Elon Musk Says He Will Create His Own Smartphone If Apple and Google Ban Twitter From Their App Stores

gateway pundit ^ | 11/25/2022 | cassandra fairbanks

[bitt]

Elon Musk has vowed to create his own smartphone if Apple and Google ban Twitter from their app stores. Musk announced his plan in a tweet on Friday.

Podcaster and former OAN host Liz Wheeler had tweeted, “if Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”

Musk responded that he would if that is what it came down to.

see tweet

“I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone,” Musk replied.

Wheeler followed up with a Twitter poll asking, “would you switch to a tELONphone? Vote yes or no with your best pun for a name below.”

[spokeshave]

Whats an “ Android fork” for us non-coders.....thanks in advance.

[spokeshave]

The only fork I am familiar with....apart from the eating variety is the fork that works my clutch plate in my stick shift truck.....it must be a Ford Fork.

[bert]

I thought Musk already has a phone for sale

[Sacajaweau]

the guy just makes you smile........

[Dixie Yooper]

Being able to drive your Tesla from anywhere with your Muskphone, could be useful...

[V K Lee]

Thank you Elon. How refreshing to find someone in charge
who thinks in advance. Unlike the elites who ban diesel and natural gas, you have, given thought as to alternatives needed when the original product is removed from market.

[9YearLurker]

If you fall for his intel-agency frontman act.

[unread]

Ok, sign me up...

[dynoman]

They are working on it;
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-carrier/t-mobile-takes-coverage-above-and-beyond-with-spacex

[MayflowerMadam]

“I seriously doubt they will do it. They both let the ‘Truth’ app on.”

It’s different. People who purposely install TS are already invested in the conservative movement and no libs would be “contaminated.

With Twitter, there’s a mix of libs and MAGA, and there’s a good chance lib retards will be exposed to the truth. Google and Apple definitely don’t want that risk.

[ckilmer]

tesla is already slated to come out with the tesla pi phone in december this year.

[MayflowerMadam]

“Would be an interesting idea, especially if connected directly to his Starlink network of satellites.”

Even better, since Starlink isn’t cellular. If he could invent a reasonably priced satellite phone network and devices, that might be something to think about. He already has a good start with the infrastructure in the sky.

The cellular providers are so arrogant and believe they’re the only option for communicating. I’d love to see them brought to their knees with legitimate competition.

[Radix]

Years ago (March, 2003) I received a phone call from Iraq, first few days of the invasion. I do not know what sort of phone it was but it, the call, was full of static, feedback, and all sorts of distressing radio type noise effects. The call was to assure me that my boy was not dead though it was a close call for him and some of his troops. It was 03:30 here, so that did not help.

A few days following, I received a 2nd call. It sounded as if he were in the next room. It was crystal clear with no ugly noises at all. I asked about that and it turned out to be a satellite phone. The quality was amazing.

I have not a clue just how all that stuff works, but it was not at all unsettling as the earlier call was. I would suppose that such phones are not cheap, but I would love to see real competition in these devices. I would pay more for one.

[gracefullyparanoid]

AOSP or Android Open Source Project is the base of Android.

Google android is built on top of that with the google surveillance apps integrated into it.

Amazon Fire OS on their tablets and devices is a fork of the AOSP and has no google apps or services on it.

Graphene OS is a hardened android fork with no google that can be installed on phones that allow the bootloader to be unlocked. They have an interesting take on allowing google play to run, but in a sandbox so it cannot contact goolge’s servers 3200 times a day with your info.

There are a few other android forks out there for phones as well.

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

Have a field-replaceable large battery and I will buy 2 or three for the family plan (AT&T)

[Pollard]

dogephone

[Pollard]

Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance and commercially sponsored by Google. It was unveiled in November 2007, with the first commercial Android device, the HTC Dream, being launched in September 2008. Most versions of Android are proprietary. The core components are taken from the Android Open Source Project, which is free and open-source software primarily licensed under the Apache License. When Android is installed on devices, ability to modify the otherwise FOSS software is usually restricted, either by not providing the corresponding source code or preventing reinstallation through technical measures, rendering the installed version proprietary

Like Chrome being based on the open sourced Chromium browser, most of Android is based on open source software. Google throws money at both and turns them into their own proprietary software for profit and personal data collection.

A Chromebook is a laptop or tablet running the Linux-based ChromeOS as its operating system. Initially designed to heavily rely on web applications for tasks using the Google Chrome browser, Chromebooks have since expanded to be able to run Android and full-fledged Linux apps since 2017 and 2018,

https://source.android.com/

There are de-googled versions of Android.

GrapheneOS is the best alternative and is Android app compatible.

GrapheneOS has official production support for the following devices:

• Pixel 7 Pro (cheetah)
• Pixel 7 (panther)
• Pixel 6a (bluejay)
• Pixel 6 Pro (raven)
• Pixel 6 (oriole)
• Pixel 5a (barbet)
• Pixel 5 (redfin)
• Pixel 4a (5G) (bramble)
• Pixel 4a (sunfish)

  

  The biggest battle would be the apps. They would likely need to be modified and IF Musk wanted the phone to be less data intrusive, a lot of app developers wouldn't bother because they're used to selling your data. In app ads are another way they can make money. They can also charge a few bucks for the app but that's fallen out of favor because dumb, cheap people will find a free versions and either deal with the in app ads or their data being vacuumed up and sold.

  GrapheneOS used to only work on Pixel 3/4 which are older models but not works on Pixel 7 Pro which just came out this past May. The down side is that starting with the Pixel 6, they use chips made by google. Prior to that, they used the Qualcomm snapdragon processors.

[dayglored]

Thank you all for the updates/corrections to my comment.

My initial comment was incomplete -- I wasn't clear about the use-case I had in mind. I wasn't referring to making voice calls or text messages, which are very low bandwidth and thus don't require much power from the phone battery.

I was referring to using the phone the way people use a phone today -- as an internet device, for web browsing, social media interaction, posting photos and videos, live-streaming, etc. Those activities require ~100x the bandwidth of a voice call and perhaps 10,000x the bandwidth of a text message. And they require much more power to connect reliably for those higher bandwidths.

The satellite cell services you mention are real, or under development, but check the actual bandwidth they can deliver. You'll find it's not anywhere close to what's required for today's normal phone usage patterns. Can it get there eventually? Probably, I wouldn't bet against Elon Musk.

Sorry for my not being more clear about the use-case I had in mind.

[ltc8k6]

No problem. When cell phones can connect via satellite, it will be a good thing regarding people who get lost in the middle of nowhere. They will have a way to communicate with SAR, instead of having no cell service.

[ProudGOP]

This answer was very good