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"Disposable" Cell Phone Actually Repackaged Nokia
ewhac writes "Hop-On.com apparently started distributing the first versions of their disposable/recyclable cell phones, which will offer 60 minutes for $30. Hop-On claims their proprietary technology makes this possible. However, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that, upon cracking open the phones, they found not the kind of disposable cell phone technology covered earlier on Slashdot, but a jury-rigged Nokia. When confronted, Hop-On CEO Peter Michaels dodged by saying the phones the Chronicle took apart were, "promotional samples only. They are not Hop-On production phones." The article also calls into serious question Hop-On's other claims, and also points out California revoked Hop-On's corporate status last month."
The article claimed they had raised 5 million in financing. How the hell do you plan on building a new cel phone design with that minimal amount of money. Just the injection molding tools and the assembly/pakcaging equipment required to make it at $30 would cost more than that.
I'll take free beer over free software any day.
"...upon cracking open the phones, they found not [a] disposable cell phone..., but a jury-rigged Nokia."
Isn't this a good thing? The worst hit from this will be taken by Nokia, because now consumers will wonder why they are being charged $150+ for the innards of a phone that goes for $30.
This should be pure joy for gizmo hackers.
Knunov
Why do users with IDs under 100,000 or over 700,000 usually have the most worthwhile comments?
What's the point about disposable mobiles anyway? It's just more pollution. Less quality. It's just plain idiotic.
There should be a big fee on disposable mobiles to cover the recycling costs of the stuff.
Plus mobiles are terminals which do a lot more than voice telephony. This trend will only accellerate in the years to come.
A company comes out of no where, promising new technology at a supposedly obsene price.
....uh, yeah, those were promo phones, yeah, that's the ticket!" seems that if your were marketing a disposable phone, you'd at least USE YOUR PHONE FOR THE PROMO! BAD BUSINESS, NO COOKIE!
After the people 'in the know' say, "we don't trust you, you smell like snake oil," the san fran chronicle says
"hey, their phones aren't what they said they were!"
so their CEO comes back with a "uh, um
...and I quoteth from business 101
"5. Proving the old business-school saw that "any idiot can sell a dollar for 80 cents," online-currency company Flooz.com in July launches a special offer whereby American Express platinum cardholders can buy $1,000 of Flooz currency for just $800.
6. A month later, Flooz.com ceases processing transactions. It declares bankruptcy in November, leaving those who bought Flooz currency stuck with worthless e-dollars. "
See what happens when you overreach your abilities? someone needs to tell these businesses to make sure the stuff is feasable before they make promises.
I forsee a very similar future unless they get their act together...
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Disposable phones are perfect for a terrorist, drug dealer, or other criminal. Simply go to Wal-Mart ot Target, pay cash for the phone and the minutes, and leave. Or have one of your "associates" do the purchase so that you're not on the store cameras. Currently, someone has to use a credit card and pay some money to sign of for service--that's not difficult to do but does present some barrier.
I'm not trying to troll here--it's just that a disposable phone is ideal for someone trying to remain anonymous and under the radar of the authorities. That's a huge advantage.
Myself, I have thought that I would like a mobile phone--but I'm not willing to pay upwards of $150 for a phone plus the monthly contract. And I'm all about pre-paying because I don't plan to use the phone much anyways. A disposable phone with 60 minutes would likely last me a year. At that point, I think I should be allowed to toss the thing since I know many people who get new phones every year at the $300 price tag. I doubt much of this will ever see the light of day, though, since the possibilities for criminals are huge.
Long, cute, or funny Sigs are just another form of over compensation, used by geeks, nerdz, etc.
If Hop-on is inteligent this is not that big of a problem. The simple way to do voice-rec on under-powered devices is to use a remote system. So you press the call button, and then it dials a hardwired number, which then prompts for you to say your number(names would be complicated) and the server then recognizes it, confirms it, and connects you to the number, all of which takes up your call time. In other words this basically uses the phone as a dumb terminal only sending along data(voice) to a central server.
I'd do something interesting, but my server can't handle a slashdotting.
It consisted of a thick "business card" phone -- a circuit printed on plastic and wrapped in paper, slightly larger than your average business card. The phone had about 60 minutes of talk time, couldn't receive calls, and had a single large button on one side. The idea was that you could buy a sheet of these phones for about $5-10 per, print your business card on them, and "burn" your own number into the phone. Pressing the button on the phone dialed that number.
I don't see the point of this over a generic pre-pay mobile. This thing still needs to interface with the network and the time used had better not be recorded on the phone. Otherwise it can trivially be hacked into a free network access pass.
"Zero", "One", "Two", "Three" sounds like dictionary words to me. The instructions aren't to say the name of the personal or organization to call, but to say the number, which is then verified back to the user. It only has to recognize 10 words, maybe eleven if they allow "Oh" as well as "Zero".
Any spoon would be too big.
You think that they'd be embarassed to have this Web site up. Did you notice...
- The "mock-up" phone on their front page is actually just a peice of Photoshop handiwork?
- The bogus Time article. While I don't doubt that they made Time (it's amazing what $$ can buy you), their fake "page curl" effect that shows their product on page 3 is a bit much.
- I love how, in the article, they credit the Hop-On CEO as the "inventor". Inventor of what? I'm sure he's hardly the first to think of a disposable cell phone. The technology is obviously not his, nor is it Hop-On's. What did he invent?
- Is that Scooby-Doo rip-off kangaroo thing missing her lower jaw? Or is she just as dazed as the investors? Her joey looks pretty stunned by the whole mess.
- Check out this page. Look at the "models" on the bottom left. It looks like they Photoshop'ed the phones into their hands.
- I couldn't help but think, the "Our Future" link at the top should have lead to here.
I initially was wondering if the US-based Hop-on was related to the Australian Hop-on.com.au.
The Australian Hop-On.com.au advertised for months a free Internet service on the back of Taxis, except, it never came. Here is their website, don't bother going to it, it no longer exists.
After going to the US-based Hop-on, I discovered it was in fact the same company, as their mascot was that Kangaroo, the same cartoon character that appeared on the Australian taxis.
So, this didn't really surprise me to hear that their promised disposable phone was a fake after all.
--jquirke
I say the sooner this organisation goes under the better.
There is no place in our modern world, a world where we UNDERSTAND the consequences of our actions
to introduce a DISPOSABLE device.
This planet is FULL to the brim with garbage and we have absolutely no clue what to do with the garbage we KNOW we will generate.
This companys CEO is as irresponsible as a toddler with an operational chainsaw.