Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Why do people tend to recriminate before asking first?

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Thank you for your reply Chen, that's actually really good to hear. I *was* following you on Twitter, but after replying to your latest update I got locked out of my account for 'posting offensive content' (or the like). Since I registered the account just to follow you and had never posted anything before, I assumed that my being locked out had something to do with posting my response to your account.

I'm not sure why I got locked out if you didn't flag my response as inappropriate, I'll try to find out why.

That's fantastic news!

As freemangordon stated in his post in the Maemo Leste thread, Maemo Leste requires an upstream Linux kernel (so kernel version 4+ I presume) and the ability to access (open source) GPU drivers, not just through the android/libhybris layers. Will that become a possibility?

Again, thanks for responding. Good to hear from you again :)

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

No worries! I guess that's probably Twitter mistakenly thought your account was bot or something and wrongly locked it, I didn't notice anything on my side. :)

As for your questions, the Linux kernel will be 4.4+ for sure (tested 4.9). The update and driver is down to Qualcomm's support. But we will do our best.

As far as I know the GPU should work under hybris. We don't have the access of the code of drivers but Hybris looks working well.

The parts that better controlled in our hands are the customised parts, such as the camera and its algorithm; fingerprint etc. I will also provide these parts in up-to-date states to the devs. And the basic needs to rely on hybris.

Already know a few Lineage OS developers and will engage with them as early as we can, and provide them with our supports, in terms of hardware and driver. In the meantime I will also provide support of device and info for our great SFOS developer, you must know him. :)

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

This sounds exciting. How does one preorder (if that is a possibility) or provide support, coffee money?

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

AFAIK Google was starting to look into using mainline DRM drivers. Maybe you could check it out, apparently the Pixel 3 already uses those.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...o-MSM-DRM-Plus

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

To be clear, I'm personally definitely interested in making Leste run on this device (ReadyFx). Leste *can* run on devices that don't run mainline (as was shown with the Gemini proof of concept; see https://maemo-leste.github.io/maemo-...pril-2018.html).

(Sorry for going OT a bit)

We aim to support only/mostly devices that run mainline, or have a recent kernel with good chances of getting mainlined. (i.mx6 and some qualcomm SoC for example is quite well supported - next to omap, sunxi and exynos)

Having to rely on android drivers is not something we want to do / support, because it's simply really hard to offer support, and backporting kernel patches is also no fun. But it's not that black/white.

In the end, we (leste) also have to figure out how to deal the situation where someone submits a (full) maemo leste port of a device with non-mainline kernel. We do not want to (and cannot) restrict it, but we have to figure out how to "call" it (not official support, etc), what repos to have, where, etc...

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Almost everything sounds really, really promising...

Just hope that this time "too good to be true" actually does not turn out to be, well, too good to be true.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Shut up and take my hard earned €€€€! :D

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Now I really really hope this project succeeds :)

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

What the hell ?? -_-
No, really no, this is way to much big ....

What is the average thumb/hand size you take ? During your researches, did you take in account that everybody has its own preferences about the hand positions, and some people rather prefer to have thumbs not streched but crooked ?

I hope there will not be any combo keys which requires to have a thumb from one side which should reach a button on the other side of the keyboard (not a problem with smaller keyboards). In addition, having a smaller screen can still be fine with big hands but be more convinient for people with smaller hands, which means more potential customers.

A bigger screen also means more battery consumption, less solid, less possibility to use the screen with only one hand, and it will not be always possible to keep it in the pants pockets.
On an other hand, with a Nokia N900, I didn't read any comment saying the keyboard was to much small.

On my part, my favorite screen size is 4-4.5", and I have an average hand size for my country. 5" and 5.5" is big but well, since it's the only device which interrest me, why not. But 6" is waaaaayyyy to much.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

It's smaller than the 5.5 inch Moto Z keyboard. Different ratio.

Also bigger screen gives a much bigger battery and standby time in general.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Possably. But does it actually exist and proven or is it just a plan?

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

I don't understand, if the diagonal size is higher, how can this phone be smaller ? Are you talking about the phone thickness ? This isn't the main deal about pant pockets and using a phone with only one hand. On my part, I have the Jolla phone, so it's more 4.5" than 5.5".
And is it possible to know which thumb size average did you find ?

The battery life "problem" isn't when the phone is in standby but when it is used (GPS, web navigation, games, etc). In this cases, a bigger screen means a higher power consumption.

That's only an idea, but maybe with a poll sent from your mailing list can you ask your potential customers what sizes do they would like and what sizes can they accept ? Of course, it will be relevant only if you can still change the phone size, which is maybe not possible anymore regarding your project development (I don't know at which stage are you).

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

The phone will be slightly less wide than the Motorola (due to aspect ratio) , and the height will be slightly less I think, due to less bezel (black frame around the screen, particularly bottom bezel (which I'm basing on the picture in the newsletter)

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

no, not necessarily. Sure, bigger screen usually need more power for the same peak brightness as smaller one but from 5" to 6" that's not really a huge jump so the room for bigger battery can easily compensate for that.
Insane resolutions for 5-6 inches screen is another story.
And while I did liked my N900, I can say that the keyboard experience was not something that we should ask for in 2019. And I can type on 10" tablet in landscape with two thumbs :cool:
Anyway, I hope that you do realize that the starting point for this was motomod keyboard that was for 5.5" device. And that ~6" screen is new normal these days so probably cheaper than some quality one in 4.5" size. And that people prefer bigger screen so this way it has more chance to succeed. People on this forum is not exactly the target market for this device and that's why android is also OS of choice. If we want something that's more in the line with public here than this must succeed as it is outside of this forum.

edit: BTW, I think that the animation on readyfx could be the approximate size of the device if I compare that with my 5.5" moto x play. It looks like it's 5-6mm taller but the rest fits the description given here in various posts.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

I would agree that a phone the size of say the iPhone6 would be ideal for me. I do enjoy never thinking about if my phone will fit into my pocket or will the screen crack because it's glass

I will say that this phone should theoretically not bend as easy since it essentially 2 ply structure (who knows really), also like other have mention the bezels will be very small seem like from what we've seen similar like Samsung s8-ish maybe.

I never minded the keyboard size, but remember where the n900 came from ... the n800 and n810 which were both larger ... so lots of people complain about the keyboard, missing rows and all type of other things :D.

This is hopefully the first of more than one product so perhaps there is room for smaller version in the future, I mean there does seem to be a smaller device trends trying to enter the market.

There were and still issues with the Gemini that I have, but I'm super happy it got to market and got looked at by sites like verge and others. Will this phone be perfect ... not for me (would love a pen & no android blobs) ... but darning if it's not the closest we come so far to having something close to what we want.

I don't really agree with this point, I think the people on this forum and the types that care about keyboard are their direct target. And that the android thing is kind of a must to get to market and have a chance of success. If the android market really wanted a keyboard the Moto's of the world would still be a bigger thing. I also think we aren't the only market since that would be too small most likely. I'm only guessing so I could be completely wrong.

x

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Interesting, I wonder how accurate this assumption could be :D.

x

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Yes. It does...

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

I have only seen some proto sliders. Is that what you mean or do you have anything to boot up?

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Just having some fun :D

https://i.imgur.com/VQO5t5X.jpg

http://technology.ihs.com/api/binary/595499

Tried to make it more accurate, but kinda shooting in the dark. But dam this make me excited ... lol

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Don't forget the ratio. ;)

It's a 18:9 ratio in 6", in another word it's the same panel as a 5.4-5.5" screen in 16:9. The screen is bigger due to less bezels. In measurements the device is quite narrower and slightly shorter than the Moto Z2 Play.

Thinking this way, it's a 5.4" of the traditional 16:9 ratio.

P.S: Being quite smaller than the Xperia XA2 Plus, which quite some users are happily using SFOS upon.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

That would be cool. If I could connect my samsung on top of this qwerty.
Looks cool.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Hi chen, great to see your project is taking form. Even so I'm also somewhat shocked reading about a 6" screen. On the other hand having a Xperia X and got finally used to the size, I made a comparison between my Xperia and the Galaxy S8 regarding size: https://phonesized.com/compare/#627,772
The S8 doesn't look horribly larger. So can you say some words how large the device will be in comparison to the S8. And if the 6" is referring to a rectangle or if it is measured from round corner to round corner.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

"Ratio rationale

We chose a notch-less screen with an 18:9 aspect ratio, and minimal bezels. Our device's footprint is smaller than most other 6-inch 18:9 phones, like the Nokia 7 Plus or Moto Z3. This doesn’t just reduce physical size, it also improves the typing experience. "

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Bigger is superior. Hopefully you can use the full screen or two apps at once while R/W content. Beginning with the original gangster note which was huge for it time :D
Now it would be average. But it also had 16:9 which I really like since most phones don’t use that today.

My main concern is the interaction between OS and QWERTY. Still haven’t heard anything about that.

But then, for sailfish, you don’t really need a nice/big screen becouse you can’t use it with any nice services anyways.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

I highly appreciate the decision to an AMOLED screen.

If the device will also get an official Sailfish OS port, then I am constrained to purchase it to fulfill my dream of owning a N950-alike smartphone. :D

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Will the AMOLED be sunlight readable like the N900's transflective screen?

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

The N900's screen may be 'transfective' but I would never, ever, ever call it 'sunlight readable'.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

It sure isn't!
I have only seen transreflective screens in old pre-smartphone Nokias. It went out of fashion with monochrome LCD's

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Once this device is available how would you puchase it?

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

No, AMOLED works in a completely different way than LCDs like the N900's screen. Instead of changing how intense color filters are, it's essentially millions of tiny lights that turn brighter or darker to display their pixel. Sunlight can illuminate a LCD if there's a mirror behind it, because the LCD filters the light as it goes through, and then comes out again (this is why color LCDs are so dim in reflected sunlight, because they filter the light twice). But sunlight doesn't help with AMOLEDs - though usually they are bright enough to be clearly visible in sunlight, they are readable despite the sunlight not because of it.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Also the Nokia N9 featured clear black technology. This is a clever trick with polarization, which essentially blocks all reflected sunlight in the display. Converting it to heat.
In detail explained here.

It works quite well (of course not perfect), but has the disadvantage, that the display heats up very fast in sunlight.

I guess modern AMOLED displays use this too? I never checked.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

After reading the posts about the screen size and AMOLED, I've realized something: Are you guys living in a cave!?

Like seriously.... Haven't you guys seen any device with an AMOLED screen before!? And about the screen ratio as well....

Seems like you guys are stuck in the past.... It's almost 2019..!

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You do realise where you are right? on the website for people still using n900s.

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Lol, I just bought new N900 and I am pleased as punch with it!

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Does that change any facts that I say?
You do realize that I am here since 2009 and even a moderator...

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

I don't care much about screen technology, even so I don't like the oversaturated colours of AMOLEDs. And I still miss the precise input possibility of the resitistive N900 Screen. (Please Chen give me a stylus)

But regarding screen size and aspect ratio I care a lot.
And sometimes sitting in a cave seems to be not the worst place, because new is not automatically better. I'm also on maemo.org since 2009 but the pockets of my trousers hasn't changed to much (the same applies to the size of my hands) since then. So the over all size of a phone is a very important point for me. Regarding aspect ratio: what is gained with 2:1? Most content where a larger screen is of relevance comes in 16:9 or even 4:3 or even 3:2: Movies and pictures.

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4:3 Really?!.....
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...4/3cd8a33a.png

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone
 

Well, better living in a huge cave, than in your very limited New Age universe. And if you would have read ...and thought about what you have read. You would have seen the the word pictures. Maybe you have already heard of MFT > wikipedia
But maybe these cameras are also from stone age and haven't reached your brave new world yet.:confused:

I'm enjoying sitting in my cave eating steak and drinking beer, where you have to eat Tofu Burger and drinking some ginger lime, because all old stuff is evil.:D

By the way I sometimes watch old movies and guess what: They are most of the time very very good despite the fact, they are not 4K and they are 4:3 and sometimes they even miss colour. Whereas I've seen a lot of crapy 4K, ultrawidescreen, HDR and whatever movies. :rolleyes:

Re: Are you Ready? Fx HW Keyboard Phone