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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

An iPhone Alternative For $300?!!

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CATEGORY: MOBILE LIFESTYLE

Wired.com writes about a $300 phone that has the potential to be an "iphone Killer" but for a lot less bling. The caveat? The first generation release of the Neo 1973 GTA01 (based on a version of Linux called "OpenMoko") is being sold as sort of a base system - one that will primarily be useful for developers to write device new device drivers, applications, and an updated GUI. Once those things are realized they will release the second generation phone for $450, presumably with slew of updated features that will elevate the Neo 1973 GTA02 into the position of serious iPhone alternative. Oh, and I almost forgot... the Neo 1973 is not locked to a particluar network so you'll have the freedom to pick whichever carrier you like. Nice move!

Aptustech.com put together a nice comparison chart of the iPhone and Neo 1973 GTA01.

FunctionsiPhoneNeo 1973
CPUARM11 620MHzARM9 266MHz
RAM128MB128MB
FLASH4 or 8 GB64MB
Storage extensionNomicroSD
Resolution320x480640x480
BluetoothYesYes
WiFiYesNo (Yes in next revision)
USBNoOTG (non powered host)
Camera2MPNo
GPSNoYes
GeekportIpod Like (audio+RS232)I2C, SPI, RS232, JTAG
AccelerometerYesNo (Yes in next revision)


No doubt the hardware of the iPhone is more advanced, but the next revision of the Neo 1973 should bring improvements:

  • 802.11 b/g WiFi
  • Samsung 2442 SoC (400MHz and Camera interface)
  • SMedia 3362 Graphics Accelerator
  • 2 3D Accelerometers
  • 256MB Flash




Your Voice:
Do you think these "all in one" devices are the way to go, or would you rather own the "best of breed" phone, media player, camera, etc.? Let us all know by clicking "comments" below.