Open Source Phone Idea

Before people jump all over me saying this is a stupid idea or not possible, just hear me out and let my creative mind take over for a second. lol.

From a Manufacturer standpoint such as Samsung, HTC, etc, would the idea of having a phone that can run multiple open sourced operating systems be a positive idea?

For example, HTC creates new phone X, when the user buys the phone for any carrier, they are presented with the option to choose an operating system of choice such as webOS, android, Tizen, etc.

Obviously this would mean almost triple the support for the device in drivers and such, but would this be that difficult of a feat for a large manufacturer like HTC or Samsung, and would this be a worthy idea for a new phone?

Just a thought i had, be gentle... haha. :D :rolleyes:

I like the ala carte idea...

That would be too cool. Buy a phone. Go to the OEM website and input the IMEI #, then download an OS or dualboot option to flash to your phone...

Then bop on over to a carrier and activate service.

If the OS(s) chosen were open source the download would be free... If a user wanted WinPhone or some custom UI overlay they could pay the licensing fee when they download the ROM. Keeps cost low for some users and adds revenue stream from power users. :D

[IMG]http://www.lakecityquietpills.com/photo/multihost/images/05381870368905062708.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks, RumoredNow!

I envisioned a phone made from the highest quality hardware, that would support all the open OS's that smaller communities are desperate for. I personally know nothing about Tizen, but I'm sure there are people that would love a high quality phone that can run it. This way people would be able to get a device that would run their lesser known OS, but also can be configured to run a big name OS that's open source like Android. This would allow the Manufacturer to still make a profit off the device.

Maybe make it so that support for each OS is left up to members of the community. Like a Sandbox phone.

Just ideas here. :)

[QUOTE=blackfireball5;3331481]Thanks, RumoredNow!

I envisioned a phone made from the highest quality hardware, that would support all the open OS's that smaller communities are desperate for. I personally know nothing about Tizen, but I'm sure there are people that would love a high quality phone that can run it. This way people would be able to get a device that would run their lesser known OS, but also can be configured to run a big name OS that's open source like Android. This would allow the Manufacturer to still make a profit off the device.

Maybe make it so that support for each OS is left up to members of the community. Like a Sandbox phone.

Just ideas here. :)[/QUOTE]

In the US the big 3 (Sprint, AT&T, & Verizon) have all talked about stopping subsidizing the phone, if that were to happen, smart phone makers would be wise to make a world phone that works on any carrier, with any OS choosen by the end customer... I for one would jump off my contract (no need if I have to pay full price for a phone) and go month to month.

It could be called something like the Samsung Ajar (like a door is ajar or open ;) ) or the HTC Open or HTC Free. :p

[QUOTE=blackfireball5;3331498]It could be called something like the Samsung Ajar... [/QUOTE]

Then they could have a special Star Wars edition... the Samsung Ajarjar Binks. I'm here all night... try the veal!

[QUOTE=HelloNNNewman;3331503]Then they could have a special Star Wars edition... the Samsung Ajarjar Binks. I'm here all night... try the veal![/QUOTE]

haha. Encore. :p

While I think it would be a sweet idea, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably about 1% of consumers who would actually use this service. Most don't know/don't care about a different operating system other than Android, so why put in the effort if you're a phone manufacturer?

Maybe these guys could make webOS phones....

[IMG]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/06/147412-1339260010.jpg[/IMG]

How many percent of consumers do you think will be buying these Android phones?

[QUOTE=blackfireball5;3331418]
From a Manufacturer standpoint such as Samsung, HTC, etc, would the idea of having a phone that can run multiple open sourced operating systems be a positive idea?
[/QUOTE]

I think it depends on the cost of supporting two os's and honestly it depends on what OS. And the demand for that os. does demand for two os's justfiy the cost? Especially something like webos which has such low demand. I don't see it happening. I think it's more likely it get's hacked onto a device.

[QUOTE=dignitary;3331545]Considering the Lamborghini phone is Russia-only and rich folks in Russian love anything golden luxury, I imagine enough since it's going to be a limited edition as it is.[/QUOTE]

Guess I forgot the smiley....and you took me as serious? (I did read the article....and I did see that it was being manufactured in Russia only) Regardless.....imagining enough doesn't give me an answer. You think they are just making the phone....and hoping people buy it.....or do you think they took a certain amount of pre-orders before they committed to making the phone? Personally, I'm going with #1.

[QUOTE=FliedLice;3331540]While I think it would be a sweet idea, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably about 1% of consumers who would actually use this service. Most don't know/don't care about a different operating system other than Android, so why put in the effort if you're a phone manufacturer?[/QUOTE]

i"d say 1% is pretty small. Though I'm sure your probably right that it is a small market. They could sell it as an Android device by default but then offer the option to have another OS if the user chooses. The support for other OS's could be minimal.

idk, it was just an idea. lol.


[QUOTE=SnotBoogie;3331551]I think it depends on the cost of supporting two os's and honestly it depends on what OS. And the demand for that os. does demand for two os's justfiy the cost? Especially something like webos which has such low demand. I don't see it happening. I think it's more likely it get's hacked onto a device.[/QUOTE]

Maybe they could offer the OS on the device and do enough just to allow it to work, then allow the communities to update the software for the phone and the manufacturer could accept software revisions from the open source community.




I'm just trying to think outside of the box, i know a lot of this isn't practical. But its those ideas that are far out there that every now and again are golden.

While HTC might consider the idea, the carriers would have a **** fit. Carriers are the biggest problem there. Sprint or T-mobile are the only ones I can think of who might offer it, as far as the main carriers.

[color=#999999]-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities[/color]

[QUOTE=Daughain;3331656]While HTC might consider the idea, the carriers would have a **** fit. Carriers are the biggest problem there. Sprint or T-mobile are the only ones I can think of who might offer it, as far as the main carriers.
[color=#999999]-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities[/color][/QUOTE]


Do you say this because of customer service and support?

Here in Canada, I can't see any of the big 3 carriers (Rogers, Bell, Telus) jumping on board either. However, if it's an AWS device, I could se some of the smaller carriers such as Wind, Mobilicity, Public Mobile, etc. grabbing a webOS device. They'll essentially take any AWS device.

Bad part about those (Wind, Mobilicity etc)....as soon as you leave city limits, you have no service, and I'm in and out of city limits daily. Another reason why people subsidize phones here, you own your own phone, and you get virtually no discount with the Big 3.

[QUOTE=SnotBoogie;3331551]I think it depends on the cost of supporting two os's and honestly it depends on what OS. And the demand for that os. does demand for two os's justfiy the cost? Especially something like webos which has such low demand. I don't see it happening. I think it's more likely it get's hacked onto a device.[/QUOTE]


The other problem is certification - I would think if someone offered a dual-booting android/webOS tablet, google would refuse to certify it for the google market and key google apps like gmaps, gmail etc.

[QUOTE=Daughain;3331656]While HTC might consider the idea, the carriers would have a **** fit. Carriers are the biggest problem there. Sprint or T-mobile are the only ones I can think of who might offer it, as far as the main carriers.

[color=#999999]-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities[/color][/QUOTE]

Really Sprint? I don't see them ever adopting something this open.

I think the key is what was mentioned above, if US carry subsidizing goes away, it changes the entire smartphone market. The last 3 phones we have purchased, were not sold by AT&T but made to operate on AT&T frequencies.

If we hadn't been under contract when Leo killed the brand, we would be on straight talk right now. If there is nothing compelling next year at this time, we will be moving to straight talk and using our phones until we choose a course of action. Unless there is a really good subsidized phone on AT&T at that point, I will look to buying my wife whatever she wants off contract if she is done with her Pre2. I don't see putting down my Pre3 any time soon. (unless Open webOS is running on something I want to use.... PHYSICAL KEYBOARD)

[QUOTE=CGK;3331679]The other problem is certification - I would think if someone offered a dual-booting android/webOS tablet, google would refuse to certify it for the google market and key google apps like gmaps, gmail etc.[/QUOTE]

The phone wouldent be dual-booting. It would only have 1 OS installed on it. But the phone would be able to be shipped with the OS of choice by the user. So if the user wanted Android, the manufactureer would ship it to them with Android.

In this scenario why would Google not certify it?

[QUOTE=blackfireball5;3331870]The phone wouldent be dual-booting. It would only have 1 OS installed on it. But the phone would be able to be shipped with the OS of choice by the user. So if the user wanted Android, the manufactureer would ship it to them with Android.

In this scenario why would Google not certify it?[/QUOTE]

It cannot work --- simply because of chipset issues.

If Google decides to make Android 5.0 with Tegra 3 first and Microsoft decides to make WP 8.0 with Qualcomm chipset first --- then handset makers will make 2 separate phones based on totally different chipset no matter what. The alternative is for the handset maker to wait months and months for the new OS to be optimized for a second chipset --- while all your competitors are making big sales.

[QUOTE=samab;3331919]It cannot work --- simply because of chipset issues.

If Google decides to make Android 5.0 with Tegra 3 first and Microsoft decides to make WP 8.0 with Qualcomm chipset first --- then handset makers will make 2 separate phones based on totally different chipset no matter what. The alternative is for the handset maker to wait months and months for the new OS to be optimized for a second chipset --- while all your competitors are making big sales.[/QUOTE]

I think those in the market for such a device would accept a wait or a slightly older version of an OS. It's about freedom of choice.

I chose a Pre 2 which many would say was obsolete, but I wanted the webOS experience. I chose a GSM Unlocked phone so I could shop carriers and plans without being locked down.

Smart consumers realize they may need to sacrifice a bit of flash to get the flexibility they want and deserve. A truly unlocked and unfettered handset may be an idea who's time has come. Homebrew, unlocking, jailbreaking, flashing ROMs, custom ROMs, modified kernels... These are all becoming more mainstream quite rapidly. We do have Android to thank for that I will admit.

I get excited about the potential of a device - not the cookie cutter aspects of it and am sure there are more users than just myself who feel that way.

[QUOTE=RumoredNow;3331939]I think those in the market for such a device would accept a wait or a slightly older version of an OS. It's about freedom of choice.

I chose a Pre 2 which many would say was obsolete, but I wanted the webOS experience. I chose a GSM Unlocked phone so I could shop carriers and plans without being locked down.

Smart consumers realize they may need to sacrifice a bit of flash to get the flexibility they want and deserve. A truly unlocked and unfettered handset may be an idea who's time has come. Homebrew, unlocking, jailbreaking, flashing ROMs, custom ROMs, modified kernels... These are all becoming more mainstream quite rapidly. We do have Android to thank for that I will admit.

I get excited about the potential of a device - not the cookie cutter aspects of it and am sure there are more users than just myself who feel that way.[/QUOTE]

If you just cater to these geeks, you may as well close up shop right now.

Such so called freedom is illusionary at best.

Google is a giant proprietary machine --- in the eyes of many, the don't be evil company has turned evil.

Linus is perfectly ok'ed with tivo-ization.

[QUOTE=blackfireball5;3331613]
Maybe they could offer the OS on the device and do enough just to allow it to work, then allow the communities to update the software for the phone and the manufacturer could accept software revisions from the open source community.




I'm just trying to think outside of the box, i know a lot of this isn't practical. But its those ideas that are far out there that every now and again are golden.[/QUOTE]

don't think there's a chance. i don't think an phone maker is gonna let others muck with the software in that kind of way and risk damaging their brand with bad customer experience. they way you phrase it the phone maker would be rolling out updates to all consumers of someone else's idea of what the phone os should be. I mean what if you want to change touchwiz or something or the skin from the maker. They won't like that. Even Android is unifiying the look of it's OS.

But still i think its a demand issue. webos is a niche os now. to me it's like offering a desktop with Windows 7 & OS ten. Yeah people want that. (Apple never allowing it aside). But if you are trying to sell a consumer pc with like Windows 7 and ubuntu well most people won't want that. some will sure but not most people.

[QUOTE=RumoredNow;3331939]I think those in the market for such a device would accept a wait or a slightly older version of an OS. It's about freedom of choice.

I chose a Pre 2 which many would say was obsolete, but I wanted the webOS experience. I chose a GSM Unlocked phone so I could shop carriers and plans without being locked down.

Smart consumers realize they may need to sacrifice a bit of flash to get the flexibility they want and deserve. A truly unlocked and unfettered handset may be an idea who's time has come. Homebrew, unlocking, jailbreaking, flashing ROMs, custom ROMs, modified kernels... These are all becoming more mainstream quite rapidly. We do have Android to thank for that I will admit.

I get excited about the potential of a device - not the cookie cutter aspects of it and am sure there are more users than just myself who feel that way.[/QUOTE]

interesting but the people you're asking to offer the option, phone makers, are not in it for freedom of choice. they just want money and there is limited appeal for old versions of phones and thinner margins for phones with old os'. And in the GSM thing is big for only a a few people. Most people in the U.S. don't care in the slightests. Most phones in the U.S. are CDMA on Verizon or Sprint. Most americans aren't traveling outside the U.S. so the work fine. Plus by the time a two year contract is up most people are looking for a new phone not to keep using their old out of date one so switching carriers and keeping you're old phone isn't the biggest concern. "Homebrew, unlocking, jailbreaking, flashing ROMs, custom ROMs, modified kernels... These are all becoming more mainstream " most of this stuff is far far from mainstream.

[QUOTE=samab;3331944]If you just cater to these geeks, you may as well close up shop right now.

Such so called freedom is illusionary at best.

Google is a giant proprietary machine --- in the eyes of many, the don't be evil company has turned evil.

Linus is perfectly ok'ed with tivo-ization.[/QUOTE]

So I, as a person, should just forget my wants and needs? I should just be a good sheep and take what is offered and be thankful I am allowed to give someone my money?

A I N ' T
G O N N A
H A P P E N

I &$%@ed 'em all on my last purchase. My money went to a private individual for a used Pre 2. I'm off contract and loving it.

You missed my point. Mod your own device is on the rise. Go your own way is an increasing viable concept in the market place.

The cat is out of the bag, digging through the trash cans, yowling at the moon and loving every minute of it. If that isn't your style... OK cool. But the corporate way isn't the only path to take.

[QUOTE] Go your own way is an increasing viable concept in the market place.[/QUOTE]

No, no it isn't.

[QUOTE=RumoredNow;3331960]
You missed my point. Mod your own device is on the rise. Go your own way is an increasing viable concept in the market place.[/QUOTE]

The only major reason for modding phones is to get free tethering --- which is going to be rendered obsolete by data sharing plans.

Increasing use of digital wallet will make rooted phones increasingly non-viable as the banks won't allow you to use this service on rooted devices.

[QUOTE=samab;3331982]The only major reason for modding phones is to get free tethering --- which is going to be rendered obsolete by data sharing plans.[/QUOTE]

I would say both parts of the above statement are not true. Anyone who is tethering that much data that they are only modding their phone for free tether is either on a carry that doesn't cap data (say Sprint), or is most likely paying for a plan that includes tethering (AT&T 4gig plan for example). If the previous two aren't true, they are probably on a grandfathered unlimited plan.

Even if all of the above is not true, the shared data plan still requires owning and carrying a second device.

[QUOTE=OldSkoolVWLover;3331998]I would say both parts of the above statement are not true. Anyone who is tethering that much data that they are only modding their phone for free tether is either on a carry that doesn't cap data (say Sprint), or is most likely paying for a plan that includes tethering (AT&T 4gig plan for example). If the previous two aren't true, they are probably on a grandfathered unlimited plan.

Even if all of the above is not true, the shared data plan still requires owning and carrying a second device.[/QUOTE]

I didn't say that.

There are a lot of stuff that can be achieved with rooting/jailbreaking --- but do people who jailbreak an iphone really care about having the choice of an unofficial app store or customizing wallpapers? 9 out of 10 times, the number one reason is going to be tethering.

It's not you that is carrying a second device --- it is a family member that is carrying a second device.

I remember coming up with that once, and I love the idea.

Welcome to phone.
Choose an OS:
-Android
-webOS
-Ubuntu
-etc
etc
:D

[QUOTE=RumoredNow;3331960]Go your own way is an increasing viable concept in the market place.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=CGK;3331974]No, no it isn't.[/QUOTE]

Your eloquence in defense of your position is truly awesome.

I don't really know where such constant and insistent negativity comes from. Every idea to promote seems to bring you out with statements of: "No" "Can't" "Won't." Simple pronouncements that are presented as absolutes - most often without any substantive efforts to elucidate why it is such an inevitability.

How many outlets for pay as you go mobile have sprung up in the past five years? How many plans? How many phones? How many get your SIM and use what you want offerings? Those numbers are NOT in decline.

The universe may be out to get you, to hold you back, to limit your options...

I don't buy into that.

Thank you.

[QUOTE=samab;3332003]I didn't say that.

There are a lot of stuff that can be achieved with rooting/jailbreaking --- but do people who jailbreak an iphone really care about having the choice of an unofficial app store or customizing wallpapers? 9 out of 10 times, the number one reason is going to be tethering.

It's not you that is carrying a second device --- it is a family member that is carrying a second device.[/QUOTE]

You said the only major reason for modding *phones*. You didn't say jailbreaking an iphone, that is much more specific than my point.

The shared data doesn't change any of that, you either have to have someone on your plan that can tether with you at the time you need data or some form of mobile hotspot device (carrying another device). If people are really only jailbreaking for tethering, then they will still be with shared data unless they always carry a mobile hot spot device in addition to their main device.




Either way, back on topic, if an OEM could pull this off in a true world phone I could see it selling if the price is right. Nokia has had great success in the past selling phones that are "high" priced to the US market to the rest of the world.

[QUOTE=OldSkoolVWLover;3332032]
Either way, back on topic, if an OEM could pull this off in a true world phone I could see it selling if the price is right. Nokia has had great success in the past selling phones that are "high" priced to the US market to the rest of the world.[/QUOTE]

It's all myth perpetrated by American tourists going to Europe and looking at tourist traps.

The reality in Europe --- 3 year contracts have become so popular in the UK that their regulator has to ban it.

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/may/26/ofcom-bans-three-year-contracts]Ofcom bans three-year broadband and phone contracts | Money | guardian.co.uk[/url]

[QUOTE=RumoredNow;3332028]Your eloquence in defense of your position is truly awesome.

I don't really know where such constant and insistent negativity comes from. Every idea to promote seems to bring you out with statements of: "No" "Can't" "Won't." Simple pronouncements that are presented as absolutes - most often without any substantive efforts to elucidate why it is such an inevitability.

How many outlets for pay as you go mobile have sprung up in the past five years? How many plans? How many phones? How many get your SIM and use what you want offerings? Those numbers are NOT in decline.

The universe may be out to get you, to hold you back, to limit your options...

I don't buy into that.

Thank you.[/QUOTE]

PAYG does not equal modding, you and your argument are unconvincing (leaving aside the lack of evidence for your position) because of your tendency to ramble and drift onto unrelated subjects, you are mixing up two separate and very different things.

[QUOTE=samab;3332079]...

The reality in Europe --- 3 year contracts have become so popular in the UK that their regulator has to ban it.
...[/QUOTE]

That's because people can't calculate and think the provider gives them the phone as a quasi gift. They don't calculate the additional price they pay, being locked to the contract for longer and paying a higher fee with the phone.

But this differs from country to country. Here in Austria, we have one of the highest "smartphones per head" rating in europe (even surpassed the Italians ;) ). -- (on a side note: neither Palm nor HP deemed Austria important enough to sell their phones or pads here - lol) -- And we more and more get cheap contracts without binding.
I.e. there is a contract where you get 1000 Minutes, 1000 SMS and 1GB data (data is unlimited but download speed gets slow after the gig) for monthly 7,- (Three) or respectively 7,50 (ORANGE) Euros. No binding but also no phone.
Same contract with phone is more expensive of course.

But even though, there is always the question of revenue and profit for the mobile-provider as well as the hardware-producer.

Apple started it with the iPhone: it was locked and could only be bought at certain providers often with ridiculously expensive contracts. Seems like an odd thing to do, but if you look at it closely, you might realize that it is genious.
1st plus is for Apple: they have outsourced the distribution. No more trouble with that.
2nd plus is for the provider: if one wants an iPhone they have to go through him. Which leads to
3rd plus again for apple: the provider is extremely motivated to sell the phone because of high profit marges (see above: ridiculously high contracts)
4th plus for both: Apple and the providers share costs for marketing, thus more marketing could be done (and on more than one front), thus more hype could be produced.

Now let's look what Palm did (at least here in Europe):
Other than Apple they decided to party up with a provider that was not even providing in many countries (even rich ones like Swizerland or Austria). Therefore many parts of Europe stayed white spots with "there be dragons" signs on Palms maps.
Other than Apple they decided to unlock their devices, which is a very nice treat for us customers, but doesn't wildly motivate a mobile-provider to sell that thing, as it will not hold the customer in the corral.
Other than Apple they had as good as no marketing, therefore Palm stayed widely unknown in Europe (as they have become since about 10 years ago).

So even if - from the customer perspective - we all want an unlocked phone, the viewpoint of the selling parties must be 180 degrees different, if they really want to sell good. It seems perverse, but that's what the market is sometimes ;)

my 2 TL;DR cents :D

Nokia got to being the #1 phone manufacturer in the world by selling via RadioShack in the US. Once other developing nations started in on the cell phone boom, Nokia had so much more of a push into developing nations, that it was virtually impossible to locate phones that -weren't- Nokia branded. When Nokia failed to come out with CDMA hardware that worked in the US for several years after Verizon went CDMA and Sprint came out, they nearly lost that #1 phone manufacturer in the world status. Sanyo almost surpassed them. They got it back, by pushing out GSM phones throughout India and other similar places. But now, Samsung is the world's #1 phone manufacturer, based primarily on their huge break in to the US market.

Nokia will remain #2 selling junk in poor nations, for a good long time, while Samsung and the rest go insane in the US market :) I have no idea what the top of the line Nokias are doing. Devs seem to love the hell out of them, though I have yet to see a single new Nokia phone in anyone's hands outside of devs.

[quote]Really Sprint? I don't see them ever adopting something this open.

I think the key is what was mentioned above, if US carry subsidizing goes away, it changes the entire smartphone market. The last 3 phones we have purchased, were not sold by AT&T but made to operate on AT&T frequencies.

If we hadn't been under contract when Leo killed the brand, we would be on straight talk right now. If there is nothing compelling next year at this time, we will be moving to straight talk and using our phones until we choose a course of action. Unless there is a really good subsidized phone on AT&T at that point, I will look to buying my wife whatever she wants off contract if she is done with her Pre2. I don't see putting down my Pre3 any time soon. (unless Open webOS is running on something I want to use.... PHYSICAL KEYBOARD)[/quote]

Really the reason I said 'might' is simply because they are still #4. *If* a carrier chose this model, I would expect it to be Tmo. They need something, and they were the first carrier to offer Android. Still don't see it as likely, though.

Biggest problem with dumping subsidised phones, is the potential loss of customers, unless all the big carriers did it together.


[color=#999999]-- Sent from my TouchPad using Communities[/color]

[QUOTE=eblade;3332115]Devs seem to love the hell out of them, though I have yet to see a single new Nokia phone in anyone's hands outside of devs.[/QUOTE]

I have yet to get my hands on a live Lumia 900 demo unit... :censored::thumbsdn:

[QUOTE=samab;3331919]It cannot work --- simply because of chipset issues.

If Google decides to make Android 5.0 with Tegra 3 first and Microsoft decides to make WP 8.0 with Qualcomm chipset first --- then handset makers will make 2 separate phones based on totally different chipset no matter what. The alternative is for the handset maker to wait months and months for the new OS to be optimized for a second chipset --- while all your competitors are making big sales.[/QUOTE]

First off, WP is not open source, so that shouldn't be included in this example.

Though you have a very negative scope in all your posts, i appreciate your viewpoint. It helps flesh out an idea when there are people to point out the problems with it. I know this is a somewhat unique idea.

As far as the chipsets go, its a good point but i still don't think its enough to say it CANT work. That's something that would need to be addressed in the creation of the phone and something that can be worked with.

[QUOTE=SnotBoogie;3331957]don't think there's a chance. i don't think an phone maker is gonna let others muck with the software in that kind of way and risk damaging their brand with bad customer experience. they way you phrase it the phone maker would be rolling out updates to all consumers of someone else's idea of what the phone os should be. I mean what if you want to change touchwiz or something or the skin from the maker. They won't like that. Even Android is unifiying the look of it's OS.

But still i think its a demand issue. webos is a niche os now. to me it's like offering a desktop with Windows 7 & OS ten. Yeah people want that. (Apple never allowing it aside). But if you are trying to sell a consumer pc with like Windows 7 and ubuntu well most people won't want that. some will sure but not most people.[/QUOTE]

All the manufacturer would be worried about is making the phone work out of the box with those OS's. Once its in the hands of the users, they can do whatever they want with it. Its just like it is now with Android and webOS. We customize the hell out of webOS, doesn't mean HP has to worry about that.


And again, as I've said, i don't think there would be any issue with demand. The phone would be able to run Android. Assuming the phone is a beautiful one with amazing specs, why would they have problems selling the phone? Anyone could just buy it with Android and treat it as a normal Android device. Just as an addition, other OS's could be installed on the device from factory. This would actually make the demand for the device greater because your catering to the needs of many different open source OS communities. You'd pretty much be selling the only up-to-date webOS phone on the market. There would definitely be demand for that.

I think people underestimate how much people like and want webOS on a quality piece of hardware. How many times have you read someone say they'd come back to webOS if there were better hardware to run it on?


I'm not saying this would be easy. But i do believe that the smartphone market is shifting away from subsidized phones, and if not shifting, at the very least there is discussion about it lately.

[url=http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/05/22/are-carrier-subsidies-hurting-innovation-and-driving-up-mobile-phone-costs/]Are Carrier Subsidies Hurting Innovation and Driving Up Mobile Phone Costs? | Fox Business[/url]

[QUOTE=CGK;3332100]PAYG does not equal modding, you and your argument are unconvincing (leaving aside the lack of evidence for your position) because of your tendency to ramble and drift onto unrelated subjects, you are mixing up two separate and very different things.[/QUOTE]

It was two seperate statements.

Modding your phone on the rise.

Go your own way (meaning PAYG options).

Here's a Blog entry from Rumble: [url=http://mediarumble.com/rumble/?p=830]An End To Cell Provider Misery ? | Rumble[/url]

[I]For those chained to an inefficient cell phone provider due to contractual obligation, another welcome choice is in sight .
Users looking to escape the wrath of Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint could instead opt for Virgin Mobile, set to be the second carrier to offer the iPhone through a pay-as-you-go model.
Pricing for the Virgin Mobile iPhone availability, which is set for July 1, is still unknown, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. But Virgin Mobile currently has prepaid unlimited data plans that start as low as $35 per month, with data speed throttling for users who surpass 2.5GB of data usage in one month.
Cricket Mobile became the first operator to announce it would be offering the iPhone with a pay-as-you-go model last week. Beginning June 22, Cricket will sell the 16GB iPhone 4S for $500 and the 8GB iPhone 4 for $400, contract-free.
This contract-free model could help attract less affluent cellphone owners to the iOS platform, as well as those who are tired of paying premium prices on their monthly post-paid bill through other major U.S. wireless carriers. It’s a smart move, as the prepaid market has a limited number of smartphone options.
[HL]The pay-as-you-go market isn’t all that niche, either. At the end of 2011, about a quarter of the nation’s wireless subscribers used prepaid wireless plans.[/HL]
Meanwhile, recent data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry revealed interesting local trends during a three month period, ending February 2012.
The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share. Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, crossing the 50-percent threshold in February to capture a majority share for the first time in its history.
For the three-month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.4 percent share. Apple captured the #3 ranking in February with 13.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), followed by Motorola at 12.8 percent. HTC moved into the #5 position in February at 6.3 percent (up 0.4 percentage points).[/I]

In the long run... Paying for a phone outright and running it off contract CAN be the best value if you shop it correctly. I was on Sprint for a long time. I got phones and USB broadband modems free or cheap. But their plan... OUCH. I way over-payed and will not go back.