# Smartphone and Gentoo

## alienjon

My cell phone plan is about to expire and, with it, comes the hopes of getting a decent phone. To be completely honest I am not exactly sure what I want in the phone, but I would like it to be able to communicate with my Gentoo desktop via bluetooth. In addition I would like WiFi and maybe even audio / video capabilities. At the base, however, I want a solid phone, something that essentially does what it is supposed to do very well and has these other capabilities as a nice bonus (but, obviously, will also work well) I listed this as a 'smartphone' but if anyone knows of any PDA or other device which will do the same, please feel free to suggest. (And I'd prefer not looking at any devices above $500 USD, although even that is QUITE a stretch in price for me - I'd need some nice rebates and plans to go with it)

I put this in Kernel and Hardware because my initial concern is how well this device will be able to communicate with the OS. From there, though, how is the best way for me to do stuff with the phone? If it is bluetooth, are there any apps you could suggest for this? (I'm mainly looking at KDE)

Essentially I am pretty lost in how to go about looking for an appropriate device here, and I'm concerned that if left to my own whims I will not find the best device (or the most compatible device) for what I'm looking for it to do.

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## m1k0

some interesting not only for developers

OpenMoko -> http://openmoko.org

 - fully open source system for mobile NEO1973 (and motorola A780, ...),

Motorola -> http://opensource.motorola.com

 - partialy open source mobiLinux for Motorola Phones

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## alienjon

The Neo1973 seems like a very sweet deal, too bad it seems it is very much in development. I also wanted to point out the Sony Ericsson W580i phone. Has anyone any experience with this phone?

(Side note: I should have mentioned this before but I would rather avoid Motorola phones if at all possible, my friends and I have had bad personal histories with them)

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## m1k0

 *alienjon wrote:*   

> (Side note: I should have mentioned this before but I would rather avoid Motorola phones if at all possible, my friends and I have had bad personal histories with them)

 

I have Motorola MOTOROKR E6 (and S9)  :Smile: 

ealier: Motorola V3x, SonyEricsson K700i, Motorola V500, Motorola T720...

Sony Ericsson W580i

=============

No OS, no fun

Memory Stick - no standard, no fun,

no red and green phone button  :Sad: 

No AVRCP, no music fone  :Wink: 

KBlueToothD works fine.

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## alienjon

OK. So I stopped into the AT&T store earlier today and the guy there suggested the Nokia N75. There doesn't seem to be anything on this phone in the forums and there is a mention of the N6X series in the gentoo-wiki, but nothing else. Does anyone have any experience with this one maybe? (The phone looks very nice)

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## alienjon

What about the Symbian 6 OS?

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## ufoman

Symbian 6 is ze old thing, get yerself phone with at least Symbian 8...

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## alienjon

Make 'em cheaper and I could consider it. The N75 is pushing it for me at $100. (I could get a plan via amazon and get the phone for free, but I'm not sure if I want to do that) Anyway, some of the other phones don't look like they come with the plans and are therefore over $250. If you can show me one that isn't that expensive or goes for free online, then I might be persuaded   :Wink: 

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## ufoman

I'd recommend you Nokia N70, not too expensive and still having most of the nifty features  :Wink: 

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## Kasumi_Ninja

Your best bet would be a Palm (Treo) device with PalmOS on it. It's easy to sync and it's features are well documented.

Update

You want to get the Palm Centro, for $99.99 with sprint service:

http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/centro/

More info about syncing Palms:

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_USB_sync_for_Palm_PDAs_with_Evolution_2.0_and_udev

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## alienjon

I have actually already looked at the Palm devices. I would probably go for one of those hands down if it wasn't for the monthly pricing. I'm not interested in Sprint/Nextel (I've heard that the connection in my state is absolutely atrocious - but as it has been a while I could check around again anyway) That being said, I'd be interested in a 900 minute plan, and with that added to even the minimum required data plan added on makes the phone cost me around $100 a month, which is about $40 more than I am interested in and $20 more than I can afford right now. I am, however, very glad to see such a successfuly compatibility with Palm and Linux  :Smile: 

In response to the last post, is it possible to take an older phone and upgrade it to a newer Symbian OS? I can't see any mention of that online, which leads me to think you can't (especially since some Symbian OS's support 3D OpenGL and older versions don't (or don't as well) and as it'd be more based on the phone hardware I imagine that upgrading is improbable)

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## Kasumi_Ninja

Maybe you can buy a Palm Treo 650 or 680. They should be cheaper by now.

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## alienjon

All of the palms will require a data plan that I can't afford right now. It is a very nice piece of hardware, but something I really can't consider for a while :-/

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## Kasumi_Ninja

 *alienjon wrote:*   

> All of the palms will require a data plan that I can't afford right now. It is a very nice piece of hardware, but something I really can't consider for a while :-/

 

That's to bad   :Sad: . One tip; try getting a phone with memory (sdcard, memorystick etc). This should enable you to install software  through the card. Bluetooth is also important, I have successfully transfered files wit bluetooth to my gfriends Sony Ericson. They are also working to get KAdress to sync with mobile phones through bluetooth.

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## alienjon

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> One tip; try getting a phone with memory (sdcard, memorystick etc). This should enable you to install software through the card. Bluetooth is also important, I have successfully transfered files wit bluetooth to my gfriends Sony Ericson. They are also working to get KAdress to sync with mobile phones through bluetooth.
> 
> 

 

Thanks for the tip!  :Very Happy:  Overall, I'm still very much leaning towards the Nokia N75 (which, while it seems widely untested with Linux) does have a lot of things going for it (including the Symbian OS) that should make the two talk very nicely together. It does have bluetooth and a microsd card. I am very interested in this KAddress book sync, though. Thanks for the info! (Now I just have to save up for the phone :-p

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## Kasumi_Ninja

 *alienjon wrote:*   

>  *Quote:*   
> 
> One tip; try getting a phone with memory (sdcard, memorystick etc). This should enable you to install software through the card. Bluetooth is also important, I have successfully transfered files wit bluetooth to my gfriends Sony Ericson. They are also working to get KAdress to sync with mobile phones through bluetooth.
> 
>  
> ...

 

The Nokia N series is very good. It would be great if you could upgrade the wiki with information about the Nokia and Linux. If you need any help just let me know.

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## alienjon

It may not be for another few months (I have some other big things to save up for right now) but with the holidays approaching, one never knows  :Wink:  I'll definitely be interested in updating what I can once I've gotten it, though.

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