[News] Other Linux Products That Extinguish iPhone Envy, Offer Freedom

[Roy Schestowitz]

Meet the 'IPhoney': How to Roll Your Own IPhone

,----[ Quote ]
| The No. 1 gripe among iPhone owners is its lack of support for
| third-party apps, which means you're stuck with whatever Apple thinks
| you need. For power users, this is simply unacceptable. Those looking
| for the ultimate in customization can turn to a familiar solution
| when rolling your own is required: Linux.
|
| Canonical will be releasing a mobile version of its popular Ubuntu
| Linux distribution in October with the goal of making it easy to
| install the OS on any mobile phone.
|
| Until then, there are a number of phones set to ship with Linux
| preinstalled. Of particular interest is First International Computer's
| Neo1973, a GPS-equipped, quad-band phone that should be available this
| summer for $350 or less. The Neo1973 will be available with the
| OpenMoko platform, a mobile Linux distro made up solely of
| open-source software.
|
| Also, these Linux phones will have one particular feature we likely
| won't be seeing on the iPhone anytime soon -- the ability to make
| calls using voice over internet protocol.
`----

http://www.wired.com/software/coolapps/news/2007/07/iphoney

Related:

Get the iPhone’s Features Without an iPhone

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple made headlines this weekend with its launch of the iPhone. I
| applaud Apple for pioneering a new design and user-interface, however
| feature-wise the iPhone is similar to a Motorola RAZR that debuted two
| years ago.
`----

http://sheehantu.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/get-the-iphones-features-without-an-iphone/

[waterskidoo]

On 2007-07-05, Roy Schestowitz <newsg...@schestowitz.com> wrote:
> Meet the 'IPhoney': How to Roll Your Own IPhone
>

>| Also, these Linux phones will have one particular feature we likely
>| won't be seeing on the iPhone anytime soon -- the ability to make
>| calls using voice over internet protocol.
> `----
>
> http://www.wired.com/software/coolapps/news/2007/07/iphoney

That's pretty crazy! What Linux needs though is some good old
fashioned advertising so that people know what Linux can do.
While I personally admire Apple's products I'm the first to
concede that much of the fascination is hype and proper
target advertising. Apple is an innovator that is true, the ipod
and iPhone screen input are proof of this, but where would Apple
be without a huge advertising budget? This is what Linux needs, some
good mainstream press. What Apple does is come up with some new
and unusual features and then market the snot out of them so that
by the time the product is released, the potential users are
in a frenzy to get one. Harry Potter books are another example
of this kind of marketing.