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Best Smartphone out there?

I've been an avid Windows Mobile/HTC fan for over 3 years now, but I was wondering everyones opinion on the DROID/Milestone by Motorola.
I feel like this phone might finally get me to move on to bigger/better things - I'm thinking about purchasing a Telus Milestrone (DROID) on ebay to use on AT&T. I NEED A PHYSICAL KEYBOARD!
Basically, does anyone else here feel like Android is a more stable and advanced OS when compared to Windows Mobile? I currently have a Touch Pro II and Nokia E71, but I think I may sell both of those phones to get the DROID.
Is there any limitations for the DROID that I should know about as WinMo user? Is there a different/better phone I should wait for instead?
Does anyone else feel like me currently?
I just want to find the ultimate smart phone! (I swear it's an eternal hunt)

Honestly in my opinion I think android beats windows mobile in every way. It is a much more innovative operating system in my eyes and with rooting the posibilities are endless. If you could go without a keyboard I would say get a nexus. The droid's keyboard is very flat and honestly when I used one I found the touch screen keyboard just to be easier to use. If you have used one you'd understand what I mean. The flatness makes it very hard to type on for me atleast but I guess as you get used to it, it gets easier. Honestly though the best smart phone is all up to. He user. I think out of the phones you mentioned I would take the Droid over the other two. But if you think you could get used to an on screen keyboard think about getting a nexus one because from what I've seen they are great and incredibly fast phones.
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WM doesn't need Root access because its already there. We can do what ever we please with our WM devices.

Go for the droid - it's a great phone.

If you really need a keyboard, make sure you check out the droid in person before you buy it. I don't know if a keyboard could be any flatter. It's amazing how some people can distinguish one key from another. If you have big/thick fingers, this may be an issue. As far as keyboards go, the touch pro 2 is the one for me.

If you really need a keyboard, make sure you check out the droid in person before you buy it. I don't know if a keyboard could be any flatter. It's amazing how some people can distinguish one key from another. If you have big/thick fingers, this may be an issue. As far as keyboards go, the touch pro 2 is the one for me.
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Yeah seriously. Do look at the droid's keyboard before you buy it. When I play with one I nd up using the on screen keyboard more but I've also used one for all f 15 minutes total. Friend who has one can tell each key apart and loves it. It all comes down to opinion
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On my opinion Rhodium is the best hardware keyboard device out there
Leo Has the option to test young funny Android but from the mature and stable WM platform

Ive been using Android 2.2 on my Nexus One for the last week.
Now Ive got to say im not the biggest fan of the Nexus One, it has some tech issues that still need to be worked out, but I have had it since it first came out so it is an early model.
Android is great though, its really intuitive to use and the new version is really powerful.

A Rant...

It annoys me how biased some people can be towards phones for the stupidest reasons. Just because it's not HTC, they put it down and only think of all the bad points it could possibly have even though it either hasn't been released or they haven't owned it. For example, the ATRIX is by far more superior hardware wise than the Inspire, yet people make comments that it's gonna be a fail because it's not HTC and point out that all the things better than the Inspire are useless (ffc, dual core, HDMI out, docks, 1GB ram, fingerprint scanner thingy). Yes, some of them are useless (fingerprint scanner imo) but, like, I saw a post saying "not HTC, only 5 MP camera... no thanks" which is completely biased and annoys me. They also say that motoblur is horrible and htc sense is the best, but I honestly dont like sense. It goes to far into the system and you just can't get rid of it, plus I find it slow. With motoblur its just the launcher and a few widgets. Get a new launcher from the market and its gone. I've had smartphones from all 3 major manufacturer and I can't bring myself to judge a phone based on the manufacturer. HTC is great, but not the best. They all have good and bad things to them. My experience with HTC has been bad build quailty. Plus they seem to use the least powerful innards. I know their will be flamers for this, but its the truth and i'm seeing in everywhere in general discussion.

Probably the main reason people badmouth the Atrix is because Motorola took a perfectly good product and vomited BLUR all over it, thus making it less than half as awesome as it would ordinarily be.
Not to mention they likely locked the bootloader, too...
Edit: HTC is usually praised for build quality and while they don't use the most powerful guts (likely a side effect of their allegiance to Qualcomm), they do respectably well. The things I hear HTC panned for are usually things like Sense sucking and the audio/media playback quality being terrible.

I can think of one reason to hate Motorola: EFUSE. Simple. Its draconian, it alienates a large portion of users, and serves practically no value that I could find. Htc has something similar, but wasn't it cracked really quickly?
Powered by Fission, from my DROID 2

I was hoping that Motorola would use the OMAP4 SoC over the Tegra2, but I guess that's cool of them to use Tegra2. Motoblur is kind of bad though, but better than TouchWiz to be honest.
I have had phones from both Motorola (although not smartphones) and HTC. I wouldn't get a Motorola phone on my network because all of them are kind of bad, but the ones on other networks (mainly Verizon) are pretty cool.

As the saying says "Everyone speaks according to their own personal experience"
Said that, I have been using HTC since 2005 and never had any problem!, so I´ll keep it faithful to the brand
The best devices designs on my personal opinion.

I've had both and I love my HTC. I don't really like stock Sense but custom ROMs fix that quickly. But HTCs have awesome build quality and quality control which cannot be said for motorola. That being said, the Droid X is a sexy ass phone.

Lemme join the rant.
I have no specific love for HTC, despite typing this on a HTC phone. However, I consider Motorola a good hardware company with crap support and product on the software side. Considering the bootloader, kernel, blur, etc.
Powered by Android

pl4sMa said:
Lemme join the rant.
I have no specific love for HTC, despite typing this on a HTC phone. However, I consider Motorola a good hardware company with crap support and product on the software side. Considering the bootloader, kernel, blur, etc.
Powered by Android
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Most of the time people care about what kind of experience they get from using the phone. In this case, Motorola usually doesn't deliver in the software end.
If I know that I don't want to use Motorola's version of software, I'd come here or go to another place where I can download a firmware I like better. Without that option, I don't want the phone no matter how good the innards are (not which company makes it).
That said, I'm willing to wait to see what kind of 3rd party support, if any, the Atrix gets.

Honestly it should say something about the company though if people are willing to go out of their way to either avoid or endorse it. Honestly over the past few years I have just not been hot on Motorola's build quality, its been going down hill, nor the way it treats its customers. In the end I would just prefer to vote with my wallet, and the day some one makes a phone that has a totally removable SD card memory that is totally hackable, that is the day a company will find a totally unwavering customer.

I saw the OpenMoko phone at an Linux event.

copius said:
Most of the time people care about what kind of experience they get from using the phone. In this case, Motorola usually doesn't deliver in the software end.
If I know that I don't want to use Motorola's version of software, I'd come here or go to another place where I can download a firmware I like better. Without that option, I don't want the phone no matter how good the innards are (not which company makes it).
That said, I'm willing to wait to see what kind of 3rd party support, if any, the Atrix gets.
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Click to collapse
What is so bad about motoblur? And even if it of tjat bad couldn55 just use a custom launcher to solve the problem? Oh and im asking; I haven't used a motorola phone yet.

Undying brand loyalty can be very illogical, but people are bound to find themselves being loyal to a brand if they've had nothing but good experiences with it.
As XDA members at least we aren't as limited in our choices, as most would be, when deciding what to buy. We have the option to tailor our software preferences to our liking with custom ROMs, themes etc, thanks to the great devs and their prodigious output!

Zephyrs said:
It annoys me how biased some people can be towards phones for the stupidest reasons. Just because it's not HTC, they put it down and only think of all the bad points it could possibly have even though it either hasn't been released or they haven't owned it. For example, the ATRIX is by far more superior hardware wise than the Inspire, yet people make comments that it's gonna be a fail because it's not HTC and point out that all the things better than the Inspire are useless (ffc, dual core, HDMI out, docks, 1GB ram, fingerprint scanner thingy). Yes, some of them are useless (fingerprint scanner imo) but, like, I saw a post saying "not HTC, only 5 MP camera... no thanks" which is completely biased and annoys me. They also say that motoblur is horrible and htc sense is the best, but I honestly dont like sense. It goes to far into the system and you just can't get rid of it, plus I find it slow. With motoblur its just the launcher and a few widgets. Get a new launcher from the market and its gone. I've had smartphones from all 3 major manufacturer and I can't bring myself to judge a phone based on the manufacturer. HTC is great, but not the best. They all have good and bad things to them. My experience with HTC has been bad build quailty. Plus they seem to use the least powerful innards. I know their will be flamers for this, but its the truth and i'm seeing in everywhere in general discussion.
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Click to collapse
I understand exactly how you feel. Make a comment about owning and using an LG Ally. See how nasty the comments get then. This phone does everything I need it to do with no issues whatsoever. But, I get to hear about how much of a POS it is, how slow it is, how LG phones are garbage, etc, etc, etc.....blindly ignorant loyalty to a certain brand is really ridiculous.
JL

I just wish they would sell two versions of each phone, stock android and sense/blur/touchwiz. I personally dislike all the manufacturer uis , but I know plenty of people who love them.
I know that is crazy thinking, but its the reason I'm getting a nexus s, go stock go home.

Zardos66 said:
I just wish they would sell two versions of each phone, stock android and sense/blur/touchwiz. I personally dislike all the manufacturer uis , but I know plenty of people who love them.
I know that is crazy thinking, but its the reason I'm getting a nexus s, go stock go home.
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Click to collapse
Me too, hate them with a passion. Nexus line all the way for me, whoever makes it!
I wish Google would take a leaf out of the MS play-book and insist on manufacturers selling their devices with a stock OS. Of course then it would run counter to the open-sauciness of Android.

Facebook Phone!

Who is getting the ChaCha?

The form factor makes me so interested. But I know they're gonna ruin it by putting it on 2 year contract and pricing it awfully without the contract.

That keyboard reminds me of the HTC Snap!

Ugly. As. S#!t.
And what's with that fakebook button? For the love of bloody albatros...
Post delivered via piece of paper tied to a brick... sorry 'bout the window! XD

Absolutely!
I have that device for my wife and sure I´ll be upgrading her to Chacha!
svetius said:
That keyboard reminds me of the HTC Snap!
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Click to collapse

love it!
don't care if it's facebook phone, every phone can run facebook... i've been waiting for candy bar qwerty android phone for many years already!

Glad to see there was actually some innovation happening. I think these 'gimmicks?' were the star of HTC's MWC show, and at CTIA is coming the superphone everyone expected. I love the design of the ChaCha, i't's just so different from all the other phones. Keyboard looks great too. I hope the screen has a good resolution.

The form factor is pretty cool, I'd get it if I got the chance to.

I like the form factor with the keyboard, let's hope it's also powerful enough CPU-wise, I found the Acer QWERTY Android phones too slow to work with.

drait said:
I like the form factor with the keyboard, let's hope it's also powerful enough CPU-wise, I found the Acer QWERTY Android phones too slow to work with.
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same concern here, i guess you are using e130... well i also have one, just wondering why it looks NOT so slow in youtube video!

If it's anywhere close to the price tag on desire z... then you should have no doubt what to pick.

I guess most people here on XDA care for the QWERTY physical keyboard on a candy bar form factor, which, sadly, is still very rare in Android world. As far as I know, there are only 4 phones launched or to be launched: Motorola Droid Pro, HTC Chacha, Samsung Galaxy Pro and Spriiing Smile (http://www.spriiing.com), all of which are inferior to full touch screen super phones, either in CPU, Memory or Screen specs... Hoping that those big guys will introduce more compelling Candy Qwerty phones.

I came from Blackberries before getting into Android, I once owned the Charm but chucked it quickly due to its massive bugginess and Motorola's sucktacular lack of support, so this device (and perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Pro) has me interested. Only thing is if they'd eliminate that Facebook button for the North America version, or perhaps it can be binded to a custom shortcut, I don't use FB nor care about it.

sookster54 said:
I came from Blackberries before getting into Android, I once owned the Charm but chucked it quickly due to its massive bugginess and Motorola's sucktacular lack of support, so this device (and perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Pro) has me interested. Only thing is if they'd eliminate that Facebook button for the North America version, or perhaps it can be binded to a custom shortcut, I don't use FB nor care about it.
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Click to collapse
Remapping the button shouldn't be too hard to do. We wont know until someone actually gets their hands on one and tries it.

sookster54 said:
I came from Blackberries before getting into Android, I once owned the Charm but chucked it quickly due to its massive bugginess and Motorola's sucktacular lack of support, so this device (and perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Pro) has me interested. Only thing is if they'd eliminate that Facebook button for the North America version, or perhaps it can be binded to a custom shortcut, I don't use FB nor care about it.
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Click to collapse
be careful with Samsung Galaxy Pro, it only has a 320x240 screen which won't give u good android experience... i almost overlooked it when choosing between 9300 & 9780

If the chacha comes to AT&T, I may try to find a good deal on craigslist

thangnh said:
I guess most people here on XDA care for the QWERTY physical keyboard on a candy bar form factor, which, sadly, is still very rare in Android world. As far as I know, there are only 4 phones launched or to be launched: Motorola Droid Pro, HTC Chacha, Samsung Galaxy Pro and Spriiing Smile (http://www.spriiing.com), all of which are inferior to full touch screen super phones, either in CPU, Memory or Screen specs... Hoping that those big guys will introduce more compelling Candy Qwerty phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
strongly disagree, xda members are exactly the type of people that know better then to buy a hardware qwerty. why you'd want a slower and smaller keyboard is beyond me.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

There are different users and different opinions. I my self, use right now a Nokia E72 after i played with a htc Desire. I love the android functions and the OS in general but i hate touchscreens. This is why i use E72. I don't like Blackberry OS and i waited for a long time to see an android phone like ChaCha. I am sure that people who will buy this phone will use the qwerty feature and will love the android OS. If they want hy res display's and dual procesors they will head out for toucscreens like galaxy S II or something else.

still waiting... blackberry 9900 also on the way... i hope somebody resign from google and join blackberry as CEO (I assume you all knew what's happening in nokia now)

Samsung Galaxy Pro = awful screen
cocaice2009 said:
be careful with Samsung Galaxy Pro, it only has a 320x240 screen which won't give u good android experience... i almost overlooked it when choosing between 9300 & 9780
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Click to collapse
Yes the screen resolution on the Samsung Galaxy Pro is awful to look at. Spoils an otherwise reasonable qwerty phone.
Also if you use it as a wifi hotspot the signal for me was significantly weaker and unstable compared to my dell streak.
The chacha looks interesting but the whole facebook integration puts me off. I just can't stand facebook.

No more HTC QWERTYs

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_is_done_with_the_qwerty_phones-news-4128.php
So much for QWERTYs....
That makes the MT4GS the most powerful GSM QWERTY

Omfg yyyyy. This will not b forever....trust me. When you get a year later than this they'll make QWERTYs again because f lack of sales to an all touchscreen line up. Don't u think?
Typed by ---- oh wait! I'm schizophrenic!

I guess that means I'll be investing my money elsewhere. It's probably a smart decision for their failing business, but Samsung will be there to pick up the slack.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201

I think enough people are fine with all-touchscreen phones for HTC to do fine.... the article said qwerty sales just aren't cutting it enough for them to continue. In my mind, part of the problem is the keyboards aren't really good enough, but that is just my opinion. For me, I haven't seen a really good keyboard on a device that wasn't branded a Sidekick. But I think more what it is is that the iPhone kinda shaped people's perception, and for some reason people like that form factor. But I also think that some company(s) will step up and realize there is still a market for qwerty phones.
My introduction to smartphones was the old Sidekicks, so to me a smartphone is a mini console or terminal, with keyboard and landscape screen. And I'm gonna keep seeing it that way until there just aren't any more like that..... which perhaps means this might be my last HTC phone!

That's a shame - they really had a happy customer in me.
I should get a galaxy with my next paycheck just to start getting used to the samsung way of things.
Motorolla is kinda in limbo until we find out whether Huwai is going to buy them or not from Google...
...who else does that leave? just off brands or low quality losers like LG - every LG phone i've ever owned was a complete and utter POS failure, and would never buy one of their products again, period.
I like HTC, but I guess they don't like me.

yogi2010 said:
I think enough people are fine with all-touchscreen phones for HTC to do fine.... the article said qwerty sales just aren't cutting it enough for them to continue. In my mind, part of the problem is the keyboards aren't really good enough, but that is just my opinion. For me, I haven't seen a really good keyboard on a device that wasn't branded a Sidekick. But I think more what it is is that the iPhone kinda shaped people's perception, and for some reason people like that form factor. But I also think that some company(s) will step up and realize there is still a market for qwerty phones.
My introduction to smartphones was the old Sidekicks, so to me a smartphone is a mini console or terminal, with keyboard and landscape screen. And I'm gonna keep seeing it that way until there just aren't any more like that..... which perhaps means this might be my last HTC phone!
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excuse me...u forgot the tp2 lol...i dont even recall them releasing a tilting screen android either. Having my phone serve as its own dock would be nice again. I dont care much for the bb style kbs but the dell had some nice looking phones for wp7....it wouldve been nice to run wm or android on one. I think htc & others would do better in qwertys sales if the released higher end device instead of these cheapo lg quality ones. Far as the iphone in away it did but there also been a craze for thin/light phones. Its funny cuz those are normally the same ones complaining about battery life.

What a joke...that actually really pisses me off because I woke up this morning with my new POS hummingbird processor powered samsung exhibit 1 4G and tried to draft up an article for my website, failed, and moved to my laptop. I'm a guy who has huge hands, so it's looking more and more like I'll have to scrap HTC and go with an albatross Note. Whoever said that the qwerty phones were failing because of a lack of power behind them, you're absolutely right! How can the smartphone maker not see that correlation...

Not cool htc smh.
Sent from my DoubleShot Lite using Tapatalk 2

Every smartphone I've ever used has had a physical keyboard. My first was the T-Mobile DASH (Win6.x), then a Moto Cliq (the best keyboard but a crappy phone). Next was the MyTouch 3G Slide, also a really nice keyboard. Now, the MT4GS. Though the keyboard on the 4GS isn't as good as the 3GS, I still prefer it over having a phone with no keyboard.

pimppoet said:
excuse me...u forgot the tp2 lol...i dont even recall them releasing a tilting screen android either. Having my phone serve as its own dock would be nice again. I dont care much for the bb style kbs but the dell had some nice looking phones for wp7....it wouldve been nice to run wm or android on one. I think htc & others would do better in qwertys sales if the released higher end device instead of these cheapo lg quality ones. Far as the iphone in away it did but there also been a craze for thin/light phones. Its funny cuz those are normally the same ones complaining about battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I <3 my Rhodium (TP2). First smartphone I got was the Kaiser (Tilt), then the Rhodium, and now the MT4GS. The TP2 had the best keyboard of the 3 by far.
I must say I am going to miss hardware keyboards, especially from HTC since they're the only phone manufacturer I buy from. I don't think touchscreens will ever be as quick and easy as hardware keyboards are.

As an side: duly noted about the tp2 I never had one but I do hear lots of people praising that phone and it's keyboard, and not just in this thread. I also agree that for the most part, the companies sacrifice other things when they make a great keyboard.

I loved my TM2 as well! The keyboard was great and only replicated on the HTC Pro, released only for Sprint in the US. Honestly, I'd probably be rocking that right now if there was a T-Mobile version in the US.
This is all sad but I'm really hoping that the niche QWERTY line continues in step with the MyTouch, Sidekick, Droid, and Samsung models. No one can ever type fast in home row fashion on a virtual keybaord with great accuracy!
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA Premium App

HTC is walking the same line that Nokia did a couple years ago. Consolidate! Save Resources! Be Mediocre! Lose Market Share! Sell Out to M.... Huawei?
Better know about it now, so I can start looking for another company. Samsung seems good right now. They are big enough to support a qwerty phone for a while.

As long as there is an Asia, there will be a market for ancient anything.
Hell, HTC's website still markets Windows Mobile phones...
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201

Guys, it's not like keyboards are dying out all together. Only HTC is out of the running.
Besides, we've still got a powerful device to be reckoned with
If we can get merged into the official CM tree, we will be the official most powerful QWERTY they've got. Not to mention we'll get updates for God knows how long
If anything this should spur us all on to dev even harder for the device and keep the keyboard legacy alive.
You can trust I will start devving myself as soon as school lets out. Anyone willing to take me on as their apprentice?
I know nothing, but I'm quite eager to learn if someone wants to take me under their wing.

I think this news will have some folks picking up doubleshots off Craigslist. This news and the realization that the phone spec wars have gotten ridiculous. I'm holding on to my doubleshot for good.

First the locked bootloaders, then the buggy "bootloader unlockers" on their website, now this. Samsung should start manufacturing high-end QWERTY keyboards to pick up the demand.

This seems weird to me, because as far as I can remember, HTC has only released QWERTY phones with T-Mobile and Sprint. Those aren't the carriers to turn to if you want to shift a lot of phones, IMO.
I'm really hoping samsung releases a glide variant of the SGIII. I haven't seen anything about that in the leaks, so I'll likely end up using the DS until it isn't viable anymore and re-examine my options at that point.

jonnycat26 said:
This seems weird to me, because as far as I can remember, HTC has only released QWERTY phones with T-Mobile and Sprint. Those aren't the carriers to turn to if you want to shift a lot of phones, IMO.
I'm really hoping samsung releases a glide variant of the SGIII. I haven't seen anything about that in the leaks, so I'll likely end up using the DS until it isn't viable anymore and re-examine my options at that point.
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Same here. Samsung and Sprint are looking better and better as time goes on.

blackknightavalon said:
Same here. Samsung and Sprint are looking better and better as time goes on.
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I came from Sprint. It's a disaster.

[Q] Crowd-funded QWERTY device

I've been pondering this for a while.
I'm still on my HTC Desire Z (or G2) and the one reason that keeps me from upgrading is the keyboard. I own a Nexus 7 and I've played around with the new phones and they're awesome, but the typing experience of a physical QWERTY keyboard is still simply unmatched.
I still dream of having a device with a
Full QWERTY keyboard with Z-mechanism like on the HTC I currently have
4.2" full-HD display
At least 2GB of RAM
Quad-core processor
High capacity battery
Good cameras
Full root access from factory & vanilla Android
There are a ton of cool pieces of hardware on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and IndieGogo. I wonder how much it would cost to be able to manufacture a similar phone, with modern specs. With the right people behind it, I believe it could be a success.
I mean, these guys managed to gather 12 million:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge

No comments? I guess I'm the only one who's waiting for one of these devices then...

Sechzman said:
Full QWERTY keyboard with Z-mechanism like on the HTC I currently have
4.2" full-HD display
At least 2GB of RAM
Quad-core processor
High capacity battery
Good cameras
Full root access from factory & vanilla Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha, This is the ultimate device for some. But if this would be crowfunded. You will have alot of issues. (believe me you will)
Who's gonna manufacture it?
Who's gonna provide the software? (okay we are on a developers site but still )
Who's gonna be there for support?
etc.
We all want this kind of device. I only dont see it happening. But it ever is gonna exist. You have my support

E-13 said:
Hahahaha, This is the ultimate device for some. But if this would be crowfunded. You will have alot of issues. (believe me you will)
Who's gonna manufacture it?
Who's gonna provide the software? (okay we are on a developers site but still )
Who's gonna be there for support?
etc.
We all want this kind of device. I only dont see it happening. But it ever is gonna exist. You have my support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, hey. Someone's gotta do it, and you have to start somewhere. Everything starts with an idea. I'm just throwing something random in the air here to see what others have to say about it.
I don't have the knowledge personally to get from start to finish, but there are plenty of people out there who do. I have no idea what it would cost, for starters, and how hard it is to get all the legal things figured out. And who knows, maybe there are agreements to be made with manufacturers.