Goldelico GTA04 – free your phone!

The Goldelico GTA04 >OpenPhoenux< finally made it! Order your GTA04 replacement board for your Openmoko Freerunner (GTA02) and/or 1973 (GTA01) now! (www.handheld-linux.com)

Technical Specifications

800 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor

PowerVR SGX integrated graphics

2.84” (43mm x 58mm) VGA touchscreen

HSDPA 3G modem

512MB RAM

512MB internal memory + SDHC card slot

WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Transceiver

Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Barometric Altimeter

USB 2.0 port, 2.5mm headset port, GPS antenna port, video out

Info: The GTA04 project only provides a mainboard, which can be used to upgrade a Neo 1973/Freerunner, while still using their case, touchscreen, antennas, speakers and buttons/leds.

The release announcement

Dear all,

I take for granted that you all are eagerly waiting for an annoucement

that another batch of GTA04 boards becomes available. We did wait

with an announcement until we can really answer all questions.

Now, we think we can.

Components have all been ordered for another (small) batch so that we

can get them from production in December. If everything goes well, we

can even ship out some boards before Christmas.

The boards are named GTA04A4 (meaning the PCB revision). They

are fully featured from hardware side:

* DM3730@800 MHz

* UMTS module with 3.75G (up to 14.4 MBit/s)

* Sensors (Barometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer)

* GPS

* connector for optional camera module

* well documented building blocks so that you can write your own

boot loaders and kernels. Nobody stops your creativity and

nobody is pretending to protect you from yourself!

So you get something that is unique. A motherboard upgrade for

a handheld device. With open documentation to develop free and

open software. And, a community dedicated to continue the pioneering

work of the first Openmoko team. Last but not least, a team that listens

to your wishes for future upgrades and trying to fulfill them.

How much will it cost?

We know that most of you do expect that it is not too expensive, something

in the range of the GTA02. Unfortunately, we can't fulfill this specific wish.

There are two main reasons (besides we are not financial magicians):

1. the device has some very expensive components (CPU + Memory +

UMTS module)

2. we have really small production batches and therefore, have to pay

much more for the components than e.g. Apple or HTC (factor 2-3

compared to reports from iSuppli).

And, we can't subsidize devices because this is not a feasible long-term

strategy from an economical point of view.

But since raising the size of the batches ("bulk purchasing") has a

big effect ("economies of scale"), we have developed a strategy that should

make everyone happy:

A) there will be units available from (limited) stock shortly before Christmas,

at a high price. We try to produce more of these units to fulfill orders

within days. This offer is also good for getting samples for projects.

B) you can participate in a group-buy at a lower price. This requires

that we reach a certain number of units before we can start production.

So the price and availablility are:

a) 666,66 EUR; available for shipment from stock; planned to start

on 19th December

b) 499.99 EUR; requires 300 ordered units before 10th February 2012

(week after FOSDEM); production start expected for April 2012. There

is also a rebate for the first 100 early bookings.

There are rebates for quantites: 5% for orders of 5 units, 10% for 10 units,

12% for 50 units. So if you build buying groups (like for the Freerunners),

you can save some more money.

Both offers are ready for preorder/subscription through this link:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04

There is a third type of offer - a customized GTA04 board. This means you

can order a board variant where not all components are installed. And the

display connector can be replaced by a Board2Board connector. This allows

to plug the GTA04 like a module on a master board and develop different

handhelds and tablets based on the GTA04 design.

An example of such a device can be seen here:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Custom

Finally, I have compiled some FAQ we have received in the past. If your

question is not amongst them, please ask.

So let's prove that the Openmoko community can not only design and

build samples of a GTA04 but also go into perpetual mass production.

Nikolaus Schaller

FAQ:

Q: Do I need a GTA01 or GTA02?

A: Yes. The GTA04 is a motherboard that fits into a GTA01 or GTA02

case. It does not have all electromechanic compontents. Missing are:

GSM antenna, internal GPS receiver, Earpiece speaker, Handsfree

speakers, Vibracall motor, Battery holder, Battery, USB power supply,

and very important: it does not include a display module. So you have

to take all missing parts from an existing GTA01 or GTA02.

The only exception is the LCD module where we can provide spare

parts.

But you can operate the board without these components - but then

it is not a handheld portable computer with phone functionality.

Or you can try to build your own case. Some inspiring proposals

and samples have been shown recently (e.g. wooden case).

Q: Does the device support the US frequencies?

A: Yes, it is Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (3.75G), but not

CDMA2000 1x nor EV-DO

Q: Does it have FCC and CE approvals?

A: At the moment partially. The UMTS module and the WLAN chipsets

are fully precertified. And the GTA04 system has successfully passed

the CE emmission tests, that it does not produce harmful interferences.

We are just missing the CE ESD and safety tests.

Q: Why do I have to wait so long if I participate in the group buy?

A: The reason is that our project has no external funding and needs

to collect enough money before we can order chips and components.

This introduces two types of delay: the preorder-window and then

the delivery time of components. E.g. PCBs are built to our specific

request and that needs between 20 and 30 working days. And

producing and testing several 100 units needs quite a while

Q: Will there be variants?

A: We have decided to run only a single variant with all components

installed. It turned out to be cheaper in total than to have a low-end

variant (e.g. without sensors) and a high-end variant.

We have one variant that we can provide on demand: the module

version. You can use it as the basis for connecting larger displays

and experiment with alternate cases. Details how to mount mechanically

and the pin layout can be found in the System Manual

Q: Does it work with a GTA01 case?

A: Yes. You will even get stereo speakers since the speaker box of the

GTA02 has two. One was sacrificed in the GTA02 to provide WLAN.

Q: Do you have complete phones?

A: We have a handful of complete phones built from returned GTA02

units. They are also available in the shop:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Complete

Q: Do I get the money back if the group buy does not reach the minimum

quantity within the preorder window?

A: Yes. 100% (less money transfer cost).

Q: What is the status of the software?

A: We (Goldelico) do offer a hardware validation kernel and a

Debian/LXDE rootfs, but this does not comprise a phone software.

Projekts like SHR, QtMoko and others are in the middle of porting

their distros to the GTA04 platform. So the software is not completely

ripe but on good progress.

But we already can do phone calls by a simple shell script and

apt-get install through UMTS.

Q: Is there driver support for every bit and piece of the hardware?

A: We do not yet have drivers for Camera, IrDA, Audio IN, Torch/Flash,

FM radio. If you can support the development, please help!

Please also note that these hardware parts have not been tested in

detail. So they may not work at all.

Q: Where are the schematics?

A: The System Manual includes the schematics:

http://projects.goldelico.com/p/gta04-main/downloads/37/

They will be updated soon to reflect the changes from the GTA04A3 (Early

Adopter) to the GTA04A4 board.

Q: Do you have spare components like case, antenna etc.?

A: We can't buy or produce these parts and have no steady supply.

We will try to get some replacements, but can't promise.

Q: Is it possible to downgrade from the GTA04 to GTA02?

A: If you swap the display again, yes. You can also get a second

display module so that you can simply swap the GTA02 and GTA04

boards+display units within minutes:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=LCD%20Module

Q: Do I need a debug board?

A: No. The TI OMAP is "unbrickable" and you just may need a

RS232 cable to boot and reconfigure NAND flash parameters.

Q: I want to use it in a project and need 50, 100, 500, 1000 units.

A: For samples or small quantities, please order them from our

shop. For larger batches, please contact us and we will find out

how fast we can produce and at which volume rebate. Depending

on quantities, we can develop and produce variants.

Q: What can I do to increase the likelihood that the group buy

reaches the minimum quantity?

A: Convince your fellow GTA01/02 owners to think about buying

a GTA04 board. Talk, Mail, Blog about the GTA04 to make it

known that the Openmoko project did lift off again.

Q: I don't feel comfortable to replace the motherboard myself.

A: The most critical part is to remove the LCD module from the

GTA01/GTA02 board. Either find someone to do it for you. Or

get a spare part. Or send the device to us and we will do it for

you at a small fee.

Please follow the instructions like for a buzz rework:

http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=GTA04%20Installation%20Service

Q: I am a reseller. How can I get devices?

A: You are welcome to support the Openmoko movement. But

we can't give any big dealer margins because the components

and production are already very expensive. Please contact us

for details.

Q: My country is not listed in your shop.

A: Running export into all countries on this world needs a

lot of paperwork and knowledge to follow all the customs

regulations. And worse, we have some US-Technology

inside the GTA04 that is classified by EAR. So we need

a re-export permission. This is all beyond our capabilites.

Therefore we have to regret that we can't serve all countries

on this world. But you may find friends who live in a country

we can directly serve and you manage the export yourself.