Second Google Android Phone Revealed 176
KrispyDroid writes "The world's second Google Android phone has been unveiled — by an Australian-based electronics company called Kogan. It will ship worldwide on Jan 29. It looks like a surprisingly nice form factor, not unlike a Blackberry Bold. The phones will be sold without a contract at low prices — $A299 ($US192)."
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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How is it Google's fault that developers aren't embracing the platform? It seems like that's the developers doing.
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And on top of all that, it does you absolutely no good (up to this point) if you use a carrier other than T-Mobile.
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I am an app developer (mobile included). I have developed a couple of apps for the Android platform just to test the SDK. It works pretty well, but lacks some dialogs which are standard on desktop OS's (color picker, file save/open dialogs). All of that is kind of offloaded to the developer. It has *A LOT* of great potential to extend every part of the OS's interface. I am far more excited for Android than iPhone since iPhone really restricts what you can do with it. Hell you can't even have an app ru
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:5, Interesting)
If you want something completely open, you can run Trolltech's Qtopia on the latest Openmoko hardware.
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If the openmoko hardware was worth a damn, then maybe.
It's OK if you don't care for fast data, or being able to reliably make phone calls.
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I thought the inability to make phone calls was a software issue.
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:4, Insightful)
It is.
Unfortunately the software stack written by the openmoko guys is (and it pains me to say this) in a total shambles, and until very recently the developers basically refused to do anything about it, preferring to "look to the future" and make shiny bells and whistles. I'm watching the android software on OM very carefully because it seems to me that when the porting is finished (and it's got a decent way there, it runs and makes calls) it'll turn the OM into a decent phone.
Yes, there are problems - no camera, no 3G - but it's interesting from a linux-geek perspective at the moment.
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Right, that's what I thought. I figured it was OK if you ran Qtopia instead of the OpenMoko distribution, but the GGP claims that the OpenMoko hardware makes it unreliable at making phone calls.
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Nah, it's just poor software as far as I can tell. The infuriating thing about the 2008.X stack (for me) was that the UI was unresponsive so that when you hit "pick up" it would take a while to register the button press. In the mean time I don't know if it's registered it or not so I hit it again. But then the hang up button appears in the same place and it's stored up the mouse click to apply to that...
Could have killed that damn phone right then.
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Oh, man. That one continually shoots my blood pressure thru the roof. It does the same thing on QTopia.
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And you're not allowed to complain about it if you aren't going to fix it by yourself!
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And you're not allowed to complain about it if you aren't going to fix it by yourself!
I guess you're new to Open Source ;)
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The problem is that Android is "tivoizable" and this was actually done on the HTC+TMobile product, making it no more interesting than the iPhone. Until we get a phone that doesn't use any code signing, nobody is going to be very interested in the product, because it's merely an iPhone competitor (and the iPhone has Apple's sexy marketing behind it, so you might as well just develop for that and make more money).
If this doesn't use any code signing, then this might be the beginning of Android getting seri
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It's sold without contract to any network. They have no incentive to restrict it.
I hope to God you're right. (Score:2)
I don't see how they can do it, honestly. How do you sell a device like this with no contract subsidy for $900?
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Where do you get that price from?
The phones will be sold without a contract at low prices -- $A299 ($US192).
Re:I hope to God you're right. (Score:5, Informative)
There's an interesting backstory to that low price (AU$299/$399, btw).
Kogan is an Australian online retailer. They started when Kogan got pissed off with always being ripped off on local pricing and decided to go direct to Chinese manufacturers.
Eighteen months ago young tech-head Ruslan Kogan wanted an LCD television but didn't want to pay full price for it.
He did some research and sent a few emails to factories in China, and now the 24-year-old not only has a new 117cm high-definition TV in his lounge room, he is planning to go global with his own brand of consumer electronics.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/entrepreneur-cuts-tv-middle-men/2007/03/26/1174761375485.html [smh.com.au]
That story is a little over a year old; now there's a lot more products in his store and he's taking on the big electronic retailers over here. http://www.kogan.com.au/profile/ [kogan.com.au]
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:4, Insightful)
Until we get a phone that doesn't use any code signing, nobody is going to be very interested in the product, because it's merely an iPhone competitor (and the iPhone has Apple's sexy marketing behind it, so you might as well just develop for that and make more money).
But to develop for the iPhone, you need to get a $99 development license, and then you still have to play by Apple's rules: no emulators, no competing with built-in apps, etc.
Developing for Android is free, and there are no limitations on what you're allowed to develop or distribute. You can write software that not only competes with built-in apps, but actually replaces them. And you can distribute them through Google's marketplace, through a competing marketplace, through your own web site, or anywhere else.
Code signing only means that you can't replace the OS with a version you've compiled yourself... but even that is being worked around [arstechnica.com].
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:5, Funny)
Why are you on Slashdot?
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He might have gotten confused by the name and thought this was some other kind of "slash" site. [wikipedia.org] :-) No worries, happens all the time.
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:5, Interesting)
I have an openmoko freerunner running android, so IMHO that's the second android phone, though it's not on sale with android preinstalled yet, and not everything is working.
New image today - check out the Openmoko community discussion forum/mail list.
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Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:5, Insightful)
it seems like Google is uninterested in the end user's extendibility of the platform, which was supposedly it's raison d'etre.
One would hope this isn't the selling point of the phone, but rather that it is a flexible phone that meets the users' needs. The fact that it's hackable and "community-driven" is a means, not an end.
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I suppose the question following on from there is selling point to whom?.
If the sales pitch is directed at phone manufacturers, then giving them a cheap software stack that they can customise to suit their desires, and then lock down tight, Is probably going to be very appealing. That said, it doesn't real
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect the reason the G1 won't allow installation of non-signed firmware is due to carrier (T-Mobile) requirements, not because Google doesn't want you to be able to hack it.
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:4, Insightful)
.
I'm running the openmoko Android version from Sean McNeil (check out openmoko's wiki) in dual boot mode, along with Qtopia and it shows promise too, though I think koolu's team of devs will likely reach a optimized distro quicker. Comparing both the G1 and Freerunner, Android runs faster on the G1 (of course), where as the Freerunner has the ArmV4 compatibility issue (DOH!) and the lack of keyboard (all OM touchscreen keyboards fail at this current time).
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Have you tried todays image from Sean and the latest (oversize) kernel?
You'll need to mess around with uboot to get the large kernel going, but after that it has an onscreen keyboard and you can answer calls with it.
Far from perfect, but making progress. I do want to see what Koolu have done too.
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Unfortunately it's a bit immature
Neeext!
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But Android doesn't have an on-screen keyboard, and the Neo Freerunner doesn't have a physical keyboard (and the screen doesn't really look big enough for an on screen one anyway). So how do you type?
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So how do you type?
It has a USB port, right?
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You, like most other people, seem to think that Google has some sort of say in wether the phones are hackable or not. Google published (and open-sourced) the OS and SDK. What manufacturers do with their phones is their business.
And like someone else said, if you want a fully hackable phone, go get an OpenMoko. Nobody promised you that Android would be this.
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:4, Insightful)
What about supporting open media formats like OGG and FLAC?!! The owner talks bout being a long time OSS supporter, but ignores these vital formats! Weak!
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I have the N810 (ok, not actually a phone, but same line) and it runs maemo (debian derivative) by default. I have full root access, can SSH into it remotely, do rDesktop, add custom repositories, install deb files, etc. Basically it's a linux computer that fits in your pocket!
Re:When will it become *our* phones? (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're referring to the ability to replace the firmware, that is definitely a disappointment. However, that's between HTC and T-Mobile. With Android published under the Apache License 2.0, there's not much anyone can do to force HTC and T-Mobile to allow self-signed firmware. My hope, though, is that some of these non-carrier devices, like the one cited in the OP, will allow replacement firmware. Only time will tell.
Thanks for the shout-out!
On the apps front, I suspect part of the hang-up is that the Android Market — the closest counterpart to the iPhone App Store — is only supporting free apps right now. Vendors interested in turning a buck (or yen or euro or whatever) either need to use one of the other markets or wait for the Android Market to start supporting paid-for apps. That's reputedly coming in Q1.
Even given that, the Android Market has a fair number of apps there. I don't remember the release rates for the iPhone apps when its SDK was released, but I'd be a bit surprised if Android is dramatically off the pace. Yes, many of the apps are trivial (umpteen tip calculators, flashlights, etc.), but it's not like every iPhone or WinMo app is a blockbuster. Considering hardware has been available for 5-6 weeks, I'm relatively pleased with the response to date, for what my opinion is worth.
Sweet (Score:2)
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OMG (Score:3, Funny)
The first gPhone was good, but not great.
Android's had some growing pains, but now we've finally got a real iPhone killer on our hands.
(Yes, they call every Android-based phone a "gPhone".)
Re:OMG (Score:5, Funny)
Damned /. ripping out my
</retarded Google fanboy>
line.
Warning - design is not final yet (Score:5, Informative)
Also, I won't be surprised if the shipping date slips.
No product design is ever finished (Score:2)
Thinking that product follows a design it then ship it model is as broken as thinking the same for software.
It is very common for hardware designs to be modified during their lifetime. Frequently the first shipped product will have some hand modified parts to the circuit which will get fixed in a subsequent design. Frequently designs get modified to use cheaper components etc.
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Well it's a freight shipment from China, which are notoriously late. Unless you own all the product on the ship (think apple at a major product launch like the iPhone, new iMac, etc), you're screwed, especially if you're using a budget carrier which he undoubtedly is. Jan 29th means he was told "last week in January" which means "third week of february". Depending on how badly he's pissed off samsung for lifting the curtian behind the wizard of oz on how LCD manufacturing works, they may pull some strings t
Why is it not OPEN open ? (Score:5, Interesting)
If the OS was fully open, then there would be no incentive for the network to buy the phone and subsidize the price - i.e. if you want a truly open phone - you'll get it but at a price.
Shameless plug: I've got both the iphone sdk and the android sdk - I find the google sdk 20x easier to get stuff done and the marketplace puts your apps up *instantly* (upgrades and all). However, the marketplace is suffering from kids abusing the comment capability but when that's nailed (and of course the ability to actually charge for apps) I think we will see very high quality apps coming out for the google phone. Or at least I hope so - I'm writing a game in progress which I hope to earn a bit of cash. (Even more shameless plug : http://www.barcodebeasties.com/ [barcodebeasties.com] )
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I'm sorry, but i don't get it. Phone companies give you phones or discount phones for you purely to get you to sign their contract. Why do they care one whit for how open or not a phone is? they wouldn't care if they had to give you a "massage" from a beautiful girl if it would get you to sign the contract just so long as you put your John Hancock on the dotted line.
The only time this appears to be a factor is when they sell you the special features, text messaging etc, ring tones, etc. Is this really w
I just want an android device, not a smartphone (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't really need or want an iPhone or an Android phone. What I want is a nice, compact, multi-touch platform like the iPod Touch that runs android. Android has the potential to power a real iPod killer that's a nice platform for all kinds of apps.
Initially I was very excited about the iPod Touch and bought one. But Apple's desire to completely and utterly control what I do with my own device has really turned me off of it. If I could have a similar device that was open to installation of apps and development without deferring to the whims of Google or any other manufacturer, I'd gladly shell out another $300 for an android device sans phone. Seems like manufactures aren't even bothering to compete with Apple in general (maybe android isn't good enough to compete with the iPhone and iPod touch), but rather are aiming for the already existing market of mediocre products such as blackberry, palm, and windows smartphones. Kind of sad, really. In this market things like video and audio playback seem almost like afterthoughts, which poorly designed apps to do this and little to no support for integrating with PC-based software, such as would be similar to iTunes. Sure you can dump songs on a little chip, but how well does the playback system work? is it fully integrated like it is on the iPhone and obviously the iPod Touch? How well can it integrate with Amarok or Songbird? Seems like there are a lot of opportunities here. Of course maybe they feel the mp3 player market is so saturated that it doesn't matter. After all business users care mainly about their e-mail. I get the impression I will never be in the target market for any of these companies.
Re:I just want an android device, not a smartphone (Score:4, Interesting)
"I'd gladly shell out another $300 for an android device sans phone."
Android can successfully be run on the Nokia N810, An internet tablet with WiFi (and there's a WiMAX version too).
Maybe a little more than $300, but as a foreigner I don't know how to access google US to do a shopping search.
Re:I just want an android device, not a smartphone (Score:5, Interesting)
The N810 already runs Linux with a Nokia UI. There's no reason to install Android.
In addition, Nokia has been shipping phones that let you install anything you want for years, and their phone OS will become open source as of next year. They even provide native Python interpreters.
The main reason Nokia is so unpopular in the US is that they refused to cripple their phones as much as the carriers wanted. Unfortunately even nerds in America are apparently too dependent on force fed advertising.
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Last I looked, the development procedures for the Nokia tablets involved having to do cross compiling, and required tools that could only be run on linux (not on osx, not on windows). If this is still the case, I'd say there's a significant reason to install Android.
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I've read that, in regards to other products, about 100 times before. Eventually it'll be true...
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If you're willing to pay an additional $300 for a phone you can install your own applications on, you could put $201 of that money back in your pocket and spend just $99 to become a registered iPhone developer. Once you've done that, you'll have a developer certificate that permits you to create and install as many applications as you want on your device.
If your applications work well, you could then either give them away via the App Store or, if you choose, you might even get compensated for your effort.
Re:I just want an android device, not a smartphone (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm afraid you've dramatically missed the point. I'm not interested in selling my soul to Apple for this privilege. Initially I only made the purchase (and arguably it was foolish) because I knew I could jailbreak the device and do what I wanted with it. However, Apple chose to go to war against those who would use the device in ways Apple didn't want (oh the irony of living in a free country) and they have decided it's illegal for me to use my iPod to sync against Amarok if I ever upgrade to 2.x (which they practically force on me every time I plug it into a computer with iTunes on it).
I want a platform that I'm free to do anything I want with, since I own it. I want to be able to write new software, access the shell, sync against amarok, etc. I don't want to pay apple $100 for the privilege of accessing a device I already own and should have access too. That's just silly and a bit ludicrous if you think about it. Cue the bad car analogies... Sure we'll sell you a car. But if you want access to the trunk you have to pay us for a trunk license and then we reserve the right to take away the key at any time if we see fit.
As for being compensated for my work, Apple's policies don't even allow GPL'd software at all, so I couldn't even offer my work to others to begin with.
In hindsight, the iPod was a stupid buy. It doesn't work well with just about anything. I can't easily attach peripherals to it, except what Apple sanctions. However at the time it was the best device (when jailbroken) on the planet. I'm hoping that a device with Android will reach that point soon.
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oh the irony of living in a free country
"And the award for worst misuse of the term 'free country' in a /. thread goes to..."
Re:I just want an android device, not a smartphone (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple's policies don't even allow GPL'd software at all, so I couldn't even offer my work to others to begin with.
The GPL isn't a prerequisite for offering your work to others.
Link to the manufacturer (Score:3, Informative)
$399 with Camera and GPS .
I hope the prices are in Australian dollars, that would make it a pretty good buy
And the website has this comment "PRE-ORDER NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT - DEMAND WILL EXCEED SUPPLY!"
I wonder how they know for certain that demand WILL exceed supply ?
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They're only building one and they promised it to Sergei. :-p
Re:Link to the manufacturer (Score:4, Informative)
The Agora will cost AU$299, and the Agora Pro will be AU$399.
$299 AUD ~= $195 USD
$399 AUD ~= $260 USD
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http://xe.com/ucc [xe.com]
Recent worldwide economic conditions have raped the Australian dollar right through its pants. It's going to be quite a long time until AU$300 is 'just under' US$300 again...
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Display resoultion (Score:3, Interesting)
Different hardware spec to the G1 (Score:5, Insightful)
The first thing that strikes me about this phone is that the spec is noticeably different from the other shipping Android phone, the screen is 320x240 not 480x320, and the camera is 2 megapixel not 3.2.
It will be very interesting to see how well the software on the AppStore^H^H^H^H Android MarketTM works on different hardware, and how many developers will be willing and/or able to patch their software to work on it.
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Android applications, if properly made, are pretty screen-agnostic. The UI layout code is designed to heavily emphasize relative placement rather than absolute. Hell, even on the G1 you need a little leeway because of the way everything changes size when you flip the screen orientation.
Overall, only the very laziest developers should have to do any significant patching, if any at all.
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That's all well and good until I have to fit a certain amount of data on the screen. If I've designed for a larger screen, it's simply not going to fit, however flexible the layout.
Now I could design for the lowest possible screen resolution, but that will limit functionality or force me to produce a UI that's artificially small on larger screens.
Even the studious developers will have a lot of work to do making their apps work properly at lower resolutions.
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Have you done much development with the Android API and actually used the phones? I have a hard time thinking of any program you'd be making on a mobile phone that wouldn't be able to easily scale by 100 pixels one way or another. Certainly nothing I have on my G1 would qualify as such. And having played around making some apps with the API, it really encourages you to design in a way that scales transparently to different screen sizes.
I'm curious what sort of program you're envisioning that has to cram
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I've developed two successful apps. One somewhat successful, one very successful. The most successful one is the most resolution independent. In coding it, I've done nothing that depends on any particular resolution. It randomly crashes in the emulator using QVGA (the resolution of the Aussie google phone). Even if it didn't crash, several of the screens are next to useless in the lower resolution, there is simply not enough space without recoding them.
Now, I could recode my app to use smaller fonts, lo
Re:Different hardware spec to the G1 (Score:4, Informative)
It is sometimes *really* hard to make apps that work at all resolutions when you don't have much screen real estate. One of my apps will break horribly on this new screen layout, and I am not sure how to fix it. The other should work ok, but it won't be as usable, and will limit the amount of functionality. Detecting all this will be an utter nightmare.
My guess is that many of the android market apps will not work properly on this new phone.
This is what I like about the iPhone - there is *one* resolution and two orientations - that's it.
Dollars? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Dollars? (Score:5, Funny)
If you think Australian Personal Computer Magazine is a US site, then there isn't much we can do to help you.
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What is even one thing about the page that makes you think it's a "US page"?
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Try a link to the Kogan web site
http://www.kogan.com.au [kogan.com.au]
You tell me.
Strange, I didnt notice that Australian PC magazine [apcmag.com] was a US site.
Also I'm having a bit of trouble finding this address in the US:
APC Magazine Street address:
Level 18, 66 Goulburn St,
Sydney, NSW 2000
And certainly never mind that the first two lines of the article clearly mentioned Australia:
Linux iPhone hack is an interesting alternative (Score:2)
iPhone User Tries One Out (Score:4, Informative)
Having had the iPhone since early first generation, I recently decided to try out the G1, and I have been very pleasantly surprised. Feature-wise it's pretty much on par with the iPhone, but I've found the UI to (surprisingly enough) be more user-friendly and substantially more responsive (opening the contact list on the iPhone takes forever, for example). The web browser is a lot easier to use anywhere you need to deal with forms, too.
After the major issues I've had with the iPhone (dropped calls, completely missed calls that never ever register on the phone, random total system crashes, etc...), I would honestly recommend Android over it for anybody who doesn't have an obsessive Apple fetish. So far it just seems to work more smoothly and reliably. It being much more open is icing on the cake, and conveys some very obvious advantages, like how developers are encouraged to make drop-in replacements for its built-in components (like a new email program), whereas Apple apparently forbids the same practice on the iPhone.
Overall, I'm definitely gonna be sticking with my Android phone, but thankfully first gen iPhones still resell for a decent price :) It's good to see more models coming out--hopefully it'll really start catching on.
Suprise? (Score:2, Insightful)
Why is it surpiseing? Is Apple the only company that makes pretty products?
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note the increased processor speed (Score:3, Interesting)
up to 624MHz from 528MHz. Seems like a useful jump.
Open them up! (Score:2)
I love my G1. I thankfully got one that shipped with the earlier mega-bugged software revision and have held on to root access.
Only certain people are trying to lock you out. Set a few build parameters, extract a few blobs from the handset, and you suddenly have a Dream-compatible Android build. For those that have root, modified recovery partitions are readily available which allow you to flash your own modified update packages. However, I compiled my own with a few changes - I don't like the idea of every
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I say it and it is so.
HTC bootloader was dumped just the other day. Imagine that. I expect interesting news in the near future.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=454665 [xda-developers.com]
Re:HTC Touch Dream (Score:5, Informative)
Re:HTC Touch Dream (Score:5, Interesting)
The T-Mobile G1 is not just US only, it's also on sale under the same name here in the United Kingdom.
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I wasn't aware the G1 was the Dream. Okay, I am firmly an idiot. Thanks. Do you know if any other carriers might possibly pick up the Dream?
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Presumably it could be used on another GSM network with a different SIM card. Here in the states, AT&T/Cingular is one such network, and as I understand there are no carriers outside of here, Japan and parts of Australia that use anything else (ie. CDMA).
Re:HTC Touch Dream (Score:5, Interesting)
The phone you speak of is sold in the US under contract or at ridiculous retail prices without contract. This phone is unique as it's one of the few phones with excellent functionality that can be purchased at a reasonable cost without a contract.
Most consumers actually like getting their phones at very low subsidized cost through their wireless carrier but I'm a firm believer this has an astoundingly negative impact on competition. The wireless carriers dictate to the device manufacturers which features are allowed.
Separating phone functionality from the control of the carriers will TREMENDOUSLY improve competition and have a very beneficial impact on end users. I'm a little surprised the FTC hasn't stepped in already on behalf of consumers. Wireless plans in the US have gone up dramatically in cost over the last 15 years. The phone companies like to quote cost:minute rates because it makes them look cheaper. The fact is, the cost of text messaging has gone UP and data transfer rates are still prohibitive for most end users to really use the full capacity of their phones.
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I agree that data plans are pretty ridiculous, but I think we will move away from the "per text message charge" era and people will embrace the unlimited plans. When everyone is offering a true unlimited plan for $99, then choosing networks is actually a matter of networks or unique features. I think it will force carriers to improve their networks and offer better speeds, or start lowering the price of their unlimited plan.
Re:HTC Touch Dream (Score:5, Insightful)
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Not needing more minutes, first of all. Paying for a subsidized phone you don't want to use is just paying "extra". The service providers know this, so should you.
It's the same reason text messages, which take up less bandwidth, cost more than phone calls do. It's a "feature" for you whether you use it or not, so you get charged at ridiculous rates for "convenience" while the service providers make a fortune.
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Pay-as-you-go tends to have higher per-minute costs than monthly plans.
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If you have a good phone and don't need an upgrade, you might want to keep it and save the $10 per month. I know I would.
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Dunno if mine is the exception that (dis)proves the rule or whatever, but I've had the same contract with Vodafone in the UK for just under 10 years, and I've been buying my own phones since 2001/2002. Every 12 months I get a phone call from Vodafone telling me my contract is up for renewal and would I like to upgrade my phone, every time I say no. They always (unfailingly always) offer me more and more ludicrous deals in order to keep my custom - in the form of cuts in the monthly tariff, extra free minute
One thing remains in the way (Score:3, Insightful)
Software locks in the form of chroot jails and forbidding root on your own device, such as those that Android phones and the iPhone line have.
If this obstruction is removed, my (jailbroken) iPhone will be on eBay faster than you can say "screw you, Steve Jobs."
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Re: yes 3G (Score:4, Funny)
For you and other reading-challenged - from the very beginning of the article:
Both models include HSDPA 3G, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR, QWERTY keyboard, 2.5â touchscreen and a microSD slot. The Pro adds WiFi, GPS and a 2.0 megapixel camera to the base model's specs.
Re:ok, some 3G (AT&T but not TMobile) (Score:2)
True. However, according to the full specifications, the phone does not support the frequency band [wikipedia.org] used by T-Mobile USA for HSDPA.
But unlike G1, it does support AT&T G3 frequency :-D. If you are on TMobile, can't see why you would not get G1 in the first place.
-Em
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The phone was designed to work in Australia not the US with Kogan being an Australian company. it uses the HSDPA and UTMS standards which are in use in Australia and much of Europe and Asia.
Because the G1 isn't available in Australia or any other part of the world.
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Have you actually seen a zzzPhone? Even a video of a zzzPhone?
All I've seen are Photoshopped images, and very poor ones at that (far worse than the Agora images).
Until someone gets a zzzPhone in their hands, it's vaporware.
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Never heard of these guys before, but looking at their site [zzzphone.com], somehow I doubt it will ever see the light of day. Looks like vaporware scam at its finest. That said, I'm willing to be surprised. (Not sending them a dime though.)
-Em
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I looked at the zzzphone site, and was inclined to agree with you but there are reviews of the product on Youtube and other sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-qnewSjATw [youtube.com]
Apparently the old saying is true, "can't tell a whether or not a smartphone is a scam by its webpage".
-b
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Apparently the old saying is true, "can't tell a whether or not a smartphone is a scam by its webpage".
LOL. After I posted I did some Googling and general findings are:
* You may or may not get anything when you pay
* If you do get something, what you get may or may not have anything to do with what you ordered.
* What's inside the box may be different than what it says on the outside of the box it came in - from little things like megapixel count to bigger things like what OS is used to huge things like frequency compatibility (i.e. does not work in the US)
* The owner of the business is an American living in
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GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G
should work.