Motorola A780
Encyclopedia
The Motorola A780 is a mobile phone and PDA
running the Linux
operating system.
It was sold in Europe and Asia, and first introduced in 2003. Some models include GPS
and navigation software.
and IMAP email client, Opera web browser, calendar and a viewer for PDF and Microsoft Office files. Calendar and address book can be synchronized with a Microsoft Exchange
or SyncML
server. The phone has a 1.3 megapixel camera recording still and video images. RealPlayer
is included to play sound audio files and streamed audio and video. The phone has 48 megabyte
s of internal flash memory for storing user data and a slot for a microSD card. Both Bluetooth
and USB are provided for communication with another computer. Character entry is via an on-screen QWERTY
keyboard and hand writing recognition. Models including a GPS receiver are supplied with ALK Technologies' CoPilot Live navigation software with street level maps of Europe.
The Linux operating system used EZX Linux is a modified version of MontaVista
Consumer Electronics Linux 3.0
to the phone and be presented with a bash prompt. From the prompt one can, for example, mount an NFS drive(s) on the phone. The underlying operating system, Motorola EZX is Linux based, its kernel is open source. With the source code hosted on opensource.motorola.com, it is possible to recompile and replace the kernel for this operating system. However Motorola did not publish a software development kit for native applications. Instead, they are expecting third party programs to be written in Java ME
. The OpenEZX
website is dedicated to providing free opensource software for this phone and others using the same OS.
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
running the Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system.
It was sold in Europe and Asia, and first introduced in 2003. Some models include GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
and navigation software.
Design
The Motorola A780 is a Linux-based smartphone. When the lid is closed, the phone appears like a traditional phone, with a keypad matrix and small display, actually a window to the larger display below the lid. When the lid is flipped open, a quarter QVGA touch screen is revealed that can be used with fingers or a supplied stylus. |
 |
Features
The phone is supplied with a number of applications including a POPPost Office Protocol
In computing, the Post Office Protocol is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection. POP and IMAP are the two most prevalent Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval. Virtually all modern...
and IMAP email client, Opera web browser, calendar and a viewer for PDF and Microsoft Office files. Calendar and address book can be synchronized with a Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
or SyncML
SyncML
SyncML is the former name for a platform-independent information synchronization standard. The project is currently referred to as Open Mobile Alliance Data Synchronization and Device Management...
server. The phone has a 1.3 megapixel camera recording still and video images. RealPlayer
RealPlayer
RealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
is included to play sound audio files and streamed audio and video. The phone has 48 megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
s of internal flash memory for storing user data and a slot for a microSD card. Both Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
and USB are provided for communication with another computer. Character entry is via an on-screen QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboard and hand writing recognition. Models including a GPS receiver are supplied with ALK Technologies' CoPilot Live navigation software with street level maps of Europe.
Technical details
The phone has three processors:- Baseband Processor (BP) is an ARM7TDMIARM7TDMIARM7 is a generation of ARM processor designs. This generation introduced the Thumb 16-bit instruction set providing improved code density compared to previous designs. The most widely used ARM7 designs implement the ARMv4T architecture, but some implement ARMv3 or ARMv5TEJ...
that is used for the basic GSM phone functions. The necessary digital signal processing is performed by an Onyx (566xx) DSPDigital signal processorA digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
core. The BP runs the Nucleus operating system (produced by Mentor Graphics) from its own 32 MBitMegabitThe megabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix mega is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 106 , and therefore...
Flash memory. - Application Processor (AP) is an Intel PXA270 with an ARMv5TE ARM core. This runs Linux, the user interface QtopiaQtopiaQt Extended is an application platform for embedded Linux-based mobile computing devices such as personal digital assistants, video projectors and mobile phones...
and the application programs. - Models with GPS use a Motorola MG4100 single chip GPS receiver integrated circuit.
The Linux operating system used EZX Linux is a modified version of MontaVista
MontaVista
MontaVista Software is a software developer that develops embedded Linux system software, development tools, and related software. Its products are targeted at other corporations developing embedded systems such as automotive electronics, communications equipment, mobile phones, and other...
Consumer Electronics Linux 3.0
Linux enthusiasts
This phone is popular with Linux enthusiasts. It is able to establish an Ethernet connection between the phone and another computer over USB or Bluetooth. One can then telnetTELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
to the phone and be presented with a bash prompt. From the prompt one can, for example, mount an NFS drive(s) on the phone. The underlying operating system, Motorola EZX is Linux based, its kernel is open source. With the source code hosted on opensource.motorola.com, it is possible to recompile and replace the kernel for this operating system. However Motorola did not publish a software development kit for native applications. Instead, they are expecting third party programs to be written in Java ME
Java Platform, Micro Edition
Java Platform, Micro Edition, or Java ME, is a Java platform designed for embedded systems . Target devices range from industrial controls to mobile phones and set-top boxes...
. The OpenEZX
OpenEZX
OpenEZX is a project, which tries to gather information about the Linux based Motorola EZX phone platform.It tries to provide a 100% free software stack for those phones, especially a way to avoid any proprietary filesystem and/or device drivers...
website is dedicated to providing free opensource software for this phone and others using the same OS.
See also
- MotorolaMotorolaMotorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
- List of Motorola products
- List of mobile phones running Linux
- OpenEZXOpenEZXOpenEZX is a project, which tries to gather information about the Linux based Motorola EZX phone platform.It tries to provide a 100% free software stack for those phones, especially a way to avoid any proprietary filesystem and/or device drivers...
External links
- A780 entry in the OpenEZX Wiki A780 Hardware details
- Motorola Open source Makes the Linux source code and drivers available in compliance with GPL Moto4Lin file manager and "seem" (customization) editor for A780 and others
- Moto4Lin wiki A780 page at SourceForge.netSourceForge.netSourceForge is a web-based source code repository. It acts as a centralized location for software developers to control and manage open source software development. The website runs a version of SourceForge Enterprise Edition, forked from the last open-source version available...
- Motorolafans fansite with lots of applications for Motorola Linux Phones