OpenPhone Finally Ships

Okay, enough theopolitics. How about some tech news?

The OpenMoko phone is finally shipping, although only in Europe and Asia at the moment. Mod-Bog readers may remember the OpenMoko platform as an attempt at an "free" (as in freedom) iPhone competitor. It has a touchscreen with Wifi, cell voice and data coverage, a powerful processor, and is built on the free Linux operating system. While the iPhone is a "walled garden" where you are not allowed to modify the underlying OS and you can only install apps that Apple approves, OpenMoko is hackable on all levels, from hardware to software.

Don't think this kind of thing has a hope of penetrating the market in light of Apple's iPhone, Microsoft's WindowsMobile, and Google's Android? You may be surprised, as the two-GPS system "Dash Express" is built on the designs originally published for OpenMoko.