OpenMoko is no more – at least for mobile phones

The phone that had all geeks excited about an alternative to WinMo, Palm or Blackberry before there was Android is pulling out of the game.  PhoneScoop posted a message from OpenMoko CEO Sean Moss-Pultz that the company will discontinue the Freerunner (displayed above) and reduce staff by 50%.

FreeRunner was a great looking mobile concept that was built around open standards in hopes to excite developers of the platform.  It seemed like the product was slightly ahead of it’s time as Google Android has taken a similar approach but was able to gain traction in the mobile market.  It may not be the end of OpenMoko’s story as they are in survival mode and allegedly is working on a product other than mobile. Survival brings out the best innovations from companies, look at Palm!  I am looking forward to following up this post one day with the launch of OpenMoko’s next product.  I wish them well.

Tags: openmoko