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Comment by mirimir | Hacker News Reader

> Perhaps a more appropriate question is not so much if anyone is building a smartphone (from a hardware definition) ...

The baseband is a huge security hole. The provider in large part owns the device, regardless of what software it's running.

> ... so much as is anyone building an operating system which runs on commonly available smartphone devices which does not employ these tactics?

I can live with Linux ;)

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You may be interested in the Neo900 [1] project, which is building a trustworthy mobile phone and will support a variety of free software operating systems.

It will be possible to run with completely FLOSS software (including drivers) and it even solves the problem of the baseband modem having full control over the main CPU/memory.

[1] http://neo900.org/

Thanks!

Now if they accepted Bitcoins ...

But hey, I'll ask.

> The baseband is a huge security hole. The provider in large part owns the device, regardless of what software it's running.

In the US at least, this is not the case:

https://www.fcc.gov/device-unlocking-faq

The cellular provider no more "owns the device" than the cable company "owns your TV."

> I can live with Linux ;)

But you are not living with Linux. You are living with Android ;-).

I don't do cable TV. Same reason ;)

I'm not living with Android. I'm waiting for Linux.

Edit: I don't mean "own" literally, financially. I mean "own" in the sense of access and control. So yes, I can root "my" device, but I can't root the baseband radio.