Neo FreeRunner : Review Coming up

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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
Neo FreeRunner : Review

I am in process of acquiring a brand new Neo FreeRunner a.k.a. Openmoko at a throw away price. Watch this space!!!

Ciao!!!:)
 
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sujoyp

sujoyp

Grand Master
whats soo special in this mobile....please elaborate?? I even didnt understand another thing...we can change the linux OS in this(Qtopia,FSO):shock:
 
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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
Tamoghno said:
R u getting it in india ?????????
Click to expand...

Yes :)!!! In fact in Asia; its only available here.

*www.openmoko.com/distributors-asia-india.html

sujoyp said:
whats soo special in this mobile....please elaborate?? I even didnt understand another thing...we can change the linux OS in this(Qtopia,FSO):shock:
Click to expand...

The best thing about this mobile is its completely open. It is a must have tool for those who want more from their mobile but in some ways they feel handicapped. You can flash the NAND of the mobile with anyone of the following stacks/distros:

a)QT embedded
b) Android
c) Debian
d) Gentoo

more here:
*wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Distributions.

The default OS loaded currently is OM.2007 which can be used for day to day use(for making calls, SMSes etc). You can use u-boot to load multiple OSs! This toy gonna keep me occupied for a long time now. Can't wait!!!
 
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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
Re: Neo FreeRunner : Review

Well...finally after few impatient days today I got the delivery of FreeRunner :). I must say I am very delighted. It may take a while to understand the nitty-gritty but I think I can share my first thoughts. For detailed product specification kindly visit Openmoko-Wiki. My explanataion will be mainly from a end user perspective. So here we go...

As per website the MRP is Rs. 24000 however I opted for the demo piece and I got it at the discounted price of Rs. 15,000 including taxes. The package had phone, charger, USB cable, two batteries, stylus, headphone & 512MB micro SD card.

*img253.imageshack.us/img253/5499/27072009.th.jpg

The the surface of the phone has matt finish which is nice considering smudges from fingers. The built is sturdy and it fits nicely in the palm. I must say considering form factor that we see today; this phone does feels thicker. The triangular hole at the bottom is slightly odd. As of now am not sure if it serves any purpose.

*img136.imageshack.us/img136/4169/27072009003e.th.jpg

*img195.imageshack.us/img195/3172/27072009004.th.jpg

When I powered it on the first thing that struck me was the brilliance of its display; very crisp and sharp. It took a good minute and half to reach the splash screen. But before that ;the entire boot process was in verbose mode and I kind of loved it :)!

Since this is a demo piece the OS/stack that I got was different than what FreeRunner normally comes in (Om.2007). Mine has FYP (Free your phone :) ).

*img208.imageshack.us/img208/7366/27072009002r.th.jpg

FYP is a fork of Debian. This distro aims to be more touch phone centric. It has AWM kind of dock at the top of the screen :shock:(refer pic.)! Coming back to reality - FYP stack though stunning is sluggish. OS comes with wifi catcher, GPS, two games, terminal :),PDF viewer, note pad, different Gnome themes, mobile phone stack (to make & receive calls/SMS) etc. FYP is kind of unfinished product. I may want to change it with Android or QT in coming days. Now this the beauty of this phone. If you don't want something JUST CHANGE IT :wink:.

So thats about it. My first review...my apologies for blurred images...will try to use a true camera next time. I am sure as time permits I will keep on updating this thread...
 
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sujoyp

sujoyp

Grand Master
great...but is it only for linux lovers....will it work normally or do we have to know something special
 
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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
^^^ Thanks Dude!

sujoyp said:
great...but is it only for linux lovers....will it work normally or do we have to know something special
Click to expand...

No matter what OpenMoko says; this phone is meant for an enthusiast. Basic knowledge of Linux will help in realizing the true potential of this phone. However, the phone can be used for day to day work.
 
M

mehra.rakesh

Journeyman
demo piece .. u mean the box was not sealed or what ????...... still 15k is a gr8 price u got .....

had this phone ..... the A6 one sold it off as soon as i realised it had the buzz defect ...... try QT and u will simply love it ...... it runs very fast than normal Open Moko .....


Congrats for a gr8 purchase ....
 
T

Tamoghno

Padawan
Have you tried android in it ? If it can run android decently then it'll probably be the cheapest android phone !

Btw , whats the hardware ? Procy , ram ?
 
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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
mehra.rakesh said:
demo piece .. u mean the box was not sealed or what ????...... still 15k is a gr8 price u got .....

had this phone ..... the A6 one sold it off as soon as i realised it had the buzz defect ...... try QT and u will simply love it ...... it runs very fast than normal Open Moko .....


Congrats for a gr8 purchase ....
Click to expand...

It wasn't a sealed box. The piece I got is almost 'new'. Dealer says that it had been used only twice before for demos. It serves my purpose as a 'toy'. My main phone remains good old E61i. Yes this phone had a buzz defect however this was fixed in subsequent patches. I am planning to flash it with QT and then with Android. Yesterday I was able to SSH into it. It work like a charm through Ubuntu host:).

Tamoghno said:
Have you tried android in it ? If it can run android decently then it'll probably be the cheapest android phone !

Btw , whats the hardware ? Procy , ram ?
Click to expand...

Android is on the radar dude. The phone sports a ARM9 400MHz chip. As far as memory is concerned; the Neo FreeRunner contains two FLASH memories: NOR FLASH and NAND FLASH. NOR is 128MB SDRAM and NAND is 256 MB Flash. A boot loader is present in both memories.Which you can control using AUX and power buttons. NOR is permanent and cannot be flashed. This is because if the user goofs up in flashing NAND at least he has NOR to fall back on. So chances of bricking this device while playing is extremly low. More hardware info. is here.
 
M

mehra.rakesh

Journeyman
ummm ,,, the buzz thing was a hardware problem ..... patches couldn't n didn't help with it ...... ur dealer must have had it serviced ..... anyways its not such a big problem if this phone is ur TOY !!!! try n watch movies n videos over this thing ..... i dont know any other device having such a gr8 screen !!!!
 
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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
mehra.rakesh said:
ummm ,,, the buzz thing was a hardware problem ..... patches couldn't n didn't help with it ...... ur dealer must have had it serviced ..... anyways its not such a big problem if this phone is ur TOY !!!! try n watch movies n videos over this thing ..... i dont know any other device having such a gr8 screen !!!!
Click to expand...

Yes...you are right...its was a hardware issue which is fixed & the call quality is good now. I am trying to flash QT but I am struck at unreliable SSH. Hopefully I will be able resolve it today. IRC support is excellent and wiki pages are great tuts.
 
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amitabhishek

amitabhishek

Bad to the bone
Just an update... I have managed to flash Android on FR. If interested please visit the blog that I created today.
 
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