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Can OpenMoko's Open Source Handset Compete With Android?

Today OpenMoko announced that it is going to make a version of the open source Neo 1973 available to the mass market later this year. This is great news for open source, but with Android set to be released this year, too, what chance does the Neo FreeRunner have?

OpenMoko first offered up the Neo 1973, complete with developers kit, back in July 2007. At the time, it was a great breakthrough for open source handsets, and was lauded by the Free and Open Source (FOSS) developer community. It sold out within three days of its introduction, giving open source developers and hackers a hardware and software platform to build a completely new mobile device for both vertical markets and consumers. The Neo FreeRunner hopes to build on and expand that success.

Developers who were hungry for a Linux-based phone system got one in the Neo. But that was six months ago. As we all know, Google announced Android and its Open Handset Alliance in November 2007, and already has the SDK out there for developers to fiddle with (even though it is riddled with bugs). While it will be some time before we see handsets running on the Linux-based Android platform, there's no doubt that Google's Goliath status is going play a role in how successful it is.

Google has several legs up on OpenMoko. The biggest of which is the 30-plus member OHA. Google already has the partnerships in place to have OEMs make the hardware; the network operators to support and sell the hardware and provide network access; and software developers to provide applications and services. It also wants 3G to play a big role in the Android platform so that services can take advantage of the high-speed wireless networks.

In comparison, the Neo has some funky hardware specs. Sure, the 500-MHz processor and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi are nice, but it is stunted by the fact that it is coming in two tri-band flavors: one 850/1800/1900 and the other 900/1800/1900. This means true worldwide roaming won't happen. There's also no mention of 3G compatibility.

I imagine Google will mandate quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity at a minimum, and will support many of the 3G bands as well.

Both will share the strengths and weaknesses of the open source model, but I think Google's Android has a better shot at success once it becomes available.

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