Live data from Hacker News

ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

ebay.com

91–100 of 119 posts

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#91
post #88
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do have an "international unlock team" that handles this exact scenario. However, everything I've read indicates that the phone still won't accept SIMs from domestic GSM carriers.

If you're jailbroken, why not baseband unlock too?

I have the 4S and iOS 6.

I wasn't aware of any baseband unlocks that work w/ that setup, but it's certainly something I'd consider.

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#92
Just bought one, thinking that missing apps won't be a problem, since I only really use a few:

    - awesome web browser? check.
    - maps? check.
    - hipMenu? fail. :(
I don't know how they did it, but they actually got the majority of the food joints in the city where I live in the app, with a nice consistent interface. Most places also have websites, but they're horrible to use.

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#93
post #86
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still look for tactile buttons, but not when it comes to a handset. For instance: I don't plan to own a car that incorporates an in-dash entertainment/nav system w/ a touch-only interface. (My only notable exception would probably be a Tesla vehicle.) When picking out an aftermarket head unit: I look for tactile controls that I can operate, _without looking_, using one hand. I've passed up some superior equipment (…

Funny, years ago a friend of mine refused to go touchscreen phone, because he was able to send a text message without looking at the phone as it had actual buttons. I'm more like you, but I like to have a physical button on my phone for the camera. I don't find the on-screen camera button user friendly, esp for half-press focus/exposure. It severely limits my choice of phone though...

I was the same as your friend. And unlike drbawb, I never gave my phone my undivided attention.

Back in the day, PC gamers would learn quick repetitive sequences of key presses, sometimes with specific time delays. It would allow you to quickly select what you wanted so you could continue gaming in real time. I used phones the same way.

End, star, menu, up, select, up, up, select, "4390416046662023020548853052831,down,right,0225509680460,long 3,long 0", select, select, end, keylock.

I would send that text to my girlfriend while I was driving - while the phone was still in my pocket. It's impossible to do today with a smartphone. Luckily, dumb phones still have interfaces that respect certain rules of user input, and have simple single-tasking schedulers that obey your every command without hesitation. The only downside is the lack of good cameras, but the GPS nav and very minimal browsers give me almost all the functionality I need.

For reference, the best T9 texting phones i've ever used were Sony Ericsson. They were european-designed for a market that had long since embraced texting, and made it as natural, efficient and intuitive as possible. Oh the glory days...

[The text I sent above? "Hey i'm gonna be a little late, call you in 30"]

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#94

From Belgium: Unfortunately, access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries. We are blocking your viewing in an effort to prevent restricted items from being displayed. Regrettably, in some cases, we may prevent users from accessing items that are not within the scope of said restrictions because of limitations of existing technology. Please accept our apologies for any in…

Huh, they ship to most of Europe, but not to Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Estonia? How did they arrive at this weird set of countries?

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#95
post #22

From Belgium: Unfortunately, access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries. We are blocking your viewing in an effort to prevent restricted items from being displayed. Regrettably, in some cases, we may prevent users from accessing items that are not within the scope of said restrictions because of limitations of existing technology. Please accept our apologies for any in…

I can see it from Canada, but I can't buy it, they only ship to the US.

Same :'(

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#96
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, years ago a friend of mine refused to go touchscreen phone, because he was able to send a text message without looking at the phone as it had actual buttons. I'm more like you, but I like to have a physical button on my phone for the camera. I don't find the on-screen camera button user friendly, esp for half-press focus/exposure. It severely limits my choice of phone though...

I was the same as your friend. And unlike drbawb, I never gave my phone my undivided attention. Back in the day, PC gamers would learn quick repetitive sequences of key presses, sometimes with specific time delays. It would allow you to quickly select what you wanted so you could continue gaming in real time. I used phones the same way. End, star, menu, up, select, up, up, select, "4390416046662023020548853052831,dow…

Haha, that's awesome. I'm guessing you were 30 mins late pretty often then? :) I never had the capacity to learn all the key combo's, I do remember hearing about competitions to find the fastest texter, going with somwthing like 100 words a minute or something.

I had Sony Ericssons, Motorolas but the Nokia interface worked best for me (I had my Nokia N95 for a LONG time, 4 or 5 years). I found it came down to whatever you were used to, since the placement of the keys and combos were different (for things like commas, apostrophies etc) between the different brands.

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#98
post #97

Am I the only person left on the planet who pines for tactile buttons in a small device I can use with one hand?

I just want a smartphone that I can use with one hand :( Not sure what it is about all Android phones now being the size of a house!

Androis flip phon http://www.zdnet.com/samsung-announces-the-hennessy-dual-scr...

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#99
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want a smartphone that I can use with one hand :( Not sure what it is about all Android phones now being the size of a house!

Androis flip phon http://www.zdnet.com/samsung-announces-the-hennessy-dual-scr...

Interesting idea, but I don't think I could go back to that style of phone without a QWERTY keyboard.

It's the form factor - I think iPhone 4 is the perfect size, iPhone 5 if also fine, so around a 4-inch screen . Everything these days seems to be 4.7-5 inch, which just feels to big in my hand and esp too big to carry around in my pocket. It used to be possible to reach all corners of the screen with just my thumb, i.e. one handed operation for most things.

I would get an iPhone but I refuse to install iTunes on my computer, enjoy the freedom of Android and have no idea how to navigate with just a single ([]) button :(

Re: ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

#100
post #66
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A smartphone has a fully competent web browser, which instantly places it far, far higher than a brick or flip phone.

A user doesn't care what underlying technology it has. Even crappy phones have some web browser on them. A user cares about thing like "Can I get Shazam installed?" or "What about my Facebook app and the game I saw my cousin play on his iPhone?" If the answer if no, they don't care what magic soup of technology acronyms there are inside.

You're putting barriers up where there are none. A user cares about "can I get Facebook", and with a modern smartphone browser, the answer is "yes".

Obviously there are fewer choices available than in the iTunes Store, but the phone is also incredibly cheap when compared to an iPhone.

Post reply on HN