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sbasak
September 18th, 2009, 03:04 PM
What are the best Linux based smart phones on the market?

I heard Android is based on Linux. Is that true?

:confused:

Dragonbite
September 18th, 2009, 03:59 PM
What are the best Linux based smart phones on the market?

I heard Android is based on Linux. Is that true?

:confused:

Android is Linux,
Palm Pre is I think distantly related to Linux, though is a different OS (Web OS?)

Don't know about "best" though. A comparison of Android-based phones would be interesting.

RaZe42
September 18th, 2009, 04:11 PM
Nokia N900, based on Maemo 5 (Linux)

People are calling Maemo a "real linux" because it shares libs and such with "desktop linux".

Maemo is based on Debian, and is open. You're free to get root access and programs/codecs are just an apt-get away. It has OpenGL 2 support and the entire UI is composited. Also, it supports multitasking, and it's task switcher is much like Scale/Exposé. The browser in it is based on Gecko(same as Firefox). The browser also has Flash 9.4.

Android fans, take that :P

The Nokia N900 will be released in October for around 600€/650$ *unlocked*

Some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhTtsZATwBQ Promo Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5R-5NX1BE&feature=related Real world usage

steev182
September 19th, 2009, 10:32 PM
I personally prefer WebKit browsers. Also, I really like the Google integration, but, of course, that is subjective!

I've used a couple of Android phones, the HTC Magic (MyTouch in the US) and the Samsung Galaxy. I prefer the feel of the Galaxy, but they are very closely matched. Also Play.com sells the Galaxy sim free for £449.99, the HTC Hero for £369.99 and T-Mobile will be selling a Huawei built Android phone (the Pulse) for £180 on Pay as you go. The Galaxy does have 8GB storage built in and a MicroSD card slot, which can support 32GB cards.

I feel that at the moment, the most polished and used Linux based phones will be running Android for at least the next 2 years.

The Android Marketplace has some apps which beat some of the apps on the iTunes app store but it does have some of the same crap as the app store.

mmix
September 19th, 2009, 11:43 PM
Yes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29

NormanFLinux
September 19th, 2009, 11:50 PM
Apple's iPhone has a Linux based heritage. Part of it runs on BSD.

MikeTheC
September 19th, 2009, 11:52 PM
My Palm Pre is nice.

I still like the iPhone better, but there's too many significant counterindications for me to ever own one.

I do own an iPod Touch, though.

sandyd
September 20th, 2009, 01:55 AM
Apple's iPhone has a Linux based heritage. Part of it runs on BSD.
keep in mind that you **might** run into a road block when you try and transfer music from linux to an iphone

Dr. C
September 20th, 2009, 03:29 AM
The N900 from Nokia. http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/

PhoHammer
September 20th, 2009, 04:46 AM
I have a myTouch 3G (Android powered phone) and I love it!

c-J
September 20th, 2009, 09:20 AM
Nokia N900, based on Maemo 5 (Linux)

People are calling Maemo a "real linux" because it shares libs and such with "desktop linux".

Maemo is based on Debian, and is open. You're free to get root access and programs/codecs are just an apt-get away. It has OpenGL 2 support and the entire UI is composited. Also, it supports multitasking, and it's task switcher is much like Scale/Exposé. The browser in it is based on Gecko(same as Firefox). The browser also has Flash 9.4.

Android fans, take that :P

The Nokia N900 will be released in October for around 600€/650$ *unlocked*

Some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhTtsZATwBQ Promo Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5R-5NX1BE&feature=related Real world usage


I used to think it base on S60.I was complete wrong.

sbasak
September 20th, 2009, 12:26 PM
Unfortunately most of these phones are still too expensive! :(

Hopefully in next year or so price will come down.

steev182
September 20th, 2009, 12:54 PM
That's been my problem with them. Now there's gonna be one for £180 without a contract, it's just about in my price range. Apparently the HTC tatoo will be an 'entry level' one aswell.

KenBW2
September 20th, 2009, 01:11 PM
That's been my problem with them. Now there's gonna be one for £180 without a contract, it's just about in my price range. Apparently the HTC tatoo will be an 'entry level' one aswell.

Where have you seen one for £180? Please let me know :)
Also potentially interested in the HTC Tattoo if/when the price drops a bit

Dimitriid
September 20th, 2009, 02:41 PM
The N900 looks like a beast, but honestly I rather buy a netbook for less than half of that and have a much more useable screen.

sbasak
September 20th, 2009, 07:57 PM
A quick search shows HTC Tattoo will be priced £300+ :(

earthpigg
September 20th, 2009, 08:15 PM
Maemo is based on Debian, and is open. You're free to get root access and programs/codecs are just an apt-get away.

if/when an AUR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux#AUR) equivalent comes into existence, i will very likely purchase one of these bad boys next time current phone breaks or i lose it.

if needed, i would be willing to pay for access to a non-Nokia and non-cellphone company maintained repository that included maemo ports of GUI apps.... $2/month or maybe $20 for lifetime. something like that.

or maybe even if it just came with a great collection of repositories like we are used to with Ubuntu.

wikipedia says this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemo#Software):

Maemo comes with a number of built-in applications, but additional applications can be installed from a number of sources, including various official and community software repositories and deb files through either the built-in package manager "Application manager" or apt and dpkg.

anyone know how great Maemo-specific repositories are at present?

i imagine command-line tools would work perfectly OOB... but i can't even get freeciv to be playable on my netbook, so i dread to think about it on a screen that small.


also, root access means that - if the phone's hardware is capable and i paid for unlimited bandwidth... i could theoretically tether that bad boy to a laptop and go on the net, right? without paying an extra $40/month or whatever ridiculous cost is associated with the ability to tether a cell with a closed OS to a laptop...

my buddy spent hours and hours trying to accomplish that with his Windows Mobile cell phone. the phone was obviously physically capable, because his carrier wanted to charge him extra every month for the continued use of the app that made it possible to connect to his laptop via bluetooth and provide internet access to the laptop. he already had "unlimited" bandwidth as part of his plan.

stuff like that, and amazon remotely breaking into the homes of customers and stealing books purchased from amazon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle#Remote_content_removal) is an absolute deal breaker for me if i am going to pay money for a piece of hardware. yes, i understand the customers agreed to a EULA that allowed amazon.com to break into their homes and steal items on their bookshelf (including one case where amazon.com not only did the above but also burned a university students thesis notes (http://www.confettiantiques.com/news/international/amazon-kindle-fail/)!). thats the point: i dont sign EULAs like that.

i also would never purchase a car that had artificial speed limitations. i will probably never in my life drive that fast, but that is for me to decide, dammit.

steev182
September 20th, 2009, 08:20 PM
Where have you seen one for £180? Please let me know :)
Also potentially interested in the HTC Tattoo if/when the price drops a bit

http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/09/03/t-mobile-introduces-first-pay-as-you-go-smartphone-dubbed-pulse/

sim-value
September 20th, 2009, 08:58 PM
HTC Hero.....

sbasak
September 21st, 2009, 10:48 AM
If T-mobile can really offer that for £180, it should be a killer phone!

How easy it is to unlock Android phones?

littlemog
September 21st, 2009, 10:50 AM
HTC Dream... :)

MichaelRX8
September 22nd, 2009, 04:05 AM
I use sprint so the best choice for me was the Palm Pre. Really digging it so far, you gotta do some hacking to unlock its full potential. Fortunately Palm doesn't mind. I've enabled the Wi-Fi and usb teathering as well as the NES emulator for Linux. Pretty nifty so far.

hanzomon4
September 22nd, 2009, 05:11 AM
N900... by the way this is the year of linux in the pocket, just in case you missed the news

kachmor
September 22nd, 2009, 06:43 AM
My Palm Pre is nice.

I still like the iPhone better, but there's too many significant counterindications for me to ever own one.

I do own an iPod Touch, though.
the threads about iPhone and smart phones are quite well commented
with one missing element
users must distinguish themselves in approach to computing
most (my error in assessment if this is off base) Ubuntu posters are single device users
which makes them atypical of both the developer group and the user groups
My home network has 17 active devices and closets and basements and attics of not currently connected devices. Some of the active devices work pretty well with UNIX commands/OS. Most do not. Asking my iPhone to UNIX with my DISH or Wii seems patently absurd. My bagel capable toaster agrees with me in this matter, btw, lol, omfg.

The real Open Source Challenge (as opposed to say the current open source endeavor to duplicate and / or replace MSwindowing) is to provide interoperability to devices from refers to netcams to whatever keyboard and monitor I sit at, wherever that might be.

Thus my POI request as I pass through Canyonville, OR might have some useful returns. In other words, it is not enough to know OH~ so precisely where a person stands, it is best also to know what lurks in the neighborhood.

Synching has limited value when the data to involved remains more distraction than inspiration.

The relevance of this discourse is that absent some footing in the general OpenSource shares the road with Mac OC and BSDunixing rather than providing an alternative, it is another car on I-5 a half hour away from a sudden fog producing one million car pile up.

HappinessNow
September 22nd, 2009, 09:32 AM
What are the best Linux based smart phones on the market?

I heard Android is based on Linux. Is that true?

:confused:


HTC Hero.....
If you live in the US the Hero will be carried by Sprint and with a 2 year contract you can get the Hero at $180 (allegedly but not confirmed).

Not bad for the most advanced Android phone on the market.

You'll have to wait a little bit, I have heard as soon as the end of the month or as late as Oct. 12.

This is a second generation Hero, no chin and reported to be lightening fast.

You might also take a look at the new Motorola Cliq with Motoblur (http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/MOTOBLUR/Meet-MOTOBLUR).

sbasak
September 22nd, 2009, 02:02 PM
Looks like phones are much cheaper in USA than in UK :|

steev182
September 22nd, 2009, 02:06 PM
How so? If getting with a contract of £25 or over, you can get a HTC Magic for nothing.

If anything, they are much more expensive in the USA, working out a contract for the MyTouch on T-Mobile, and the cheapest you can get is $65 a month and you still have to pay $199 for the handset.

rifak
September 22nd, 2009, 08:41 PM
wow, the N900 looks like its seriously going to own the iPhone. their demo video was really nice. it seems like these guys finally got it. flash, useful desktop interface (the dashboard thing), physical keyboard...everything the iPhone is missing. i'll definitely be keeping up with this.

MKdx
September 22nd, 2009, 09:43 PM
Motorola is going to produce quite few lower-end Android phones, which should be cheaper than other offerings.

earthpigg
September 23rd, 2009, 05:44 AM
Looks like phones are much cheaper in USA than in UK :|

Looks like health-care is much cheaper in the UK than in the USA, as a result :|

sbasak
September 23rd, 2009, 12:11 PM
Problem with contract phones is that they usually come with network locked. :confused:

steev182
September 23rd, 2009, 12:40 PM
But the phones on US T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T are all network locked. Even though you are paying $150-$200. The problem is, you still have to pay the high monthly charges and you paid all that money at the start for a network locked phone.

A jailbreak and unlock on the iPhone takes the network lock away, I have a feeling that 'rooting' an Android phone will mean you can take away the network lock.

khelben1979
September 23rd, 2009, 01:11 PM
Nokia N900, based on Maemo 5 (Linux)

People are calling Maemo a "real linux" because it shares libs and such with "desktop linux".

Maemo is based on Debian, and is open. You're free to get root access and programs/codecs are just an apt-get away. It has OpenGL 2 support and the entire UI is composited. Also, it supports multitasking, and it's task switcher is much like Scale/Exposé. The browser in it is based on Gecko(same as Firefox). The browser also has Flash 9.4.

Android fans, take that :P

The Nokia N900 will be released in October for around 600€/650$ *unlocked*

Some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhTtsZATwBQ Promo Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5R-5NX1BE&feature=related Real world usage

Looks like a nice phone.

mmix
October 4th, 2009, 05:48 PM
palm pre: +1