Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard • Hacker News Board

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#111

Post by studog » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

b112 wrote: post #76

maxsilver wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can have both, with no drawbacks. My favourite phone ever designed was the BlackBerry Priv. It was an Android-based smartphone with a full-sized (5.4in) touchscreen, an completely-hidden slide-out physical keyboard, that also doubled as a touch-sensitive pad. You could "swipe" (touchscreen-style) over the keys, and then press down on those same physical keys simultaneously. But you could also slide it back into t…

Yes, plus not losing 1/2 the screen to an on-screen keyboard. Was almost pure android, incredibly secure. Blackberry got it right, then bailed.

Ex-Blackberry here. BB didn't bail; not enough people were buying the phones for hardware manufacturing to be self-sustainable.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#112

Post by spurgu » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

dsr_ wrote: post #73

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I ever need to use my phone in an emergency outside in the cold with wet, sweaty perhaps bloody hands Man, we have very different lifestyles. Are you a serial killer? :) > Some of them are programming languages You’re the first person I’ve known who programs on phone hardware rather than using a larger computer with emulators. It must be quite painful for you!

Most people carry around several liters of blood inside them. It's surprisingly easy to get some out, even by accident. While it is undeniably more comfortable to program with a nice keyboard and big monitor, emergencies can demand that you work with what you have. Typing cat /tmp/accumulatedfiles | while read line ; do sed -i '/inner\;/outer\;/' can be rather frustrating without a real keyboard.

Yup, I've had to troubleshoot servers over SSH on Android more times than I care to count and it's time consuming. Due to this I often bring my backpack with laptop just in case. With a daily driver like this with a physical keyboard I wouldn't have to bother.

The size of this (as well as the Astro Slide[0]) deters me from buying though. Well COVID as well since I'm not on the move as much as I used to. But size-wise it's just too big, a phone this size doesn't comfortably fit in my pocket. Wish someone made something N900-sized (but lighter and thinner). The large size is great when used in computer mode, but most of the time you're using it in phone mode so I'd prefer to have it smaller.

[0] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme...

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#113

Post by aceazzameen » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:40 PM UTC

sheepybloke wrote: post #89

Like the concept, but $800 for a phone with Snapdragon 662[1]? Even with the keyboard and other pluses, that's a hard sell. That processor will be fine for most applications, but I'd hope for something slightly more powerful, like a 730G. I feel like a 662 might be too limiting, and at $800, that's a very crowded market, even if you are targeting a more open device. [1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/Qualcomm-Snapdrag…

Yeah, I was fully on board until I saw the processor.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#114

Post by artembugara » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:40 PM UTC

reasonabl_human wrote: post #105

artembugara wrote: post #79

Last summer, Maksym and I (2 co-founders of NewsCatcher, full team) went to the beach. It was like 1 hour walk from the place we were (where all laptops were). By the time we were at the beach, we began receiving the alarms that our ElasticSearch does not receive any new data. Maksym had to debug from my iPhone XR (and he actually succeeded in 20 mins). That was this time I though it would be nice to have a phone lik…

While it is badass that you guys fixed a prod issue on the beach using an iPhone, I don’t think this new device is the only / best solution. The situation could also be solved by keeping a laptop or an iPad with a keyboard case in your car / bag if you are the one constantly ‘on-call’... most people have predefined on-call hours and wouldn’t need to sacrifice their stable daily driver cell just for physical keys

I agree, however, I'd prefer just putting this phone into my pocket.

iPad with a keyboard is definitely better but it's also not compact. Plus, I don't really want to bring it to the beach (because no matter what I always end up cleaning all my stuff from the sand)

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#115

Post by Loughla » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:41 PM UTC

Swenrekcah wrote: post #44

tifadg1 wrote: post #23

For english language, swipe typing coupled with autocorrect works astonishingly well. So much so that I use it regularly because of lazyness. What segment does the physical keyboard appeal to? Youngins were born and raised touching the screen, so it's archaic to them. Old timers are jaded at this point to either wait for their dream phone or buy any cheap crap. So who's the target for this 900 usd device?

First of all, there are other languages than English. Some of them are programming languages. Also a touchscreen can not be operated with sweaty fingers or slightly unusual conditions. No they really can not be reliably used, recent years’ improvements notwithstanding. If I ever need to use my phone in an emergency outside in the cold with wet, sweaty perhaps bloody hands, I’d appreciate a 100% physical keyboard cont…

>Some of them are programming languages.

Are you doing programming on your smartphone?

I agree with the rest - sweaty fingers or wet fingers in general, or god forbid you want to wear gloves where it's cold.

But programming on a smartphone?

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#116

Post by Wildgoose » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:42 PM UTC

puzzlingcaptcha wrote: post #43

The Nokia Communicator dream never dies. The original 9000 series was first introduced impressive 25 years ago. At one point I had a HP Jornada 720 running Jlime Linux with a PCMCIA WiFi card for wardriving (15 years ago). One of my first smartphones was Xperia Mini Pro with a slide-out keyboard and I loved that thing (10 years ago). This is also around the time of Nokia N900 which had a deserved cult following. Thes…

I had the original Nokia Communicator as well. And I still have a Jornada 720. I also had a Psion 5 and a Psion-style keyboard (from the same designer) is being used on the Astro Slide mobile phone which is scheduled to ship in June, (I have one on order).

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme...

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#117

Post by varispeed » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:43 PM UTC

dmos62 wrote: post #93

froh42 wrote: post #85

I wonder why such devices have such a "meh" processor. This thing has a worse one than my several year old OnePlus 5. Don't know if it can do HDMI or DisplayPort output, but assuming that (and using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse) it might be a ultra-portable work machine for me, so I don't need to schlep my laptop around. But not with a meh processor, then it is only a phone with a keyboard.

But a non-meh processor means less battery time. I'd prefer meh processor to meh battery life. Meh.

I would prefer a better CPU and a power bank in my bag.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#118

Post by rjzzleep » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:43 PM UTC

aceazzameen wrote: post #106

tifadg1 wrote: post #23

For english language, swipe typing coupled with autocorrect works astonishingly well. So much so that I use it regularly because of lazyness. What segment does the physical keyboard appeal to? Youngins were born and raised touching the screen, so it's archaic to them. Old timers are jaded at this point to either wait for their dream phone or buy any cheap crap. So who's the target for this 900 usd device?

This targets me exactly! Well, sort of. The original Moto Droid was my first Android device, and I loved the slide out physical keyboard (paired with SwiftKey prediction and autocorrect!). It was the best of both worlds. I miss that typing experience. This phone looks perfect! Up until I saw the processor. A snapdragon 662 sounds like it would be a step back in time. So I guess I'm on the jaded list. My dream phone w…

Yeah, no idea how that happened. 662 is an early 2020 11nm midrange SoC. For comparison the 1.5 year older Apple A12 is twice as fast. Considering the price point I'd rather pay an extra 200 dollars and buy a 7" One Mix laptop.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#119

Post by spurgu » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:43 PM UTC

Wildgoose wrote: post #107

antattack wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seem to have better keyboards, however clam-shell design disadvantage is that you always have to have the keyboard out in order to use the device. It's more like a miniature laptop than a phone.

The Astro Slide isn't a clam-shell, unlike their first two offerings. I have a Gemini which I use as a PDA and it's great. The Astro Slide should give me the best of both worlds, (I have one on order).

Yeah I've looked at the Gemini and Cosmo before but the sliding design of ProX and Astro Slide is what makes me seriously consider buying one of these devices (in which case I'd lean towards the Astro).

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#120

Post by tubularhells » Thu, Apr 01, 2021, 1:43 PM UTC

tifadg1 wrote: post #23

For english language, swipe typing coupled with autocorrect works astonishingly well. So much so that I use it regularly because of lazyness. What segment does the physical keyboard appeal to? Youngins were born and raised touching the screen, so it's archaic to them. Old timers are jaded at this point to either wait for their dream phone or buy any cheap crap. So who's the target for this 900 usd device?

Imagine a world where some people speak more than one language on a daily basis.

Wild, I know.