[Replicant] Replicant Digest, Vol 156, Issue 3

[Geoff S.]

Everyone should read the fascinating work of Bunny in free phones Chinese 
style:-

http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4297
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040

And on core design issues with insecure basebands:

https://blog.torproject.org/blog/mission-impossible-hardening-android-security-and-privacy

This is why the Blackphone by silent circle and others are snake oil: 
shared memory and lord knows what else given the black box SOC directly 
controls peripherals. WileX is another snake oil phone, buy for $50 and 
sell for $300 with some window dressing freedom but at its root is locked 
down.

This is not just saving a few $ on chips. It is a very deliberate choice 
about marketing and control that I think is overlooked.  It is not that 
they do not understand.  License deals with google to get the latest apps 
require manufactuers to install non-deletable google store apps etc.

Here is the evidence:-

http://www.benedelman.org/news/021314-1.html

This is the tip of the iceberg. Distribution agreements with carriers for 
markets are likewise full of shackles.  By the time you buy a phone, up to 
a dozen back door deals have been done to remove control from the 
consumer.  This has reached the ultimate point of free or very cheap 
phones being sold pre-loaded with deliberate malware as the true 
(undisclosed) business plan.  These form crucial back door subsidies that 
trade freedom for undisclosed pay-offs at the wholesale chain.

THIS is what everyone is up against.

Lastly, there is plenty of evidence of radio bands being artificially 
restricted by carriers and/or manufacturers for marketing segmentation and 
making travel phones for business 5x more expensive.  The disparity in 
prices between Chinese phones and BS like the Galaxy 6 are all too obvious 
feature to feature.

Last comment: all my friends kids (whose lives revolve around their phone) 
are resentful of lockdown and bloatware and captivity: I think there is a 
fertile and large market for semi or fully open phones.

To win, one must convince manufacturers the youth and hacker market can 
make them more $$ than the fast cycle and near zero margin in a saturated 
market.  It is a business model problem, not so much a technical one.  The 
popularity of raspberry Pi points to this market size.

Enjoy