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/e/ plans to sell refurbished smartphones with Google-free Android
- nexuist 8y agoOdd brand name. I thought it was a 4chan forum. That said, I'm glad someone is taking the baton on this challenge, and I wish them the best.
- ve55 8y agoNaming themselves e.foundation is one thing, but explicitly naming it "/e/" does seem a bit odd. For reference for those unaware (likely many of you), /e/ is the 4chan board dedicated to 'ecchi' content, where ecchi is loosely defined as a 'slang term in the Japanese language for playfully sexual actions' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecchi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecchi). Apart from the name, will be interesting to see how well they can succeed with a "Google-free Android", which is much easier said than done.
- nerdponx 8y agoThey could have called it eOS or something, in homage to the E foundation as well as the Homeric goddess of dawn... although maybe the Apple legal team might have had something to say about it.
- userbinator 8y agoPerhaps it's a reference to the type of content you're intended to consume using this phone... somewhat like how the private browsing mode of browsers has been called "porn mode".
- segfaultbuserr 8y agoAha! ...Surely enough, seeing creative memes and jokes like this is part of the reason for me to be online... Now some 4chan denizens have already started making NSFW memes about this project, and I genuinely believed it was a just a meme initially. But what an unfortunate name it is... You absolutely cannot be associated with these things if you don't want your project to be the next victim of some trolls' plans for the post-modern performance arts or drama, e.g. [0], [1], or [2]. I hope they'll pick up a better name soon. [0] Don’t be fooled by Apple ads that tell you to bend your iPhone 6 https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/4chan-iphone-6-bend-prank/?tw=dd https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/4chan-iphone-6-bend-prank/... [1] 4chan is at It Again With Their Trolling of iPhone Users https://cheezburger.com/316165/4chan-is-at-it-again-with-their-trolling-of-iphone-users https://cheezburger.com/316165/4chan-is-at-it-again-with-the... [2] A split within the Tox project https://lwn.net/Articles/651003/ https://lwn.net/Articles/651003/ > "The Tox project was started in mid-2013 by users on the 4chan message board."
- Kuraj 8y ago> Apart from the name, will be interesting to see how well they can succeed with a "Google-free Android", which is much easier said than done. I tried and I really wanted to like it - but while I could easily replace Gmail with Outlook (or use the AOSP mail app), replacing Play Store with Amazon Appstore provided a very sub-par experience, and using apkmirror almost felt like piracy.
- rchaud 8y agoI think this would be less of a concern since this service is really only of interest to people who specifically want to avoid Google Play Services in general. The Amazon app store presents the same kind of privacy challenges, only just not as deeply integrated with the phone. I'm slowly moving my current Android phone to a mix of web-based apps (Uber PWA is good) and native apps released via F-Droid.
- neurotrace 8y agoIt's also terrible for searchability. Love the mission, hate the name
- _emacsomancer_ 8y agoI think rebranding as slashy-slash would be ideal, for searchability if nothing else.
- RandomBacon 8y ago> slashy-slash That sounds like some kind of comical-violence.
- Phenomenit 8y agoSlashEslash!
- Pxtl 8y agoSee, I'd assume that was a slashfic website. ... I'm noticing a theme here.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoSlashy McSlashface?
- jammygit 8y agoI literally cannot find them using search engines, I always need to find somebody who linked to them in a blog post or article.
- m52go 8y agoI love the idea of this, but what's the market? Wouldn't the people interested in this kind of thing mostly be capable of doing this themselves, i.e., not willing to pay the premium?
- astazangasta 8y agoI am interested and capable and have been planning on making a google free android build when i have the time. If this works out i could instead use that time to write or work on my other projects instead.
- mises 8y agoAs people (including geek types) age, they tend to wish for simpler, more functional technology. They may still care about privacy, but may prefer more support and ease-of-use. That is likely there market. Unfortunately, I think it is the current generation of geek types that will care most about privacy, and so they may be a good bit ahead of their market.
- em-bee 8y agono, i am using lineageOS and the amount of work i need to put into it to make it usable is a lot. there are issues that drive me mad (for example lineageOS does not allow me to completely disable mobile data, something even most otherwise horrible chinese android phones support) i don't have time for this. my phone is a tool and not a toy. i don't want to spend hours evaluating apps just to find one that works. i'd gladly pay something for someone to give me a trustworthy experience.
- aiCeivi9 8y agoI find flashing firmware on mobile phones(and TV) more stressful than replacing CPU in PC (or BIOs flashing). I guess replacing MOBO/CPU is simpler and less costly than bricking whole device.
- fjsolwmv 8y agoWhen you buy a refurbished phone from a third party, you are usually buying a broken phone that a customer returned under warranty or traded in. These phones tend to boot up OK and pass startuo health checks, and then crash or have component failures (battery, mic, etc) within a few hours or if the weather gets hit or humid.
- lightbulbjim 8y agoOn the flip side a refurbished item was inspected by a human and deemed to be functional. A new item was probably last touched by a robot.
- dragonwriter 8y agoAnd manual testing is so much more reliable than automated testing, right?
- Wowfunhappy 8y agoFor hardware? I'd say it probably is, yeah.
- theamk 8y agoThere are lots of functions in the modern cellphone. I am sure they are checked on the factory (or by parts manufacturer), and I don't think people who refurbish phones test them all. Examples I can think of: - Microphone and button on your 3.5mm jack - Both Bluetooth data rates - Every special function of MicroUSB connector (like MHT and whatever else you might have there) - Second microphone (used for noise cancellation) - Low-light camera performance - Flash memory spare cells - Thermal stability (does it overheat?) - Battery capacity - Every frequency band works I can believe that manufacturer-refurbished phones are probably tested fairly comprehensively -- after all, the same people designed the original testing procedures. But would an unrelated store do a comprehensive cell phone test? Or are they just going to turn the phone on, make sure that the screen looks fine, make a single call (in the nice, quiet office not far from the cell phone tower) and call it done? Somehow I suspect the latter.
- kristianp 8y agoWhy don't they support the Samsung S8, when they support the S7 and S9? How odd.
- mindslight 8y agohttps://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#samsung https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/#samsung I don't think there is a technical reason. It just depends on what devices are had by people who did the work. (My comment is an example of one of the difficulties of these types of projects. I simply presumed they're piggybacking off of LineageOS work, as it's so popular. That will be a point of comparison to anybody that can appreciate this project, just like buying a used S7/S9 off eBay and DIY is also. The value proposition ends up caught between a rock and a hard place)
- jammygit 8y agoI own a s8. There are no working custom ROMs for it, samsung decided to make that particular phone unusable without their stock build. I will not buy Samsung again.
- voltagex_ 8y agoHey, do you know what the technical problem is? And thereby also what the change in the S9 is that allowed it to happen again? Edit: Good old XDA, it never changes. From a thread about an unofficial Lineage build: "/* What’s working / Audio Bootanimation Brightness Level Bluetooth Microphone MTP Wi-Fi LED All sensors except fingerprint reader SD Card Capacitive buttons / What’s not working / Bluetooth audio RIL (calls, sms, microphone, data) works only in first boot NFC Camera Fingerprint reader Torch Wi-Fi Hotspot"
- zoom6628 8y agoI use a Xiaomi Redmi S2 purchased in China. Simplest way to run G-free and its damn fine equipment. #justsaying
- askvictor 8y agoHmm; would I rather Google have access to my data, or the Chinese Government?
- ummwhat 8y agoI'm on a redmi purchased in China and I eventually switched to lineage because the people's app store didn't always have what I need.
- helloindia 8y ago"people's app store didn't always have what I need." This gave me a chuckle.
- em-bee 8y agoi wiped the preinstalled OS as soon as i got a chance. the constant nagging to connect to their cloud services was disturbing. and i wouldn't trust any chinese market. the level of spyware/adware in those is sickening.
- Krasnol 8y agoThe cheapest model is 279€...I think they are missing the point here. The audience which is ready to pay those prices, won't buy refurbished phones... https://e.foundation/e-pre-installed-smartphones/ https://e.foundation/e-pre-installed-smartphones/
- em-bee 8y agoi'd love if they get brand new midlevel phones and re-sell them for a premium with /e/ preinstalled.
- thaumasiotes 8y agoIs that not what they're doing? If they did follow your plan, the phones they sold would be "refurbished phones".
- rchaud 8y agoA family member, in her 30s who isn't a tech-head by any means, sent me an email saying she'd moved to ProtonMail. It's not unreasonable to think that at some point, she'd be interested in a refurbished phone w/ Google stripped out, instead of paying $1000+ for a phone whose biggest features are their always-listening voice assistants.
- e2le 8y agoIs the proprietary parts of the phone (such as the cellular modem) still supported with firmware updates?
- lone_haxx0r 8y agoGoogle-free Android already exists, it's called Lineage OS So, What's the difference between this and LineageOS?
- em-bee 8y agosecurity and userfriendliness. as far as i can tell lineageOS is stock android as released by google with a few fixes for obvious problems and to make it work on several devices. lineageOS is also not entirely google free as far as i know. it only does not contain the non-free google apps, like the market, maps, etc..., but there still may be code to call home and what not. /e/ specially not only removes hidden google stuff but adds userfriendly tools and utilities and works on integrating them. (for example lineageOS does not come with f-droid or other trustworthy markets preinstalled)
- jakeogh 8y agobut there still may be code to call home and what not where?
- Phenomenit 8y agoSee u/geokons comment above.
- blacksoil 8y agoI'm guessing they wanna do a customer support and actually have things like bug fixes, OTA updates, etc? On the other hand, lineage is a little bit buggy here and there and the experience differs depending on the phones, which makes it more appropriate for hobbyist instead of non tech-savvy end-user
- jammygit 8y agoIIRC, it uses microG to emulate some Google services so that you can have push notifications without installing the play store. Otherwise, you have to go without for some things. Also IIRC, microG requires you to allow signature spoofing, which has always creeped me out a tiny bit. I don't understand android well enough to fully understand the possible risks of that. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.
- CameronNemo 8y agoHow is this better than buying a refurbished phone yourself and flashing microG+lineageOS on it?
- atdt 8y agoHow is Dropbox better than rsync+vps? A lot of innovation in tech consists of making things that are straightforward for a technical person to do and making them trivial for an ordinary person to do.
- rchaud 8y agoIn the same way that hiring a dog-walker isn't "better" than walking the dog yourself. You're paying to save yourself time and hassle. I've been modding phones via XDA forums since the Windows Mobile 6.1 days. It's much easier to brick your phone when flashing a ROM today than it was 5 years ago. OEMs today are much more zealous about locking down phones to prevent installing anything but factory ROMs. That said, 279 EUR for a 2016 Galaxy S7 is steep; I'd need to know if the phone has a fresh battery before taking the plunge.
- rchaud 8y agoI wish they included models with removable batteries, but I think the last Samsung phone to have it was the Galaxy Note 4 in 2014.