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Essential Phone, available now

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Re: Essential Phone, available now

#191

Post by pc86 »

feld wrote: post #157
git-pull wrote: post #85

I admire the gumption of making a new phone. But controlled obsolescence kills me. The real feature that improves in phones the past few years for me is the software and apps, not the hardware . My wishlist: - Give me a lighter, snappier OS. Not something clunkier and slower and uses more ram, gpu/cpu (aka battery life). - Actually support updates to the things for longer than 2-3 years. - (Not related to this phone)…

> - And physical keyboards. Something for SSH'ing with. There is no market for this product. Nobody wants it except a tiny fraction of the market who work in IT.

And a big piece of that market doesn't even want it.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#192

Post by Brakenshire »

ksk wrote: post #53
agnsaft wrote: post #11

At this point, the only thing I care about is whether or not they plan on releasing quality software updates in a timely manner for a reasonable amount of time...

I can see (though don't entirely agree) why companies feel some pain, when the customer paid for the phone, but the public's expectation is free updates for "life" (however you define that). I wonder if having a subscription where they reduce the cost of the phone for the general population, and let others sign up for a paid subscription model for updates, backed up by some kind of SLA type agreement would work. I de…

It really shouldn't be difficult, it's not as if Intel is worrying about how to support some computer sold in 2009. The reason it's difficult is because the companies have chosen to set up a short term process which means reapplying and testing hacky patches to every upgrade. If they stopped forking the linux kernel and invested in putting their systems on the mainline they could have excellent support, and dust their hands of the product on day one.

Sony seems to be nudging in that direction with their unified kernel, which should mean they at least only have to backport hacks once. They also have some vague attempts at mainline support.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#193

Post by tjoff »

davemp wrote: post #117
git-pull wrote: post #85

I admire the gumption of making a new phone. But controlled obsolescence kills me. The real feature that improves in phones the past few years for me is the software and apps, not the hardware . My wishlist: - Give me a lighter, snappier OS. Not something clunkier and slower and uses more ram, gpu/cpu (aka battery life). - Actually support updates to the things for longer than 2-3 years. - (Not related to this phone)…

> And physical keyboards. Something for SSH'ing with. Biggest thing I want is no aux port but __two__ (or more) usb-c ports instead. That way you can do stuff like plug in a keyboard/monitor or other standalone usb devices. I don't want to be forced to use weird all in one hubs for specific use cases. I want the UNIX philosophy with my hardware.

Just buy a usb hub instead?

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#194

Post by dreinhardt »

infinitone wrote: post #23
briandear wrote: post #14

The comment about FaceTime made no sense. On iPhone you can use all the apps he mentioned. In terms of security, I trust FaceTime far more than I trust What’s App who, in their policies, make it clear some data is shared with Facebook. Using What’s App as a counterargument to FaceTime is rather strange to me. Signal maybe, but you can run that on iPhone just fine as well.

Yeah, i was confused about that... that whole 'closed system' section was much weaker than i thought. I thought somehow they were going to build a standardized app that can interface with all these closed apps- but then again, how would they do that to begin with?

Just write an android app that emulates an iPhone.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#196

Post by dTal »

git-pull wrote: post #85

I admire the gumption of making a new phone. But controlled obsolescence kills me. The real feature that improves in phones the past few years for me is the software and apps, not the hardware . My wishlist: - Give me a lighter, snappier OS. Not something clunkier and slower and uses more ram, gpu/cpu (aka battery life). - Actually support updates to the things for longer than 2-3 years. - (Not related to this phone)…

You might be interested in the Pyra, though it's rather chunky for a phone - it nails every feature of your wishlist except dual SIM. It won't come with Android (that's the "lighter, snappier OS" part) but porting should not be a problem.

Worth noting that global carrier support is an extremely difficult feature if you include all the wacky US carriers that don't use GSM. In the Pyra's case, there are actually two versions - the "US" version and the "everywhere else" version.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#197

Post by toastking »

criley2 wrote: post #79
ksk wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see (though don't entirely agree) why companies feel some pain, when the customer paid for the phone, but the public's expectation is free updates for "life" (however you define that). I wonder if having a subscription where they reduce the cost of the phone for the general population, and let others sign up for a paid subscription model for updates, backed up by some kind of SLA type agreement would work. I de…

It's moot. Apple offers ~3 years of software updates included in the price of the phone. Right now, Android companies COMPLETELY FAIL to match Apple's update value. The idea that Android companies should switch to a paid update subscription model, while iDevices retain free updates for most of device life, would be a hilariously incompetent decision. "They're better than us, we know it, so why not subscribe to us and…

What confuses is me is what kind of work needs to go in to updating android on different phones? If Android is compatible with the architecture of the phone shouldn't the software update from Google work?

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#198

Post by CreepGin »

boondaburrah wrote: post #138
nicpottier wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure they used Sharp as a partner, so it isn't like they started from scratch. That guess is based on this Sharp phone looking mighty familiar ( http://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_s2_taken_apart_a_bezelle... ) and Rubin having worked with Sharp extensively during the Danger days. (most of the Sidekicks were made by Sharp) I'm kinda sort interested in this device, but honestly I'm in the sit and wait given tha…

Sharp for some reason refuses to sell their smartphones outside of Japan. When I lived there I had a Sharp phone - and it was amazing. Smoothest non-stock android experience I've had. Recently they were selling [did this finally happen?] off their phone business to foxconn because it was falling behind. Man, if you actually tried to sell your phones, Sharp, they might have sold? Funny concept. If this phone is indeed…

Yeah, Foxconn bought Sharp last year. One interesting thing I heard (from words of mouth) was Gou decided to follow through with the purchase after Sharp reduced the price by 35%. Gou was mighty proud of the acquisition for awhile until the Japanese Yen devalued considerably, leading him to speculate foul play from the Japanese in the original deal.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#199

Post by Analemma_ »

boondaburrah wrote: post #138
nicpottier wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure they used Sharp as a partner, so it isn't like they started from scratch. That guess is based on this Sharp phone looking mighty familiar ( http://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_s2_taken_apart_a_bezelle... ) and Rubin having worked with Sharp extensively during the Danger days. (most of the Sidekicks were made by Sharp) I'm kinda sort interested in this device, but honestly I'm in the sit and wait given tha…

Sharp for some reason refuses to sell their smartphones outside of Japan. When I lived there I had a Sharp phone - and it was amazing. Smoothest non-stock android experience I've had. Recently they were selling [did this finally happen?] off their phone business to foxconn because it was falling behind. Man, if you actually tried to sell your phones, Sharp, they might have sold? Funny concept. If this phone is indeed…

> Man, if you actually tried to sell your phones, Sharp, they might have sold? Funny concept.

Smartphones are a brutal business to be in, especially in North America, where Apple and Samsung have basically locked up the high end of the market and everyone else is fighting for the scraps (and usually losing tons of money in the process). Probably Sharp just realized there was really no way to break in, especially considering they'd have to start from scratch with channels like carrier partnerships, retail presence, and advertising.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#200

Post by CaptSpify »

zeppelin101 wrote: post #171
davemp wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And physical keyboards. Something for SSH'ing with. Biggest thing I want is no aux port but __two__ (or more) usb-c ports instead. That way you can do stuff like plug in a keyboard/monitor or other standalone usb devices. I don't want to be forced to use weird all in one hubs for specific use cases. I want the UNIX philosophy with my hardware.

Bluetooth keyboards work great with Android devices. No cables required.

Heavily disagree. Especially when using ssh. I always have alt/ctrl issues, and I've tried a handful of them.
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