How would you change OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner?

We know -- it takes time to really dig deep within an open-source device (particularly a handset), but now that a few months have ticked by since OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner began shipping in North America, we figured there was never a better time to ask how your experience has been. The unorthodox mobile isn't for the faint of heart (or the technology-challenged, truthfully), but for the hackers and tinkerers out there who splurged for one in hopes of finding their new favorite toy, how have things been? Is the interface friendly enough? Are there too many limitations? Is the design to your liking? Give it to us straight down in comments below -- how would you change this purty piece of Linux-infused kit?

[Christy McGrory @ Sep 19th 2008 6:49PM]

Put Google maps on it.

[Greg Hodges-Paramore @ Sep 19th 2008 6:49PM]

i would erase it from the market completely

[usedHONDA @ Sep 19th 2008 7:09PM]

Oh brother. Do you have any idea how great this phone is? It has GPS, a custom Linux distro, a touchscreen, and all the tools a developer would ever want.

I've been tracking this phone for quite a while, even downloading the phone's OS as an emulator (found on their Wiki), and I happen to know that this is a truly incredible device. It's like an Android device, but the operating system is more widely known and easier to code for.

[fowler @ Sep 19th 2008 9:31PM]

I'm not for it or against it, but judging a device based on an emulator seems rather foolish. You're completely missing the fact that it runs on hardware that, as shown on vimeo, etc, is sub par at best. The touch screen is generations behind the iPhone, anything HTC has out and I'm sure a lot of other stuff out there...

[who? @ Sep 19th 2008 6:52PM]

Make it look less like the Helio Ocean- maybe devote more of the front to the screen?

Better browser would make me buy, something like the iPhone's but with more options (like load/don't load images, plugins, ect.).

Other than those things, I think it would also be awesome if I could buy it for prepaid (at an affordable price).

[electron @ Sep 19th 2008 6:57PM]

I would get one :)

[change @ Sep 19th 2008 6:57PM]

3G radio. Or at least EDGE. GPRS-only is just a bit behind the times.

[Wii60 @ Sep 19th 2008 7:47PM]

Well, it needs both, for those of us waiting for T-Mo to roll out 3G.

I was about to buy one until I saw it lacked EDGE. It REALLY needs it to become a mass market device. Anyone who wants this device is gonna want a high-speed internet connection.

[Phoenix @ Sep 20th 2008 7:19AM]

...if it has 3G then there's no way in HELL it wouldn't have EDGE too

[Phoenix @ Sep 20th 2008 7:22AM]

*had 3G

[Royce Erice @ Sep 24th 2008 3:27PM]

screw the android and the g3. everyone is acting like if u get that phone ur life will be boasted into the future at mach 22. its a fone the only much more we can do to it is something we"ve all known for a while. a video cell phone. stop beatin off to engadget stuff and push urself into the future with your LIFE! not your P.O.S ANDROID or G3

[John from BUffalo @ Sep 19th 2008 7:05PM]

I'd make it thinner but heavier, so I could use it as a paper weight. I owed the Neo 1973 ... what a piece of trash.

[unixcharles @ Sep 19th 2008 7:05PM]

Complete redesign IMHO!! I like linux, and I'm pro opensource... but this thing look so ugly. In this form I will never carry one of those in my pocket.

[who? @ Sep 19th 2008 7:13PM]

Just curious- can you also see how similar it looks to the Helio Ocean?

[Silvio @ Sep 20th 2008 10:01AM]

I agree on it's ugliness! I hate the huge hole that it has on the bottom.

[Shlee @ Sep 21st 2008 7:19PM]

Have you used one of them? I originally disliked the shape when looking purely at the photos but the unit has grown on me.

Nice weight, nice size, fits in my pocket easy enough.. fits my hand and my face...

[unixcharles @ Sep 21st 2008 7:37PM]

I agree with who?, they have similar look but it thing that its actually the Helio that is inspired from Moko design.

@Shlee, I've seen one from a friend here in montreal. I can't say I've used one of them, because that the person I know who bough one wasn't able to make call due to a bug that cause network incompatibility with his GSM carrier... He sold the thing on ebay since then.

its not the worst phone I've ever seen, but however I think that it just don't stand against the competition in term of design... but that's just me, my friend liked the design but I couldnt resist taking my iPhone out of my pocket to make fun of him :)

[more bad asser @ Sep 19th 2008 7:11PM]

Android
$150 or less
T-Mobile
3G
zomg
etc.

[Robert @ Sep 19th 2008 7:27PM]

I second Android and the lower price, but I'd like to see them in GSM and CDMA flavors. GSM simply just doesn't work in my area :(

[WillHe @ Sep 19th 2008 9:27PM]

Well, I would want the OPTION of fully-functioning Android as the OM software is improved. Hopefully Google will be nice and recompile Android to ARMv4 for the OM community. If that happens, I'd buy one in a second. XD I'd buy so many microSD cards then. One to boot Android, one for Debian, one for the GTK-based OM, one for OM2008.9...

[timepilot84 @ Sep 19th 2008 7:13PM]

Not round

[Matt O @ Sep 19th 2008 7:13PM]

3g.

[reisa @ Sep 19th 2008 8:39PM]

lol

[Matthew C @ Sep 19th 2008 9:27PM]

hows is that funny?

its totally a legit comment.

[Abhinav @ Sep 19th 2008 10:21PM]

I bought the OpenMoko FreeRunner when it was released. They accidentally sent me two.
I decided to return my phone before the 14 day evaluation period for reasons I will describe. However OpenMoko contacted me immediately to return the extra phone they sent me (got a voicemail asking me to call back to Taiwan - I am in Canada). After three emails and two weeks of no response, they decided to refund my money.

The FreeRunner has great potential. I will consider it once again - when the firmware is more stable.

Pros:
Sturdy Phone
Responsive TouchScreen
Came in a great box with a pen/light/laser/stylus - laser is fun
Good sound quality (music player and received call)
Bootloader has three-modes

Cons:
Firmware could not even make a call (Dialer could not make call - could receive though) - and very slow
I tried three different firmwares (two by OpenMoko one by Otopia - none worked the dialer)
2.5mm audio jack
Wi-Fi could only be set via command line
Oh did I mention non-responsive firmware
Stylus is ugly and bulky - does not integrate with the phone
Communicates very well with Linux - not so much with Windows
Poor customer communication and service

[FuzzyCat @ Sep 20th 2008 3:46AM]

When you purchased it it was made REALLY clear that it was a developer device and that the firmware was not ready for use. If you still went ahead and got it then started bitching about the firmware not being ready then you are a total dick.

[Wwhat @ Sep 20th 2008 10:46AM]

If you call people a dick because they expect half-way working firmware in a sold device YOU are the total dick IMHO

[FuzzyCat @ Sep 20th 2008 12:59PM]

Not really, all over the openmoko site it tells you it's a DEVELOPMENT device that's not ready for end user usage. If you ignore that completely then complain that the firmware isn't ready then you are a dick. 5 seconds of research would have saved a lot of effort and both of you being dicks.

[Abhinav @ Sep 19th 2008 10:21PM]

Lack of 3G can be a pro or a con.
I'm not paying for that ridiculous data plan.

Pro:
My Nokia BP-6L (I think) battery fit just fine

[Wormbolt @ Sep 19th 2008 7:28PM]

More cowbell?

[MikeKlein @ Sep 19th 2008 7:33PM]

So many informative comments from "the hackers and tinkerers out there who splurged for one"....rtfa please.

[sbike @ Sep 19th 2008 7:40PM]

1) Either ditch the stylus (and change the gui) or provide a place to put the stylus
2) 3G
3) Make it MUCH more stable.

[Stu Gots @ Sep 30th 2008 10:45PM]

reduce its price.

[ben @ Sep 19th 2008 8:06PM]

I would change it so i can has one.

also CDMA would be awesome

[rahul @ Sep 19th 2008 8:07PM]

1. Faster processor : This thing is intended as a small hackable "computer" almost. Putting a more powerful chip will help. OMAP3?

2. Graphics drivers that work : We need OpenGL ES working drivers. I dont really care if they are closed source.

3. Drop the GPS and accelerometers if it reduces cost.

4. Out of the box working codec support for major formats. Yeah I know : closed source and stuff. But doesnt really matter to me.

[Timmy P. @ Sep 19th 2008 9:03PM]

You may not care about the repercussions of having closed source software illegally installed but I have a hunch that OpenMoko does. Being small and (relatively) new, it can be hard to get what we want them to give us.

[Pete @ Sep 20th 2008 10:12AM]

Actually, there have been developments on that front: http://www.linux.com/feature/148339

[Dimitri @ Sep 19th 2008 8:07PM]

Having owned the freerunner, prior to returning it, the biggest problem I had, hands down, was the firmware. It's still in its infancy and has NO internet connectivity. None.

(Sure the hardware is capable of it, but none of the current firmware versions support it out-of-the-box.)

When the firmware is finally able to actually allow the phone to browse the internet and send email, out of the box, I'll be the first in line to buy it. It's got a LOT of potential.

[YOO. @ Sep 19th 2008 8:16PM]

Android.

[The Dude @ Sep 19th 2008 8:24PM]

1. Make it not look like absolute ASS.
Related: What the fuck is that gap for on the bottom? So I can put it on a keyring or a lanyard?
2. Too much dead space. Particularly because it looks like ass. The shape they chose almost ensures that you can't implement a screen that maximizes on available space. You're stuck with dead round ends.

[StreetStealth @ Sep 20th 2008 12:16AM]

Hey, that space at the bottom really ties the handset together!

[TheStupidOne @ Sep 20th 2008 1:16PM]

@TheDude

Because its hip to be square?

Seriously, why do so many have a problem with rounded out edges?

[Sherpa @ Sep 20th 2008 2:14PM]

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

[chris fredette @ Sep 19th 2008 8:25PM]

3G
3MP
flash
But android wil probably kill them. They could just make it run Android though.

[pm @ Sep 19th 2008 8:35PM]

The screen is a thing of beauty in terms of resolution, but it's too small physically. I'd like to see a larger screen - so that one doesn't need to use glasses to read the smaller fonts.
The device is small and compact but thick. I'd like it to be larger and thinner - closer to the form factor of the touchscreens like the iPhone and Storm.
I'd like to see a real touchscreen on it - rather than requiring a stylus. The current DPI is so high that it requires a stylus to use effectively. I'd like to see a larger screen with a lower DPI so that a human finger can actually be effective on it.
I'd like it to support EDGE - not just GPRS.
But the biggest thing that I think it needs is more CPU power. It's just too sluggish - particularly with the new Debian build that people have been putting on it.

[Dimitri @ Sep 19th 2008 8:51PM]

Actually, there is a real touchscreen on there, and it works great with the Qtopia firmware. The OM 2008 hardware, not so much.

It currently doesn't support multi-touch though; it's not a priority for the engineers at the moment.

D

[chewbie @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:26PM]

needed: WiFi, a form-factor that doesn't waste space ie big screen. A qwerty keypad would be nice because if you might want to bring up the terminal. Hardware that is "open" enough to be able to control it fully ie set the wifi adapter in such a way to indicate signal strength and diagnostics or the camera to do real-time face recognition or something similar.
Memory slots, internal memory, addable memory :)

not needed: gps, high res camera, too many colors on the screen

[faltantornillos @ Sep 19th 2008 9:07PM]

First of all, for everybody complaining about the software, you can install debian and its tens of thousands of packages, plus all the other distributions (there are lots of distributions available for the freerunner) get updates all the time: using only 2008.8 I've been able to install and use several text editors (ie: Abiword), spreadsheets (ie: gnumeric), contacts apps, calendar apps (compatible with evolution), dialers, gps apps that would download the maps from internet from all around the world for free, several browsers (some of the compatible with ajax like minimo), im apps (like pidgin), media players similar to itunes (ie: quasar media player), pdf/ ps readers, scientiphic calculators, image viewers, voip, etc
About the hardware, it's also evolving and the next version is said to bring edge and a camera. But lets not forget that the usb port can work as host so you can already connect lots of devices to it, including cameras and maybe (I couldn't test that) 3g usb dongles.
For the ones complaining about how it looks, it's free hardware so you can design your own casing.
But the more important thing is the community: there's a lot of people ready to develop it and answers your questions, moreover, it's way easy to program it since it supports, for example, python.

[Lars @ Sep 22nd 2008 8:20AM]

pleeeaaaase, no camera. This is one of the first reasons for my interest in this phone (try finding a smartphone without camera. And no, please no discussions *why* I can't have a camera, it's just the way it is.)
As soon as firmware/OS is complete/stable, I'll buy one (switched to MacOS from Linux on Computers, because I'm sick of screwing around with daily use devices ;))

[TareX @ Sep 19th 2008 9:07PM]

CPU Power.
Bigger Screen.
Android. (DUH.... if they had to choose ONE thing to change)
More methods of input. (Sliding keyboard)
3G

Did I just describe the G1?