Linux phone mechanicals published

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Mar. 03, 2008

Mobile phone design company Openmoko has posted industrial design source CAD files for its Linux-based, open source Neo 1973 phone (pictured at left). Openmoko has also committed to providing open source access to the mechanicals for its upcoming Neo Freerunner phone design.

Openmoko posted the CAD files under a ShareAlike Creative Commons license to encourage the sharing of concepts about mobile device design, it said. So far, the response from developers and industrial designers has been "overwhelming," according to the company.

OpenMoko Neo1973, exploded view
(Click to enlarge)

Openmoko was the first company after Trolltech to sell open, hackable hardware suitable for Linux mobile phone application development. The company emerged in Nov. of 2006, when then-FIC product development manager Sean Moss-Pultz introduced the Neo1973 and Openmoko project, aimed at building a completely open source phone. Openmoko later spun out from FIC (First International Computer of Taiwan).

Neo Freerunner
(Click to enlarge)

In early January, Openmoko followed up with the Freerunner design, which adds WiFi, 3D accelerometers, and improved graphics. Set to be manufactured by FIC for shipment in a developer's release this spring and for a broader release in the fall, the open source Freerunner is based on a 500MHz Samsung S3C2442 system-on-chip (SoC). A modified version has already appeared in an in-car navigation device from Dash Navigation called the Dash Express.

The Neo 1973 has been shipping in a developer's version since last fall. In September, Trolltech announced it was adopting Openmoko's original Neo 1973 as an official development platform for its Qtopia Phone Edition software stack.

Stated Lawrence Lessig, founder and CEO of Creative Commons, "With these drawings, developers and designers will be able to create their own open phone from the inside out. By releasing the CAD files for the exterior of the phone under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 license, Openmoko is unlocking what is typically a closely guarded secret."

Availability

Openmoko's Neo CAD downloads are now available here.

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