Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

tuxphones.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 212 posts

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#41

Post by jeswin »

fzzzy wrote: post #35
jeswin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't really, although their focus was on low cost phones too. Credit to KaiOS for recognizing the potential of non-touch devices. However, the effort required to enable a non-touch UI would have been a small fraction of the overall FirefoxOS effort. Something Mozilla could have responded to, if the team was intact.

The non-touch concept was under development when firefox os was cancelled.

Yup. FFOS actually convinced me that even high-end devices built on open web technologies could work quite well enough for today's usecases. I'd buy one today if I could - not a low end device but a Snapdragon 8xx device.

Web is good enough for 90% of apps, and a bare metal SDK would be needed for games.

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#42

Post by Spearchucker »

I have the version two Nokia 8110 banana phone with KAIOS. First, web dev isn't good enough for me. I need crypto libraries on the device. Second,unless I've yet to discover how to turn it on, no predictive text input. Third, it ships with Google apps which, combined with the fact that you cannot uninstall apps on KaiOS makes the phone a novelty at best. More like a waste of €60 (none of these issues are obvious before making a purchase).

/Edit - battery lasted two weeks between charges.

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#43

Post by cinquemb »

masto wrote: post #20
mateo1 wrote: post #13

A closed-source Google-developed OS for feature phones. Obviously it's the best spend DoD money so far. Just 20 millions. You need to track poor people too.

With therapy and perhaps some medication, you have a good chance of regaining your grip on reality, if you act now.

And then afterwords, they can go buy some Privacy in a Can™ from Apple, and take advantage of some GS backed credit and buy some weapons to shoot up some place that will invoke some knee jerk response from the population and government alike! Hopefully the metadata travels up the kill chain to the reapers fast enough!

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#44

Post by tluyben2 »

tootie wrote: post #3

I'd buy a few of these for my kids.

I have no kids myself, but from friends who do have kids I hear they get teased (and sometimes bullied) if they don't have a half decent smartphone. And some of these friends are living in poorer ('non western') countries even. I guess my friends are not lying, but not sure how widespread that is.

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#45

Post by berbec »

Spearchucker wrote: post #42

I have the version two Nokia 8110 banana phone with KAIOS. First, web dev isn't good enough for me. I need crypto libraries on the device. Second,unless I've yet to discover how to turn it on, no predictive text input. Third, it ships with Google apps which, combined with the fact that you cannot uninstall apps on KaiOS makes the phone a novelty at best. More like a waste of €60 (none of these issues are obvious befo…

"Edit - battery lasted two weeks between charges"

Way to bury the lead! I'd put up with a lot for charge times that long. Or just a backup phpne

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#46

Post by squarefoot »

We're likely approaching the day when it'll be more cheap to attempt to build an open Linux phone from scratch rather than keep waiting for a manufacturer to listen to a few thousand techies who don't want their personal data chewed by proprietary OSes. That milestone will almost certainly be marked by the availability of cheap 3/4G modems (I'd be perfectly fine with 3G if it was the only option). We're not there but chipsets are becoming cheaper with every portable router or dongle sold, so it's a matter of time. Cheap and small SBCs, displays, batteries and 3D printed cases are already here waiting for the 3/4G chipset to be added.

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#47

Post by sametmax »

yoavm wrote: post #12

The article says it supports WhatsApp, but the KaiOS publication clarifies it does not. In many countries, that's a no go.

Whatsapp is only very big in __some__ countries actually.

Europe have free sms, so I do have friends with telegram, signal, skype, whatsapp, dumb phones, facebook chat, wire, etc., and at the the center of this crazy venn diagram, we can all discuss with sms for free. Most discussions are not group chats.

In Asia they have big whatsapp competitors like weechat. But I've seen kik used as well.

In Africa, it's also a lot of text message since they get the best coverage.

Whatsapp is definitly popular, but far from a universal.

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#48

Post by oneowl »

robertAngst wrote: post #34
oneowl wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes you are correct. These phones range anything from 300-700 MB of ram and have a pretty decent hardware. Combine that with a user operable interface (physical buttons, screen, audio) and you've got a nice package. I was looking a bit into this. It seems that KAI os is not an opensource project. Plus the OS is flashed into the ROM of these phones so its also very difficult to install a new OS reliably. So even if yo…

Thoughts, since this is a real life issue/question I'm making a decision on- >I'm quite surprised at the cost of a USB GIPO board. I suppose I shouldnt have been. >Developing an OS for a platform that could change at anytime, seems risky/time consuming. >novel ways of communication- Put everything on wifi relays, or communication with other peripherals Might be worth buying one of these phones and taking it apart to…

Os'es have been built. You don't need to spend time in that. You'll find one as small as a few hundred kbs to as big as 10s of gbs. For all kind of architectures and all opnsource. However you need to find a way to install the os on compatible device. This is no easy task and will require you to flash ROM. For every device.......

Or find a device that supports booting from an sd card. I don't think there is any phone out there that supports that. There are not even that many laptops that can boot from an sd card slot. But they can from an sd to usb adapter...

>novel ways of communication- Put everything on wifi relays, or communication with other peripherals

HIGH FIVE!!!!!

This is a very good idea. But then again how will GIPO attached devices send wifi signals and understand incoming wifi signals? You'll need a separate chip for that (If I understand correctly) that would have radios and antennas. I'm sure you can find a cheap way to build such a device using electronic components that you can find online.

A wifi enabled usb is very very cheap. wifi usb cards would be even cheaper, I think. A mobile phone like this is a complete package for about $10-$15.

Re: Linux-based 4G phones with Google Assistant sold for $7 in Indonesia

#49

Post by auslander »

auslander wrote: post #25
tootie wrote: post #3

I'd buy a few of these for my kids.

Kids will tell you years later that it was wrong giving their data to Google, an Ad company, with core business of monetizing people's data.

From watching votes, its either G has its own troll factory, or people just cannot admit that all their free and great services are provided by an ad business conglomerate. Maybe both :)
Post reply on HN