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"The root" is an exact copy of BlackBerry 10's Hub and sounds great. The problem with all these new phones is they can't secure enough funding or developer atte

by deft 8y ago

"The root" is an exact copy of BlackBerry 10's Hub and sounds great. The problem with all these new phones is they can't secure enough funding or developer attention to ever take off. Not to mention hostility from third party app providers like Facebook. This is android based which is great, but how the heck is The Root supposed to work? I don't think it's possible with closed APIs and walled gardens. You chat with your facebook friends how and when facebook wants you to.

bArray 8y ago
For a while now people have bypassed Facebook's API restrictions for chat and news-feed by using the "mbasic" webpage version. It's pretty trivial to get around most of their API hostility. How long that'll last I don't know, but it's a pretty important service for connecting people in places with very low bandwidth. But... That said, building one decent chat app is a massive time sink in itself. Then do this for many different popular apps with massively varied features (Google maps, Uber, etc) - then build that all into Android, then build the hardware - this phone isn't going to be released for years. Note that it's a pre-order and not an order, it's just not ready yet and likely will never be ready at their price point. They'll get less backers than they expect, burn through the cash faster than they want and will struggle to meet their promise. As other comments have points out, they're better off starting with lower expectations and a website people can use. That's all just assuming it's not a scam.
- adhambadr 8y ago
  its a bit of hurtful truth bArray there. We did already pull back a bit on most of our SW promises and packed them inside a "beta-mode" as we realised after testing a personal driver phone is no experimenting ground. This post just beat us before we finished relaunching our website with a simpler communication strategy and a def. a better website.
  - deft 8y ago
    Thanks for your honesty. I do hope your project succeeds and the root turns out how you planned, I just have some doubt. It's been tried before. Keep working at it :)
  - bArray 8y ago
    >its a bit of hurtful truth bArray there. I can say from personal experience that it's never easier to hear either. Starting with good intentions is not the same as delivering a good product. Out of interest, how far along is this project now in respect to hardware and software? Is it ready to ship once you have enough orders? >We did already pull back a bit on most of our SW promises and packed them inside a "beta-mode" as we realised after testing a personal driver phone is no experimenting ground. Don't get me wrong, your SW looks awesome. Actually, I would really love a version of this phone I could run Linux (proper Linux, not Android) on. >This post just beat us before we finished relaunching our website with a simpler communication strategy and a def. a better website. That's unfortunate. You should "relaunch" your PR push and get across some kind of "we listened" to cheaply get yourself back into public eye on good terms.

by deft 8y ago

bArray 8y ago

For a while now people have bypassed Facebook's API restrictions for chat and news-feed by using the "mbasic" webpage version. It's pretty trivial to get around most of their API hostility. How long that'll last I don't know, but it's a pretty important service for connecting people in places with very low bandwidth. But... That said, building one decent chat app is a massive time sink in itself. Then do this for many different popular apps with massively varied features (Google maps, Uber, etc) - then build that all into Android, then build the hardware - this phone isn't going to be released for years. Note that it's a pre-order and not an order, it's just not ready yet and likely will never be ready at their price point. They'll get less backers than they expect, burn through the cash faster than they want and will struggle to meet their promise. As other comments have points out, they're better off starting with lower expectations and a website people can use. That's all just assuming it's not a scam.

adhambadr 8y ago
its a bit of hurtful truth bArray there. We did already pull back a bit on most of our SW promises and packed them inside a "beta-mode" as we realised after testing a personal driver phone is no experimenting ground. This post just beat us before we finished relaunching our website with a simpler communication strategy and a def. a better website.
- deft 8y ago
  Thanks for your honesty. I do hope your project succeeds and the root turns out how you planned, I just have some doubt. It's been tried before. Keep working at it :)
- bArray 8y ago
  >its a bit of hurtful truth bArray there. I can say from personal experience that it's never easier to hear either. Starting with good intentions is not the same as delivering a good product. Out of interest, how far along is this project now in respect to hardware and software? Is it ready to ship once you have enough orders? >We did already pull back a bit on most of our SW promises and packed them inside a "beta-mode" as we realised after testing a personal driver phone is no experimenting ground. Don't get me wrong, your SW looks awesome. Actually, I would really love a version of this phone I could run Linux (proper Linux, not Android) on. >This post just beat us before we finished relaunching our website with a simpler communication strategy and a def. a better website. That's unfortunate. You should "relaunch" your PR push and get across some kind of "we listened" to cheaply get yourself back into public eye on good terms.