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Google To Test Build-It-Yourself Ara Smartphones In Puerto Rico
An anonymous reader writes Google is holding its second Project Ara developer's conference today in Mountain View and is in the process of giving a roadmap on how and when it might get its modular smartphones out into the market. Probably the most notable bit of news we've learned so far is that Google plans to have a market pilot ready to go in the second half of this year. Unfortunately, if you want to give it a shot, you'll need to live in Puerto Rico — the pilot will roll out in that territory in partnership with carriers OpenMobile and Claro. When Project Ara hits Puerto Rico, users should be able to customize their devices using the Ara Marketplace and Ara Configurator apps. Google's ATAP group will also roll out some "food-truck" style stores for consumers to actually check these devices out before they try them out. Google also says that it'll have some 20 to 30 Ara modules available by launch across 10 different categories.
Does anyone know whether the drivers for all those wonderful devices will be open source? Will they have open APIs at least, or will I have to install the app of the vendor instead, where some "extra features" cost money? Will I give every device connected to my smartphone basically root access, or access to a system bus which can be used to read and write arbitrary data to RAM?
Why is living in Puerto Rico 'unfortunate'?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
That's it, period. Ok, I'll accept having the time and date shown on it, but I don't want anything smarter.
And give me a simple plan, with the least possible expense and bother to it. No data, no services, no plan, just a fixed amount of minutes per month.
It's getting harder and harder to find phones with hardware keyboards or decent battery life. Swap out the fancy graphics card for a second battery, and put a slide-out keyboard on the back, and I will be so, so happy.
I hope they have a keyboard. I'll be so disappointed if they don't.
A Build-your-own cell phone needs to be secured against misuse of RF networks. Remember, your provider needs to serve more than just you so you can't take up more bandwidth or signal power than you're allowed. A lot of limits get set at the towers...
I am not 100% sure I trust Google in their place in this endeavor, but I am 100% sure its a smart direction to take, and its a smart direction for the rest of the industry to follow, and I'm also 100% sure I'm jealous of Puerto Ricans for the first time ever.
You could be surrounded by Americans.
Has someone been tweaking the Slashdot CSS? Because you've gone and fucked things up.
The Newer/Older buttons on the front page shrank, so the background style doesn't cover all of the text. Also, the search bar in the header (site-wide) shrunk in height and is too small to display the text typed into it. In the screenshot I have "search term here" entered into the input. Screenshot 1
There's a huge empty white block on the left side of each article page now. Screenshot 2
The post/reply comment page now has a semi-visible "Archived Discussion" button, on every article, even brand new ones. Screenshot 3
All in Firefox 34, Windows 7.
They *were* going to test in California. But they couldn't find enough H1-B workers to help the Californians who can't pass their STEM classes to actually assemble the things at the AT&T store.
Since when Puerto Rico is a third world country? We are a territory of the US, with a stable economy and some of the best universities in Latin America and the US. You should start reading a bit more, dumbass..
They are all third world countries, because they are on the third planet out from the sun.
When we colonize Mars we can have some fourth world countries.
A CDL (or more aptly Common Hardware Language, CHL) needs to be developed so that all the OS needs to understand in communicating is that it can do certain _guaranteed_ "BASIC modular hardware functions". Basic stuff such as "send.[hardware component].data([minimal template protocol script design here])", "read.[hardware component].data([minimal template protocol script design here])",
The Modular (Common) Hardware Components themselves should also have this "Basic Modular Hardware Function" i.e. CHL (Pronounced - CH ool) capability built in as a "fall-back" language for Gen-1 devices and will always maintain this backwards compatibility...
Ultimately this is about what USB should have been from the start.
Done right, elegantly and enforced. (By done right I mean the science and code has to be air tight, something that NASA (refer to Fault Tree Analysis) would give a pass mark to, and not this tripe "send it to market first and fix it later" bs we have grown accustomed to)
There is no rush to get this done, just do it right the first time for once. Then we can finally work on doing tablets and laptops, like should have happened years ago (decades if including consoles!!).
There is no reason why Gen100 hardware parts can't co-exist with gen1 using the latest OS for the device. Removing the hardware abstraction layer from the OS and giving it back to the HARDWARE devices themselves is what this is really about. After all, the OS these days is a glorified UI which 9/10 behaves poorly and against its users wishes.
Just an added thought, I think there needs to be a backbone (switching) layer to interface the modular devices with. One that accepts electrical & photon interfacing at each node.
Sincerely,
Mod PC
This has all the earmarks of another sounds-cool-at-first Google project that won't amount to much in the end.
Modularity sounds like a good idea, but in practice, in cellphones, I don't think it'll work. In objects of that size every millimeter counts, and modularity takes up quite a bit of space at that scale, because each part needs to be enclosed, securely attach to the others, etc. The trade-offs will mean you'll be able to pick one or two things (e.g. speed, battery life, extra features, etc.) but not all at the same time. And the prices won't be good, because manufacturer(s) will not have economies of scale: it'll be hard to compete with Apple and Samsung making millions and tens of millions of identical units.
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
The modules that completely fill the handset displayed:
- 8MP Camera
- WIFI / BT
- USB Charger
- Band 5 Antenna
- 3G modem with band 2 antenna
- Nvidia Tegra K1 with Marvell chip
- Battery
- Speaker module
sooo........ I'm struggling to see which one of these can be swapped out without completely gimping your phone.
Which is why the phone uses an approved RF modem. You can go on and crash the OS or make a superior dialler - but you can't mess with the RF requirements.
"I tore apart your stupid hosts file crapola." - by BarbaraHudson (3785311) on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @10:46AM (#47703255)
Where? You RAN from trying recently -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... & you're FAIRLY given the opportunity to make good on those words of yours - you downmodded (via your many sockpuppets) & ran, lol, after your wise-ass comment on hosts here JUST before that challenge -> http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... quoted next below:
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"scans multiple forums repeatedly to troll his crappy HOSTS file " - by BarbaraHudson (3785311) on Sunday January 04, 2015 @11:58AM (#48730581) from http://tech.slashdot.org/comme...
I only post on them where they apply (or confronting naysayers like you). Prove otherwise!
(Oh, that's right - you're NOT BIG ON PROOF, are you? See below next...)
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"His only "legend in his own mind" was that he claimed that "his" hosts file could completely secure a windows computer. " - by tomhudson (43916) on Saturday February 12, @11:19AM (#35186644)
Where did I even *once* claim hosts completely secure a computer? Hosts are, however, the BEST single tool for more speed, security, reliability, & more. Prove otherwise.
Putting words in my mouth I never stated != truth, or a good argument on YOUR part. You RAN from that too!
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"Who has independently vetted it?" - by BarbaraHudson (3785311) on Tuesday August 19, 2014 @10:46AM (#47703255)
You tried to say it's malware/spyware too - guess what:
Answer = The BEST in the security antimalware & antispyware business currently, http://www.av-test.org/en/news... per that VERY recent test's results, who also host & RECOMMEND my program for hosts, is who -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... (Malwarebytes' hpHosts)
* You've done better? No... lol!
APK
P.S.=> You fail: "Eat your words, Forrest" & you told others to stalk/harass me by ac posts as YOU YOURSELF do, unceasingly, for years http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
... apk
BarbaraHudson stalks me by ac posts & that's quoted in her words http://slashdot.org/comments.p... & her "so-called 'point'" vs. hosts = b.s. (in a 'journal' - not publicly since she KNOWS they're bullshit):
"We don't need to use a hosts file to block ads (adblock does it better)" - by BarbaraHudson (3785311) on Sunday September 21, 2014 @02:09PM
FROM-> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
To THAT b.s. I point out how NOT BETTER it is, tearing up 4++gb of RAM & flooring CPU too -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth...
+
By default (since advertisers KNOW most folks using "Almost ALL Ads Blocked" won't change that) adblock's PAID OFF NOT TO DO ITS JOB FULLY -> http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/...
ClarityRay's also DESTROYING AdBlock but it's NOT ABLE TO DO THAT to custom hosts files.
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* BarbaraHudson's *trying* to tell us that Adblock's vastly inferior abilities + chewing up resources LIKE MAD is "superior" to hosts?? Please... lol!
(Hosts do all of what adblock does, + FAR more - with less!)
APK
P.S.=> Facts above vs. BarbaraHudson's fictions & the FACT BarbaraHudson CANNOT DISPROVE that hosts do more w/ LESS, & far, Far, FAR MORE for added speed, security, reliability, + even anonymity (to an extent) vs. adblock
&
That hosts fix DNS security issues in DNS amplification attacks, DNS being downed, DNS being redirect poisoned etc. - et al as well!
Fact: NO SINGLE SOLUTION does more & w/ less, period/fact, for all those points of mine here BarbaraHudson sockpuppet downmodded & RAN from -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... like the troll & multiple account using sockpuppeteer he/she is... apk
I was born in Mexico. So is my wife — A proud Argentinian. We are as Americans as Puerto Ricans, as Cubans, and as nationals from tens of countries.
SystemD! done and done!
remember those being the next hot thing? well, look how they turned out. I have a feeling this could have the same fate. also, with the phones being so cheap there's is little reason to upgrade in piecemeal. I think the one thing that it does bring to the table is expansion ports for third party products - PCI slots for phones.
I think many don't know the actual meaning of third world country. Many seem to equate it with being a poor country, which is exactly what it doesn't mean.
1st world : NATO
2nd world : Soviet Block
3rd world : unaffiliated.
like 90% of the countries in the world are 3rd world, and none are 2nd world anymore as the soviet union kinda crashed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Yeah those stupid Americans who never ger out of their home state, don't know a shit about their own history, don't even know where the caribbean is.....you think they will know where PR is?