Bye bye OpenMoko

Google announced today that they would be partnering up with a load of other companies including Samsung, Motorola and LG to produce a new phone "software stack". For those of us in teh technology game this basically means Google plans to release mobile phone operating system to rival that of Microsoft, Symbian and the various Linux flavours out there already.

What I find most annoying about this is that Google has for years now feasted upon the fruits of the Open Source Community, using many of their projects to enable additional features and indeed their core search facilities to work. While it may be argued that the Summer of Code gives back to that community, there is a sense that rather than sponsoring an existing project like openMoko (a Linux based, open source version of what Google has announced) they've decided to go out on their own and start from scratch.

Given Google's tremendous resources it won't be long before we see the platform hit the market.

Within the commercial market there is already Maemo (nokia's Internet Tablet platform which they actually open sourced) and QTopia, a commercial package available on the GreenPhone which is a development kit and is mostly open source too.

My guess as to why Google didn't run with any of these options is that there are already thriving communities surrounding them and trying to work with these existing communities makes it difficult for the Google techies to throw their weight around.

Hey ho. As a developer, mobile development is already a nightmare having to support various versions of Symbian, MS Windows Mobile, BlackBerry as well as smaller (but vocal) numbers os Maemo users we are now having to think about iPhone from Apple so adding "Google Phone OS" isn't that much more work.

For me, having had a mobile phone for the better part of 15 years and having had a data capable phone for nearly 10 years I've watches OSes come and go, killer apps be talked about every 6 months and watching the market mature the only two things ever to take off properly on a mobile was SMS and now e-mail.

I've got an E65 nokia and it is the best phone I've ever owned. Why? Because the web browser works seamlessly on standard web sites and the email is easy to use, even without a full keyboard. Oh, and it doesn't crash as do most of the rest.

Spending all this time and money in my opinion by Google is absolute folly, but then they have virtually limitless cash reserves and they have a staff of many thousands across the world that they have to retain doing something - they may as well be making a phone OS as anything else.

Who knows this might end speculation that we are about to have Google OS on our desktop next year as well.

please nokia slap me again - no really

I love Nokia phones. In fact you could probably say that I have had a love affair with Nokia devices for over the last 10 years ever since my first one.

Typically they sum up everything that is important to me about technology - that it must look great and must function well too. Nokia just always seem to push my buttons when it comes to putting down my cash and getting a new phone. Don't get me wrong, I've dabbled with the dark side of Ericsson and then Sony Ericsson, I'd love to love a Motorola - really I would, but there is just something about that Finnish company that every 12 months when it's time for an upgrade makes me want to give them another chance.

Over the last few years, incredibly though, their products have got worse...

My last three phones have been a 6600, an 7710 and now an N73.

Every one of these have had internet, bluetooth, big screens, cameras and all the usual gubbins.

Why then have they got progressively worse in terms of functions?

My 6600 had terrible battery and would often crash. My 7710 had great battery, would often crash and didn't support most web page content even though it was a wide screen touchscreen that was supposed to have a fully featured web browser.

My n73 is even worse, admittedly though the Carl Zeiss lense on the 3mp camera is a piece of art and takes crystal clear photos. The web browser is much improved thanks to the Mozilla engine and the 3G connection I have which renders web pages at high speed. The battery life is awesome as well. The only problem with this one is that I can't make or receive phone calls without it crashing - literally to a black screen of death - about 80% of the time.

Vodafone won't acknowledge a problem because Nokia won't so there's no sending it back - I pity everyone who has tried and had their phone returned a couple of weeks later saying "there's no problem". It isn't just me either check this out in google: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=problems+nokia+N73+crash&meta= and you'll se the extent of the problem.

So taking a punt before xmas I bought an n770 internet tablet. Again a fine and beautiful bit of kit, but again with it's fair share of bugs - not least a *very* buggy version of opera which Nokia has decided not to support any more, leaving it's internet tablet with a very bad internet web browser - ouch - 250 quid not well spent... well at least I can make a robot out of it.

So I'm looking around again and I know that just like a jilted lover who somehow thinks that "things will be different this time" I'll be back at Nokia's bosum probably with an N95 in my hand... mmmm just look at the screen and the slidey-outy-bit... 5mp camera, 3G with 11 GPRS slots for quick downloading... I really don't need to make a phone call.