Developers and Applications Wanted

Open for development!  WorksEverywhere is proud to offer the NEO FreeRunner "open" phone to developers, systems administrators and VARs who wish to develop applications or other software stacks on this versatile machine.

What is an "open" phone?  Most hardware phones are locked to a particular service plan, or only are supplied with the software that comes from the hardware manufacturer.  Some only have applications on the device that are sponsored or certified and distributed by the manufacturer.  Many of these phones do not have all of the specifications for the internal parts (GSM radio, GPS, CPU, etc.) because the vendors of those components do not make them available. This makes it difficult for people to maintain the software on the phone or make the changes they need for their applications.

The NEO FreeRunner is completely "open".  Every component has full documentation that allows a software developer to make full use of the hardware.  The phone even has the case's CAD files available so people can design and make their own case.  The NEO FreeRunner is a perfect mobile development and deployment platform, not only for use as a phone, but as a small, ultra-low power computer: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner_GTA02_Hardware

Currently available for this phone are six different varieties of software, complete with source code, with others are on their way.

http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Distributions

Of the distributions listed on this page, currently Om2008.8, Qtopia and Debian are probably of the most interest to developers, but you can decide for yourself after reading the descriptions.  After all, freedom is about making an informed choice.

Thousands of these phones have been sold to developers not only for collaborating on the all-open-source Openmoko project (www.openmoko.org), but for developing vertical applications for layering on top of that software.  We invite potential buyers to determine if the different software distributions available meet their current needs for development.

The previous version of the phone, the NEO 1973 required a "debug board" to update the boot loader in case the developer made a mistake and overwrote the boot-loader.  The NEO FreeRunner has a ROM that can overwrite the NAND bootloader, restoring it to functionality, so the FreeRunner is able to recover from normal "mistakes".  The hardware developers call the phone "unbrickable", but we look at being able to recover as a feature of the phone, not a challenge to see if developers can break it.  Between this ability, the use of the emulators listed on the website and normal debuggers, we do not feel that the "debug board" is necessary for software development.

Speaking of debugging, we realize that the FreeRunner is an "Open" Phone, and invites experimentation, but before you whip out your soldering iron and start adding your "Pringle Can" Wi-Fi antenna to the FreeRunner, check out the issues around hardware warranty.  We want you to be safe out there!

WorksEverywhere is providing marketing, distribution and sales services for these phones worldwide.  We anticipate that once the consumer software and vertical market software is done that the FreeRunner will sell well in the consumer market.  We welcome distribution and dealer inquiries.

If you are an application developer and wish to port your application to the FreeRunner, or have Koolu distribute your application, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .