Quoth Spacefalcon the Outlaw: > So just how good is a Freerunner running QtMoko? Is it really equal > or superior to a dumbphone on every metric (no worse in terms of > usability and battery life, but far superior in capabilities), such > that building a Calypso-only Free Dumb Phone sans Linux would be a > waste of time and energy? Is the Freerunner with QtMoko such an > epitome of perfection (better than a dumbphone etc) that the *only* > problem with this option is that the devices are no longer made and > the old stock has been exhausted? Should we then direct our energy > toward building a device that is as close as possible to a verbatim > clone of the GTA02?
My GTA02 has about 8-12 hours of battery life when in standby. A 20 minute phone call reduces that very significantly. I'm sure a new battery would help, but it was never more than 24 hours of actual light usage. This may partly be software, but mostly I think it's the inevitability of the smartphone-like design. QtMoko is a really good UI, but if you want to do just phone stuff it's far more annoying than a dumbphone. The touchscreen is fiddly, the responsiveness when typing varies, and it has a habit of sometimes waking up the screen or not suspending. So for someone like me who really just wants a free dumbphone, it is not very good. It is good enough for me, but I don't use my phone much. I think the vast majority of people who like the idea of a real smartphone wouldn't accept less than 3G / 4G nowadays, as what they mean by smartphone primarily revolves around a fast mobile internet connection. I know Mychaela you have no interest in 3G / 4G hacking (understandably), so I definitely think your free dumbphone idea is the best. A free dumbphone would be far more useful than a GTA02, I think, because it could be great at what it does, rather than essentially an inherantly worse version of a modern smartphone (for what most people want from a smartphone). Also the fact that no free GSM stack exists is a really grave state of affairs, and changing that would be wonderful :) Nick _______________________________________________ Community mailing list [email protected] https://www.freecalypso.org/mailman/listinfo/community
