[ANN]: GTA04 (Beagleboard inspired Openmoko Upgrade) - Early Adpoter Program

Sylvain Paré sylvain.pare at gmail.com
Tue Dec 21 21:36:35 CET 2010


I would have been very glade to support this version too. but I decided to
buy a mass market phone to support multiport of FSO just before
the GTA04 began to be very promising..
I am a bit sad :/.... but I will be there to support GTA05or 06 for sure!!
anyway cheers! and Happy Holidays!
best regards,
Sylvain (aka garthps)

2010/12/21 Kosa <kosa at piradio.org>

> Great news!
>
> I will definitely buy one of those. Not just becouse I have a
> dead-by-drown FR collecting dust (wich case an lcd screen I can reuse),
> but also 'couse the FR is the best phone I have ever, I want to support
> opendevices development and this is the best way I can thank all FR
> users and developers effort have made so far.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Kosa
>
> - Un mundo mejor es posible -
>
> El 21/12/10 09:33, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller escribió:
> > Dear all,
> >
> > we are happy that we can make an announcement to the Free and
> > Open Hardware Community, right in time for X-mas and New Year:
> >
> > We have finally tested, understood and patched the bugs of the
> > first GTA04 sample board (a.k.a. GTA04A2) and have successfully
> > started U-Boot. We can access the important peripherals like
> > display, touch screen, and MMC card.
> >
> > So we are very confident that the already scheduled redesign
> > (GTA04A3) will work right from the beginning and boot Linux.
> >
> > This looks like the start of the aera of new Openmoko devices.
> >
> >
> > -- what it is --
> >
> > For those who have not followed or are new to this project, the
> > GTA04 is a OMAP3 based Smartphone Platform/Module [1]
> > that fits as a motherboard replacement into a Openmoko
> > Neo1973 or Freerunner case [2]. It is more or less the idea to
> > squeeze a BeagleBoard into a handheld and was started
> > by connecting a Openmoko Display to a BeagleBoard [3].
> >
> > It will finally come with UMTS (HSPA), GPS, WLAN, Bluetooth,
> > Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Altimeter, Compass, FM and an
> > optional camera. An expansion B2B-connector allows to
> > base a custom design on this module.
> >
> > A demo video of the GTA04A2 controlling the display and
> > blinking the illuminated buttons is here [4]. A brief
> > project description is [5]. Please excuse the low quality of
> > the pictures, since our small team has so far focussed on
> > hardware and software.
> >
> > The difference to off-the-shelf smartphones is that it will be
> > well documented (CC-BY-SA) and schematics will be included
> > in the spirit of the original Openmoko devices so that you can
> > access all the nice peripherals we have designed into it.
> > And through the expansion connectors you can also use
> > it as a module in your design.
> >
> > And, it is a community project. Everyone is welcome to
> > contribute.
> >
> > The driving force behind this project is Golden Delicious
> > Computers (www.goldelico.com), a specialist for embedded
> > hard-, firm- and software development located in Oberhaching
> > near Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
> >
> >
> > -- next steps --
> >
> > A closed and safe process would be that we silently redesign
> > the board (i.e. develop a GTA04A3), order some sample
> > boards and test them. If everything finally works, we would
> > order components and sit there and wait for them to arrive.
> >
> > Then, we would announce generaly availability in big ads in
> > NYT and FAZ.
> >
> > In this mode, you may deduce, that you will not be able to get
> > a GTA04 earlier than Summer next year if we don't run out of
> > money before.
> >
> >
> > -- early adopter program --
> >
> > Therefore, we have thought hat we offer an early adoper
> > program to the benefit of everybody.
> >
> > The idea is that you can order a GTA04A3 immediately. At
> > a fixed price (280 EUR). And we take the risk that prices of
> > components will change. You only take the risk that we may
> > need more time to get the components and have to spin
> > another PCB.
> >
> > Using your money, we will order the core components with
> > a long lead time (OMAP, Memory, UMTS module) as soon
> > as possible - and early enough before the GTA04A3 design
> > is finished.
> >
> > This makes sure that we have enough components for the
> > first batch to be produced. And we will not spend the money
> > for anything else so that you could even visit us to see your
> > chips... But please don't touch.
> >
> > Once, the GTA04A3 boards arrive, we will test some of them
> > and if everything looks ok, we will produce your early
> > adopter devices. Only in the case that the A3 board has another
> > serious flaw, we will have to design a GTA04A4 board first.
> >
> > This all speeds up the process dramatically so that we currently
> > estimate delivery of the first units by March 2011.
> >
> > The price has been set very low so that it just covers component
> > and production cost at a reduced feature set (there are not all
> > peripherals installed but UMTS and GPS will be). It might be
> > possible to retrofit some of them.
> >
> > Please note that it does *not* include the LCD module, case and
> > battery, because it is a motherboard-replacement to existing
> > Openmoko units (Freerunner and Neo1973).
> >
> > And, we can't specify yet which version of the OMAP3
> > we will get (600/720/1000 MHz) and how big the RAM/NAND
> > flash will be. But expect something similar to the BeagleBoard.
> >
> > Please note that we also have chosen to switch from a GTM501
> > UMTS module to a GTM601 which has even better performance
> > (HSPA+).
> >
> >
> > -- how to participate --
> >
> > Here is the link to the EAP offer with more detailed conditions
> > (there are some restrictions):
> >
> >       http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04-Early-Adopter
> >
> > You can also support us by purchasing a Openmoko Beagle
> > Hybrid development tool to extend your existing Beagle Boad
> > or by donations.
> >
> > The git repositories and binary downloads of our U-Boot and
> > Kernel can be reached through [6].
> >
> > And, come to FOSDEM 2011 to see and touch a GTA04
> > and discuss with us about this new gadget.
> >
> >
> > We wish you all merry christmas and a happy new year.
> >
> >
> > -- links --
> >
> > [1]: http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00710.jpg
> > [2]: http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00708.jpg
> > [3]: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/ombeagle/
> > [4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjFKQx18DgA
> > [5]: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GTA04
> > [6]: http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-main/
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Openmoko community mailing list
> > community at lists.openmoko.org
> > http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>
> _______________________________________________
> Openmoko community mailing list
> community at lists.openmoko.org
> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/attachments/20101221/fc971a25/attachment.htm>


More information about the community mailing list