Openmoko has launched an educational program at National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan to teach students about mobile device design using its open-source mobile Linux phone, the Neo FreeRunner (pictured). The "OpenLab" is the first step in a worldwide educational outreach program, says Openmoko.

OpenLab will encourage students to develop their own projects based on Openmoko software and hardware, says Openmoko. Working with National Tsing Hua University, Openmoko has developed a curriculum for OpenLab that is being released under a creative commons share-alike license.

Openlab's first class based on the Neo FreeRunner was launched this summer by the university's "Prof. King," who stated, "We're very glad to get Openmoko as our major mobile platform for researching." Three of King's students, who worked with Openmoko for a summer internship program as a trial for Openlab, have made their projects available on Google Code for download, says Openmoko.

Taiwan-based OpenMoko shipped the Neo FreeRunner in early July as a completely open source mobile Linux phone platform, complete with freely downloadbable schematics. Last week, Communications Research Center Canada (CRC) announced it had created a modified version of the phone called "Openmokast" that can receive datacasting signals. Prior to that, OpenMoko hardware and software were adapted for use in the Dash Express personal navigation device.

Stated Jyuo-Min-Shyu, Dean, Tsing Hua College of Electronic Engineering and Computer Sciences, "The lab is great, and we have Neo FreeRunner phones right at our students' fingertips."

Stated Openmoko CEO, Sean Moss-Pultz, "The future of Openmoko rests with the imaginations of developers and innovators, and students are an important part of the Openmoko community. We will provide e-courseware to the world in the near future."


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