We all know that mobile phones that use Linux as operating system are pretty rare and when you manage to find one, you have to pay a lot of moneys for it. Well, it seems that a NXP Semiconductors and Purple Labs managed to solve this problem, and following the trend described by Asus, with his EEPC, released a press announce that informed the readers they have managed to create a device that fits to the daily needs and is also Linux-based.

I was more than glad to read that text! I remember when I’ve bought my actual cellphone, a Sony Ericsson W810i, that I’ve said : „When I’ll buy a new one, it will be a model that uses Linux. Either it’s Gphone or something else.” It seems that my dream will come true and I will be able to furfill my dream.

But I’m curios and I followed another link, that pointed to the official website of the manufacturers. Those folks really impressed me! Clean website, nice desing, good informations… well, well, they really draw a smile on my face.
With a menu full of links, I eagerly clicked everyone of them, in search of more and more informations. And my efforts paid off, quite soon.

I managed to find out what kernel is behind this device. We are talking about a 2.4.20 Linux Kernel, with add-ons and backports from 2.6.x versions. This kernel was originally developed for Texas Instruments OMAP730 chip.

On the add-on list we can find :

• LCD drivers
• LED driver
• GPIO driver
• Static camera buffer
• Bluetooth serial port

They were also added and modified some kernel features like :

• Kernel drivers ALSA 1.0.8
• YAFFS 1/2
• SquashFS

Kernel was modified especially to suport :

• USB (backported from 2.6.x series)
• I2C
• Power management
• TCP/IP stack tuning
• OMAP Keypad
• Various OMAP730 dedicated files
• Suppor of OMAP850 chip

These driver modules was also added :

• Camera & V4L2
• Security (SHA-1, TDES)

Now, imagine all this, wrapped together in a handheld capable to do the same tasks as your linux powered desktop or laptop. Cool, isn’t it?

Between the keyfeatures of this device, we encounter 3G Video Telephony, Video streaming, Bluetooth and USB conectivity, micro-SD support, FM Radio, MP3, AAC and even H264 support!!! Now, tell me what do you want more?

All this, require a 208MHz Chipset, with a mininum of 32 MB of RAM video (double the amount if you want 3G services) and 32 MB NAND.

In the right photo, we can see the menu. Simply (stupid). It reminds me of the old Slackware.

In the following photos, it’s the browser of this device. I wonder if Google will optimize their service again, to be handled better by this cellphone.

Do you imagine your smartphone without a good email client? Guess not! So, in those images, you can see a dummy email from this phone.

And, as I said earlier, it’s the first 3G Linux-powered mobile phone. So, this is a «screenshot» during a video call.

Will this phone change the mobile world or it will be forgotten after a few days? It will sustain the myth that claims that Torvalds is able to install Linux even on a dead beavor?

A Linux user, A.Faith.