Open Source Hardware: Buglabs to ship in Q4

Tired of your bricked iPhone? You’re not alone. (Ok, to be fair, iPhones aren’t even being shipped in Germany yet, I think. But anyway.)

There’s at least two new projects that are open sourcing not just their software, but also their hardware: They’re specifically designed for hackability. How awesome is that?

First, there’s OpenMoko, an open source mobile phone. It’s got the touch screen, it’s got some kind of motion sensor, and it’s got a neat user interface. Not quite as slick as an iPhone, but, you know, that may not be the main point here. So far, OpenMoko is shipping developer prototypes only, but expect that to change soon. (If you’re a developer, you might also want to check out the OpenMoko Developer Platform.)

Then, and this is great, Buglabs has just announced that they’ll be shipping their hardware starting in Q4 2007, which sounds to me like: now. So far, their product line seems to focus on camera and GPS modules, which by all means is a good start. Also, there’s a hackable Linux box to program all the stuff. You can see all Buglabs products here. (Buglabs blog here.)

Boy, I can’t wait to get my hands on one of those.

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