The creator of this is David Mellis, who is one of the creators of the Arduino project. Apparently he's now in Leah Buechley's group at the Media Lab, which does some great work:
http://hlt.media.mit.edu
This is fantastic, and I'm excited to see what more David will be working on in the future; his dissertation will be an interesting one :)
Does it require any binary blobs for the GSM module or other components? If not, this would be a pretty good choice for someone wanting complete control over his phone's software stack.
Almost all wireless modems can be remotely updated. So this phone is mostly running proprietary software. That will be the case for any cellular technology for the foreseeable future.
Huh, that's interesting, I hadn't heard about that before.
I don't think most people will find this helpful though. One of the main problems is that the chip vendors don't tend to release the hardware specifications and development tools.
Several of the USA carriers are itching to phase out all their 2G networks, so that they can re-use that spectrum for LTE. So a 2G baseband has limited usefulness moving forward.
Adding to that, implementing any kind of 3G (WCDMA, HSPA) is an order of magnitude more complex. Just the handoffs between a 2G and 3G cell tower are complex.
Sadly, LTE is sort of simpler than the 3G technologies, because its all just data (no special transfer mode just for voice). However, instead just going all IP protocols for voice and other services, they decided to implement a host of new and complex protocols for Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE). And some of the current chipsets now have to handle handoffs between LTE, 3G and 2G.
So this open-source stack will not get carrier approval. And even if it were to get popular, the FCC would likely throw up a stink, and the carriers would start banning users that are using a non-approved 2G stack. They would be somewhat justified in that because the existing baseband implementations go through extensive (and expensive) compatibility testing to make sure they place nice with the network under all possible conditions.
If you want to do open-source radio, your first fight is to get some spectrum that can be used unlicensed. There's big competition for the best frequencies (that can carry enough data and have decent range), so the spectrum auctions cost billions of dollars, and the winners are the existing major players.
So it sounds like there's little chance of a truly open source cellphone. What a shame. I wonder what the privacy implications are of having a remotely-updatable module inside every phone. Can carriers break encryption this way? Or otherwise snoop on users?
I wonder what the privacy implications are of having a remotely-updatable module inside every phone. Can carriers break encryption this way? Or otherwise snoop on users?
Yes they can snoop on the users, but they can do that now, without any changes to the radio firmware on the phone. The modem can't really do anything without the carrier's network.
If you mean spying on users by surreptitiously turning on the microphone, that's something where you want to control the phone's application processor rather than the modem firmware. Mostly because modern phone architectures have the microphones connected to the app processor instead of directly to the modem as in the feature-phone days (like a few years ago). Modern phones have sophisticated echo and noise reduction and use multiple microphones for that. And the audio is now used for other applications (like Skype or video recording) so it makes sense to hook up the microphones to the app processor instead.
Cool ... this gives me hope for the future I want.
The day will come when we will all hold cell phone shaped PCs. You'll be able to interact with them as you do now. However, when placed within 10 feet of a keyboard or mouse, they'll automatically (configurable) and wirelessly use those peripherals ... keyboard and monitors on the fly baby!
Imagine optional super thin foldable displays to pack in the bag ... keyboards too ... or, go big and use production color accurate displays like my NEC 2490WUXi2. Thus making our own like this seems appropriate.
I'm not sure if the idea of "peripherals" matching such a device appeals to me.
Let's think about this... A keyboard is basically a device for entering text via mechanical (or touch) switches which appear on your console/screen. A mouse is a virtual index finger.
Even though most of us can't imagine our daily lives without them at the moment, they both seem archaic in a way. Don't get me wrong; I think that's part of their appeal (I have an IBM model M somewhere in storage), but their high-tech-ness(?) is a bit of a non-sequitur when the day comes when our phone/device/gadget/pc-thing can talk effortlessly to a keyboard and mouse.
It's almost as if a mirror with built in camera interfacing to your straight razor. Some things are best left old-fashioned.
But keyboards and mice are still just as useful and likely to remain so in the forseeable future, I think for much the same reason that pen and paper are still around in the digital age. Ergonomically, they just work and they're pretty intuitive, especially when you've got a large screen to deal with.
Even in a future in which spoken commands become commonplace, using a keyboard and mouse has an advantage. After all, I don't necessarily want everyone to hear every word I speak into a textbox.
It's like the similar argument about digital books replacing print books. Even though printed material technically (depending on if your definition of 'printed' includes cuneiform) has been around since Babylon. Its being old is no reason necessarily to replace a peripheral, so long as its function is still adequate.
I see this coming too. On the go or sitting on the couch, your portable device operates largely like the smartphones we use today. In your pocket at your desk, it can seamlessly and securely interface with your other devices for a "bigger" experience.
I might like to have some kind of charging pad that does it, you just take your phone out and toss it on the pad and there you are. Have it be 'automatic' only while in contact with a specific surface.
Project the display onto a wall and project the keyboard onto the desk, the unit would detect the position of your fingers over the keys using similar techniques to how Kinect works.
Only one question -- can you take this on a plane?
A while ago I had a cell phone where the battery charging circuitry went out. The battery was 3.6v, so I hooked up (via Velcro) a AAA battery holder and used rechargable NiMH batteries. However I was told (when I called the airline I was traveling) that it most likely wouldn't make it past TSA.
This is fantastic, and I'm excited to see what more David will be working on in the future; his dissertation will be an interesting one :)