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Project Fi by Google

fi.google.com

151–160 of 608 posts

Re: Project Fi by Google

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

But they make a line of laptops, a line of mobile devices, and some software. There's no iSpaceship or Apple Submarine(TM) yet -- if you told me Google had a sub bouncing around San Francisco Bay, I wouldn't even question it.

Do barges count? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_barges

Re: Project Fi by Google

#152
I'm hoping that their Wifi 4G handoff for calls works better than the T-Mobile handoff. I've noticed that on our enterprise network the extra time it takes to authenticate causes the call to drop. I do understand that the problem has to do with the software implementation and not android, but I'm assuming systems like that are reasonably similar or are provided by some outside vendor?

Re: Project Fi by Google

#153
post #35
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Thats a choice though, the Sprint iPhone also supports GSM/CDMA (as does the verizon one, and the unlocked one too)

Re: Project Fi by Google

#154
post #139

For family plans T-Mobile's Simple Choice Plan beats Google Fi in most respects: - No contract - Unlimited domestic talk, intl talk from US to ~100 countries - Competitive intl talk - Unlimited domestic + intl text - 2.5GB 4G LTE data - Unlimited domestic + intl 2G data (128Kbps vs Google's 3G 256Kbps) - Use any GSM phone, not just Nexus 6 - Phones purchased from T-Mobile come with Wi-Fi calling Most of my family mem…

Look at the name. I think their goal is that most of the time when you're out and about, you're connected to Wi-Fi. I think the cellular partners are a crutch to get them there. If they manage that, you'll wind up paying a lot less than with T-Mobile.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#155
post #18

In their FAQ they haven't addressed the security issues when connecting to public WiFi hotspots. The user's traffic would be flowing unencrypted, easily accessible to strangers. I wonder if they'll be providing free VPN service when connected to public WiFi.

"Know your data is safe Your data is secured through encryption when we connect you to open Wi-Fi hotspots. It's like your data has a private tunnel to drive through." So that's a yes ETA: Of course this does mean Google has the plaintext, but then, your ISP always has the plaintext unless you're bringing your own encryption, so this is really no different.

Google is also in a much better position to make use of that data & metadata than the typical ISP.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#156
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/serviceplan... has a 3GB plan for a year at $41.25 per month. Google's pricing for the same amount is $50 per month. So the question is whether all the new features (wifi calling, international roaming, pay-for-usage) justify the extra $9, plus the cost of a new phone for those without a Nexus 6. (Wifi calling should probably be left out of that list, since it's most l…

It's not just international roaming. StraightTalk does not support international texting. There is no way to text canadian phones from StraightTalk US. If you want International calling you can get that, but it costs more.

You can get that for free with Google Voice already, though. If Google already offers something for free, we shouldn't count it in the value calculation.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's frustrating because Google Apps has been the solution for bring-your-own-domain email, and many people use it as such. If I could use my own domain on a consumer Gmail account, I would. Google acts like it's just for enterprise customers, but that's not how a whole lot of people use it.

I have joshhasacell@gmail for my devices, and then josh@josh[.mn] for my personal stuff.

This is exactly why I don't just phone@josh[.mn]

Re: Project Fi by Google

#158
post #60
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks to me like a pure "commoditize your complements" play. All of Google's products require great mobile internet everywhere. By getting involved in that market, they can help make it much more competitive (at the moment, cell reception is expensive and shit). It's like Google Code. Google didn't particularly want to be in that business, but Sourceforge was complete shit, and the open source ecosystem was key…

I agree, and I always figured that's why they built Chrome. They needed the other browsers to step up their game, especially js performance so they could offer the kinds of web applications they wanted to.

And then .. no one did and now we're all stuck with Chrome.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#159
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…

You forgot healthcare [1,2], but point taken. ;-)

[1] http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/introducing-our-smart...

[2] http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-to-collect-data-to-define...

Re: Project Fi by Google

#160
post #60
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks to me like a pure "commoditize your complements" play. All of Google's products require great mobile internet everywhere. By getting involved in that market, they can help make it much more competitive (at the moment, cell reception is expensive and shit). It's like Google Code. Google didn't particularly want to be in that business, but Sourceforge was complete shit, and the open source ecosystem was key…

I agree, and I always figured that's why they built Chrome. They needed the other browsers to step up their game, especially js performance so they could offer the kinds of web applications they wanted to.

In fact that is their stated reason for developing Chrome.
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