OpenMoko, the company most famous for its altogether open Neo FreeRunner, is reportedly quite close to kicking out an Android-based handset. Before you get all shocked and appalled, let's look at this rationally. If you'll recall, we actually got wind of such an occurrence way back in April of this year, and some of those very details are jibing nicely with what we're hearing now. Apparently a company dubbed Koolu will be looking to OpenMoko for the design, and we could see a device emerge as early as next month. Initial specs for the elusive mobile include a 400MHz / 500MHz Samsung 2442B CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, a 2.84-inch 640 x 480 resolution touchscreen, 802.11b/g WiFi, aGPS / GPS, inbuilt accelerometer, a pair of "hard" buttons, Bluetooth support, a 2.5mm headphone jack (boo!) and a microSD card slot. Obviously we'll have to wait and see if any of this pans out, but we'll be the first to cross our fingers and hope for yet another Android phone in the mix.

[Thanks, Charles]

Looking for nefarious ways to take advantage of that Freerunner's wide-open Linux distro? NeoPwn thinks it has just the answer, packaging OpenMoko's latest handset with a custom bootloader and your choice of several add-on hardware modules for what it bills as the "first ever network auditing distrobution for a mobile phone." In layman's terms, that means you can crack a WEP WiFi network in just five minutes from the comfort of your pocket -- a pretty powerful reminder that WEP needs to be put six feet under in favor of more secure encryption techniques. Packages range in price from $79 to $999 depending on what software and hardware is included (you'll need an external WiFi card since the Freerunner's guts don't support monitoring or packet injection) and are expected to start shipping next month.

[Via Slashdot]

If you're a Linux fanboy with a hankering for some mobile action, you'll be pleased to know that buyers of the retail, North American version of OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner have started getting shipments. If you hit the read link, you'll be able to see one lucky owner unboxing his new toy, complete with a spares kit and debug board (this guy is getting into it, okay?). This set of photos should be a nice companion to that in-depth look at the OS we saw recently. Now we're going to be on pins and needles finding out what gets cooked up for that spacious 480 x 640 screen.

[Via Slashdot]

For those folks who don't mind -- nay, who strongly prefer -- a terminal screen on their smartphone, we know you've already thrown down the plastic on OpenMoko's FreeRunner. If you're going insane waiting to get your hands on it, what better to do than read through a remarkably thorough writeup detailing the user interface and all the goop behind the pretty scenes that makes this thing tick? Oh, and if you're just now getting up the courage to see what the brouhaha is all about, you've chosen the perfect time to get schooled. See that read link? Hit it.

[Via BoingBoing]

July 4 was the date, but hey, what's the harm in opening up the floodgates just a handful of hours early? Get past the lack of 3G, EDGE, camera, and a rock-solid set of tested, commercialized apps, and open-source phoning nirvana can now be yours for $399 on the plastic.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Last we heard form Openmoko, it was packing and shipping the open-source FreeRunner for an early July release. So, here we are in early July and wouldn't you know it, the FreeRunner will be available for order starting Friday, July 4 with shipping to begin on Monday, July 7. As for details, we got 'em. The shipped version of the phone will come in both 850Mhz and 900Mhz Tri-band GSM flavors with a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen, WiFi, AGPS, GPRS 2.6G, Bluetooth 2.0, 128MB WSDRAM, and 256MB NAND flash. If you're down with all that, look to pay $399 on Friday at www.openmoko.com.

Unless you're very, very special, you haven't yet had an opportunity to run your hands over Openmoko's latest open-source creation, the FreeRunner, which was announced several months back with the hope of a spring release. Unlike the Neo1973 before it, the FreeRunner's said to be chock full of enough spit and polish to take on an audience larger than the original's hardcore developer base, and while a springtime date with destiny is now out of reach, it looks like they'll only miss the mark by a few days. A recent message from Openmoko's VP of marketing on the community listserv said that the retail phones should be packed and shipped by tomorrow and -- if all goes well, of course -- should clear customs by the first of July, meaning buyers should be able to get them delivered in the first week or two of the month. If they'd been able to squeeze in 3G, we'd hardly be able to contain ourselves, but even as it is, we suspect there's enough buzz to get units sold; let's just hope they're already hard at work on version three.

[Via The Inquirer Spanish]

The FreeRunner is FreeRunning a little late on its way into devs' hands, but that's not stopping OpenMoko from shipping out a few units early to VIPs, apparently. Monochrome Mentality was the lucky recipient recently of one of the very first FreeRunners served piping hot off the assembly line, and the impressions are generally positive. Buyers will notice the spit and polish the second they lay eyes on the box the FreeRunner comes in, a sign that OpenMoko's trying to move their open-source model away (well, not necessarily away) from the hardcore geeks and toward a broader consumer market. WiFi and motion sensors are the hallmark features the FreeRunner boasts over its Neo1973 predecessor, but visually, the new model takes a more subdued approach with black rings replacing the silver ones. Minor modifications include programmable LEDs embedded in the buttons, host mode support for the USB port (pretty cool!), and a whole pile of accessories in the box -- a good thing, considering the $399 price tag.

OpenMoko's first model, the Neo1973, has been sold out for some time now -- a testament to the popularity of the open-source phone concept, yes, but also a huge pain in the rear for new folks looking to get in on the action. That drought is thankfully about to end, though, with the introduction of the FreeRunner, a refreshed model that carries over the best parts of the Neo (think VGA touchscreen) while adding a few key features like three-axis motion detection and a faster processor. The group has just announced pricing on the latest model, and it comes in at a very consumer-friendly $399 -- unlocked, naturally -- which should allow a whole new group of hackers and Joe Regulars to join in the Linux free-for-all. Anyone needing ten or more will get an even better deal: $369, to be exact. It looks like the company's studying production samples right now, and if all goes well, we'll still see them in the pipe before the month's out.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

We're not too sure what to make of Koolu's Works Everywhere (W.E.) phone, but if the company actually manages to deliver on its spec sheet, we'll be duly impressed. It looks like the W.E. will run Android on top of a newer rev of OpenMoko's Neo1973 / FreeRunner hardware, with a VGA screen, 400Mhz processor, tri-band cell radio, WiFi, 256MB of flash, GPS, and MicroSD expansion, but we're not buying it when the company promises compatibility with 700MHz networks in the future -- Verizon hasn't really said what system it's going to deploy on its new spectrum. What's more, the website says the W.E. Phone will only be made available to Google Apps customers through wireless ISPs in the summer of 2008 -- totally fishy. Considering the day, we called and confirmed that it's real, but we'll wait for some more details before we give in to that sweet Debian tartan weave.

[Thanks, Stephen]

By the very nature of the organization, details of OpenMoko's upcoming FreeRunner are no secret -- quite the opposite, in fact -- but it's always refreshing to see the new kit out and about, doing what it does best (pictured here on the left). This image comes to us from the Bossa Conference in Brazil, where OpenMoko's Mickey Lauer talked up the Neo1973 successor, showed off the device bearing ever-so-slightly updated styling over its big brother (and over the model we saw at CES), and went over a laundry list of its impressive features. Three-axis motion detection is going to be a big win for devs and hobbyists looking to maximize the FreeRunner's potential, but other goodies include Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi (allegedly 802.11n, but that sounds a little optimistic to us), and a Samsung-sourced core humming along at a solid 134MHz better than the model it replaces. Would be nice if we could touch this thing at CTIA next month, yeah?

Without going into too much detail, Digitimes reports that OpenMoko president Sean Moss-Pultz has promised a new version of its Neo1973 open source handset to be unveiled somewhere in the next couple months, making both CeBIT and CTIA distinct possibilities for the big news. Given the scarcity of specifications here, it's entirely possible Moss-Pultz is referring to the retail version of the FreeRunner -- a phone we saw in very, very early form at CES -- but obviously, if we had our druthers, we'd much rather see another volley of brand new hardware come out of this. More news on this as we get it.

Mobile Linux flagbearer Trolltech appears to be carrying on at a nice clip in the wake of its acquisition by Nokia, and for its Qtopia Phone Edition platform, things just got a little sweeter. The company is using MWC as its stage to announce version 4.3, which is actually a good deal more revolutionary than its one-tenth increment would lead on. Biggies in the new build include a new UI theme designed to be finger-friendly (which makes total sense considering Trolltech's endorsement of the keypadless Neo1973 as the hackable, Linux-based mobile of choice for the moment), the "Qtopia Sync Agent" which ushers data between a Qtopia device and Microsoft Outlook, and support for Real's Helix DNA media engine, among other things. The goods are already available in beta, open source form from Trolltech's site, so hack away.

[Via Geekzone]

So this is a really early version of the FreeRunner, but mad love to FIC for bringing it out for us all to play with nonetheless. The first thing you'll notice is that it's still sporting its predecessor's "Neo1973" branding, an indiscretion we were promised would be put to bed prior to the scheduled spring launch to OpenMoko's developer community. Anyone used to toting a smartphone of average size could totally get used to carrying the FreeRunner around, which we think is probably key to the device's success outside the enthusiast community. The current build of the software, though, is another matter entirely -- it's in a pretty raw alpha state right now and hugh swaths of core functionality appear to be missing. Then again, they've got a few good weeks until spring, and even then the FreeRunner will find its way into hackers' hands before the masses; they've got some solid-feeling, solid-spec'd hardware here and we're still really hopeful that the final product is going to rock.

So far, OpenMoko's Linux-based open source phones have amounted to little more than a twinkle in the eye of Joe Consumer, instead getting fast-tracked into the hands of developers who hope to make the whole package stable and functional enough for the average buyer to give a flip by the time they're widely available. We'd say that's a solid policy -- especially if these guys hope to fight the oncoming Android steamroller -- and the next volley is about to get fired in the form of the "Neo FreeRunner." The spiritual successor to the original Neo1973 (pictured), the FreeRunner is being billed as a "compelling mass market device" thanks to some key additions: WiFi, motion sensors, a faster 500MHz processor, and 3D graphics acceleration. OpenMoko's previewing the phone at CES next week with shipments following on to developers in the spring in two triband GSM versions, one with North America-friendly 850MHz and the other with 900MHz. Consumer sales are expected to happen after that (shortly after that, hopefully) once the dev community blesses it with solid code.