Lucian Tomuta's Forum Nokia Blog
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/lucian-tomutas-forum-nokia-blog
<p>Don't expect miracles here, don't expect solutions to world's problems. It is more likely that I will ask [myself] questions looking for a always elusive answer.<br />
And of course: "All opinions expressed in this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily represent the official view of Nokia". I mean it!</p>
Developer phones. Want one?<style></style><div>An interesting news coming from Android space: they offer a developer edition of the G1 phone (the <a href="http://code.google.com/android/dev-devices.html" target="_blank" title="Android Dev Phone 1">Android Dev Phone 1</a>) aiming at helping developers which are out of T-Mobile's coverage to access and be able to use the terminal. <br /><br />Aside from being SIM unlocked the phone is also "hardware unlocked" allowing the bootloader to load uncertified ROM images, built by developers with their own customizations added to the Android release.<br /><br />According to the Android web page:</div><blockquote> <div> "Note that Android Dev Phone 1 devices are <em>not</em> intended for non-developer end users. Since the devices can be configured with system software not provided by or supported by Google or any other company, end users operate these devices at their own risk." </div></blockquote><div><br />A couple of questions came to my mind while reading this news:<br /><br /><strong>Q:</strong> How do you differentiate a developer from the end-user? Or do you really let them take the risk?<br /><strong>A:</strong> Well, it seems the answer is: money. First you have to pay a registration fee to become a member of the "Android Market" ($25) and then you can buy the phone at the recommended retail price of $399. The catch is that T-Mobile is offering the phone for as low as $180 while the developer phone, with taxes and shipping fees will go as high as $624 (according to a <a href="http://twitter.com/vinodlive" target="_blank" title="vinodlive@twitter">tweet</a> originated from India). At best you will have to pay for it twice the market price and that is likely to keep the end-users away.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Q:</strong> How much do the network operators like the idea of an "hardware unlocked" phone accessing the network?<br /><strong>A:</strong> I have no idea, I'm still googling for some reactions ...<br /><br />It is to early to speculate whether the <a href="http://www.symbianfoundation.org/" target="_blank" title="Symbian Foundation">Symbian Foundation</a> would be offering this type of "open" terminal to its developers. But it is definitely something to be considered although, until Symbian OS becomes fully open source (within two years), the offer would mainly be of interest for the Open Foundation members only. </div><div> </div><div> </div>
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/lucian-tomutas-forum-nokia-blog/2008/12/08/developer-phones.-want-one
Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:00:01 +0200