This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
$1200 at launch, three years of updates. no wonder we're burying the planet in e-waste and plastic.
You know, I don't disagree with vendors putting whatever hardware they want in their devices, and I don't mind vendor-customized software. But what I do mind is the barrier of supporting these devices without relying on the vendor.
If I buy an x86 computer, I can use it basically however long I want to. I can put a variety of operating systems on it, and I don't really need to rely on vendors much aside from binary driver blobs, which isn't really that much of a problem these days.
I really wish that Android wasn't so customized per device. I wish I could just install upstream Android on anything that can run it, instead of special binary images for each vendor's make and model. Android is open source and all, but simply having the sources to work with is the easiest part. Making it actually work is significantly n more difficult.
Imagine buying that aforementioned x86 machine, but you had to run a giant, customized binary blob specifically made for a laptop's make and model. And you had to throw it away after a few years not because you need more resources, but because you cannot upgrade the OS anymore.
The reality is that we need laws that force them to either to continue to offer affordable support or publish all the specs and documentation when they drop support. Vendors shouldn’t be allowed to do otherwise.
That sounds pretty reasonable. I feel so owned by technology lately. It used to be exciting to have tech that you could decide when you wanted to retire it and focus spending on something new and different that served a different purpose. Now I feel like I'm stuck with all the same basic gadgets but I just need to keep throwing money at them to replace them every few years. It's about as unexciting as having to spend money on an oil change. I'm pretty primed by this as recently my electric objects picture frame just pulled the plugs on their server recently with no notice and bam, I have a black screen in my living room instead of pictures of my dog, family, and favorite artwork.
I wish I could just install upstream Android on anything that can run it, instead of special binary images for each vendor’s make and model.
Why doesnt it work like that though? Combined with mandatory open bootloader it would free people
^pls,eu🥺^
Generally, the hardware in a small, power-efficient, SoC embedded device is going to be a lot more particular and a lot less general than your gaming computer’s motherboard. It’s harder to write general OS software for specific integrated systems rather than a big set of chips which provide an individual chip for the BIOS, specialized chips for the PCI ports, etc., all of which have become more standardized over time.
Yup. All these devices that release, like do we need 6 different iphones every year, 20 different samsung phones, etc.
It's a fucking joke.
Zune : Never forget
Music players in general haven't been doing well. Phones are too big to be proper replacements for all uses.
They're doing pretty good, they just aren't a huge market like they used to be. It is a niche market nowadays.
Typically you only see people buying one for one of three reasons:
They cannot have a phone/do not want a phone
They want to separate music listening from their source of contact (getting a phone call forces you from the music)
They chase higher fidelity audio (only the case with quality DAPs)
4 (bonus). Phone has no headphone jack, but that's usually only the case in conjunction with 3
Gods I loved my Zune.
If I could find a digital audio player like the Zune but with support for Tidal I'd be so happy.
I know Fiio makes some music players, not sure about Tidal though.
This is why I got a Nokia Lumia 1020 and used some duct tape to stick it to a Motorola Droid. I get it all: multitasking. 2 screens that fold up. Great camera. 2 SIM card slots. 2 operating systems for max compatibility. Plus, a slide-out keyboard and multiple batteries.
People ask me “Is it secure?” Shiiiiit. Come try me and we’ll see who is secure when you get knocked upside the head with it. “Is it up to date?” It’s two phones, my man. I’m up to date your girl and her friend.
It’s really sad how dirty most companies seem to be doing the consumers when you’ve got Apple still pushing support for 6 year old phones. At least one company sets the standard. Now, can we get a Linux device that is a clone of the Surface Duo and has security updates for 5 years? Please?
I’m not even an Apple fan. If Android had the product support longevity and privacy of iOS, I’d consider it. But nope, we get disposable products and an icky privacy history. I wouldn’t call Apple great in either category. AFAIK there are no smartphone manufacturers who are.
Regarding privacy on iOS, I recommend watching [this video] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHnBOUNxHsw). You can get more privacy on Android with some tweaking (custom ROMs, AdAway, uninstalling pre-installed bloatware, etc...). There are several ways to get more privacy, some easier than others. I know most people won't even try. On the other hand, with iOS, you're handing your privacy over to Apple in good faith, but you have far fewer options to take things into your own hands. People want privacy out of the box, but that often clashes with companies' interest in making as much money as possible (simply put). Some companies use privacy as a selling point in their marketing campaign, but often it is just false advertising.
you call it "some tweaking" when in reality for 99,5% of android users it would be the same to tell them to get better performance on their cars if you just switch out the engine, do a custom paint job und replace the computer", just to have them finding out, it's not even possible because on most models the hood cannot be opened.
No OS updates is one thing, but no security patches is not great. The base Surface Duo can easily do another 2-3 years.
As one of the 17 people on the planet who daily drives the Surface Duo 2, which I traded up from my SD1 for on launch day - I really hope they pull it together for this "maybe/maybe not" SD3 next winter.
This is my all time favorite device I've ever owned, and every day I dread the standard wear and tear knowing the few New In Box Surface Duo 2 devices are getting more and more expensive by the day, and there are literally 0 devices in this category besides the SD2.
Sad times.
What category would that be, put of curiosity?
Pocketable, foldable tablet with split displays, a pen with haptic feedback and rigid glass screens for stylus use without damage. Modern Android and a great camera don't hurt and those make the SD2 better than the SD1; otherwise they're fairly similar besides the accessory compatibility and some halo functions like wirelessly charging my Slim Pen with the magnet case.
I travel a ton, edit spreadsheets at clients site visits and trade shows while I have Teams open on the other screen, and use the stylus to mark up PDFs for architects and subcontractors. I enjoy being almost required to multi-task when I have my phone open, and the Duo 2 is the best phone for multitasking, bar-none.
The one where it’s abandoned 2 years after it’s released. Fuck that
That's going to hurt any kind of confidence users have for Microsoft-designed mobile devices going forward IMO.
A bit of a shame since the Duo was a pretty nice looking device
Buying into Microsoft's word is like buying into Google's: if it's not in the product, it won't be coming. I got burnt by wp7->wp8 and then again when they closed wp8 without reason. I'm not counting on them staying on the smartphone market long enough to establish themselves.
Same, but I also imported a Zune all the way over Europe because of course I liked it
They stuck to their word, technically. 3 years, with monthly patches for security, on a device that sold abysmally. There are rumors they sold (most of) the first run of SD2 in the first 4 months, and didn't bother to produce any more. I know they've been out of the consumer SD2 since July/August of 2022- as of January this year, not even my Fortune 50 Corpo clients can get MSFT to pony up a SD2 replacement under warranty or otherwise. They just write a cheque to your account if you request as much.
Microsoft's mobile team Icarus flew too close to the poorly advertised sun, in this case. Expensive ass phone to build, expensive ass phone to buy, but damn it's a great device.
They used a Chip from 2018, So It was already "old" when they released the phone in 2020.
Not making excuses for them and Qualcomm are equally as shit because they just drop support so quickly.
I am aware of other chips that are supported longer than it.
I'm having issues finding an article on how once installed Linux on a Surface Duo, but there's a got page on building the kernels so I'm guessing it's doable.
Now that updates are done, maybe all the Linux users can find them for cheap and convert them
I didn't even know any of the Surface products ran Android.
Just the phone
Linux time boiz!
Yeah lemme go buy that fire ass Linux phone thats a pocketable, foldable tablet with split displays, a pen with haptic feedback and rigid glass screens for stylus use and a great camera and has support for my office products and also isn’t totally busted half the time. Where is it? Because I legit would buy the fuck out of it
Pretty standard for Android phones. I don't know of many that go to 3 versions besides the Pixel.
As much as I dislike Apple, I do have to give it to them for software support. The oldest phone that has the current iOS is the iPhone 8, a phone from 2017. 6 years of updates. That makes it as old as a Pixel 2, and that only goes to Android 11, from 2020.
My Samsung A71 from 2020 came with Android 10 and is currently on 13 and it's a midrange model.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Microsoft is done supporting the original Surface Duo, three years after it first launched on September 10.
The company has stated from the very start that the Surface Duo would receive just three years of OS updates, meaning today is the last day that Microsoft has to stay true to its word.
Going forward, Microsoft will no longer ship new OS updates or security patches for the original Surface Duo, meaning Android 12L is the last version of the OS it will ever officially receive.
Surface Duo only ever got two major OS updates, one shy of the average three that most high-end flagship Android devices get these days.
Microsoft hasn't been working on new features or bug fixes for Surface Duo in months anyway, so it's not like current Surface Duo users are going to be missing out on much outside of security patches.
Plus, with support for third-party ROMs, enthusiasts can install a custom version of Android 13/14 on their devices.
The original article contains 254 words, the summary contains 163 words. Saved 36%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I'm no expert but I imagine that with a device like this, which will no doubt be popular amongst techie-types, there'll be a custom ROM out for it soon enough
I lost hope for Microsoft after the RT.
Pathetic. Even more pathetic that Microsoft doesn’t even make its own mobile OS anymore.
