Last Friday, OpenMoko launched its highly anticipated FreeRunner smartphone, a Linux-based handset that’s completely open in both hardware and software last week. This week, developers are getting their first hands-on (Google News).
Half the requests for the OpenMoko are from universities, who use the device in embedded-design and open source programming courses, says Information Week.
Although the FreeRunner’s software platform is still incomplete, the device has attracted considerable attention from mobile software developers and Linux enthusiasts. It’s designed to encourage third-party modification and customization.
The FreeRunner handset is a powerful tool for prototyping mobile software, but it isn’t clear yet whether it’s also ready for adoption as a personal smartphone says ArsTechnica.
As TechWorld suggests about 20 percent of all mobile users will have Linux-based phones by 2013. More than 3.3 billion mobile phone users are currently on the planet — about one phone for every two people worldwide. With most adults now having mobile phones, one in five running Linux is huge – especially with growth in emerging markets.
DailyWireless cofounder Don Park got his yesterday. Here are his observations so far
- Arrived July 14th 2008. Stock firmware.
- Got on tmobile network with no problems
- Great size – very pockatable
- Great screen
- inbound/outbound SMS work
- No web browser
- Lag in audio transmission
- Screen waits a long time before turning off
- battery lasts about 10 hours on a charge
- user interface is a mess, unintuitive
- generally sluggish UI response time
The OpenMoko platform strategy is clearly still evolving, but it has a lot to offer for developers who want a truly hackable Linux-based mobile phone that elevates freedom and choice, concludes Ars Technica.
Symbian’s open foundation will build on the Symbian software platform, with more than 200 million phones, across 235 models, already shipped by multiple vendors and tens of thousands of third-party applications already available for Symbian OS-based devices. By contrast, Apple’s iPhone hopes to ship 10 million units by the end of the year.
According to TechCrunch, market share statistics may vary, but the ranking is currently approximately:
- Symbian (60%)
- Windows (15%)
- RIM (10%)
- iPhone (7%)
Symbian is by far the dominant smartphone operating system in the world.
But the North American smartphone market is a different kettle of fish. It is dominated by the iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile. During this year’s first quarter, more than 4.5 million Windows Mobile devices were shipped compared to only 1.7 million iPhones in the same time period.
GigaOm handicaps the players (above) while market researcher Canalys breaks down the Smartphone market (below).
The iPhone’s popular Webapps Store may be a good indication where this is all going.
