It half sits on top of Dalvik and half on top of their own adaptation layer for native linux. But yes, it's at least half tainted. :)

Thank you for saving me the time to type that exact comment. :)

It wasn't the internet access that was suspicious, it was the access to your google accounts and your personal information. The app is relevant because it at least lets you identify absurd permission requirements. I've avoided installing some things because there is a clear mismatch between what it says it does and what it asks permission to do. But I do agree it's easy to make malicious apps that can justify their permission requests. If a wallpaper app claimed to make wallpapers using your contacts icons, it would obviously need access.

Sure.. but they are only getting the attention for their LED based version... I doubt the reflector version would actually meet the same criteria that makes this interesting to people (like being able to capture them with a cell phone, capture at long range, capture from a wide variety of angles). But I don't know because they are only showing off the LED one, so let people bitch about the LED one. We'll bitch about the reflective one when they tell us something about it.

I no longer work for Nokia and I'm not sure how this is even a topical response, but I'll go ahead and answer anyway: never.

Nokia phones are still proprietary hardware and even if they were to be able to run an open source symbian version (there isn't one yet), the adaptation layer is still not open source. Ignoring that, S60 itself isn't open source. Ignoring that, Nokia has always attempted to make custom firmware exceedingly difficult (storing flash images as partially encrypted to a specific asic serial number for instance).. of course that may no longer be true. If the encryption is no longer required in the Nokia hardware, then I suppose custom images might be possible by altering binary components in the image. But I hardly think you should 'expect' it to happen.

I'm glad to see someone has actually heard of it. :) It seems like every day there is yet another article comparing the "major smart phones": apple, blackberry, windows mobile, android. Having worked for Nokia Mobile Software, I find the omissions of symbian devices annoying.

My firefox actually does freeze while rendering a page. It's mostly obvious on my slower linux box. Not that I'm disputing its multi-threaded nature, it clearly *can* do two things at once, just not the things I need it to do (like load slashdot while allowing me to click back to another tab).

I'd mod, but no points. This was almost my exact thought. I don't know what the "rights" even means. I'm pretty sure I can make a movie called "Asteroids" about, you know, asteroids, without having to license it (if this is any indication). I'm not sure what else you get with the license... cheesy sound effects? The use of italics?

I was going to post that, damn you! Ok, well to play devil's advocate.. they can't use odometer readings because it deprives them the ability to further the police state.

Mod up, my brother!

I was surprised to see this made slashdot without the appropriate, "Well, duh!!!" comment attached.