I don't like the circular design, it makes the phone seem bigger than it is. The $350 price tag without service contract is pretty good, though.

OpenMoko dimensions: 120.7 x 62 x 18.5 mm | iPhone dimensions: 115mm (L) x 61mm (W) x 11.6mm (T)

Not to mention that this has a 480x640 screen and the iPhone uses 320x480.

So Paul when you brought this idea up earlier (an OS for a phone), what kind of apps did you envision people writing? What's not out there now that you think needs to be?

I didn't propose that startup idea; that was from Robert Morris.

Ah, I guess I'm programmed to think YC == PG. Don't know if Robert frequents the site here but it'd be a cool discussion to have.

Wouldn't it make more sense to basically just have a web browser on the phone to access all your data?

I can see this definitely having more nerd-cred than the iPhone. Hope it works out.

"no binary drivers allowed, period"

That's the only part in bold. Why is that such a big deal? I thought forbidding binary drivers was a hurdle for Linux.

I think the idea is the hardware is fully documented, hence the reason to go with this particular model. (This is just an assumption.) The project developers won't allow themselves to be tempted by a closed-hardware phone.

I'd totally buy one the next time I get a phone, but I can't help thinking that the iPhone is going to kill this.