Open-source cell phones
From WhyNotWiki
[Annoyance (category)]/[Problem (category)]: It annoys me that cell phone software is closed, proprietary, closed-source.
Question: Is there any open-source option? Is it possible to create one?
Source: Danah Boyd: 2007-03-16: Web 1-2-3
The Internet was not made for social communities. It was not made for social network sites. This grew because some creative folks decided to build on the open platform that was made available. Until recently, network neutrality was never a debate in the Internet world because it was assumed. Given a connection (and time and literacy), anyone could contribute. Gotta love libertarian idealism.Unfortunately, the same is not true for the mobile network. There’s never been neutrality and it’s the last thing that the carriers want. They want to control every byte and every application that can be put on the handsets that they adopt (and control through locking). In short, they want to control everything. It’s near impossible to develop networked social applications for mobiles. If it works on one carrier, it’s bound to be ignored by others. Even worse, the carriers have a disincentive to allow you to spread bytes over the network. (I can’t imagine how much those with all-you-can-eat plans detest Twittr.) Culturally, this is the step that’s next. Too bad I think that inane corporate bullshit is going to get in the way.
Of course, while I think that people want to move in this direction, I also think that privacy confusion has only just begun.
James,March 17, 2007 08:12
I'd disagree that the handset makers like propping up the carriers - one of the reasons the Nokia 770/800 doesn't have a radio, only bluetooth/wifi is so they didn't have to deal with getting it approved by a carrier. Wifi will only get more prevalent and phones with SIP clients and wifi are already out, so between that and the OpenMoko I don't think the future is that bleak.
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[edit] Why should cell phones be open-source?
Here are a couple features that I would love to implement, if I were only able to...
[edit] Block unwanted calls
If a telemarketer or stalker or anyone you didn't want calling you called you, you could just block that phone number from ever calling you again.
When a call came in from them, it would just drop the call immediately (assuming that's possible) and maybe give you some visual indication that you missed a call from this unwanted caller.
[edit] Trigger some arbitrary action when you get a call
Phones already let you play a special ring tone when a certain person calls. Why not make it possible to do any action?
Like what?
- Like e-mailing someone...
- Like recording all calls to a log file / database so you have a call history (one without the arbitrary size limits of some phones I've used)
- ...
[edit] Custom "unavailable" messages
— Tyler (2007-07-04 10:09)
If you're in a meeting or taking a nap or whatever, you would be able to set up your phone to respond with a custom "unavailable" message whenever someone tried to phone you.
You would tell your phone "I'm not available to take calls right now because ___". You would choose the reason from a list, because presumably you'd have the same reasons more than once and could reuse them.
When they tried to phone you during this time in which you weren't available, it wouldn't ring your phone and disrupt you, and it wouldn't ring 4 times for them and then go to voicemail. Instead, it would tell them immediately the reason you aren't available and then give them the option to leave a voice mail or a text message.
This would be sort of like the "away messages"/status messages that people can set in their IM clients...
...
[edit] Write a music tuner for my cell phone
That'd be neat. In wind symphony, I could tune my instrument using my cell phone. It already has a built-in microphone that should pick up the sound of an instrument if you put it up close. And it has a screen to show you how flat or sharp you are.
The only thing missing is ... the tuner software!
Which I'm sure someone would be glad to write ... if it were an open platform!
[edit] ...
Aliases: Open cell phone platform
