21 ms·

ZTE Open Firefox OS phone is available on eBay

• Matti 13y ago
  US only shipping for now.
  • kurt_ 13y ago
    For EU: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZTE-Open-3G-Unlocked-Firefox-OS-Cellphone-Orange-Ebay-exclusive-/171104024854?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item27d6983916 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZTE-Open-3G-Unlocked-Firefox-OS-Ce...
    • s9ix 13y ago
      Any luck for Canadians?
      • octopus 13y ago
        Doesn't seem to be available on ebay.ca.
        • themstheones 13y ago
          But all the best coders live in Canada!
          • Zoomla 13y ago
            another reason why they need to move to the USA
    • dagw 13y ago
      Only a (seemingly arbitrary) subset of EU. Denmark is in, but Sweden is out for example.
    • unicornporn 13y ago
      But it is not at all for all EU countries. I'm in Sweden and it's on the darn "Excludes" list. Very weird.
      • kyriakos 13y ago
        surprisingly enough they send to my country (Cyprus) which is not even mainland and they don't send to Estonia which is supposed to be one of Europe's start-up centers
      • tephra 13y ago
        Yes same here, just emailed and tweeted to them to see why
• themckman 13y ago
  Bought one. For $80 and apps built on web technologies, there's got to be SOMETHING I can do with this thing...
  • alexyoung 13y ago
    Maybe you could make a phone call to someone.
    • warcode 13y ago
      It is certainly a phone.
      • herge 13y ago
        You never heard of the Openmoko? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openmoko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openmoko)
  • Supermighty 13y ago
    I really want to make an app for this platform. I just don't know what it will be yet. But I believe in Mozilla and I want them to have a place at the table.
• brianbreslin 13y ago
  What carriers does it support in the US?
  • aroch 13y ago
    You couldn't scrolled down a few inches to see: Support US 3G NETWORK 2G NETWORK:GSM 850/900/1800/1900 3G NETWORK:UMTS 850/1900 Which is any GSM carrier and, depending on your area, 3G from ATT and Tmo or just ATT + all the MVNO's, US Cellular and other smaller regionals that lease from ATT
    • ToastyMallows 13y ago
      So how would I go about using this phone to call someone or text someone, I'd have to get a plan through AT&T first? Would they even support my phone? Or am I understanding this wrong.
      • aroch 13y ago
        Since you're binging your own phone and its 3G limited, your best bets for cheap plans is an ATT PAYG plan [0] and I would forgo the data plan or StraightTalk [1]. If you want data, you can probably get away with ATT's 'basic' phone unlimited data plan (Honestly, I would consider a FfOS a feature phone and not a smartphone) for $35 a month. Or a StraightTalk ~$44 a month unlimited plan that doesn't care about feature phone / smartphone. I personally I have a Tmo sim that I have preloaded with ~100min call time and 100MB of data for emergency use + an ATT sim with similar (I have an actual ATT contract as well). You'll have to buy a sim, or if you get lucky, both Tmo and ATT have 'sales' where you can get the SIM for free [0]: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/prepaidplans.html [1] http://www.straighttalk.com http://www.straighttalk.com
        • Zigurd 13y ago
          The Straight Talk plans on AT&T's network have a hidden 100MB/day limit, after which your data gets effectively shut off (you still get miniscule bandwidth, but it's unusable) and their policy for how long you get shut off is completely opaque. Customer "service" switches you to a recording if you ask about it. VERY not recommended. T-mo doesn't have daily limits as far as I know.
• wslh 13y ago
  I hope other organizations related to free software follow this route. Where is GNU Mobile? Debian Mobile? FreeBSD Mobile? etc, etc. In six days ends the Ubuntu Edge "fundraising" but I don't think this is the way to go. If few people like Linus Torvalds ignited a revolution why the same is not happening on the mobile space with less than $ 32mm? Even starting without big expectations about the market penetration because probably in a few years we will buy generic mobile phones in the same way that we buy PCs today. I think the priority is to have a good native UI there. We already have a lot of OSes to choose from.
  • kleiba 13y ago
    Generally, rms does not advocate free hardware (free as in freedom). You might be interested in this article from 1999: http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/1999062200505NWLF http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/1999062200505NWLF
    • aclevernickname 13y ago
      I think you're misrepresenting RMS. In that article, he is mostly saying that hardware cannot be properly copyrighted/copylefted, and then pushes for open access to hardware interface specifications. The closest to "not advocat[ing] free hardware" I can see in the article is where RMS states that there is (at that time) no way to download hardware the way we download software. correct me if I'm wrong.
      • kleiba 13y ago
        Well, if I misrepresented him then certainly not intentionally. However, please have a look at this talk by rms where he addresses the question of free hardware in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNBMdDaYhZA&t=7m1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNBMdDaYhZA&t=7m1s
  • thecodeore 13y ago
    Tizen..........? That is the Linux Foundation Mobile OS
• aroch 13y ago
  I am amused that the zte_us seller email address is: Livinglife9012@yahoo.com
• tuananh 13y ago
  crap. doesn't ship to my country : (
• foz 13y ago
  The specs say 320x480 px screen, which is a bit disappointing.
  • reidrac 13y ago
    I'm not an expert, but £59.99 is a very competitive price for an unlocked smartphone.
    • dagw 13y ago
      It's the same price as the low end Samsung android phones with comparable specs. If you're willing to roll the dice with no-name phones imported directly from China, you can get an unlocked smartphone for around $50
      • TsiCClawOfLight 13y ago
        FFOS will almost certainly be more usable on low-spec than Android... have you tried the category you mentioned? It's horrible.
        • phaus 13y ago
          I currently use Android version of the same ZTE phone. It definitely can't compare to the Galaxy Nexus that I used to have, but it works well enough. I'm thinking of switching to the Open, but I wonder how hard it would be to get it to work on Straight Talk's network.
        • dagw 13y ago
          My first android phone had worse or similar specs, and it worked well enough.
          • TsiCClawOfLight 13y ago
            From my experience, this gets worse and worse with the new versions...
    • 13y ago
• yamill 13y ago
  just bought one. looking forward to developing for firefox os.
• johnchristopher 13y ago
  From Belgium: Unfortunately, access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries. We are blocking your viewing in an effort to prevent restricted items from being displayed. Regrettably, in some cases, we may prevent users from accessing items that are not within the scope of said restrictions because of limitations of existing technology. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, and we hope you may find other items of interest on eBay. What legal reasons are preventing ebay from displaying it ? Buying I might understand but not displaying the item ? At least this one works: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZTE-Open-3G-Unlocked-Firefox-OS-Cellphone-Orange-Ebay-exclusive-/171104024854?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item27d6983916 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZTE-Open-3G-Unlocked-Firefox-OS-Ce...
  • dendory 13y ago
    I can see it from Canada, but I can't buy it, they only ship to the US.
    • ramy_d 13y ago
      Same here, Canadian as well. It's really too bad, I was looking forward to get my hands on it.
    • tephra 13y ago
      Swede here, can't seem to buy it from ebay.us.uk either seems some countries are blocked from getting it. :(
    • arcameron 13y ago
      Same :'(
  • kyriakos 13y ago
    wow they send to Cyprus. This must be a first!
  • gpvos 13y ago
    Huh, they ship to most of Europe, but not to Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Estonia? How did they arrive at this weird set of countries?
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• untog 13y ago
  I'm very positive about FFOSes future, but if you're thinking of buying one today, bear in mind that you will be buying into an ecosystem that is under very heavy development. My dev phone is very, very slow. I couldn't use it as my daily driver. But I look forward to the time when I can.
  • felideon 13y ago
    Out of curiosity, are you running the latest FxOS build, etc.? I know Engadget has an article somewhere saying the lagginess improved a bit. I ordered one in order to replace my feature phone. Although the phone doesn't crash nor would I call the UI feedback on pressing a button "laggy", it certainly isn't fast.
    • untog 13y ago
      As best I know I am, yes- I see relatively frequent "System Update" notifications and apply them whenever I get them.
      • JoeAcchino 13y ago
        So you don't need to build a new Firefox OS release on your PC and flash it, the phone will just update itself?
        • fzzzy 13y ago
          Firefox OS includes over the air updates. You can also build your own and flash it if you want.
      • fzzzy 13y ago
        Check to see if you are on the 1.0.1 or the 1.1 channel. 1.1 is a lot better and has been getting very stable over the last month.
• 5vforest 13y ago
  Finished Paypal checkout: "You sent a payment of 79.99 USD to Livinglife9012@yahoo.com" wtf?
  • felideon 13y ago
    Haha, yeah. I noticed that while rushing to buy it a few minutes before having to leave the house to drop off my son at school. It hit me on my way to work, "Wait, who exactly did I just send $80 to?" Then I checked the email confirmation and noticed the seller was zte_us. Whew.
• bjm1 13y ago
  Although I would say that the release of this first phone is very awesome, it does need to at least support 4G before it will be purchased and used by most people.
  • AlexanderDhoore 13y ago
    I was going to tell you that "the countries this phone is targeted at don't even have 4G". But what do you know: Russia, India, Brazil, all have 4G networks [1]. That's really impressive... [1] http://www.worldtimezone.com/4g.html http://www.worldtimezone.com/4g.html
    • k_bx 13y ago
      + it doesn't ship anywhere besides US
      • mike-cardwell 13y ago
        It ships to the UK too
  • deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
• protomyth 13y ago
  Can this be used as a wifi device without the cell plan?
  • fzzzy 13y ago
    Yes edit: but you will have to wait for a later release (1.2 I think) for webrtc support to be able to make voice calls without a cell plan.
• rsync 13y ago
  57 comments into this thread and not one mention of the string "baseband". Surprising, as that is far and away the most interesting thing that could happen in this space, and it continues to not happen. Depending on the phone and the implementation of the baseband firmware, your carrier could have as deep as DMA access to that computer in your hand. Osmocom is interesting, but it is 2G only, works (almost) exclusively on euro-GSM handsets, and is barely making calls at this point. This (the op) is all very interesting, but all that matters is getting an open baseband firmware that you can protect from the carrier.
  • tadfisher 13y ago
    But could they get access to my PIN number?
  • wmf 13y ago
    There's no talk about basebands because there's nothing anyone can do about it.
    • throwaway2048 13y ago
      just like nobody could run anything except a proprietary operating system in the 80s?
• patrickocoffeyo 13y ago
  Just bought one. :)
• italophil 13y ago
  Anybody know what SIM size it uses? I have a hard time finding that info.
  • dschep 13y ago
    IIRC it uses a micro SIM.
    • fabrice_d 13y ago
      No, it's using a mini SIM
• peterwwillis 13y ago
  Am I the only person left on the planet who pines for tactile buttons in a small device I can use with one hand?
  • drbawb 13y ago
    I still look for tactile buttons, but not when it comes to a handset. For instance: I don't plan to own a car that incorporates an in-dash entertainment/nav system w/ a touch-only interface. (My only notable exception would probably be a Tesla vehicle.) When picking out an aftermarket head unit: I look for tactile controls that I can operate, _without looking_, using one hand. I've passed up some superior equipment (from an audio standpoint) simply because it has a touch-screen, an unintuitive interface, or poor tactile feedback. The reason I don't apply these same restrictions to my taste in handsets is simple: I don't use my phone when I'm distracted. The phone itself _is_ a distraction. So long as the interface is responsive and fluid I don't particularly care about feedback, because the phone typically has my undivided attention whenever I'm using it. I only pine for tactile feedback when the device is to be used in conjunction with an activity that requires a concentrated effort.
    • kamjam 13y ago
      Funny, years ago a friend of mine refused to go touchscreen phone, because he was able to send a text message without looking at the phone as it had actual buttons. I'm more like you, but I like to have a physical button on my phone for the camera. I don't find the on-screen camera button user friendly, esp for half-press focus/exposure. It severely limits my choice of phone though...
      • peterwwillis 13y ago
        I was the same as your friend. And unlike drbawb, I never gave my phone my undivided attention. Back in the day, PC gamers would learn quick repetitive sequences of key presses, sometimes with specific time delays. It would allow you to quickly select what you wanted so you could continue gaming in real time. I used phones the same way. End, star, menu, up, select, up, up, select, "4390416046662023020548853052831,down,right,0225509680460,long 3,long 0", select, select, end, keylock. I would send that text to my girlfriend while I was driving - while the phone was still in my pocket. It's impossible to do today with a smartphone. Luckily, dumb phones still have interfaces that respect certain rules of user input, and have simple single-tasking schedulers that obey your every command without hesitation. The only downside is the lack of good cameras, but the GPS nav and very minimal browsers give me almost all the functionality I need. For reference, the best T9 texting phones i've ever used were Sony Ericsson. They were european-designed for a market that had long since embraced texting, and made it as natural, efficient and intuitive as possible. Oh the glory days... [The text I sent above? "Hey i'm gonna be a little late, call you in 30"]
• bifrost 13y ago
  Just bought one, we'll see if it lives up to the hype. I did need an unlocked phone anyways so this was a good excuse to buy something neat...
  • bifrost 13y ago
    Just got mine. So far I'm kinda unimpressed. Its key-sense is clunky/latent, the camera is a little dark. Browsing is OK, youtube works, other video stuff doesn't. The orange is not as horrible as I thought it would be. Haven't been able to make a call with it yet since I don't have a good SIM for it, but $80 for an unlocked phone is a good deal any way you look at it...
• aray 13y ago
  This appears to be the first device running the MSM7225A at 1GHz (many other android devices use this, all at 600MHz or 800MHz). Edit: also very surprised there's no bluetooth support.
  • fabrice_d 13y ago
    There is bluetooth support: bluetooth headsets and file transfer works. More profiles are being added in the next releases.
• scribu 13y ago
  Just bought one, thinking that missing apps won't be a problem, since I only really use a few: - awesome web browser? check. - maps? check. - hipMenu? fail. :( I don't know how they did it, but they actually got the majority of the food joints in the city where I live in the app, with a nice consistent interface. Most places also have websites, but they're horrible to use.
• devy 13y ago
  There is another listing with a price tag of $162.50. Other than those shipped from Hong Kong and without original packaging, I don't see any differences. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZTE-Open-Firefox-OS-GSM-Unlocked-Cellphone-/271257428033?pt=Cell_Phones http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZTE-Open-Firefox-OS-GSM-Unlocked-Cel...
• acrich 13y ago
  I wouldn't trust ZTE all that much. They have a record of bribes, surveillance, and security holes. See the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZTE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZTE and especially this: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-zte-phone-idUSBRE84H08J20120518 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-zte-phone-idUSB...
• okso 13y ago
  Will this become the new Raspberry Pi of smartphones ?
• Casseres 13y ago
  It looks like they're sold out (985 sold). Does anyone know if they are selling any more? I couldn't find any information on the Firefox OS official site.