Project Fi by Google • Hacker News Board

Re: Project Fi by Google

#31

Post by MrBuddyCasino » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:52 PM UTC

aerovistae wrote: post #13

kirinan wrote: post #8

This is insane. I can't think of an industry that google is not trying to compete in. Auto industry, space industry, internet of things industry (Nest), internet/media industry, cable/internet provider industry, automobile industry, robotics industry, software industry, smartphone industry, pc industry now the telecom industry. I'm starting to expect Google to launch an airline here pretty soon. How can they possibly…

They won't be a market leader in everything. What do they lead aside from search, ads, and mobile OS? The really funny bit is that near the end of Steve Jobs's life (per the biography), Larry Page asked him for advice and of course he said "focus on doing a few things really well, cut out everything else." Seems Larry decided he knew better.

That advice led to the closing down of many Google services. Apple doesn't just produce a single device, either.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#32

Post by vishnuks » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:52 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #17

kirinan wrote: post #8

This is insane. I can't think of an industry that google is not trying to compete in. Auto industry, space industry, internet of things industry (Nest), internet/media industry, cable/internet provider industry, automobile industry, robotics industry, software industry, smartphone industry, pc industry now the telecom industry. I'm starting to expect Google to launch an airline here pretty soon. How can they possibly…

[deleted]

They are not making any money right now. But the Investment in Spacex and Boston dynamics would be a huge pay off in the future.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#33

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Project Fi by Google

#34

Post by kqr2 » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

Republic Wireless has been doing hybrid wifi / cell calling for some time:

https://republicwireless.com/

Their unlimited 3G plan is $25.

Republic Wireless is owned by Bandwidth.com which also manages Google Voice numbers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth.com

Re: Project Fi by Google

#35

Post by davmre » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:53 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #20

suyash wrote: post #15

Sucks that it only works for Nexus 6 and only for US phone numbers.

It only works for Google phones? There isn't an antitrust issue there?

It only works specifically with the Nexus 6 (not other Google phones), apparently for technical reasons involving network-switching capabilities. Possibly that's BS, but assuming it's legit I'd imagine they'll try to get the technology into other makers' phones in the future.

Though even if they didn't, Google doesn't have a monopoly position in phone hardware so it's not clear antitrust would come into play.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#36

Post by Navarr » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:54 PM UTC

DanBlake wrote: post #6

No mention of family plan or data sharing. If I have 3 lines that use 10gb between them, will this still be cheaper?

"No, we only support individual accounts during Project Fi's Early Access Program. If multiple people on your current wireless plan are interested in joining our early access program, each user is required to have a Project Fi account."

https://fi.google.com/about/faq/#plan-and-pricing-8

Re: Project Fi by Google

#37

Post by morganvachon » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:54 PM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #2

Is this a dual-MVNO? They talk about switching between two different LTE providers.

It uses a special SIM to hand off between Wi-Fi, T-Mobile, and Sprint service. There's one other MVNO that supports both of those networks, Ting, though they don't support both networks on one device simultaneously (yet; I think they might be working on it). I'm on Ting and it's nice having a T-Mobile phone in my pocket while my wife has a Sprint phone, all on the same account and billing.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#38

Post by higherpurpose » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:54 PM UTC

electriclove wrote: post #5

ARGH.. Google Apps domains not supported. "For now, Project Fi is available only for accounts with an @gmail.com address"

I don't know why this becomes an issue with every single service Google launches. It's pretty clear Google's strategy is not to launch Apps support for any product that is either beta or immediately post-beta, and it wants to wait a bit until things get stable enough to use for enterprise.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#39

Post by jonlucc » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:54 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #20

suyash wrote: post #15

Sucks that it only works for Nexus 6 and only for US phone numbers.

It only works for Google phones? There isn't an antitrust issue there?

I think that would require them to have a monopoly on the sale of smartphones and use that to make entry to the new market (mobile carrier).

Re: Project Fi by Google

#40

Post by MBlume » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 5:55 PM UTC

"We refund the data you don't use" is basically a way of saying "you pay by the megabyte for the data you do use" -- which is actually really great, I've been frustrated that everyone's settled on "all-you-can-eat" data as the standard, it doesn't align incentives well at all.

And they really are refunding it: if you use 1.2GB per month, it doesn't matter whether you sign up for 2, 5, or 10GB, your bill comes out exactly the same.