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And then you have the $12 Gonkai phone with 32-bit 260MHz CPU, quad-band GSM, Bluetooth, MP3 playback, and an OLED display plus keypad for the UI. http://www.b

by beambot 11y ago

And then you have the $12 Gonkai phone with 32-bit 260MHz CPU, quad-band GSM, Bluetooth, MP3 playback, and an OLED display plus keypad for the UI. http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040 http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040 Western "open source" pales in comparison to the hacker communities in Asia. EDIT: To be clear... CHIP is a very cool effort. But the headline is entirely too sensationalist; it is not the "world's first $9 computer."

JulianWasTaken 11y ago
I'm not sure why you'd call that "pales", those specs are widely different...
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geon 11y ago
> with 32-bit 260MHz CPU The Chip has a 1 GHz CPU and 1/2 GiB RAM. The Gonkai has 8 MiB RAM... Apples are way better than oranges!
nivla 11y ago
Phones, the most compact DIY computer if they could be rooted. A while back I picked up the Alcatel C1 for $9 at the local frys. It had decent specs but could not be rooted despite being an android. :( Windows phone is better in this category. Cheap and packed with features but not rootable. I really wish if someone could jailbreak Windows Phones. Christ, for the specs, the price of those Lumia's could get ridiculously low. Quad-core cpu, 5mp camera, IPS Touchscreen/GPS/Bluetooth/NFC/Proximity sensor etc in a compact size with backup battery and micro sd support for somewhere between $35-$50? [1][2]. Aghh never understood why these manufactures are too keen on locking down their phone. Wouldn't they get a bigger sales by opening them up? [1]http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-530-Prepaid-Smartphone/39081493 http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-530-Prepaid-S... [2]http://www.bestbuy.com/site/boost-mobile-microsoft-lumia-635-4g-no-contract-cell-phone-electric-blue/7970003.p http://www.bestbuy.com/site/boost-mobile-microsoft-lumia-635...
- beagle3 11y ago
  > Wouldn't they get a bigger sales by opening them up? At these prices, they aren't making any money on the phone - perhaps even subsidizing it. So they might get bigger sales, but they won't be making more money (or even losing more). Keep in mind that the old .com adage "We're losing on every sale, but we're making up for it in volume" is not the way to success. Also note that the models you linked to are vendor locked. This almost surely means vendor subsidized as well - if you find the unlocked version of the same phone, it will likely be $30-$50 more.

by beambot 11y ago

JulianWasTaken 11y ago

I'm not sure why you'd call that "pales", those specs are widely different...

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geon 11y ago

> with 32-bit 260MHz CPU The Chip has a 1 GHz CPU and 1/2 GiB RAM. The Gonkai has 8 MiB RAM... Apples are way better than oranges!

nivla 11y ago

Phones, the most compact DIY computer if they could be rooted. A while back I picked up the Alcatel C1 for $9 at the local frys. It had decent specs but could not be rooted despite being an android. :( Windows phone is better in this category. Cheap and packed with features but not rootable. I really wish if someone could jailbreak Windows Phones. Christ, for the specs, the price of those Lumia's could get ridiculously low. Quad-core cpu, 5mp camera, IPS Touchscreen/GPS/Bluetooth/NFC/Proximity sensor etc in a compact size with backup battery and micro sd support for somewhere between $35-$50? [1][2]. Aghh never understood why these manufactures are too keen on locking down their phone. Wouldn't they get a bigger sales by opening them up? [1]http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-530-Prepaid-Smartphone/39081493 http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Nokia-Lumia-530-Prepaid-S... [2]http://www.bestbuy.com/site/boost-mobile-microsoft-lumia-635-4g-no-contract-cell-phone-electric-blue/7970003.p http://www.bestbuy.com/site/boost-mobile-microsoft-lumia-635...

beagle3 11y ago
> Wouldn't they get a bigger sales by opening them up? At these prices, they aren't making any money on the phone - perhaps even subsidizing it. So they might get bigger sales, but they won't be making more money (or even losing more). Keep in mind that the old .com adage "We're losing on every sale, but we're making up for it in volume" is not the way to success. Also note that the models you linked to are vendor locked. This almost surely means vendor subsidized as well - if you find the unlocked version of the same phone, it will likely be $30-$50 more.