3 ms·
I also thought that after some guy's post asking for a $150 Android phone with no cell connection. I wonder how cheaply one could be manufactured by someone th
by rms 17y ago
I also thought that after some guy's post asking for a $150 Android phone with no cell connection.
I wonder how cheaply one could be manufactured by someone that wasn't Google or an existing manufacturer. I wouldn't want to get in a business trying to compete with Apple based on price alone though. Maybe if your handset completely supported Google Voice for unlimited minutes over a T-Mobile prepaid data only SIM card for $30/month but I'm not sure if the carriers and Google would allow you to do that.
- daeken 17y agoNo need to manufacture it yourself. There are dozens of phones/media players on Alibaba which can be purchased cheaply and hacked to your heart's content. I actually considered picking up one of the existing Linux ones and making it run Android, then reselling it. You can get decent hardware from there for $100 for a single unit, even cheaper if you do it in bulk (even 10 units in certain cases).
- rms 17y agoDoes anyone think that a viable business exists here? Happy to explore it with people via email.
- daeken 17y agoI'd be interested in working on it. I think it'd be low cost to get it up and going; even if it doesn't work, you're out a few hundred bucks in dev units and a few weeks' work. The biggest problem, IMO, is finding a vendor that will dropship pre-flashed units to customers. If you can find that, the rest is cake. It's considerably more expensive if you have to have the units shipped to some central facility for flashing before they hit the doorstep.