OpenFrame
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O2's Joggler, formerly OpenFrame, launches in UK this April
Our friend Mr. Blurrycam was right on the money: OpenPeak's OpenFrame 7-inch MID touchscreen is on its way to the UK care of O2, albeit with a rather odd name change. The Joggler, as it's now called, connects via WiFi or Ethernet and has no SIM card for mobile use. In addition to the standard lot of apps -- news, weather, sports, media player, etc. -- its calendar can send out SMS reminders to other phones. Interestingly, though not apparently available at launch, it'll be able to send up to 50 free text messages to any UK-based phone, as well as receive an undisclosed number of messages. It's on track for an April release for £149.99 ($220), or free if you decide to pick this up instead of a handset when upgrading your plan.
OpenFrame and O2 caught canoodling in the wild
Our good friend Mr. BlurryCam managed to steady his (or her) hands a bit and snap a few shots of a working OpenFrame, complete with an on-screen widget indicating the multimedia phone's apparently found itself a home with European carrier O2. Additionally, it looks like traded in last season's iPhone duds for something in a more BlackBerry motif. Our anonymous tipster tells us we should expect to see it hit retail sometime near the end of February. Want more? Check out another shot of OpenPeak's touchscreen darling after the break.
OpenPeak gets official with Atom-based OpenFrame IP "media phone"
OpenPeak was showing off an Atom-based version of its OpenFrame touchscreen / phone combo at IDF last month, but it's only just now gotten fully official with it and, naturally, it's taken the opportunity to dish out some new, prettied-up pictures. Not much looks to have changed with the device itself in the past month or so though, with it still promising to "simplify everyday family and media interactions" and, just as importantly for OpenFrame, "drive new revenues for service providers" -- it'll handle phone calls, too. Unfortunately, while OpenFrame is still saying we can expect to see the first devices based on the platform early next year, it's apparently not yet ready (or able) to announce exactly who those OEM partners might be.[Via HotHardware]
OpenFrame touchscreen homephone goes Atom, gets demoed on video, is still a landline phone
We first saw OpenPeak's OpenFrame home phone at CES, where it was sporting various FreeScale and ARM chips under the hood, but it looks like things have changed in development -- the company has been showing off production-ready units built on Atom chips at IDF. OpenPeak says that the ease of building for IA32 sped up development completely, and that only a fraction of the CPU is being used, giving the product room to grow -- probably a good thing, seeing as it supports open application development, rich services, and syncs with your PC and cell phone contacts and calendars. Of course, that still doesn't change the fact that it's a landline phone, and we're just not certain consumers are really clamoring for a $200 to $300 landline phone -- even it does rock a distinctly familiar touch interface. Anyone going to take the plunge when this thing hits in the first quarter of next year? Read - Wired article Read - Video shown at IDF
OpenFrame: 'The iPhone of home phones'
With data integration in mobile handsets, it's no wonder home telephones haven't been able to keep up. But what happens when you're using a service like Verizon's FiOS and all of a sudden that boring handset has broadband data piped right into it? One example could be OpenFrame – a new home phone envisioned by John Sculley, former Apple CEO – that maybe-a-little resembles Apple's iPhone. The various devices are built on Freescale MX31 processors "with two 600-MHz ARM11 chips doing the heavy lifting" for features like streaming video, music, web surfing, and more. According to the manufacturer's chief executive, the heavily subsidized phones could be shipping out in four or five months straight from the carriers (no retail presence here). Though the phone was built specifically for services like FiOS, they're not yet saying if it's coming to FiOS. Why so shy, fellas?
