Fun fact: I created my own Android phone in 2014 with MediaTek. Costs of the project were minimal: $40k to customize a device with the latest specs and add extra ports/sensors/actuators for medical device. Final purchase price was ~80 dollars each for a batch of 10,000 units.
We gave up when after six months the phone was already outdated and we couldn't find the parts to reorder anymore.
Wow, that's an interesting story! It's always cool to hear about people who take matters into their own hands and create something unique. The fact that you were able to customize a device with the latest specs and add extra ports/sensors/actuators for a medical device is impressive. Too bad it became outdated so quickly, but I'm sure the experience was worth it. And hey, at least you got your hands on some phones that not many other people have!
MediaTek SoCs mean it's DoA. No one wants a non Snapdragon phone.
I am not sure about these days but back in the day it was impossible to buy snapdragons at these tiny quantities.
Competing with Google on their own turf will always be tough.
Ran across this project recently, haven't fully explored it, but I'm a huge fan of the overall idea: https://github.com/evanman83/OURS-project
Another option I'm exploring is running Android studio emulator on Steam Deck for any apps I absolutly need, setting up a a voip number, and ditching the phone completely.
built when the purchase comes in but it's just super complicated.
So that $40k was for design support and all that?
Yep. Basically component picking, board assembly and driver coding.
Did you need to do any carrier certification after that at your own cost? My day job mostly piggy backs on existing certification for a self contained LTE module (the radio and frontend are already certified) so it takes minimal certification thereafter.
Il est temps de s'y remettre surtout depuis au'Apple ait débuté son coup pendable ' En cours de journée sur une note j'ai pu argumenter qu'il y a dans un terreau de professionnels qui serait en capacité de créer des supports qui permettraient d'arrêter cette dépendance aux géants de la technologie surtout dans cette êre de décentralisation des plateformes
Il est temps de s'y remettre surtout depuis au'Apple ait débuté son coup pendable ' En cours de journée sur une note j'ai pu argumenter qu'il y a dans un terreau de professionnels qui serait en capacité de créer des supports qui permettraient d'arrêter cette dépendance aux géants de la technologie surtout dans cette êre de décentralisation des plateformes
Nostr phone + signing device 🤯
Did you have the rights for rthe schematics of the phone or it was just a whitelabel product? It seems insanely low price, I would expect much much higher prices for setting up your producrion line.
No rights what's so ever. We didn't care. We just wanted an Android controller for a medical device. Later we gave up and just used off-the-shelf phones for it.
Awesome!
