[GTA04] When is the next and more powerful openmoko releasing

Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller hns at goldelico.com
Thu Oct 21 19:32:10 CEST 2010


Am 21.10.2010 um 17:18 schrieb Andreas Fischer:

> Hi,
> 
> One question: Do you only consider upgrades of existing Freerunners or
> would a complete phone also be an option? My (probably naive) impression

We not only plan these upgrade boards but also complete phones as a long term
goal. Maybe, even in a different and improved industrial design. And in some
years with a OMAP4 :)

Our team is currently evaluating options (3D printers, rapid prototyping, 3D cutting,
protomold, etc.) and trying to build prototypes, but did not yet come to conclusions.
So please give us some more time.

> is that you're only missing the case plastics to provide a complete GTA4
> phone.

Well, it is "only" adding some minor components to the kit (antenna, battery, USB-charger,
vibramotor, earpiece, speakers) plus a set of plastic parts.

But plastics is quite a heavy challenge if you really want to do it without big
venture capital. Even larger than getting the PCBs shown in the photos...

The problem appears to be that the inexpensive rapid prototyping methods don't
have the required precision (0.1 mm, 0.5 mm wall thickness, etc.) and those with high
quality are prohibitively expensive.

Unless you, i.e. the community, is willing to do fixed pre-orders for a total of at least
1000 units.

The idea of having the community design different cases for the Neo 1973 and
Freerunner is quite old [1], but I think there was only one group to show up with
a "case extension" [2]. This can be printed e.g. at Shapeways but is not stiff and
precise enough for daily use.

[1]: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Hardware:Neo1973:Alternate_Cases
[2]: http://openmokast.org/cad-files.html

BR,
Nikolaus


> 
> Regards,
> Andreas
> 
> On 21.10.2010 07:36, Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
>> 
>> Am 20.10.2010 um 09:56 schrieb Patryk Benderz:
>> 
>>> [cut]
>>>> I will keep you updated.
>>>> 
>>>> Nikolaus
>>> Thanks for sharing this, do you have some photos of this board? Looking
>> 
>> Here is the photo of a bare board as it came from the PCB factory:
>> 
>> 	http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00627.jpg
>> 	http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00628.jpg
>> 
>> The next version of the board layout will add two Hirose DF40
>> board-to-board connectors on the display side so that the GTA04
>> can be mounted on a expansion board (e.g. for a different/larger
>> display).
>> 
>> A populated board will finally look similar to this one:
>> 
>> 	http://download.goldelico.com/gta04/images/DSC00477.jpg
>> 
>>> forward to hear more! :)
>> 
>> As soon as we have something to share...
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> community at lists.openmoko.org
>> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
> 
> 
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