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Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

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Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#261

Post by Sodman »

k_ wrote: post #249
Sodman wrote: post #170

I still consider my old Nokia E70[0] my favorite phone of all time, so I am definitely in the target demographic for this, as I'm 100% sold on the usefulness of a physical keyboard on a phone... However the CPU just doesn't match the "pro" branding, or the price range. I'd personally rather throw an extra $200-300 on top to get a flagship CPU and then it would be close to a perfect phone for me! As it currently is, t…

Seems like we're looking for similar things. I am currently waiting for delivery of my Astro Slide [0] [0]: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme... which has android / linux dual boot. Not sure if performance are what you are looking for.

This looks much more like what I'm looking for alright! Doing some background research it looks like they had some issues with their chipset supplier and had to downgrade the chip a little, but performance benchmarks put it ~around the same place as my Pixel 5's current CPU, which I'd say is much more acceptable (if not totally cutting edge flagship-tier) for a phone in 2021!

At $576 (Edit: now $621, looks like the early bird just sold out!) this also seems like a much better deal than the pro-1x at $800! I'm always worried though when the "pledge store" for these things says things like "Ships March 2021!" but their most recent update says they've just finalized their PCB and are just starting testing...

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#262

Post by ForHackernews »

smichel17 wrote: post #221
SamBam wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used Swype for a long time and loved it. Then it was killed, and Android shipped its default keyboard ("gboard") with one that included swiping. I've used it ever since, not thinking about it, but it has never been as good as Swype, and about 20% of my words are errors. I don't think about it much because their autocorrect suggestions are pretty good when you tap on a word, but it really is annoying. Honestly, it's…

Swype was killed? I still have and use it. It came preinstalled on my Galaxy S6.

It was killed from the app store. Maybe it's still available to OEMs to preinstall on their devices.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/21/17030216/nuance-discontin...

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#264

Post by kroltan »

regularfry wrote: post #246
thesuitonym wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of crazy to me that people are concerned about the thickness of phones, yet nobody bats an eye when they keep getting bigger and bigger in the other dimensions. I guess screen size trumps all other concerns.

It's to do with pockets, at a guess. There's no penalty for expanding in the height and width dimensions up to the limits of a back pocket, which is comparatively huge. If you expand in the depth direction, the pocket can't expand far before it starts to feel uncomfortable, particularly if you sit on it.

It might be local clothing design, but I haven't seen a back pocket so low that you could actually sit on a phone.

The geometry works out that the pocket is halfway from your back and your leg, so when you sit the phone would be at a 45 degree angle.

Half of it would be under compression from your weight in the horizontal direction, and the other would be in tension from the pocket pulling it into the vertical direction.

Not a healthy situation for your comfort, your phone's integrity, and the pocket's half-life, regardless of a phone's dimensions. In fact, a larger surface-area phone would work even more as a lever than a vaguely thicker one.

So I just put the phone in the front pockets.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#266

Post by 29083011397778 »

aidenn0 wrote: post #251

I've had phones with landscape and portrait mode keyboards, and the latter were invariably better. Maybe it's just that Palm and RIM were better at making keyboards, but I'm not interested in a landscape keyboard at this point

I would put an offensively large bet on BlackBerry putting absurd amounts of effort into their keyboards, instead of landscape being inherently worse. Based on everything I've ever seen, heard, and read, they cared deeply about hardware design. "Losing the Signal", regarding the rise and fall on BlackBerry, made it clear they tested for things like drops extensively, and (IIRC) went as far as literally throwing at least one device around to ensure it would survive.

And then they were pushed to push the Storm out the door, which pushed many people away. Things only really went downhill from there, sadly. That said, my KeyOne is still my favourite phone ever, and I'll carry on with it as long as I can purchase replacement components :)

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#267

Post by ansible »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #260
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?

> born and raised touching the screen What does this have to do with the market? People don't want physical keyboards because they are "used to" them. They want because the experience of typing is different.

I would have bought this style of phone 8 or 9 years ago. I had the original G1 (actually the ADP1) and Samsung Sidekick 4G, and loved the keyboards on those phones. With some practice, I could get close to 30 wpm on the keyboards.

Since those phones were current though, I've needed to switch to "normal" smartphones without physical keyboards. At first I really disliked them, but with practice, and especially with better swipe-capable keyboards, I got used to it.

Now, I don't know that I'd worry about going back. I'd rather have a phone with long-term software support.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#268

Post by Pxtl »

corty wrote: post #187
Pxtl wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were supposed to. This company was launched on an ill-fated Kickstarter for a slide-out keyboard attachment called "Livermorium" for the Moto Z. It's the reason I owned a Moto Z. I have no interest in buying a no-name brand phone, though.

Problem is, Motorola took its time certifying the keyboard and by the time they were done, hardware components where no longer available, so they had to redesign. Same thing happened again, but they successfully delivered a few prototypes. After which Motorola discontinued the attachment ports altogether. So fuck Motorola, never again. And from what I've seen in the Pro1 (no X), it works pretty well, does what it is…

Okay, the cert delay killing it sucks... but discontinued? There were 4 generations of Moto Z with the port. That's a long window.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#269

Post by LilBytes »

ForHackernews wrote: post #262
smichel17 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swype was killed? I still have and use it. It came preinstalled on my Galaxy S6.

It was killed from the app store. Maybe it's still available to OEMs to preinstall on their devices. https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/21/17030216/nuance-discontin...

Swype or at least the functionality behind it still exists with Swiftkey on Android.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#270

Post by arpa »

Sodman wrote: post #261
k_ wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like we're looking for similar things. I am currently waiting for delivery of my Astro Slide [0] [0]: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme... which has android / linux dual boot. Not sure if performance are what you are looking for.

This looks much more like what I'm looking for alright! Doing some background research it looks like they had some issues with their chipset supplier and had to downgrade the chip a little, but performance benchmarks put it ~around the same place as my Pixel 5's current CPU, which I'd say is much more acceptable (if not totally cutting edge flagship-tier) for a phone in 2021! At $576 (Edit: now $621, looks like the e…

August is likely target date for astro.
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