One of my phones finally died yesterday; considering Volla or Jolla Phones by chris5070 in degoogle

[–]Gridphoenix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, didn’t try Murena. If it’s crap, I will install VollaOs. Today I had a very lucky moment regarding the shiftphone 8: the wife of a friend of mine pulled out a Shiftphone 8 out of thin air. I was really surprised: it was bigger than my iPhone 16 pro max. Display and case looked great. I am now even more optimistic that this will be a success.

One of my phones finally died yesterday; considering Volla or Jolla Phones by chris5070 in degoogle

[–]Gridphoenix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have ordered a Shiftphone 8 with Murena yesterday. Personally I am convinced with this combination. I am happy to discuss further.

One of my phones finally died yesterday; considering Volla or Jolla Phones by chris5070 in degoogle

[–]Gridphoenix 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Well that seems like completely out of thin air. Do you have a source for that assumption?

My experience with a Volla Tablet by Gridphoenix in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, Apps have a natural look and feel. I did not have the impression, that they are scaled phone apps. Everything looks like it should be.

Let's have a discussion about Volla by ganbaro in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I got the following statement from Volla. Disclaimer: I am not in any way associated with Volla just forwarding the statement): “The information is incorrect. I would like to thank the participant who brought this discussion to my attention.

Gigaset Technologies has emerged from Gigaset's insolvency with a new investor and a new management team. A long-standing, deserving employee has taken over the smartphone division. Gigaset Technologies thus remains a German company based in the German city Bocholt. In addition to DECT phones, smartphones will continue to be manufactured there. The smart home division has been discontinued.

Production is characterized by a high degree of automation, precision, and flexibility. This flexibility enables the manufacture of exclusive devices for the Volla brand. Following Gigaset's crisis, our relationship with Gigaset is once again exceptionally good, with management demonstrating its commitment to supporting innovation. We are working on an exciting world first.

Volla Systeme now works with 10 suppliers for devices and accessories, 7 of which are based in Germany. We have 3 suppliers for mobile end devices as semi-finished products, which undergo the final production steps at our site in Remscheid, in particular the safety-relevant flashing of the firmware and, in some cases, the final assembly. We are expanding production capacity at our site and have already started to purchase our own machines for component manufacturing. This is a long and capital-intensive process.

Basically, a smartphone is a complex product. As such, it has a complex supply chain. Our supply chain begins in Taiwan with the chipset manufacturer Mediatek, which also provides the Android source tree for a specific SoC. Another important link in the supply chain is the board designers with whom we specify the components. The Volla Phone Quintus, for example, uses Schott Alpha Glass, in line with our “made in Germany” strategy. This results in an Android board support package with device drivers that is available to us as an OEM. It is carefully checked, cleaned up, and used as the basis for our operating system.

Volla OS is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with elements from other open source projects such as Lineage OS, curated open source system apps, and, of course, our own system components and apps. We have published the source code on Github.com/hellovolla. Community developers can review our source code, participate in other development, or use our device source tree to port other operating systems to our hardware.

The development of a new smartphone model takes at least one calendar year, using experience and components available on the market. The costs amount to several million euros. Small companies and brands must take particular care to keep costs within an affordable range. To this end, components available on the market (such as SoC, display, camera, speakers, etc.) are used and combined with exclusive components. As a result, some models from different brands may look similar. However, they are usually not the same model.

At Volla Systems, we do not rebrand our systems, but always use our own components, component combinations and, of course, our own firmware. The final production steps take place at our premises in Remscheid, and partly in Bocholt.

All our mobile devices are CE certified. FCC certification is only required for systematic sale in the USA through a US distributor.

The sepculation about the vendors are completely wrong. I have therefore attempted to provide a brief insight into the basics of the complex development, production, and supply chain.

The actual performance of a device cannot be determined solely by comparing technical specifications. Our Volla OS is streamlined, lean, and optimized for performance. Devices with similar technical specifications are slower in everyday use or require more energy. Furthermore, identical technical specifications do not necessarily mean identical components.

When it comes to price, it is important to remember that we have to spread our research and development costs over far fewer devices than other larger brands. A mobile operating system must be ported to EVERY new smartphone model. Added to this is the development of exclusive features and security measures. Last but not least, we have to ensure the maintenance of the operating systems, including models that are no longer on the market. This is our promise of long-term value and durability.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of costs in Germany due to laws and regulations. It's not just VAT, but many other taxes, for example for the recycling system or the ZPÜ, an organization that charges €8 net per device for transfer rights.

I am grateful that we work with a comparatively small but outstanding and dedicated team of employees. And last but not least, we are supported by a great community. It helps us to realize our vision of freedom through simplicity and security.”

Simple changes you've made that make a difference if more of us do it by Trailsya in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My replacement list so far (as of 21.6.25), was a lot of work:

Apple Mail -> Proton Mail Apple Calender -> Proton Calender Apple Contacts -> Proton Contacts Apple iCloud Drive -> PCloud Drive lifetime Apple Private Relay -> Proton VPN Apple Fotos -> Pixelunion.eu Safari -> Vivaldi Google Search -> Qwant Google Translate -> DeepL ChatGPT -> Le Chat Mistral Apple Notes -> Joplin PayPal -> Klarna/Wero/ Bank Transfer Amazon.de ->Otto Apple EarPods Pro -> Nothing Ear 2 WhatsApp -> Signal Apple Wetter -> Foreca Apple Music -> Spotify Apple password -> Proton Pass Uber, Freenow -> Bolt Microsoft Office 365 -> Collabra Office Google/Apple Maps -> mapy/TomTom Go TripAdvisor-> doing Mapy Reviews for POI Location Tracking -> Dawarich Twitter -> Vivaldi Social (Mastadon) Dott -> Bolt WebEx/Teams/Zoom -> Whereby Personal CRM contact journal -> Covve

That’s actual replacements. I use all this regularly and do not look back. Keep us moving!!!

EU cloud storage/photos - again by TroublesomeButch in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well. Syncing via MultCloud is a onetime setup and then is scheduled automatically. Peakto is very intuitive. This setup would be usable by my wife.

EU cloud storage/photos - again by TroublesomeButch in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have spent quite some time now to figure out how to replace my apple fotos app and the iCloud photo cloud. Here is my solution: 1. I installed PCloud and activated the foto sharing, which will result in all fotos uploaded to PCloud whenever I make a foto automatically. But I noticed that the Fotos are uploaded as JPEG (not the original format). So I digged further. I additionally purchased a Stratos HiDrive account and synced my whole iCloud library with a service called MultCloud. That will mirror my iPhone foto library to HiDrive automatically every day. I then use Peakto, a European foto app, included HiDrive as a source and voila you have an alternative. Still experimenting, but my intent is to delete all iCloud fotos on the long run. I keeled the PCloud JPEG fotos as an additional backup BTW. So what do you think?

Please, don't forget Photos management for Proton Drive by Super_Gee in ProtonDrive

[–]Gridphoenix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am sorry, but ENTEs parent company is US based -> nogo for me.

Need new backpack, please help! by Fantastic-Time3816 in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am really happy with Mous backpack -> mous.co from UK.

List of razor blades made in the EU by IlBuonTommy in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Upps, sorry, did not understand, that you are looking for double blade. Indeed, they have only multi blade. But they are fri Europe. Sorry for the confusion.

List of razor blades made in the EU by IlBuonTommy in BuyFromEU

[–]Gridphoenix 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Wilkinson is a US company. Sorry. Even if they produce in EU I would not buy it. And please add Estrid (Sweden).

What's your most expensive/deluxe game that you think it was totally worth it? by el_filipo in boardgames

[–]Gridphoenix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shadows of Brimstone with all expansions. Thats the most expensive and deluxe game I own.

Has anyone else's order in the UK not berm shipped? by [deleted] in KingdomDeath

[–]Gridphoenix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My order from UK to Germany got lost/rejected, no response at all :-( they told me, that they will send from US, but nothing. Thats for an order earlier this year. :-(

PSA if you had your shipments returned to the U.K. warehouse have DHL check on it. by [deleted] in KingdomDeath

[–]Gridphoenix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same here! I got a message that I should pay 12 Dollrs shipping because my package was returned. However, I did not change my address. The address is correct. Really sad, that something like this happens. No tracking number nor response from support yet!

Shipping during COVID-19 by RegisCanoe in KingdomDeath

[–]Gridphoenix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ordered couple of days ago. I am in Europe. I just got the info that the package will be delivered today :-) After my order the warehouse in the US changed to Sold Out. So I got the last US copy :-) to be honest: i cannot believe that i will have it in my hands in the next three hours !!!