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Google To Spend $500 Million To Market Moto X Phone
- bsaul 13y agoor maybe they're realizing that samsung Is starting to compete with google on the OS so they need to compete with samsung on the hardware. This ways samsung will never be in a position to impose its new OS.
- AndreasLuckey 13y agoU think they will be able to position themselves on a satisfied market like this? I don't think they will make it!
- Geee 13y agoSponsored by the NSA? Some of the weird tech acquisitions start making sense when the NSA is factored in; Motorola, Skype, anything else? It's completely possible in this time and age to have back-doored hardware in Motorola phones, so I think everyone should advice against buying those.
- mathgorges 13y agoIf I recall correctly Skype was working with the NSA before it was acquired by anyone.
- Geee 13y agoMicrosoft changed Skype's architecture drastically, which helps making wiretapping easier. See HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4254925 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4254925
- sz4kerto 13y agoWiretapping was possible even before MS has re-engineered Skype. The main reason behind using central servers is to increase reliability and decrease power usage on mobile devices (as they do not need to serve as supernodes anymore).
- gcb0 13y agoThe article does mention that the p2p functionality was impossible to wiretap if both parties were in a secure network. So yes, the super node made 100% of Skype vulnerable.
- MacsHeadroom 13y ago>Wiretapping was possible even before MS has re-engineered Skype. Wrong. Skype was bullet proof, completely end-to-end encrypted, before the MS takeover.
- martey 13y agoDo you have a source for this? Before Skype was acquired by Microsoft, several news articles suggested that it was possible for Skype to allow governments to monitor conversations. http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Speculation-over-back-door-in-Skype-736607.html http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Speculation-over-...
- sz4kerto 13y agoNo, by the time MS acquired them they were already wiretappable (if this is an existing English word).
- flyinRyan 13y agoThis is not completely true. Even back then, certain computers running skype could become "super nodes" that handled incoming connections to devices e.g. behind NAT. All you needed to do to wiretap was become one of these nodes, which wasn't hard to do. But yes, if you made sure neither computer had NAT and used no super nodes it was possible to be pretty protected (except for the problem that PRISM is tied to the network hardware and can read anything anywhere on the internet).
- spoiledtechie 13y agoDarpa also put out a contract before the MSoft acquisition to try and break into Skype Calls properly...
- psbp 13y agoSo what are we suppose to buy?
- Geee 13y agoMaybe a HTC or other non-US device with CyanegonMod would be a better choice.
- CaptainZapp 13y agoI'm currently using a Nokia N900. I have a brand new N9 in reserve if that one croaks. After those I'm seriously considering moving back to a super primitive phone. Nothing really smart, but adequate to make phone calls, send an sms and maybe containing a small, built in calendar. Maybe keep a relatively cheap, WiFi capable smart phone to take on vacation in order to avoid dodgy internet cafes, when I want to send mail, book a flight, or reserve a hotel room on the go. It has not even so much to do with the recent scandals (alas I am very privacy concious, I "deleted" my Facebook account and try to avoid Google as far as possible), but with the fact that the recent generation of smartphones, be it Android, or IOs, seem to own me and not vice versa. I have not the faintest idea what's going on, what is installed and who relentlessly sucks up my most private data. Sure, that doesn't work for everybody, but if I look at my own usage patterns I honestly believe it's fine for me. And the inconvenience far outweighs that queasy feeling I get with newer smartphones.
- gcb0 13y agoMotto phones already phone home all your credentials, remember? Even without the nsa asking probably.
- Sven7 13y agoI hope they compete on price. $600 phones are ridiculous.
- gcb0 13y agoI'd gladly pay 1k for decent battery (2 days actual use) and a keyboard. No &$@#+=! Soft touch "buttons" for back, etc.
- Sven7 13y agoWhat phone do you use? And whats it typically used for?
- gcb0 13y agoi still have a nexus one with a extended seidio battery. the original battery, since day one, when it reaches 20% the phone shut off. typical google hardware quality... using swype since day one. i think I would have been back to dumb nokia phone if it wasn't for swype. ...after i spend weeks creating a custom linux "language" for it. (select a language you don't have a dictionary for, and create all commands manually in the custom user dict) I mostly use the phone for GPS and reading email. i'd reply to emails as well, but too painful. Often i have to use it to comunicate or type things. it's not a hardcore usage. i don't even use SSH much on it. It took me 2 years to find out that car chargers are crippled by apple deals and did not charge my phone correctly, so using it as GPS plugged in, i could only get 6h of use. After a little soldering to get a proper car charger, i get a little more, but the phone burns hot. wife and everyone at work has the samsung ones (s3, s4 and note2) the note 2 i simply can't use for 2 min without pressing the back button accidentally! my nexus one is the opposite. i can't activate the damn buttons one the first try! ever! some people even try and try and just handle me back so i can press the soft button for them (have to press with the 'meaty' part of the finger for it to work). anyway, i will probably set for the S4 active (with lower camera, cpu and much inferior screen, but at least slightly rugged and has actual buttons)... because a GSM android phone with a qwerty keyboard is non-existent. i hold my breath at launch for the backflip. excellent keyboard! until i realized it had the worst cpu ever, and as of today, it only runs android 1.5 for good historic phones i've used with good keyboard, #1 was a nokia 6820 http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6820-565.php http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6820-565.php (maybe same as e70)
- wes-exp 13y agoI look forward to being annoyed with a Moto X ad every time I use a Google service.
- ippisl 13y ago<rumor> I have a guess about the motoX phone: It will have a modular hardware component. Probably something similar to the jolla phone , which is build from two different parts stuck togheter by magnets. One part if your phone , and the other one is a replaceable hardware card. This also fits the motoX ad saying "design your own phone". The replaceable part could be designed by anyone, and it opens a lot of places for innovation: think of a microscope, or a fingerprint scanner, or nose on a chip, or high quality audio interfaces ,or unique sensors or any number of niche hardware. Anyway , i really hope that's the case. If will be really fun to play and design with such phones. </rumor>
- simmons 13y agoThat idea reminds me a lot of the Springboard modules on the old Handspring PDAs. (I had a Handspring Prism and an AT&T CDPD wireless data module -- it was like having a clunky smartphone back in 2001.) It would be interesting from a hacker perspective, but it would certainly be counter to the recent trends of making phones more monolithic (i.e. can't even replace the battery).
- psbp 13y agoAll the current rumors on the phone point to boring superficial changes like color and customized wallpapers (for real). They're not spending $500mil advertising a phone for hardware geeks.
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- aviraldg 13y agoThis should've been called the Google X Phone not the Moto X Phone.
- tomgirl1 13y agoTHats awesome, except the smartphone market is basically over, and noone will be able to sell one for more than 300 bucks retail within a year. Race to the bottom. See ya there!
- catenate 13y agoDon't really see the point in getting another Motorola phone. I paid a premium for my Photon, and it really annoys me every single day with how long it takes to wake up and actually do something, and how often it crashes. That might be due to the fact that I have no choice but to still run Gingerbread, because Motorola decided to lock the Photon to that version.
- ok_craig 13y agoBecause, you know, once a company makes one bad move, its impossible to change. We should only support companies who have never made bad choices or aggravated us personally. Especially those companies whose leadership, product vision and circumstances in general have changed dramatically since the offense.
- omni 13y agoThe Photon came out around a year ago. That's a really short time in terms of corporate lifetimes.
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- flowerntea 13y agoThis could be a good win for Google if they do it properly.
- spacecity1971 13y agoFrom what I've read, the main feature is a low power, always on, sensor array. My guess is that this phone will break new ground with comprehensive and novel Google Now integration, and push further towards the goal of a device that actively assists its user. Think of it as a robotic system that is integrated into the growing AI/expert system service that is Google.
- codex 13y agoSlowly, Google is transforming into Apple faster than Apple can transform into Google.