OpenMoko's Android-running Neo FreeRunner makes its blurrycam debut
By Donald Melanson 
posted Dec 29th 2008 9:11PM
posted Dec 29th 2008 9:11PM
The handset itself is hardly anything new, and we had a pretty good indication that Android was heading its way, but there's still nothing like a few good 'ol fashioned blurrycam shots to make a plan really come together. From the looks of it, the handset doesn't appear to have gone under any major changes for its new Google-fied incarnation, with it still packing the same 2.8-inch VGA display, 400MHz Samsung 2442 processor, GSM and GPRS connectivity as before, plus the usual built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and AGPS, among other standard fare. Still not word on a price or release date, unfortunately, but according to the folks at iMAndroid, that is "just around the corner." In the meantime, you'll have to make do with the few more equally blurry pics available at the link below.
OPenMoKo>!
I wanted it so badly, ... then they released the pricing.
@Jaygo333
Neo + Android != OpenMoko. OpenMoko is a software stack (or distribution, if you will) and the Neo is an open phone.
Regardless, the Neo isn't the nicest Android running handset and at ~$400, it's far from the cheapest. The screen is resistive, surrounded by an obtrusive bezel which gets in the way of touching the edges without a stylus, and not nearly as nice as the G1 (without even considering cost) with its QWERTY keyboard. Also, lack of 3G is kind of a buzz kill.
A phone should be nothing more than a glass TTY running software people can live with. There are nicer phones available (G1) and in the works (Lenovo?) that are cheaper with higher usability than this running the same software.
This does not count as a photograph.
i hope that new htc touch hd with android comes out soon....it will blow away all the phones...... yes even that iphone 3g
It's not about quality and features. It's all about marketing and hype. So my bets are on the iPhone.
The freerunner had so much promise until we learned it lacked real data abilities.
Now you need to have at least EDGE to compete as a smartphone,
I have had a freerunner for 6 months now. I can live without Edge or USB2 or a camera, but the problem is there is no stable kernel for it, even for Android. There are H/W issues which make it pretty much useless, like buzz on the GSM audio path, echo etc. These have been addressed but not reliably fixed yet. So basically after 6 months it is no closer to being a usable GSM phone. Maybe it will all get fixed in another 6 months. I would love to run Android on it and use it as a phone, but it simply is not there yet. I have tried all the current distributions for it (there is plenty of choice), none of them allow it to be used as a reliable phone yet. It is very sad, it was such a great idea.
I don't think they produced an interely new model, they just installed android. Bound to happen sooner or later.
Still, this should not be on Engadget.
yeah, this is really a meh. with a little bit of effort, you can have androied on your Neo Freerunner too!. no seriously, i accomplished that myself in about 10 minutes not counting the flashing time. fact of the matter is android pretty much works less on this phone than its own stack. And remember, available source doesn't necisarrily mean open source, or open for that matter. (i'm looking at YOU android)
Yes it should - alot of us where very interested in OpenMoko. It's interesting how this phone has evolved (even if for the worse)...
This is a tech blog - so yes, it very much belongs here.
Has anyone ever wondered about the blurrycam conspiracy? I mean honestly, what stops these people from trying out this new thing called "lens focus"? Grrrr.
They're chased by security from sneaking into the TopSecret HQ, and don't have time to focus.
This is being spearheaded by 2 groups.
One of them has the neo w/android preinstalled for $299. Do the search, prices a features change daily in the OSS world vs, corporate-controlled world.
I have it running on my neo and believe me, it's still alpha. Still a lot of critical problems. But 80% functional, the problems deal with... proprietary drivers! But it shows great promise unless the openmoko folks can churn out something better than 2008.11
I'm annoyed by lots of comments on here when it comes to efforts like the neo. Unless it's google, apple or ubuntu, it gets a bad wrap and held to a higher standard, considering openmoko/fic got this phone out with no huge R&D budget that the big boys have-and they have a pretty powerful platform. Give'em then credit..... and support.
Android has been running on the Freerunner for a month at least.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Op-7tNTiw
Ok $400, clunky, no 3g ,. Wait I'll stop there,. And this is supposed to be the mighty android device that will kill the iPhone,.?? Come on give it some real compettition , this is a joke!!!even android fanbois know it blows hard,
You clearly have never taken anything apart or hacked something to make it better. The OpenMoko is for geeks that decide if they want mms programmed into the phone instead of letting a company decide for them.
Probably used an iPhone to take a picture.
JFYI. this an OLD news! You can buy the Freerunner since months and simply install Android using this info http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Android
But nevertheless its fun :)
Sorry, you got this one completely wrong.
OpenMoko is definitely NOT switching to Android. In fact, OpenMoko, Inc. just released a new version of their software stack. Nor there are any announced plans to sell Neos with Android pre-installed.
You can buy a Freerunner and install (very alphaish) Android on it. You have been able to do that for a while. And that's what the “blurrycam” is showing; in fact, you can find better photos and screenshots online.
No news here, move along.
@mercnet ,. Wow your so cool with your hacked ps2,n64.,Xbox mod control.,so your telling me to buy a $400 piece of android crap,so I cab maybe do mms,.get a freakin life,.
http://digg.com/linux_unix/Video_demo_of_Freerunner_running_Android_Cupcake_Tutorial
for video demo and tutorial