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$32 million Crowd Funding for Android/Ubuntu phone

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zherok:
Maybe, but consider that if doesn't hit 32M they don't make the phone at all. I think until they actually put final specs you're kinda speculating a lot on the actual hardware costs.

edit: I'm perfectly willing to consider that they're being exceptionally broad about their hardware costs. From the AMA it kinda feels like building a computer from a high end site, where you just drag down till you get the most expensive components because hey they must be better. The "pure sapphire crystal" they're using for display is probably not cheap, but an AMA question was whether hardness mattered as much as flexibility. No one stabs their phone. And the response was pretty much, "we'll see how it works out in drop tests." It's one of the few specific details so far and they're not sure how it performs yet!

kitamesume:
regarding the sapphire screen, its too rigid for it's purpose. if their target is to mitigate scratches then it may work, but the problem isn't just scratches but more on drops.
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57581976-85/sapphire-phone-screens-not-as-strong-as-you-think-says-corning/

on the other hand gorilla glass is manufacturing a stiff but flexible sort of glass which has a high resistance to scratches, it doesn't shatter upon impact as well.
if they were serious on developing the most effective screen though, it would be something of a very thin film (thinner than a hair) bonded onto gorilla glass as an entire structure, best of both worlds.

they're assuming they'll make things right thats worth at least $830, if it was that easy someone would've made a flagship worthy of that premium.
but no one is targeting such space since cost efficiency already became null due to competing hardware on that price bracket, like tablets as an example.
price brackets are there for a reason, they're over-stepping the boundaries thats making things more complicated.
if they were so sure of the $830 price point it should be a beast that can compete against things of the same price bracket.

zherok:
They're not phone guys, and the AMA sounded a lot like a wish-list sorta approach. In a way I'm reminded of Double Fine's adventure Kickstarter. They're both heavily focused on some vague concept rather than a strict idea of what it's going to end up like.

As for the test, Gorilla Glass has been fairly well proven as a technology, but I'm not sure it's creators are necessarily the most objective source for data against competing technologies. What kind of real life scenario does applying a huge circular pressure onto the face of the screen model?

In any case I doubt it's worth the current market premium. And given the possibility that it might not prove to be a worthwhile technology, this premium or bust mentality might help ensure the phone never gets made.

kitamesume:

--- Quote from: zherok on July 27, 2013, 08:08:19 AM ---What kind of real life scenario does applying a huge circular pressure onto the face of the screen model?

--- End quote ---
its a stress-test to test compressive strength of the glass, meaning its a simulation of how much the glass can withstand before breaking, or in worldly scenarios something like dropping it or having something dropped onto it.
impact force is also multiplied by speed, which means a drop's impact force can exceed hundreds of pounds.

edit: why they didn't do a weight-drop test is one of the question, maybe its to show-case pressure limits.

zherok:
That's not an impact test though, but steady mounting pressure.

I'm not advocating the technology in any case.


--- Quote ---edit: why they didn't do a weight-drop test is one of the question, maybe its to show-case pressure limits.
--- End quote ---
Could simply have been because their test of choice would allow not having to show their unit breaking. A realistic drop test would likely have been a more subjective matter of which of the two broke less (even if it favors their product, it would still likely break.)

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