Ask HN: What would you include if you could make your own phone?
I’m working on a new crowdfunded smartphone project called Z1 Phone, a rugged, modular, repairable phone shaped by users.
What features would you include in your ideal phone? - Tough as a Motorola two way radio - Easy to remove battery and yet still waterproof like the Motorola two way radios. - Multiple size battery options. Extra-mega-big option for extended month long trail excursions. - Physical waterproof qwerty keyboard with enough space between keys for big fingers. - Ability to run Arm Linux without requiring any added kernel modules. Full approval of all code by Linus T. - No bloatware, no spyware, physical buttons to disable camera, microphone, Bluetooth, Wifi, LTE. JTAG debugging fully disabled and USB hardened against physical and code attacks. 2G disabled by default. - High impact rated to withstand being dropped from the top of an air traffic control tower, driven over by a cement truck, shot by a 45-70. - Meshnet modules Probably not very realistic but I can dream. some of these are not realisitic yet - Full approval of all code by Linus T. - High impact rated to withstand being dropped from the top of an air traffic control tower, driven over by a cement truck, shot by a 45-70. but the rest is very much doable I threw in the ATC since I've dropped a radio from an air traffic control tower. The battery popped off and the case was scuffed up but I was able to put the battery back on and the radio still worked great. Even if Linus does not approve it I want to be on the email thread. i would love to know more about this radio, can you provide a model name or any reference Its been ages. It was just a bulky typical motorola two way radio. They came with a rib kit for programming the frequencies with a windows app. It was the same model many police at the time early 90's were using. I'm sure it will eventually come to me. physical dipswitches or jumpers to control unwanted devices such as cameras,microphones, accelerometers, etc. basically a physical denial of anything unrelated to voice or message functions. batteries removable by hand no tools or solvents required. no battery power on plug operation. modular construction, hardware components that are never going to be used for the benefit of the user, removable with no friction. already planning on the battery section, cameras and other sensors (including wifi and bluetooth) would always be upgradeable unlike current phones without tools by using fix and switch method all except front camera (included privacy shield) and speakers link to gofundme https://gofund.me/cd3e5be83