Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

Yes, it will default to slowcharge then. But imagine you have many different devices which have different standard of chrging; it gets really messy soon...

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

I wouldn't worry that much about proprietary charging type breaking USB compatibility.
The USB Consortium broke it themselves already while introducing the USB Type-C plug... : http://blog.fosketts.net/2016/10/29/...thunderbolt-3/

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

We will? :confused: Who is this "we"?

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

I will include an exclusive Type-C to Micro USB adapter to Pichlo if he ever bought one ;)

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

Well...

for me, one of the reasons is exactly like juiceme mentionned :
it's less wear and tear on the USB connector.
(My jolla 1's currently quite damage and I have to find a repair shop that could solder it).

Also, depending on how it is done (pogopins going to contact point on the backcover ?) I could even re-use one of the various Palm Pebbles that I have around.
I.e.: wireless charging with magnetic alignement. Just roughly put the phone on the charger, and it automatically jumps into perfect alignement with the coils guaranteeing optimal charging.
Such pebbles also happen to be angled, so it doubles as a nice stand.
And the pebbles are small, easy to carry while travelling (unlike some huge Qi mats)


For the record, there are companies working exactly on that (while not quite on the scale of the whole planet, more on the scale of a room, so it can leverage reflexions).

There's an emitter station that uses various form of beam shaping, leveraging reflections, etc. to concentrate the power where the charging device happens to be at the moment.
(i.e.: instead of diffusing the energy in every direction and be victim of the invert square law, it concentrates the beam where the phone is and gets more efficiency).
(It's a cousin of the various method that modern multi-antenna Wifi router try to use to aim their signal at the device).

Apple is alleged to have entered a partnership with one of these companies. (WattUp)

But it's not sure when this technology will be perfected to the point it can actually be used.
(Current rumors is that iPhone 8 will feature WattUp and Qi compatible coil behind its back glass cover,
and within a year, a WattUp charge emiter should become available.
I doubt that this is going to be that fast).

Ouch, indeed. Qualcomm 625 uses Qualcomm's QuickCharge 3, which is basically the odd thing out:
they have their own proprietary way to go above 5V / 2A (10 W).


Later chips boards like Qualcomm 630 uses QuickCharge 4, which is basically compatible with the USB "power delivery" (PD) industry standard.
(A standardized way for USB device to ask for more power by asking the device to raise voltage to 9v or 12v or higher).

So instead of baing able to plug into any USB-PD compatible charger (basically anything above USB 3.1), with QuickCharge 3 you need to hunt the specific charger that came with the phone :-(

I suppose there is no way to add USB-PD compatibility ?
(I've heard online of HTC 10 smartphone - has a QuickCharge 3 chipset but reportedly has partial support for USB-PD.
Maybe HTC have done it with a completly custom design,
but maybe it's only a firmware change and/or swapping a compatible component)

On the other hand, if I'm not mistaken, a smartphone LiPo battery would charge at 1C ?
Meaning the the top charging rate of a 3500mAh battery would be 3.5A@4.2 (~16W).
So a garden variety 5V 2A (10W) USB tablet charger should do the work within a reasonnable amount of time - charging the phone in 1:30 hour instead of 1 hour.
So, meh, not dramatic.

Oh and speaking about the battery, chen, did you decide what internal connection will be there ?
A end-user replaceable ribbon/connector ? (So a motivated user could un-screw the back cover and replace the battery. Like on iPhones, etc.)
Or only something one needs to solder ? (I little bit delicate even for motivated non-pro users).

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

It's in progress. I'm more towards removable battery + separate wall charger for just the battery. But that involves back plate structures and how to deliver that, and if it affects the looking etc. We are analysing all possibilities. Will update at a later stage.

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

If the battery and back cover are removable (hope so, it matters more than the case look for me), I suppose µSD and SIM cards will be accessed from there too. If so, do you intend to keep them accessible without removing the battery, like on Jolla 1? There are some phones in which the battery prevents sliding out the cards.

Admittedly, accessing the SIM card slot without turning the device off should not be very important since it will feature dual-SIM, even though there may be some seldom cases when one would want to use the SIM card(s) in another device rather than using other SIM card(s) in the phone, and therefore would still need to access the slot despite the dual-SIM capability. Not as important or frequent as the µSD though, I don't think this should weight much in the balance if there is a trade-off to it.

Eagerly looking forward for the next round of updates!

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

I came from using an N9 to a Moto Z Play. That is going from a 3.9 inch to a 5.5 inch display. At first I thought this phone is huge, but after several months of use I prefer the 5.5 inch display. Everything is larger. I can read email and posts on forums easier. Also typing on the on screen keyboard is easier for me.

I am 55 and my eyesight is not what it used to be when I used to work for Motorola reading the imei numbers on the back of the phones.

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

Sailfish OS with Android support and notification led is something what i need.... 5,5" screen is ok, same what i have my Turing Phone. Battery size... at least 1-2 days usage without charging.

Re: The new QWERTY device project
 

Type-C connector looks more durable to me compared to microUSB, also disconnects easily.