3 ms·

I mean ... I'm of two minds with this. You're not going to get people outside of the hard core tech/FOSS community to use something else without at least the mo

I mean ... I'm of two minds with this. You're not going to get people outside of the hard core tech/FOSS community to use something else without at least the most basic stuff we've come to expect (maps, web, contacts). The hardest one is maps of course. There is HereMaps as a commercial alternative or using OSM data, but not all of them have the same transit or nav data. So long as this phone doesn't require the Google eco-system for over 50% of the apps to even work, that's something better than Android.

_bxg1 8y ago
I'm less concerned about Google Maps than the Google partial-ownership. Based on the sentiment above, I would assume that it either does or will eventually "require the Google eco-system for over 50% of the apps to even work". It's like Android in the early days - at first they just wanted to get a foothold, so everything was very open. Only once that solidified did they start locking it down.
- StudentStuff 8y ago
  Google is trying hard to get a foothold on KaiOS, the OEMs that partnered with Mozilla (and particularly Qualcomm with its Qualcomm 205 chip) need something like KaiOS that can run well on 256mb of RAM and less than 16GB of flash, as Android is a pig (even Android One). I wish Mozilla made an effort to get Mozilla DeepSpeech and Mozilla TTS onto this platform, as Speech to Text seems to be the first thing Google has gotten added to KaiOS. Problem is, with these budget devices you don't usually have the RAM for even a full memory mapped TF Lite model, and end up with a stripped down language model that is much less accurate :c Mozilla could run DeepSpeech servers, but it would be a similar commitment to the Tor Relays they operate...
ChrisRR 8y ago
This isn't aiming for the hardcore tech crowd, or even for the casual western user. This is aiming for emerging markets where even a cheap Android phone is way out of the price range of a standard user. It's often easy to forget how big India and China are, but their population combined makes up about 1/3 of the world, so it's potentially an incredibly lucrative market to capture. I think large parts of Africa will need phones too once their infrastructure is available.
- groovybits 8y ago
  > This is aiming for emerging markets Agreed > India and China India[1] and China are the two largest phone manufacturers in the world right now. I would not consider them emerging markets in terms of smartphones. 1: https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/india-is-now-worlds-second-largest-mobile-phone-producer-after-china-indian-cellular-association/1117759/ https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/india-is-now-world...
  - ChrisRR 8y ago
    But they're the producers, not the consumers. And the rest of the world uses them because they're paid so little that they can't afford the phones they're making.
    - groovybits 8y ago
      > can't afford the phones they're making. Really? I was under the impression that Chinese consumers almost exclusively purchased Chinese-brand phones. How many sales do Samsung and Apple make in these countries? I thought that was the (forced?) appeal of the lock-in to Chinese apps.
forgot-my-pw 8y ago
Whatever happened to Ubuntu mobile OS?
JetSpiegel 8y ago
OsmAnd is perfectly usable (I would say an improvement) as a Google Maps replacement, uses open data and is free software. There is no realtime traffic data, but that is impossible without turning every phone into a telescreen.

_bxg1 8y ago

I'm less concerned about Google Maps than the Google partial-ownership. Based on the sentiment above, I would assume that it either does or will eventually "require the Google eco-system for over 50% of the apps to even work". It's like Android in the early days - at first they just wanted to get a foothold, so everything was very open. Only once that solidified did they start locking it down.

StudentStuff 8y ago
Google is trying hard to get a foothold on KaiOS, the OEMs that partnered with Mozilla (and particularly Qualcomm with its Qualcomm 205 chip) need something like KaiOS that can run well on 256mb of RAM and less than 16GB of flash, as Android is a pig (even Android One). I wish Mozilla made an effort to get Mozilla DeepSpeech and Mozilla TTS onto this platform, as Speech to Text seems to be the first thing Google has gotten added to KaiOS. Problem is, with these budget devices you don't usually have the RAM for even a full memory mapped TF Lite model, and end up with a stripped down language model that is much less accurate :c Mozilla could run DeepSpeech servers, but it would be a similar commitment to the Tor Relays they operate...

ChrisRR 8y ago

This isn't aiming for the hardcore tech crowd, or even for the casual western user. This is aiming for emerging markets where even a cheap Android phone is way out of the price range of a standard user. It's often easy to forget how big India and China are, but their population combined makes up about 1/3 of the world, so it's potentially an incredibly lucrative market to capture. I think large parts of Africa will need phones too once their infrastructure is available.

groovybits 8y ago
> This is aiming for emerging markets Agreed > India and China India[1] and China are the two largest phone manufacturers in the world right now. I would not consider them emerging markets in terms of smartphones. 1: https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/india-is-now-worlds-second-largest-mobile-phone-producer-after-china-indian-cellular-association/1117759/ https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/india-is-now-world...
- ChrisRR 8y ago
  But they're the producers, not the consumers. And the rest of the world uses them because they're paid so little that they can't afford the phones they're making.
  - groovybits 8y ago
    > can't afford the phones they're making. Really? I was under the impression that Chinese consumers almost exclusively purchased Chinese-brand phones. How many sales do Samsung and Apple make in these countries? I thought that was the (forced?) appeal of the lock-in to Chinese apps.

forgot-my-pw 8y ago

Whatever happened to Ubuntu mobile OS?

JetSpiegel 8y ago

OsmAnd is perfectly usable (I would say an improvement) as a Google Maps replacement, uses open data and is free software. There is no realtime traffic data, but that is impossible without turning every phone into a telescreen.