Phones You Should Be Excited For (hint it's not the iPhone)

With Apple's iPhone 3G getting all the press lately, I felt it'd be a good idea to let you know about a couple other phones that you should be just as excited for.

First is the long delayed but recently released Openmoko's Neo FreeRunner (released July 4th).  This phone has been years in the making and has hit a lot of hurdles, everything from company changes to different software to merging with other open source movements.  The final product though is something that could have a big impact on the cell phone industry.

The phone's main claim to fame is the is the first completely open source smart phone.  This means that all the hardware and software on the phone is completely open to customization and change.  This also usually means that everything for the phone, software wise, will be free.  The way open source usually works is the company releases a basic operating system for the device, like a base for everthing else to build off of.  Then programmers and developers are free to change and add to that base as much as they like to create new software and functions for the device.  With a good community of developers and the appeal of everything being open, this phone could shake up an United State's cell phone industry that is largely controlled by proprietary (company controlled) software.  The closest thing the average cosumer now has is a SymbianOS based smartphone, that offers an open source software but not hardware as well.  (Most Nokia and Sony Ericsson smart phones are SymbianOS based).

The phones basic design is similar to the iPhone with its large touchscreen interface and minimal physical buttons.  It also offer comparable processor power, gps, and a couple other bells and whistles.  The main thing though is the software.  With the right community backing the Openmoko FreeRunner you could see a lot better applications than the iPhone.  Also with open source to attract developers with the prospect of free developing, where Apple charges a fee to any developer submitting apps to their "App Store" for use by the iPhone.  Hopefully this combination of great hardware and open source software is enough to change people's perception as to what they expect from a "smart phone" in the future. 

*Update: Openmoko has also made deals to release the FreeRunner world wide.  As well as potentially become a Google Android handset.

The second phone you should be on the look out for is the Blackberry Thunder.  The Thunder is Blackberry's first attempt at a touchscreen phone and is in direct competition with the Apple iPhone.  The Blackberry is to the corporate executive as the iPhone is to the hip youth at the moment.  If one company can truely compete with the iPhone in terms of functionality and popularity, its Blackberry.  Blackberry already has a huge customer base and a solid reputation for providing reliable and easy to use systems, and is a phone of choice for most the corporate world (along with Windows Mobile phones).  Blackberry has also made great steps in terms of integrating media into their business oriented phones.  The Curve is a great example of this.  The curve is able to play both mp3 files as well as mpeg video files, with a solid user interface.  Don't expect a media experience quite like the iPhone, which is media first and buisness second and the Blackberry is business first and media second, but the interface will be usable and simple with little thrills.  Blackberry interface is about functionality and simplicity. 

Little is known about the exact specs of the Thunder, but since it's in direct competition with the iPhone, expect very comparable specifics with Blackberry trying to one-up Apple with certain things.  The phone is supposed to be release by the end of 2008 exclusively on Verizon.