs, creative people, geeks, and vertical markets.

[snk4ever]

I can't see anything in Android compromising OpenMoko's goal. OpenMoko is for people who want to be able to experiment, able to replace anything on their phone, able to have full control over every software component. Android won't give you that. Android may as well be the next Symbian, but it's not sharing the same goal of openness as OpenMoko is. OpenMoko has some years to go until it's ready for mainstream market, but I think until then, we can have enough fun with R&D labs, creative people, geeks, and vertical markets.

Thanks for your opinion, I hope this is what will happen ^^.

[speculatrix]

it does seem as if Google have made a big noise about openness, when in fact they mean they provide the SDK free - pretty much like Palm did! However, you can't actually get source code to the android platform, so we couldn't port it ourselves to Zaurus, nor even change many of its inner workings.

so, I'm with Mickey on this one, OpenMoko is still our best chance at a truly open mobile handset!

[adf]

I can't see anything in Android compromising OpenMoko's goal. OpenMoko is for people who want to be able to experiment, able to replace anything on their phone, able to have full control over every software component. Android won't give you that. Android may as well be the next Symbian, but it's not sharing the same goal of openness as OpenMoko is. OpenMoko has some years to go until it's ready for mainstream market, but I think until then, we can have enough fun with R&D labs, creative people, geeks, and vertical markets.

Years?
I was kinda hoping for an earlier (post dev phase) Neo release...

[Mickeyl]

Years?
I was kinda hoping for an earlier (post dev phase) Neo release...

GTA02 will be released early next year, however my realistic assumption (not wearing any OpenMoko hat, but just being a member of the FOSS community) is that it may as well take 12 to 24 months before OpenMoko as a software-stack has the majurity to compete with the big players. Think about how long GNOME and KDE took. I think both desktop environments are just _now_ slowly starting to innovate and leaving their competitors behind.

In few months you will be able to use the current OpenMoko stack on a day-to-day basis, but it's far from the platform for innovation that I have in mind -- and on my personal roadmap (which is not necessarily shared by OpenMoko, Inc.).

[speculatrix]

interview with HTC's CEO about android etc
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/10/the-eng...hou-ceo-of-htc/

it irks me somewhat that if HTC had been talking to google for two years about android and playing with linux on their smartphones, then they could have released linux drivers for their hardware (many of their devices have devices in common).

[speculatrix]

Willcom hardware prototype platform demo'd
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/11/willcom...roid-prototype/

[Hagbard]

Clever Hungarians have got android running on a Z
http://euedge.com/blog/2007/12/06/google-a...zaurus-sl-c760/

Nice to play with - I wonder if it can be made to dual boot?

[Snappy]

it does seem as if Google have made a big noise about openness, when in fact they mean they provide the SDK free - pretty much like Palm did! However, you can't actually get source code to the android platform, so we couldn't port it ourselves to Zaurus, nor even change many of its inner workings.

so, I'm with Mickey on this one, OpenMoko is still our best chance at a truly open mobile handset!

Ironically, that's the kind of openness that most consumers and OEMs really only want or need. Most of these OEMs do not want to spend $$ on R&D folks to twinker with some OS on their devices (or notebooks for that matter). They just want an easily available SDK that they can use. Somewhere along the line, this got blurred with Open Source, and suddenly everyone is an open source pundit.

[speculatrix]

Clever Hungarians have got android running on a Z
http://euedge.com/blog/2007/12/06/google-a...zaurus-sl-c760/

Nice to play with - I wonder if it can be made to dual boot?

damn clever, that! it'd be cool if someone did an OpenEmbedded toolkit, I'd love to be able to demo android to my colleagues and make them admire my l33t sk1llz!

I guess they'll have it running on the Nokia tablets next.

[jpmatrix]

and here is the sequel :

Google Android runs on Sharp Zaurus SL-C3000

http://androidzaurus.seesaa.net/article/74237419.html