Text/Cell functionality?

[etertay]

Hi everyone! Pyra looks awesome..especially for a geek like me.

Would the pyra be able to receive text messages/cell phone service? and how would that work with the linux distro.
Also could it be connected with a wifi-calling service?

thanks

 

[WizardStan]

Yes, all those things.
The hardware is capable of phone calls and text messages, the only issue will be software. There's a few Linux packages that could work, but I don't think anyone's really thought about the whole user experience yet. A few enterprising people will write a very basic telephone app within a short time of release, of that I have no doubt, just don't expect anything as high quality as you get on an actual phone for a while though.
Whatever we come up with will definitely work, it just won't look very pretty.
As far as wifi calling, that depends on the service; skype, no, but many other SIP services should work fine.

 

[tigerroast]

I have also wondered about WiFi calling on Pyra. That would certainly be a feature I'd take advantage of. Just get a ~$13/month (if that) SIM card from US Mobile and keep the WiFi on while at home. Bam. No more paying out the wazoo for unlimited calling, a feature I rarely take advantage of.

Being able to call and text my friends without them having to get a whole other app just to keep in touch with me would allow me to finally dump AT&T.

 

[ible]

for anyone who has the knowledge, they can edit the wiki:
https://www.pyra-handheld.com/wiki/...ions#When_will_the_phone_software_be_ready.3F
the current FAQ entry links to this software, which should be ported:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/will-you-use-the-pyra-as-a-phone.74102/page-3#post-1370503

WiFi calling is different... you'd need an app for that...

 

[WizardStan]

Perhaps I don't know what "wifi calling" is. I'll have to investigate further to know how it differs from regular phoney apps.

 

[etertay]

Perhaps I don't know what "wifi calling" is. I'll have to investigate further to know how it differs from regular phoney apps.

By "wifi calling" I am referring to new types of service like "ring plus" which has a (Free!) cheap service option. It would be a godsend to have this sort of option on the pyra. The question isnt really whether it's possible or not but whether it will be developed which is what I am interested in.

 

[tigerroast]

By "wifi calling" I am referring to new types of service like "ring plus" which has a (Free!) cheap service option.

That's both incorrect and very confusing. Services like RingPlus are referred to as MVNOs. Whether or not WiFi calling is available depends on the device. Pyra could possibly have WiFi calling if implemented. We'd have to see.

It would be a godsend to have this sort of option on the pyra.

RingPlus is on Sprint's network, which is CDMA, so no Pyra with RingPlus. However, you could go for US Mobile, which isn't as cheap as the former, but not significantly more expensive. Actually, looking around, there aren't many MVNOs with RingPlus' rates. Don't let that put you off though; most MVNOs are still cheaper than the main carriers (AT&T, etc.).

The question isnt really whether it's possible or not but whether it will be developed which is what I am interested in.

There's quite a bit of drive around here to use the Pyra as a mobile communication device, as evidenced by the fact that the LTE versions have the most pre-orders. Since it's community-driven, there will be, at the very least, a handful of tech-savvy people wanting to develop the telephony capabilities of the Pyra.

 

[pmprog]

for anyone who has the knowledge, they can edit the wiki:
https://www.pyra-handheld.com/wiki/...ions#When_will_the_phone_software_be_ready.3F
the current FAQ entry links to this software, which should be ported:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/will-you-use-the-pyra-as-a-phone.74102/page-3#post-1370503

Most of them seem to be full OSes rather than phone tools, they're probably not that helpful. There's the fso-gsmd-gta04 package which looks like the "back end" code and already has an armhf build; Looking here, looks like might need Vala (or at least GObject) to work with it. I installed Vala on one of my machines, unfortunately I didn't get enough time to play with it, but it certainly looked quite nice.

I'm going to say I'm "planning" on writing some phone and GPS tools once I get my Pyra; but with the current amount of time I get to spend developing on my computer (hint: practically none), I'm not really expecting to get anything done.

 

[etertay]

That's both incorrect and very confusing. Services like RingPlus are referred to as MVNOs. Whether or not WiFi calling is available depends on the device. Pyra could possibly have WiFi calling if implemented. We'd have to see.



RingPlus is on Sprint's network, which is CDMA, so no Pyra with RingPlus. However, you could go for US Mobile, which isn't as cheap as the former, but not significantly more expensive. Actually, looking around, there aren't many MVNOs with RingPlus' rates. Don't let that put you off though; most MVNOs are still cheaper than the main carriers (AT&T, etc.).



There's quite a bit of drive around here to use the Pyra as a mobile communication device, as evidenced by the fact that the LTE versions have the most pre-orders. Since it's community-driven, there will be, at the very least, a handful of tech-savvy people wanting to develop the telephony capabilities of the Pyra.

Services like ring plus rely on wifi-powered calls to keep the rates low (so they say) so I dont think wifi calling is that incorrect of a term...
Anyway, US Mobile's rates are very good like you said and that would probably be enough for me regardless

 

[sulu]

There's the fso-gsmd-gta04 package which looks like the "back end" code and already has an armhf build;

Have you tried that?
During the Jessie-freeze, I played a bit with fso-gsmd-n900 and the SHR suite in an x86 VM and on my N900 running Debian. It didn't yield any actual results, and I didn't expect any, but I had some stability issues. SHR has a built-in screen locker. It worked fine in the VM, but on the N900 the whole device seemed to freeze (screen black, no keyboard light, no reaction to any inputs or via SSH, but according to the temperature of the case, even after hours, apparently still running).

There were also some major problems during the transition to Jessie, that I didn't fully understand (I filed that report):
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=766114

 

[pmprog]

Have you tried that?

No, I don't have a Pyra... or any other device it'd make sense to have it on. But it's what hns listed on that link Ible quoted

 

[tigerroast]

Services like ring plus rely on wifi-powered calls to keep the rates low (so they say) so I dont think wifi calling is that incorrect of a term...

Ah, noted. I would still say that calling RingPlus a "WiFi-calling service" is still a tad misleading due to it being an MVNO competing with other MVNOs. Yeah, it's not entirely incorrect, but it is confusing.

Anyway, US Mobile's rates are very good like you said and that would probably be enough for me regardless

It does kinda suck that there isn't an MVNO with rates as stupidly-low as RingPlus though.

In my digging, I've found US Mobile offers the second-cheapest monthly plan. Unfortunately, your standard package expires after each billing cycle, so if you have 70min and 255MB data by the time your cycle is up, then all of that is wiped out and you start anew from 100min and 500MB data, for example. However, any top-ups you purchase always rollover to the next billing cycle. US Mobile also has the lowest per-line service charge I've ever seen ($2, which is only beat by RingPlus's charge of $free.99). Thankfully, US Mobile is on T-Mobile's network, which the Pyra is compatible with.

There's also Ting, which now offers GSM service (also uses T-Mobile's network, so works with Pyra). With Ting, you're not buying a monthly plan; you're paying as you use. You could go from $41/month (up to 100min, up to 100 texts, up to 2.5GB data) to the minimum $6/month (no usage, paying only the service charge). Basically, if you have the aforementioned amounts set as hard-caps and you only use WiFi texting/calling/data, then you only pay $6 since you didn't use anything, which beats US Mobile's monthly plan.

However, I'd settle for US Mobile to keep my bill consistent.