So here it is, the next step in the right direction:
The blog post doesn’t give any specific information. However the (probably costly, both financially and in terms of effort spent) step of getting all necessary licenses shows how dedicated Fairphone is.
And they specifically thank us – the critical community – to push them forward. I also want to thank Fairphone now for not abandoning us.
This is fantastic news!
Interesting to see FP uses IntelliJ IDEA as their IDE of choice. It’s my weapon of choice as well for Java development.
Good news indeed. I think a open bug tracker for it would be nice as well.
True! As soon as I’ve checked-out the code repo and compiled it myself for the first time, I will change it!. 
I’m gonna remember you then! 
“We … obtained a software license from all our major partners and license holders that allows us to modify the Fairphone 1 software and release new versions to our users. Getting that license also required us to … distribute Mentor Graphics’s RTOS used on the phone.” (Long-term software support for FP1 1)
Good. Right now I bite my tongue not to ask detailed questions about the licenses and the RTOS. I just hope that the FP devs can now debug, fix, update and compile the blobs and hand them out so that it all will work together.
Just to be clear, the blog doesn’t say that FP will be able to release the source code into the wild and make it open source, so I don’t think you’ll be able to check the code yourself. It doesn’t say they received an open source licence, so I guess that means FP will be the only ones to handle the code as such, and it will be them that look at the ability to port other OSs to the FP1 rather than it being a FP/community effort.
It’s certainly a step forward, and hopefully now gives some reassurances that the FP1 is here to stay… which is excellent news.
Yes, I feel the same. But they “acquired” a licences to distribute the Mentor Graphics’s RTOS. So maybe with a few blobs more, the AOSP code and the UI code together they could release something that in the end a “normal” user could use to build the rom itself.
But I don’t know. I read the same text a you. But honestly, most of the FB blog releases are not that helpful. They do not even really explain what did and what they received in the end. Else I would have thank them for specifically doing what they did. But I was not able to figure that out by reading the blog entry 
We will see it when the code/the blobs is/are out. But as you, I don’t expect a lot of source code. But a build howto and some git repo would be nice.
is also the basis for Android Studio, the new recommended Android SDK by Google.
Just to let readers of this thread know: @chrmhoffmann has ported Android 4.4 Kitkat to FP1. There are still many rough edges but it shows that even with just community effort progress is possible.
As I really would like to get some current bluetoooth gadgets (like a headset or photography accessory ) I would be very interested in an Android update that enables the Bluetooth LE capabilities of my FP1U device, hence Android 4.4 “KitKat”.
(As far as I understood, the FP1Us hardware is BT LE capable, but Android 4.2 isn’t.)
So, what’s the current state on that matter?
I’ve moved your post here as most of the back story is discussed here
This is probably not the best time to ask, with the imminent release of the FP2. I’m hoping updates for FP1 will resurface on the agenda not too long after the FP2 stuff is sorted out. If you’re willing to experiment with your device (at your own risk, obviously), see the the topic linked in the post above yours about an unofficial port of KitKat.
Thanks for keeping the forum clean and organized. 
Guess you’re right about the bad timing, but I just came across that photography accessory kickstarter-campaign I linked in my previous post, with only hours left to contribute, so I felt the urgent need for an updated on that issue. 
I guess have to let go on that accessory and further exercise patience …
There is an easy to follow (disclaimer: I wrote a part of it) howto here in the forum for getting an unofficial 4.4.4 on your phone. If you want to test it and don’t need your phone for a while and have backups …
In the meantime … you can also buy cheap time lapse hardware or build your own with a mircocontroller. Smartphones have nice interfaces, but sometimes cheap hardware is … cheaper
I’m not sure what you mean, but if I understand the posts from @chrmhoffmann correctly, the MTK sources are not even fully supporting 4.4.4. He had to merge the sources with the Android updates himself. So I don’t see a chance for FP1 5.x releases backed by MTK code … but maybe I’m wrong.
Haha, no I didn’t mean Android versions, but Fairphone 1 OS versions (e.g. Kola Nut, L…, M…, N…). I’m aware that we won’t get Lollipop on the FP1 :woot:
Hi!
I can confirm with 4.4.4 Bluetooth LE works, I tried with a prototype device at work and the phone pairs and is able to communicate with the device very well
Bye!
Unfortunately I need my phone on a daily basis…
I use 4.4.4 daily and have no problems so you can try it if you like