
T-Mobile backs Ubuntu smartphone - tanglesome
http://www.zdnet.com/t-mobile-backs-ubuntu-smartphone-7000018916/
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staunch
I have a $30/mo unlimited (5GB at 4G) data/messaging (100 min talk time) no-
contract plan with T-Mobile and I use Skype for lots of calling. Works great
for me in LA. Almost always have LTE access. No problems whatsoever.

[http://consumerist.com/2013/06/07/t-mobile-
has-a-30-unlimite...](http://consumerist.com/2013/06/07/t-mobile-
has-a-30-unlimited-data-plan-for-people-who-arent-very-chatty-but-can-current-
customers-get-it/)

This just makes me like them even more. Competition is forcing them to
actually think about ways of making mobile phone/data service not suck.

~~~
sillysaurus
Wow! How much are you paying each month after fees, taxes, etc? I have the
same service with AT&T, except I get 700 minutes a month. But I'm paying about
$90/mo.

Your service includes tethering, right?

~~~
monkeyfacebag
I have the same plan. Tethering is an additional $15/month, for a total of
$45. Still a far cry from $90. I use it in Portland and the service is great.
(Total after taxes is $48.50)

~~~
sillysaurus
May I ask, how much do you pay each month after taxes and fees? (Assuming you
opted for tethering.) Something like $45 + $10 taxes/fees?

~~~
vadman
T-Mobile prepaid plans are great in that regard. I only pay the New York sales
tax on top of the quoted price (8.875% or something). My parents were on AT&T
and they were paying close to $15 in mysterious fees + taxes per line, for
dumbphone lines without data plans. I convinced them to move to T-Mobile
prepaid, seems to work well so far.

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earlz
I like T-Mobile because they are strive to put the consumer first. They may
not have the widest coverage, or the fastest speeds, but they usually do a
good enough job at coverage/speed. Along with this, their customer support is
the only cell phone company I've ever had a pleasant experience with. They are
also trying to actually advance the cell phone market for the better, unlike
most other companies trying to squeeze it for all it's worth and to hell with
the future.

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fiatmoney
Is there now a realistic scenario for them funding Ubuntu Edge?

[http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-
edge](http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge)

~~~
thezilch
I don't get it; there seems little upside to that venture, when they could
fund a designer and manufacturer that has a record (Re: Google and Asus, LG,
etc). You should be able to slap the OS in anything.

~~~
timdorr
They will do that if they fail:

> If we don’t reach our target then we will focus only on commercially
> available handsets and there will not be an Ubuntu Edge.

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dobbsbob
Is Ubuntu going to accept blackbox baseband stacks and microsd card blobs?
Would be nice if they actually made an open phone but I highly doubt that will
happen. If this was a completely open project I'd give them all my money but
looking pretty feeble. I can just customize android and boot tiny debian
whenever I want what's the difference? yet another box full of firmware we
can't touch unless it's to reverse engineer and analyze it's frightening
insecure writable memory.

~~~
tmzt
I haven't seen an SoC with a binary driver for the SD card since the Zaurus's
2.4 kernel. What are you referring to here? I'm not even sure that SDMI is
supported by all MMC/SD host controllers anymore.

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lobster_johnson
I like T-Mobile as a company, and their prices are great. But their network is
ridiculous.

Here in NYC I don't have _any_ service inside many buildings. Many areas are
EDGE only. In Williamsburg, where I live, there are lots of holes in their
coverage where I have no service; and that is outside on the street. They also
have serious service outages occurring surprisingly often. I shudder to think
what the coverage is outside metropolitan areas like NYC.

While complaining about data rates is one thing, a side effect of the bad
coverage is that my phone spends a huge amount of power just adjusting itself
to the signal. In Europe I am used to charging my iPhone a couple of times a
week; here, my phone is dead by the end of the day.

~~~
rohansingh
Really? I have great service with T-Mobile in NYC, including Manhattan and
Williamsburg. In many places with crowds of people, my friends who have AT&T
aren't able to get service while I still get great HSDPA reception.

Just curious, what hardware are you using?

~~~
lobster_johnson
iPhone 4.

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ChikkaChiChi
Has anyone else installed Ubuntu for phones? Am I the only person that finds
the interface beautiful but useless? Absolutely nothing about it seemed
intuitive.

~~~
MarcScott
Ubuntu Touch on my Nexus 4 is the only mobile OS I use. The interface takes
getting used to and is beautiful. I also like the fact that it over heats so
much that, when rested in my jacket pocket, it keeps my left nipple nice and
warm.

Seriously though, each week it seems to get better, and there's nothing like
having apt-get on your phone. Hopefully Touch will be a success and help
introduce more people to Linux. (I know Android is Linux but it doesn't feel
like Linux)

~~~
jevinskie
Jailbroken iPhone users and N900 users would definitely agree that apt-get is
a must have if you're a dev/geek.

------
deadmike
The phone you want, on the network you don't.

~~~
cbhl
I was under the impression that the Edge wasn't going to have an AWS-capable
GSM chip, which makes this announcement really confusing for me.

~~~
jsight
This isn't talking about the same phone.

Although it would be funnier if it were. The Ubuntu Edge for the network with
more EDGE (2G-only areas) than anyone else!

I like T-Mobile, but their network is sadly behind in many areas. It's also
suffering from capacity problems in my area now.

~~~
cbhl
Oh, they're just joining the advisory group. Clearly didn't read the article
closely enough.

Hmm, so I guess (assuming Ubuntu ever gains traction in the mobile space --
ha, ha) T-mo just wants the option to find a hardware partner one day and put
Ubuntu on some new phone in partnership with them.

