Re:KaiOS
by justicezyx on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @10:05AM
(#21005539)
You miss the point, Kaios would be killed in any situation if it were part of Microsoft or Blackberry or Google. Their appetite has no minor project like this...
Re:KaiOS
by Abishek_Muthian on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @10:45AM
(#21005945)
I didn't suggest it was/wasn't part of Microsoft or BB, I suggested it pulled of something which they didn't; Google was not even in that statement.
Even Firefox itself wouldn't have been able to pull this off because it's FSF philosophy would have been in conflict with exclusivity agreements which KaiOS offers to the carriers & also it being a closed source.
Although FSF supporter in me wishes FireFoxOS had survived even at enthusiast level like Ubuntu Touch does.
Cyanogenmod had a slim chance to pull off what KaiOS did, as it took a similar first approach but failed miserably with its exclusivity agreement with two companies (OnePlus & Micromax)!
But the growth of KaiOS came from Reliance Jio telecom in India, which sold for ~20 USD returnable deposit, cheap LTE data, upgradable to newer models and of course unlimited voice calls. The feature set in Jio Phone may not be comparable to even decade old android, but the target population were getting their first Internet/computing device.
Reliance Jio has invested in KaiOS with 16% stake, KaiOS probably had no choice. WhatsApp was 'THE' most 'missed' app on JioPhone 1 which was eventually rectified in the future iterations. Reliance likely has an exclusivity with WhatsApp on that, since WhatsApp doesn't seem to be available on KaiOS in other regions.
Reliance Jio might access developing market outside India in the future, bringing with itself the JioPhone and the KaiOS.