Hello world. Is the Neo Freerunner dead?

[Helge Hafting]

lists at kitepilot.com wrote:
> THANKS!   :)
> I did read it:
> It says the the successor of the the Freerunner is canceled, but what about 
> the Freerunner itself?
> Is it still in production?
They are for sale still.
and while HW development has stopped, software is still being
developed for it.

> If alive, can the Freerunner be used reliably for business on a day to day 
> basis?
> Under what system?

I use the freerunner as my daily mobile phone, using the "SHR unstable"
software. The phone and gps parts works flawlessly. I have some problems
with wifi, but that can be solved by installing a different linux kernel.

> Will it talk to the AT&T's US network?
Assuming that is a GSM network. There certainly are other americans
using the freerunner.

> What do I tell them? 
AT&T?  Tell them you have a gsm phone and need a SIM card from them.

> The "Developers only" ubiquitous tag seems to suggest that it may not "just 
> work".
> Or does it?
> If I can reliable place and receive calls, attach a REAL keyboard to it, and 
> open an SSH shell to my server, I want one!   :)

You can attach a real USB keyboard to it - sure.  Connect to a network
using wifi or gprs, and then you can indeed use ssh to your server too.


Most of the reason for "developer phone" is that it doesn't all
work "out of the box":

* The phone comes with very old software, the first thing you want to
   do is to upgrade to a modern linux distribution. There are several
   to choose from. Flashing isn't that hard, but is not for _everybody_.

* You can attach any USB device that linux supports. This is a lot,
   and definitely includes keyboards. However, you may have to change
   some settings to turn the phone into a "usb host" instead of
   being the "usb device" it usually is. Some distributions makes this
   easier than others. You may also need a powered hub - I believe the
   phone won't provide power to your keyboard.

   Alternatively, make a cable that can power both the phone and
   the keyboard at the same time. Don't think you can buy those anywhere,
   but there is documentation.

   ssh is standard software, included in most distributions.

Helge Hafting