Neo Freerunner

I have been tracking the Neo Freerunner ever since it's launch in July last year. It is a great device with lots of features. I was waiting for the power management to be fixed so that the device is usable.

Recent results show that atleast one person has extracted a battery life of 70 hours, completely on standby. That should translate to roughly a day's use for minimal usage. Now, with the (slight) improvement in power management, I was unable to resist it. So, I have ordered the device. It costed Rs.24,500 all in all, with an additional (spare) battery.

If you are wondering what this Neo Freerunner is, then take a tour of www.openmoko.com and wiki.openmoko.org.
Basically, it is a computing device with a complete opensource stack. All of it's hardware have free, open source drivers available. The CAD files used in the design of the device are also made available online (open source). As for the software, OpenMoko has a Linux distro running on this. It is called OM (OM 2008.12 is the latest). Then, you have a wide choice of linux distributions to run on this phone - Debian, Gentoo, SHAR, FSO, FDOM, Qt Extended (Qtopia), Fyp, Andriod and a long list of others.
Debian has ported it's entire repository to support the ARM architecture. What this means is that you get the entire Debian repository on this mobile device!

This device has a 400MHz Samsung ARM processor with 128 MB SD RAM and 256 MB flash memory. It supports micro SD card. It has GPS, WiFi, bluetooth, all built in. It has a touch screen interface and can also function as a mobile phone.

I'm eagerly waiting for my Neo. Hopefully, it should arrive in another 2-3 days. That means, I'll be busy the whole weekend playing with it.

Looking back...

As mentioned in my previous post, it's been over 2 years since I posted anything on this blog. I was just thinking back about the things that happened over this time. Here's a concise list that I can remember now:

- My knee ligament tore up again and I had to undergo a surgery (April 2008). As a result of this, I was confined to my bed for more than a couple of months. As it is, I was over-weight. Now, I've put on even more weight. The good news is that my knee seems to be pretty much back to normal. I can run, walk and even play.

- I completed my M.S degree (in Software Systems) from BITS, Pilani.

- I failed in a subject (in my 3rd semester, MS) for the first time in my life. Not just that, but because of this failure, I had to re-take a whole semester again. It cost me atleast 6 months.

- I got a chance to visit Bangkok for a couple of weeks to help out a customer (April 2007). This was my first international visit (and the only one till date) and also the first time I flew on a aeroplane.

- I had many trips and visited many places:

• Hogenikal falls with Karthik, Kiran and Pavan (Feb 2007)
• Bangkok (April 2007)
• Nonabur (May 2007) with parents and many other relatives.
• Manchanabelle Dam with Srini and PK (Dec 2007)
• Belur and Halebidu with Srini, Naren and Chandru (Dec 2007)
• Delhi, Pilani and Jaipur trip with parents and brother (Nov 2008)
• Yerkad with CoolBlueGang friends (Dec 2008)
• South Indian coastal trip to Alleppey, Thiruvananthapuram, Kanyakumari and Pondicherry with Srini, Naren, Girish and Murali (Feb-March 2009)

- Lot's of things happened in my friends' lives too

• Giri went to US to pursue his higher studies (MS) in Aug 2007
• PK and Smitha got married to each other.
• Nidhi, Sachin, and Chandru also got married.
• PK cleared the ISB interview and is all set to pursue his MBA.

Well, that's all I can remember now. It has been an exciting time, looking back at the memories. Lots of ups and downs. Hopefully, the future will be exciting too. Only time will tell.

2+ years!

It's been more than 2 years since I posted anything here... I didn't really think it was that long! Anyway, hopefully, I will write something more frequently from now on.

ವಿನಯ