Questions about Freerunner: Phone Usability, Battery Life, Shipping Date

[enaut]

Kunal Singh schrieb:
> Hi,
>
>    I am located in India, and I have decided to go for Free-runner.
>    But, I am really wondering about why this phone is so costly?
>    Apple will be releasing the iPhone in India later this year.
>    This phone is likely to be priced much cheaper than free-runner
> (free-runner is currently available for $500 in India).
>    Also, it looks to me that iPhone has much more features (it has 8
> GB memory - I could not see similar in Free-runner).
>    On a plus side, iPhone is fully tested. Their is official
> performance rating for each feature.
>
>    Why is the Free-runner cost so high?
>    With open-source development, the cost of devices should in fact
> come down (that is my thinking - correct me if I am wrong). At least
> be at par with the commercial products.
>
>    Is the high cost due to the low volume production? Or something
> related to the location of production units?
>    If the cost is high because of above (or similar) factors, I assume
> that costs will come down in long run.
>    In such a scenario, does any one have a (rough) idea about what the
> final (appx) costs would be?
>    Will it be any better than the commercial products?
>
>    My interest in openMoko is purely from a developer's point of view
> (I guess every one currently using it is has similar interests).
>    And the reason why I want to participate in open source development
> is that I want technology to proliferate and become affordable to the
> common masses.
>    If this objective is not going to be satisfied, I am going to feel
> a bit dis-appointed with the loss of time which I spend on my efforts.
>
>    Also, I really find the Free-runner too expensive just for the
> development purpose. I am hoping that if I can use it as my
> cell-phone, I can feel a little better. In case the phone is not
> practically usable (very poor battery performance, or loosing
> networks, going to infinite sleep etc), that will add to
> dis-appointment too.
>
>    Another possibility - is it that Free-runner is much beyond iPhone
> in feature list (which I have failed to capture)?
>
I think the cost is that high because you get an Iphone usually with
acontract to a specific firm.
the other thing is that the Iphoneis closed sothey make the real money
by selling music and stuff like that.

for the "hardware features" i think they are pretty even.
the iphone has multituch but no GPS and lower resolution.

but the big feature of om is, that you are independent. you can do what
you want with it. Iphone contracts dont allow you that.