Volla phone (is back and) will be a new UT phone in 2020
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What I don't quite get about this is:
Why perorder/pay 300 Euro for a slight hardware upgrade of a normal, run of the mill Android phone build by Gigaset and available from their website for 170 Euro as of writing this?It doesn't look like they are actively contributing much to a non-android ecosystem and the software additions to Android that they are proposing seem on a quick glance trivial at best.
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@poVoq Models on Gigaset website doesn't match volla's phone specification. So you comparison is not fair.
Donate anonymously 1€/$ by year to UBports, all Ubuntu Touch users can do it ! Demonstration:
https://forums.ubports.com/topic/1262/donate-anonymously-1-by-year-to-ubports-all-ubuntu-touch-users-can-do-it-demonstration/ -
@libremax well, true. But it seems like they just took the 2020 upgrade version that Gigaset is working on anyways and that will likely be available for a similar price by the time Volla plans to release their phone as well.
Fairphone 5 (waiting for port)
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Latest news from Volla: "Today we are able to present the prototype port of Ubuntu Touch for the Volla Phone": https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/volla/volla-phone-freedom-through-simplicity-and-security/posts/2671739
At this step Ubuntu Touch seems already very fast on the Volla Phone prototype.
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For us who love UT, we'd always be happy to have an extra UT phone. But what could encourage us to go more to this phone than another and invest in this campaign? A fingerprint sensor ? a powerful processor for a fluid device? Good photo sensors? Will this be enough to make this product stand out from other phones and convince us to wait for the probable finished product in many months? As far as I'M concerned, I know where I'm going right now: Pinephone 1, but I hope that the fingerprint sensor technology will be implemented on the future Pinephone model, not because I really want it to be (I'm not entirely convinced of the safety of the sensor technology itself, but I wish Ubports UT could make it safe), but because this technology will be almost imposed on us in the fairly short term !
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The notch is the deal breaker to me. I would have considered this phone if it didn't have one.
But aside from the notch and the rounded corners, which I'm not a fan as well, it's looking good.
Apps start quite fast and seem smooth already. I wonder if it already use arm64. -
@domubpkm said in Volla phone might be (or not) a new UT phone in 2020:
But what could encourage us to go more to this phone than another and invest in this campaign?
Well, it would add one more new device to the list of supported devices that are not old and can be bought regularly. Which would increase the number of available new UT phones to choose from by 100% or 50% (depends on when Pinephone and Librem 5 are available).
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so it means anyhow that thode current gigaset devices might work with UT like their prototype. Their demo is impressive!
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@domubpkm Volla phone price is twice as high as pinephone. Their agendas are differents. For pinephone Braveheart edition before the end of 2019, end user availability, beginning of Q2 2020. For Volla phone, in best case October 2020.
So there is no way they can cannibalize each other.
It's the same for the librem5.There are tens millions of GNU/Linux users on desktop. In 2020, three new and very different smartphone models with free software could attract more users than two.
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@domubpkm said in Volla phone might be (or not) a new UT phone in 2020:
But what could encourage us to go more to this phone than another and invest in this campaign? A fingerprint sensor ? a powerful processor for a fluid device? Good photo sensors? Will this be enough to make this product stand out from other phones and convince us to wait for the probable finished product in many months?
Which ones? There hasnt been any new hardware for years. The only project I know of is the pinephone, which is really great - especially for developers - but I would prefer to spend some more bucks for 2gb addional ram, a better camera and processor.
The Volla Phone could reach another user group and I think thats not bad at all.
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litte OT: I appreciate more that the new hardware (that is always welcome) their UX. it remind me a little the dash with integrates lenses (or scope? I don't remember) plus a little the HUD in unity7...when I saw their presentation video I was wondering if is it possible to have something similar in UT...
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Yes, sadly it isnt taking of. I really appreciate, what the pine64 guys do for the communities. Nevertheless as an end-user, I would like to have a normal middleclass smartphone which has more px than e.g. 2/5mp the pinephone has. 2gb isnt much either.
The pinephone is a smartphone for devs not really for consumers, which is great for the different OS's. But we will see what the future holds for us. Pine64 showed there is a demand and you can do it if you do it right.
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@makeixo In my opinion, what causes the campaign to block, is not the product itself that is attractive: it is rather that we must still give ourselves a fairly long waiting time (even if it is normal) for a probable product, however good it may be. Because if the finished product was for sale now, the customers would already be there!!
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@domubpkm It's only available for Europe, is that correct? Perhaps that's the reason why the campaign isn't doing well. And maybe there are more people like me who hates the notch
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@kugiigi That's right these are probably two other reasons. Indeed, it is said that for Europe at the moment.
But as there are more than 12 inhabitants in Europe, the notch must really really not please!! -
The sum is too ambitious. The market is full, some other options for privacy already exist right now (/e/, Lineage), and they need to find more than 1,000 investors in 40 days... The product is good, but nobody wants to pay 300 euros now to have a phone in one year. Crowdfunding is not a very good option to launch a phone for a new company... There have been some other examples by the past.
What I don't understand is that they already have a working prototype and are already porting UT on it... So what the kickstarter is supposed to pay ? Not R&D, as they seem to have already done this part of the job... Kind of a suicide to invest in the product first, develop it until it's ready for mass-production (or so it seems), and after that make it depend on a 350,000 euros crowdfunding campaign...
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@Pookie said in Volla phone might be (or not) a new UT phone in 2020:
The product is good, but nobody wants to pay 300 euros now to have a phone in one year. Crowdfunding is not a very good option to launch a phone for a new company...
That's exactly what Fairphone did
I was one of the people investing 350€ when there was no real guarantee that's I'd get a working phone after roughly one year.
They were a little different though, as they said they were gonna use a licensed design for the phone and would run an existing OS (Android). -
@makeixo Its better not to start with a feature-heavy device, you need to get expertise on the manufactoring process, on software support etc. The cheaper the unit the easier it is to make fixes. So while the first PinePhone iteration might not convince all consumers, its a necessary step, and every other vendor (I dont mention the name here hehe) which tries to jump up the stairs might fall off instead
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@Flohack If I understand it right, the manufacturer would be Gigaset. I dont know if the quality of their products is good but they produce Smartphones for some years now.
Dont get it wrong I dont criticize pine64. Its amazing what they do but for me its not a daily driver device. Maybe I will buy one if I learn to code.
By the way. I still have an Xperia X. Maybe when the port supports the device fully and anbox is ready, I will switch from SFOS to UT.
