[Gta04-owner] New Phoronix article on Gta04

Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller hns at goldelico.com
Wed Jul 4 08:11:27 CEST 2012


Hi,

Am 04.07.2012 um 05:06 schrieb Alishams Hassam:

> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTEzMjI If you
> missed it. Sadly he doesn't make much constructive criticism; he

thanks for the link!

> bashes the specs but it's not as if much can be done about that now.

There is a typical misunderstanding with the specs.

The most worrying statement I found was: " for hardware that's slower
than a $100 iPhone. "

I never did see a $100 iPhone (even on eBay and then it is broken)...

And a 1.5 GHz Dual Core Cortex A9 isn't necessarily much faster than
a 800 MHz Cortex A8. Depends a lot on software, sd card/memory
bandwidth and UMTS data rate.

This also forgets that all such portable systems are not steadily running
at the highest clock speeds. To save energy. I.e. it is a comparison of the
peak CPU performance which is not at all necessary for reading a SMS
or looking up a contact. Or watching the locked state :)

And we never intended to compete with the tier one hardware - because
we still have to learn building such devices and aren't able to purchase
the latest chips before they are announced... As soon as we can, there
will be a more hyped CPU and LTE...

> He does mention some good things such as where it is manufactured,
> being able to run debian/shr/qtmoko... and in his defense, I can't
> think of too many more good points.
> 
> Maybe we can put up a 'feature list' of good points that reporters
> like him can use when writing articles on the GTA04. Please add them
> to http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Marketing_GTA04#Good_reasons_to_purchase_a_GTA04
> or reply to this thread and I will add them to the page at the end of
> the week. To get the ball rolling I have:
> 
> * Run qtmoko, SHR, Debian fully supported
> * Made in Germany under proper working conditions.

some more material:

* fully documented schematics
* fully open bootloader, kernel - no secrets, no overprotection
* replaceable battery
* 3D CAD data available to design and 3D print your own case
* FM receiver/transmitter option with RDS (that is rare)
* complete set of sensors (barometer, compass, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS)
* B2B connector to use it as a System on Module
* very high display resolution (282 ppi) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_displays_by_pixel_density]
* ... and a friendly community allowing for direct discussions with the core developers (ask for that for an iPhone or Samsung :)


Nikolaus


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