8 of 2008's Latest Linux-Powered Mobile Phones

Just how ubiquitous has Linux become? You've probably read about the 10 Linux-powered e-book readers. And of course you've heard about the Google Android G1 handset. Now, have you ever wondered if the G1's the only phone that runs on Linux? There are actually more out there. Let's see if we can come up with 8 of the latest

Note: The list is not arranged in any manner.


Openmoko Neo Freerunner

Some specs:

• Size: 120.7 x 62 x 18.5 mm
• Weight: 133 grams
• Display: Touch screen; 2.8" VGA (480 x 640)
• Memory: 128 MB SDRAM, 256 MB NAND Flash
• Highlights: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, AGPS, GPRS, Bluetooth 2.0
  

This phone can be more appealing to developers (than end-users) who would want to tinker around with the operating system/software stack. Say what? Yes, that basically means you get a chance to build your own custom-made phone using any of the available phone software stacks. The latest to throw in its own to the increasing number of stacks is Koolu using a version of Google's Linux/Java Android stack.




Motorola Krave ZN4

Some specs:

• Size: 51 x 105 x 19 mm
• Weight: 130 grams
• Display: Touchscreen; 2.8" 240 x 400 65k colors TFT (the flip resolution is 240 x 320)
  
• Memory: 130 MB
  
• Highlights: 2.0 megapixel camera, digital zoom, Class 2 Stereo Bluetooth
  

With its 500 hours of standby time and 250 minutes of talk time, this is one phone that you can rely on if you're one of those who constantly forget that a phone is a device that does need charging. Here's one cool feature: the cover is also touch-sensitive and allows you to listen to music, watch a TV show, or use the GPS apps without being flipped open.




Samsung Olympics Phone SCH-i859

Some specs:

• Size: 56 x 110 x 15.8 mm
  
• Weight: no info
  
• Display: 2.8" 65k colors TFT (240 x 320)
  
• Memory: 128 MB ROM
  
• Highlights: 3.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth

I couldn't find an official English site for this phone. If you click on the link above, it'll take you to linuxdevices.com, where they provide you with a link to the Chinese official site. I just wish these Asian companies (which do provide a lot of excellent Linux-powered phones) can have an English version for their sites. Well apparently, they didn't need one for this, as well as for the other products found in this list, since these products are aimed towards specific Asian countries.




Motorola MOTOROKR E8

Some specs:

• Size: 115 x 53 x 10.6 mm
• Weight: 100 grams
• Display: 2.0" QVGA 240 x 320 262k TFT
  
• Memory: up to 2GB of internal memory
  
• Highlights: 2.0 megapixel camera, 8x zoom, Class 2 Stereo Bluetooth
  

If you're a CNET Prizefight fan, you'll easily recognize this as the phone that beat the Nokia Xpress Music 5310 by a large margin in a clash between two of the top-rated music phones in the market. Motorola seems to come up with the most innovative front-panel features. This time, it introduces a ModeShift keypad that appears to metamorphose from one interface to another depending on the mode you are in: phone, music player, or imaging device.




Motorola MOTOROKR EM30

Some specs:

• Size: 115 x 53 x 10.6 mm
• Weight: 100 grams
• Display: not indicated on the official site
  
• Memory: optional 8 GB microSD removable storage card
  
• Highlights: 2.0 megapixel camera, 8x zoom, Class 2 Stereo Bluetooth
  

If you're thinking I must have made a copy-paste mistake here, don't worry. I didn't. This ROKR phone does look like the E8 including certain specs and over-all appearance... except for the center circular navigation interface. While the E8 uses the new haptic scroll interface, this one uses the usual four-sided wheel. It's still equipped with the ModeShift interface, but can only shift between two modes compared to the E8's three.




Panasonic P706ie

Some specs:

• Size: 109 x 49 x 16 mm
• Weight: 106 grams
• Display: 3" TFT QVGA (240 x 427)
  
• Memory: supports MicroSD up to 8GB
  
• Highlights: 2.0 megapixel camera
  

Designed for Japan's NTT DoCoMo's 3G FOMA network, it is suitable for media streaming, video conferencing, and short Mobile TV segments.




Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5

Some specs:

• Size: 118 x 50.5 x 12 mm
• Weight: 114 grams
• Display: 2.4" 240 x 320 262k TFT
  
• Memory: up to 350 MB available memory
  
• Highlights: 5.0 megapixel camera with a shutter speed of up to 1/1000 seconds

If you click on the link above and check out the full specs on the site, you'll notice that it is primarily a camera with phone capabilities than the other way around. Yup, it's quite full-packed with quality camera features, that the highlights I provided are nowhere near describing it. Teaming up with Kodak for this one, Motorola appears to have produced a benchmark for the perfect camera phone.




HTC G1

Some specs:

• Size: 117.7 x 55.7 x 17.1 mm
• Weight: 158 grams
• Display: Touch-sensitive 3.2" TFT-LCD HVGA (320 x 480)
  
• Memory: 256 MB ROM 192 MB RAM
  
• Highlights: 3.2 megapixel camera, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi
  

Easily the most popular in this list, this is backed-up by Google which means you can easily access Google apps such as Gmail, Youtube, Google Talk, Google Calendar, and Google Maps from it. Developers are loving this phone because, like the Freerunner above, they get to play around with it. Code for the applications are written in Java but will run on a specialized VM. You may click on that link if you want to read more about it.



There you have it, 8 of 2008's latest Linux-powered mobile phones. There's actually more out there, so if 8's just too short a list for you, here are two links that you might want to check out before you have a cup.

Linuxdevices.com and
Limofoundation.org

Testing the Linux Waters - Live CD vs Dual Boot

There are some people whose interest in Linux is borne out of mere curiosity. And a good number of them can’t muster enough courage to go all the way right away. That is, to outright replace their Windows working environment with Linux. It is understandable that they would prefer a setup wherein they can continue working in the environment that they are familiar with and be able to try out Linux during their spare time. Luckily, these people have a couple of options: a Live CD or a Dual Boot System.

Live CD’s

Live CD’s are bootable compact disks that allow you to explore the features of an operating system (in this case, Linux) as if you were in that particular OS. To use, you simply load the Live CD into your optical drive, boot up your PC, and presto! – You’d be on your way to your first Linux experience.

Once inside, you’ll get to see everything that you’ll find in a basic installation of the particular Linux distribution that came with the CD. Now this is not just a regular window-shopping experience, as you’ll also be allowed to perform almost everything you can in a typical installation. That includes running programs, opening windows, exploring folders, checking out system resources, detecting hardware, viewing your Windows files and folders, and many others – even surfing the Web if you have an Internet connection.

If you think that sounds like a complete working environment, it is. There is one major drawback though. Most of this Live CD’s operations can be very slow, primarily because they load up into your RAM. Now, if your specs are limited, you’ll end up crawling your way to the shutdown button in no time. Let’s face it, if it would take forever to try out a single application no one can expect you to move on and try out the rest. In my experience, 1 GB of RAM already allowed me to seamlessly navigate through Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), although I’m not sure if 512 MB still would.

Here’s a wiki table that provides a lot of good information regarding Live CD’s of the popular distributions. Some of them have specified the amount of RAM that will be used.

Dual Boots

A dual boot is a Linux installation wherein every time your system boots up you are allowed to choose between a Linux or a Windows boot. If you choose Windows, then you can go on with your usual tasks without even noticing the presence of the other operating system. In the same manner, choosing Linux would enable you to witness the full force of Linux, again without the slightest hint of the other operating system occupying your hard drive.

Dual boots actually take you a step further since the experience can be smoother. This is because Linux no longer has to load into RAM in the same manner that a Live CD does. The result is a full-featured setup that allows you to do everything that can be done in a Live CD operation and much more.

Unfortunately, there are no free lunches here. It's no longer as simple as loading a CD. You'll have to actually go through a complete installation process. In fact, it can get a little tricky once you get to the point of choosing the partitions on which Linux will be operating on.

In all my dual boot installations, I always installed Windows first. And in the context of our discussion, you don't have a choice since Windows would already be installed in the first place.

Since a dual boot does not require as much memory as a Live CD, and hence is substantially faster, it is ideal for emergency purposes (among others) such as the need to work on certain files in your Windows partition when your Windows environment is experiencing problems in the middle of an impending deadline.

So which one is better? Live CD or Dual Boot?

It depends on how curious you are and what level of Linux experience you'd like to have. IMHO, a Live CD is only a good testing environment if your hardware specs are pretty decent. That way, you won't be discouraged by the interface's slow reactions. A dual boot can provide a better testing experience if only you can hurdle the installation part.

While a dual boot is already considered as a full installation, it still is just a testing environment. If you're an average computer user, for as long as Windows is around in your system,you'll always be tempted to use it more often than your newly installed Linux. I'd love to hear some objections out there.

The fastest way to learn Linux might be to go all the way. But then again, this article is all about testing the Linux waters, isn't it?

It's time to go and have a cup.

Java's Spiral Into Extinction - Can Open Source Stop It?

The single feed from java.blogs that caught my attention today was this title:

Sun Microsystems to Cut 6000 Jobs.

Layoffs are no longer news nowadays, and yet nothing prepares you for it. While it was pretty evident that something had to be done from the losses it got from two of the last three quarters, bystanders like us never thought the solution would be this catastrophic. This gets bloggers like me, who well... blog about Java, wondering: will I be blogging about Java months from now? One solution to what seems to be an imminent disaster, as the extinction of one of the most celebrated platform in the history of computing, might well be just right beside it.

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's contention that users will be inclined to realign their business solutions toward open source products such as MySQL, OpenSolaris, and GlassFish might be logical as the world braces itself for the worst that this global economic crisis has to offer.

But is open source really the solution? or is there an impending doom that looms over it as well? Some sectors believe that the current crisis will push experts to put a price tag over their hard work as opposed to giving it for free. When a hungry unemployed developer comes across a brilliant idea, it would be difficult for him to turn away from the instant gratification of charging a fee to parties who would be interested with it. Sharing it out in the open for free with the hopes of getting some good returns through services can just be too speculative at best, and speculation definitely isn't one of the marketable words in the world today.

This brings us back to the future of Java.

I'm no economic expert nor am I a software guru but here's what I smell brewing as I prepare my next cup.

Java is just so widespread: desktops, mobile devices, servers, car consoles, smart cards, etc, that it would be difficult to imagine that the companies making use of this platform would just dump it in the near future. The tides of these times spell out one word: uncertainty. With this in mind, trying out something new, i.e., replacing your current technology with something that is unproven can be nothing short of suicidal. So if the question is: Is Java going to spiral into extinction in the midst of this economic crisis?

The answer is no. At least not during the economic crisis, that is.

While Java will pretty much stay alive, I don’t think that’s all we’d like it to do… just to stay alive. We’d love to have it LIVELY again, like Duke turning cartwheels again perhaps?

But that’s easier said than done especially with an organization running with a 6000-less workforce.

So where do you get reinforcements? They’re out there on the open source community. But that brings us back to the argument some paragraphs back: will there be an army in the open source community to count on? Won’t these individuals turn their backs on the idea of contributing to a common cause in order to secure their own future?

The answer to that again is… no.

They won’t charge a fee because no one’s going to be willing to pay. These are uncertain times, remember? So the open source community will still be there, army and all. The economic crisis will not eliminate open source projects. Human beings are well known for their ability to survive, and the successful stories of survival usually ended that way because the survivors put their brains together without expecting anything in return…

except simply to survive.


Time for me to take my first sip as my cup is getting cold.

My First Few Minutes In Chrome

You're now looking at my screenshot of a freshly downloaded Google Chrome:

Just downloaded Google's new browser, Chrome, and here are my first few observations.

Amazingly fast.

I know write-ups around the web are talking about how fast it is. Well, here's another one. When I heard about its speed, I never imagined it would be so noticeable... especially if compared with Firefox.

A minute after the download, and I easily noticed the difference. My favorite websites just smoothly flashed into sight as soon as I pressed enter. Well, that's a little bit exaggerated, but just a little.

Cool Tabs

If you click and drag on a tab, it seamlessly pops out into a separate window. Click and drag it back into your tabs, and it snaps back in. Be sure you click and drag on the tab and not the window when you attempt this yourself. It may just be aesthetics, but I just love how smooth you can do these motions.

But...

One thing I've noticed, although perhaps some of you have some workarounds (please share them here if you do), is that some buttons/icons like those on Odesk (when writing an application) and Yahoo (when composing an email) are not visible. I'm referring to the Formatting Buttons, e.g. Bold, Italic, Bullets, Hyperlink, etc.

Summing Up...

If I can find a solution to those vanishing buttons, I just might completely uninstall Firefox. While Firefox does beat Chrome in the Features category, what with all those amazing plugins, all I really need right now is plain and simple S-P-E-E-D. For those who do use Firefox's plugins, I suggest you stick to it and wait 'til the Chrome community comes up with their own. BTW, I heard Chrome's also open source, so you may not have to wait long.

Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Hangs on Initial Test Run

I've finally installed Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex as a dual boot alternative to Windows XP. But I'm not quite ready with a How-To-Do post because, honestly, the installation didn't go as smoothly as I expected. The system just kept on booting on Windows. I did some tinkering around, and in the end I wasn't able to keep track of what I did to eventually complete the installation, except for the fact that I did.

Still, that wasn't the last of my troubles. As I explored Intrepid to see what it had to offer, the system kept on hanging in the middle of my exploration (at least 5 times on separate occasions) and I had to press the restart button to try it out again.

On the bright side, I still ended up installing Sun JDK6 and Netbeans IDE 6.1 through Synaptic, where both installations went smoothly.

Anyway, I think I've finally found a solution to this particular "hanging" problem. When I went to System > Administration > Hardware Driver, I was shown this dialog box:



I clicked on the Activate button (it's shown as Deactivate here because I already activated it). Since then, and it's been two days now, no more system hangs. I'm no genius, but perhaps it had something to do with the driver of my ATI graphics card.

Note: I know. I should have posted this before the "Screenshot of Android SDK...".

Screenshot of Android SDK on its way to my Ubuntu system

See that?

That's the Android SDK on its way to my Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex system. You can also see Netbeans IDE 6.1 on the taskbar. I hope to talk about a Hello World app in the near future. That would mean that the installation ended up successfully. Cheers!