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fliptop writes:
"Promising that orders will start shipping in June, Silent Circle has announced the Blackphone is ready for pre-orders. (Domain registered in Switzerland)
Touted as 'The high-end smartphone which puts privacy and security ahead of everything else' the Blackphone has a 4.7" screen, 2GHz quad-core CPU and 16GB storage. It also includes several Silent Circle apps.
The Blackphone makes use of a customized version of Android called PrivatOS, is fully unlocked, and the encryption can be used on any compatible network. Purchase includes a 1-year subscription to the apps; after that it's $10 a month (in addition to your carrier's charges).
In order to take advantage of the encryption, the other person you're communicating with has to have their own Blackphone or use Silent Circle apps on their Android or iOS phone."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by mcgrew on Monday February 24 2014, @03:49PM
Too big and too expensive. I absolutely HATE how phones are getting bigger and bigger, mine's four inches and barely fits in my pocket. And $600 for something breakable, stealable and salable you carry around in your pocket? That's just insane unless you can afford to throw half a C-not in the trash.
How about making one that will fit in a pocket, is sturdy, and most of all is cheap, not much more than a hundred bucks (which I have now and am happy with).
Why does everybody think that just because I'm a nerd, I must be Bill Gates? Throw out a month's rent for a phone??? That's just nuts.
Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by dilbert on Monday February 24 2014, @03:54PM
I believe "C-not" is short for C-note, which is short for Century Note, which is usually interpreted to mean 100 USD. Perhaps you meant "half a grand"?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bart9h on Monday February 24 2014, @03:57PM
Amen.
Unfortunately, there are very few options of small high-end phones out there.
Galaxy S3 Mini seems like the best one that is not over 4".
I just want <=4" amoled screen, >200ppi, >1GB RAM. Is it too hard?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday February 24 2014, @04:11PM
Don't forget removable battery.
I have an HTC Amaze, and I'd love to get their new phone ("one") -- but I won't because the battery isn't easily removable. And I say that not because I want to pull a Reiser -- but because I like having two batteries.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday February 24 2014, @04:49PM
Indeed, if iPhones were ten bucks apiece I'd still not want one for just that reason. I will NOT have a bettery-operated device with a hard to replace battery, or worse, an Apple with its "no user servicable parts" and the battery glued in.
Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]
(Score: 1) by keplr on Monday February 24 2014, @04:43PM
Apparently it is too hard. The problems are probably not technical, however. It's an issue of market demand (heavily influenced by marketing, not what is really best for people) and economics. The type of phone with the highest margins will be the most heavily marketed, which drives demand. People who are more sensible and less swayed by advertising suffer a lack of options.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 24 2014, @04:04PM
I absolutely HATE how phones are getting bigger and bigger
You sound like you have small hands. Are you a carnie?
(Score: 2, Informative) by dbot on Monday February 24 2014, @04:09PM
Firefox OS [ebay.com]
(Score: 1) by petecox on Monday February 24 2014, @07:24PM
Blackphone is a collaboration with Geeksphone, who also make the 'Revolution' handset that supports both Android and FFOS
(Score: 2) by Open4D on Monday February 24 2014, @04:11PM
Get bigger pockets.
I know that sounds curt, but my 4" phone fits in my trouser pockets and even my shirt pocket. I've actually decided that if anything my next phone should be a bit bigger, and therefore I need to take that into account when I'm buying clothes.
Of course, this assumes that a 4" phone is suitable for you in other ways - like the size of the palm of your hand.
Was that price part of a contract? Is it a fair comparison with the price quoted for this device?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday February 24 2014, @04:47PM
No contract, list price for the phone was $125 (Kyocera Edge). Flat $40 per month, no limits, data caps, or restrictions. I'm happy with them! And if I break the phone, meh, it's only a hundred bucks. If it were an iPhone and I broke it I'd freak out.
Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]
(Score: 1) by cykros on Monday February 24 2014, @10:47PM
I carry a 7" tablet, with a bluetooth keyboard case, in my cargo pockets. If your tech doesn't fit in your clothes, your clothes are obsolete.
(Score: 1) by kru on Tuesday February 25 2014, @10:27AM
(Score: 1) by TheGratefulNet on Monday February 24 2014, @04:16PM
I'd LOVE to pay the rent that you pay, it seems.
in the bay area, it would take well over 5 or even 10 phones worth of cost to equal typical rent prices here.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday February 24 2014, @04:43PM
Well, everything is crazy high priced there. Same with NYC and a few other areas. Here, I can live well on a median income here. I'll probably move in a year or two, now that I'm retiring, it's even cheaper in some little towns.
Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]
(Score: 1) by corey on Monday February 24 2014, @09:29PM
I agree on most fronts but I struggle to type legibly using the onscreen keyboard of my Galaxy Nexus. Its a big phone, I'd hate smaller onscreen keys. My fingers are thin too.
Thankfully it has a decent spellchecker. But it works overtime on this.
I just typed Thabkfukky instead of thankfully. Heh
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday February 25 2014, @10:22AM
I struggle to type on any glass, even on my daughter's tablet, so I just don't. If I want to type I wait until I have my laptop. If there's only a sentence or two I use its speech to text and avoid the typing (sometimes that can be almost as frustrating as trying to type on a phone).
I have to say, my newer phone is a hell of a lot easier to type on than my old feature phone with its qwerty keyboard and teeny tiny keys. But I still avoid typing on it.
Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]
(Score: 1) by corey on Thursday February 27 2014, @05:49PM
I fully understand. My fingers get sore joints (the endmost joints) from typing on glass. I think its the constant minor shock of hitting/tapping something solid. That's where a keyboard doesn't have the same effect, it has shock absorption.
Probably all just RSI or the like from years of computer use.
(Score: 1) by cykros on Monday February 24 2014, @10:45PM
You have a smartphone that costs only slightly more than $100? I'd be curious to hear where exactly that's coming from, unless you're not taking into account any "discounts" from the carriers who rope you into their plans. $600 is only on the moderately high side of the smartphone market...even the Nexus models are a good few hundred bucks to begin with.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Tuesday February 25 2014, @12:03AM
You have a smartphone that costs only slightly more than $100?
Currently running a Samsung Discover, [samsung.com] running ICS in all it's glory. Cost about $100 CDN, was sold as a "Pay As You Go" phone, but works with my Telus SIM.
Sure, it's underpowered, it has to be rebooted daily or the Bluetooth won't connect, and for some reason it won't charge using the cigarette lighter USB plug in the truck, but hey - it was only a hundred bucks.
Good enough for the time being.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday February 25 2014, @10:18AM
I have no contract, that's the price of the phone. And it's waterproof! I've lost 3 phones to liquid, one dropped in a toilet, one dropped in a cup of coffee (my ex-wife did that one) and one when I was caught in a pouring rainstorm.
My youngest daughter tells me she's ditching her iPhone (with its cracked screen, she's broken quite a few of them) and AT&T for a phone like mine [boostmobile.com] and my cheap carrier.
I see they've come down, they're $99 now. I paid $125 last year.
Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]