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[StorageOptions]

Hi guys,

Nice to see great questions been posted and answered quickly by Paul - (and I might add, he is answering a lot of them out of normal office hours)

Thanks to all that have participated on this topic so far

Thanks Charlie, I'm knackered and my girlfriend is starting to become suspicious but if just one customer is helped it's worth it [thumps chest, pauses, tears roll down a face contorted with emotion]

[Fonefixer]

Maybe we should all be given a new model if we pay postage for the free tech support we have provided! (hint) Haha

[gazzy21uk]

fonefixer you deserve the new model i think youve helped out me and always point us in the right direction sometimes I think you work for SO on the sly lol.

[Fonefixer]

Thanks gazzy, but I have enough to deal with without working for SO as well!
Mind you, if they need a tech support manager and can match my current salary.....
My doctor wouldn't increase my medication anyway!

[StorageOptions]

Hi Mitre,

Good questions.
The storage, or lack of, again (and I hate to say it) comes down to price for us. Every gig adds a few quid to the sticker price. Now you might think that we're just being tight or profiteering but when you run the numbers of what it costs us over the full life of a product and take into account how quickly the prices in this market haemorrhage it becomes easier to understand how we have to be somewhat lean and mean in order to make any profit. If your stock sticks in the market for a month or two too long you've pretty much got no choice other than to drop the price - believe me it doesn't take long to run out of profit if you're not careful.

If we were say, Samsung, LG or indeed Apple it might be a bit different - you have a global brand, you own your own factories (for most if not all components) and you have the clout to put, lets say, a million or more units into production which makes your cost per unit as low as it possibly could be. Plus, your brand is established and trusted enough to the extent that you can charge a premium for your product and maximise your margin. In Apple's case you can also protect yourself from price erosion, because, well there's nothing quite like your product out there and you've written your own software and built an ecosystem around the product that's second to none. We're just not in that league and we have to fight on price and value for money.

Having said that, do you find that you miss the extra storage? Should we be setting a higher minimum standard? Or are you happy to get a micro SD card yourself if you need it? It's no good making these concessions if they ruin the product. What does everyone think?

As for a 10" tablet, we haven't seen one good enough in the right price range as yet. We hope to have a first next year in another area but we're some way off this at the moment... something slightly different.

Thanks again.
Paul

[StorageOptions]

Hi gazzy21uk

With regard to Flash support, I've made enquiries.
I'm advised that YouTube have specifically re-programmed their site / app for maximum compatibility on as many devices as possible. It's Flash, but not as we know it.

iPlayer needs the latest Flash version installed on the device in order to work and, as I said, the chipset in all Scrolls (except the new Excel) will not support it.

My explanation of the marketplace issue was also largely correct - it's not a hardware problem, it's a Google-blocking-our-devices-because-we-don't-have-a-licence-problem.

Regarding the commercialisation of Android and open source, I'm actually doing everything I can to accommodate all the requests for the software that we've received - I don't see any reason not to. I am now waiting for our colleagues in China to help with this and all being well we should be able to supply it. The only caveat to this is proprietary code - there might well be code not covered by the GPL that we can't / won't release (I was told certain sections of Android are not covered - does anyone here know if this is correct?). There's not a lot I can do about that because it doesn't actually belong to us... anyway TBC but I hope to deliver everything we can on this for you all.


Thanks

[StorageOptions]

Hi smarthousesys

Here's a thought on the bezels - how about I send you a dead unit instead? You could take the bezel off there? I've sent you an email which you can reply to with your address if you like.

I'm not trying to be awkward about ordering new ones, of course we could get them from China, but it's not something I want to bring into stock if I can help it. How many should I order 10? 100? 1000? What's the minimum the factory will want to produce? Do I need to airfreight them or is it OK to put them on a boat? Etc. etc. I hope I don't sound unhelpful but I'm sure we have some local stock (on knackered units) that can help you with.

You also mentioned an unreplyed to email previously (to our support team). We've checked and although we know we spoken to you before, according to our records not since August. If we have missed it then we are sorry - it's not our usual standard.

Thanks.

[StorageOptions]

Hi Fonefixer

We may have a role in product development / compliance / project management if that's something you have experience of...?

Ta.

Paul

PS - Good night all, speak to again on Saturday now probably, I will having a beer tomorrow.

[Fonefixer]

Hi Paul,

With regard to the extra storage, it would be useful. This is simply because not all Android applications can be run properly from the SD card and space can run out pretty quickly. This is also a strong contender for the reason as to why owners of the original Scroll would have liked an official update to Froyo - Elcair, as you know, doesnt have this facility at all.

I agree, stocking spare parts can be a minefield. If you dont have a service department in the uk that actually does hardware repairs it is difficult to know what parts to stock. In the case of SO I believe you were not a large enough concern to warrant the extra expense of having a repairs department - it is easier just to replace a complete unit. However, I believe it would be beneficial for customers to be able to order out-of-warranty spares (cosmetic parts especially) even directly from China rather than your Company having to stock the relevant parts.
If the SO brand grows large enough, then you could always appoint a national service centre such as Anovo to do the work for you.

Something slightly different eh? Maybe a Tablet that runs Windows 98?

With regard to the job offer, unless you dont mind my working from 3000 miles outside the UK.......Seriously though, i'm happy where I am

Have a beer for me!

[Mitre]

hmmmmm beeeeeer
i wonder if its a colour e-ink device they're working on??? loads of battery life and can read it in the sunshine
Mind you fonefixers the only one who gets lots of that!

My question on storage was more about how the 2GB of nand is partitioned 1.35GB of available memory when you first open the scroll and and look in settings but only around 150MB is really available for apps When you dig deeper?
hence the need for moving apps to the sdcard not possible on 2.1. I think android wasts a lot of memory just dont know why