[Request] Use a universal LTE modem in the second Jolla handset

asked 2014-11-24 20:38:37 +0200

shmerl gravatar image

updated 2014-11-24 21:53:45 +0200

eric gravatar image

One of the serious limitations of the first Jolla handset is a broadband modem which doesn't work in many networks. Using such limited modems requires one to produce different versions of the same device in order to enable usage in different regions with incompatible frequencies.

Recent LTE modems however support practically all networks with one chip. Example:

Using such modem will eliminate fragmented devices requirement and would not leave users of many regions like North America behind, like it happened with the first device.

To clarify, this is not about official support of all of these networks (this includes approvals, extending logistics and so on). This is simply about enabling functionality (for example for unsupported scenarios, a comparison would be using N9 in US and Canada).

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Comments

Hopefully the second Jolla Phone will also ship in the US. Alot of people in the US bought the Jolla Tablet, and that should signify something.

toxemicsquire4 ( 2014-11-24 22:40:56 +0200 )edit
1

Hopefully the second Jolla Phone will also ship in the US

I wouldn't hold my breath for it, since Jolla's main concern were patent aggressors. However situation has improved somewhat recently:

  1. China published the list of patents with which MS shakes down Android manufactures, so there is a chance someone will try to bust them now.
  2. Supreme Court in US ruled that attaching "on the computer" to some abstract idea does not make it patentable, and this invalidates many software patents of that sort (which affects MS and Apple quite a bit).
  3. Jolla now are going to ship a tablet to US, so whatever patent concerns in Sailfish were in the handset, should be present in the tablet too, so if Jolla are confident they can handle patent threats for the tablet, they can probably handle patent threats for the handset as well.
shmerl ( 2014-11-24 22:50:04 +0200 )edit

I've known about some of that, so the situation is very much improving. Hopefully, right after the Tablet ships, no backlash from patent aggressors *cough(Apple & MS) try to limit sale of them in the US, and then they start crowd funding the Jolla 2, an since there where no threats, they have a green light to ship in the US.

toxemicsquire4 ( 2014-11-24 23:01:00 +0200 )edit
1

Patent aggressors can be many besides MS and Apple. From some obscure (or not so obscure) patent trolls like Intellectual Vultures Ventures to even Nokia or whoever (Nokia was attacking VP8 codec for example). It's just always some level of risk. But since they are shipping the tablet, as you said - they can assume it's not higher for the handset.

shmerl ( 2014-11-24 23:08:31 +0200 )edit
5

I live in the US and purchased the Jolla phone through a friend that lived in Switzerland. While I was aware that using data was useless in the US I still bought it to support Jolla and to have the opportunity to use the phone. Despite greatly appreciating the design and OS, I could not use it as a daily drive because I am so reliant on having data service. I am not complaining about that. However, I hope that, in the future Jolla phones have the capability to take advantage of frequency bands for data in the US used by, say, tmobile for LTE. Years ago I bought the N9 even though it was never sold or supported by Nokia in US. Fortunately, very good support could be obtained by the community of users on Maemo.org. We even had a "meet up" which was really fun and a valuable teaching experience. Even if Jolla cannot directly sell or support the phone in the US, I am certain a community of folks will develop around it so that any problems can be addressed. So please include such feature and best wishes for the success of your company!

mscion ( 2014-11-25 20:46:55 +0200 )edit