Fairphone: Android phone that puts social values first

http://www.fairphone.com

by shared4you • 13 years ago

72 59 13 years ago

Fairphone is manufactured using raw materials from conflict-free regions in Africa (D.R. Congo).

A completely open source, rooted, hardware and software on which you can also install FirefoxOS and UbuntuOS too.

parennoob• 13 years ago

I really like the screen theme that they have got (with the battery and Skype notification). Looks a bit like Google Now if it had transparency.

Does anyone know if that is an existing theme or mod?

mitch30003• 13 years ago

Unfortunately it's a theme: Android OS (4.2 Jelly Bean): Special interface developed by Kwame Corporation (Also open!) I hoped it would provide a vanilla Android.

adlpz2• 13 years ago

Not unfortunate! I am sure you will be able to get vanilla android on this phone, and it's good that the interface is open and you can use it on other phones.

themstheones• 13 years ago

That's a great bargain for this phone even if you don't care about the world or society and the environment and whatnot.

vec• 13 years ago

325 EUR is a lot cheaper than I was expecting. I'd be curious to know how much of a premium they're paying for ethically sourcing their components. If the percentages are as low as that price point suggests, it gives me a lot of hope for pushing for change.

TylerE7• 13 years ago

It's a huge premium. This would be like a $20 phone if Samsung made it.

idupree• 13 years ago

Tell me where I can get a phone like that for $20 without a contract?

adlpz2• 13 years ago

Looks nice, I'd love to see a real world prototype instead of a render, though.

shared4you2• 13 years ago

Agreed. You can catch a glimpse of the real phone at the production shop, around 00:50s: http://vimeo.com/66409578

shared4you2• 13 years ago

Fairphone is manufactured using raw materials from conflict-free regions in Africa (D.R. Congo).

A completely open source, rooted-by-default hardware and software on which you can also install FirefoxOS, Ubuntu and Debian too (http://www.fairphone.com/#faq)

dubcanada• 13 years ago

That's the first time I've ever heard "Conflict-free resources". What exactly does it mean? There are no wars going on in the regions they picked? What happens if a conflict starts before I get my phone? Can I get a refund?

TsiCClawOfLight3• 13 years ago

It means that the funds used for buying the resources don't fund wars.

diydsp• 13 years ago

It's a good question and I'm glad to see it asked.

I don't know the precise delineation, but there are some resources (tantalum, used in capacitors, is notorious for this) mined in regions of the world, especially Africa, which are run by regimes which don't respect the United Nation's definition of human rights. IOW, warlords firing machine guns over the heads of slave labor to sell the minerals to fund their weapons purchases.

So, it's not specifically about a named conflict, such as a war, but about some kind of traceability back to whether or not the suppliers were approved by some body. IDK which organizations do this.

Note that my description does not validate this phone and its traceability in particular. It may be just as backdoored and loopholed as the USDA definition of "organic" for all I know. However, I hope my explanation of "conflict-free resources" is useful as an ideal. And I hope this phone is actually taking marketshare from those manufactured with "conflictful" resources.

On a personal note, I've been driving myself crazy trying to choose the best smartphone to buy right now. I don't particularly care about games and I know I want Android. So this phone might just be the choice for me.

jwilkins• 13 years ago

DRC is hardly a conflict free region, or if it is right this moment, it is only because the genocide was so far reaching that there is no one left causing sufficient disturbance to meet whatever bar they've set.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Cong...

From the article: - 45,000 people were dying daily as of 2009 - estimates on deaths due to the most recent conflict (deadliest since WWII) were 5,400,000 (though that number is in dispute, no one seems to be standing firmly behind another statistic). - 400,000 women are raped yearly (2011 statistic)

WTF.

RRRA• 13 years ago

Is it _that_ different from the general phone you can find on the market? I thought most manufacturer had conflict minerals policy now (maybe I got duped!) and though I applaud the idea of choosing your OS and wish more people would go that route, I'm still confused at how original this project really is...

ASpring• 13 years ago

Many companies don't make an effort to audit their supply chain to ensure their minerals are sourced ethically.

For some reference as to which companies do the best, check: http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/conflict-minerals-c...

runjake2• 13 years ago

Keep in mind, this phone utilizes a Chinese MTK6589 processor and god knows what else for chips. Unless MTK is committing intellectual property violations, many games won't be optimized for this device, if that's your thing (it seems to be a lot of people's things).

I'm really struggling to buy into Fairphone's vision when it appears they started with a cheap Chinese reference design with cheap Chinese parts manufactured in Chinese factories. It's a good start, though.

Edit: Here's the block diagram for the CPU:

http://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Media...

The GPU appears to use LPDDR2 memory, which causes it to falter in benchmarks against devices with the same GPU cores (the standard right now is LPDDR3 GPU mem)

jensnockert• 13 years ago

It is a quad-core ARM Cortex A7 with an Imagination PowerVR 544 GPU, so, yes, it is a low power, low cost, low performance device.

But why would you think MTK is comitting any intellectual property violations with the design?

weego• 13 years ago

Because China is an easy target for suspicion and scorn. An outlook heavily pushed and perpetuated by our (western) media outlets.

Ntrails• 13 years ago

S/he isn't saying that they are, simply pointing out that unless you believe that to be the case you should expect a performance deficit beyond what mere specs suggest.

I guess that by acknowledging the possibility they give credence to the idea? But the tone implies that the author does not believe in the idea themselves.

mitch30003• 13 years ago

I am a bit worried about the performance of the phone, too. Couldn't find reliable benchmarks of the chipset, yet.

runjake2• 13 years ago

I didn't accuse MTK of stealing IP.

I was pointing out that most games are optimized for the Snapdragon and Tegra families of chips. So unless MTK is "borrowing" the IP from one of those two, many games aren't going to run great.

davedx• 13 years ago

Tried to order one and the order form said my VAT number is invalid. :/

lifeguard• 13 years ago

Due to their web design choices I couldn't get much info from that page. No scroll bars, brilliant...

ssalenik• 13 years ago

The screen seems to be 4.3", but does anyone have any idea about the other dimensions, weight, etc?

4ad3• 13 years ago

I applaud the effort, but in today's world you simply cannot compete with a slow CPU, a crippled GPU and a non-retina display. I am never, never, never going back to a non-retina screen.

And it's 325 EUR. For just a little more I can get a Nexus 4 that has really good specs. I understand why the Nexus 4 is so cheap and how these guy cannot compete on price, but I'd be willing to pay, say, 600 EUR for a truly open device that has good specs than half of that for a really awful device.

> Android OS (4.2 Jelly Bean): Special interface developed by Kwame Corporation

Oh please, I'd have expected a project such as this to know better than not to screw up with stock Android experience.

bnegreve• 13 years ago

> you simply cannot compete with a slow CPU, a crippled GPU and a non-retina display. I am never, never, never going back to a non-retina screen.

> And it's 325 EUR. For just a little more I can get a Nexus 4 that has really good specs.

So, in fact you just don't put social values before the specs...

TylerE7• 13 years ago

Is this really about social value?

I would suggest that this is about social value as much as when all those movie stars bought Toyota Prii.

If you want to help Africa, give money to Doctors Without Borders or UNICEF, don't buy a smartphone and and brag about it on twitter while sipping fair-trade coffee.

4ad3• 13 years ago

I don't want high specs. I just want something that's usable. In my experience, Android running on similar phones is not usable. Not usable at all. Not by a large factor.

The fact that I'd pay 6-700 EUR for a phone that has the performance of a 370 EUR Phone (Nexus 4), way less than the performance of other 6-700 EUR phones on the market, means that I do care about other aspects of the phone more than about performance. I just want something usable, not a brick.

unicornporn• 13 years ago

First as tragedy, then as farce... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpAMbpQ8J7g

dnautics4• 13 years ago

The video has the hidden presumption that capitalism is a problem and then goes on to prove that capitalism is a problem. It's circular logic at its ugliest. So what if some charity gets associated with profit? No one is stopping you from giving charity for its own sake, unattached to the profit motive, AND there is a marginally increased amount of good being done in the world, AND there is a marginally increased amount of awareness of important issues.

What, exactly is the moral alternative that Zizek would have us live by if not trade? Marxism for example, which runs under the philosophy "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need" sounds great. But then, who decides what constitutes ability, and what constitutes need. And how can I make me and my friends that committee?

skaevola• 13 years ago

It's not circular logic. Zizek is operating from the assumption that capitalism is oppressive, and arguing that "socially responsible" capitalism is equally as problematic. This criticism is aimed at leftists who dislike capitalism, but feel like it's okay to engage in "socially responsible" capitalism. It's completely legitimate to disagree with that assumption, just keep in mind that is not the point he's trying to argue in this video.

He's also an unapologetic Marxist, so I suppose that'd be his alternative. You might start looking for answers to your questions in his books.

dnautics4• 13 years ago

!! I just lost my phone and would preorder one, but I am in the US.

s1kx• 13 years ago

I really don't want to be the one overly-critic HN comment - but this color combination makes me cringe: http://i.imgur.com/tBWheTr.png

realrocker• 13 years ago

Good initiative. I can't seem to find any engineers in the team, am I missing something here?

theorique• 13 years ago

Is it wrong that when I saw the word "social", I imagined Twitter and Facebook?

Fairphone: Android phone that puts social values first

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