Ok, their Pre-Order page is quite enlightening:
http://www.thelightphone.com/store/preorderlightFirst of all, the cost is now $150.
HOW IT WORKS (copied directly from above page):
The Light Phone only makes and receives phone calls. It uses your existing phone number and it is your second phone, a supplement to your smarpthone for those times where you do not need the internet in your pocket. The Light Phone can store 9 speed dials accessed by a long press of the corresponding number on the keypad.
The Light Phone is set up through a desktop app on your computer. Through this app we will text your smartphone a "Go Light" contact with two phone numbers that when dialed will turn ON/OFF call forwarding accordingly. Call forwarding done this way is a universally standard way of using carrier codes to trigger call forwarding.
A quick overview of how you will set up your Light Phone.
1. Turn on your Light Phone & plug it into your computer.
2. Download the desktop app: lightphoneapp.com .
3. Add your speed dial contacts.
4. Verify your smartphone number.
5. Save your "GoLight" contact to your smartphone.
6. Turn on call forwarding by calling that contact.
7. Unplug your phone and enjoy being light
8. Return to your smartphone and turn off call forwarding.
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My comments: The "app" is actually software on your computer, not on your smartphone. You plug in your LightPhone...it lets you edit the speed dial numbers in the phone. Also, when you enter your smartphone number in the app, the software will communicate through their server on the internet to send a text-message to your smartphone which includes a "GoLight" VCF contact card, that has automatically combined the forwarding # codes for your carrier with your LightPhone number. Then this Contact has 2 numbers in it...one that turns on call-forwarding and designates the LightPhone number to forward to, and another number that is basically the cancellation of call-forwarding.]
The App & SIM Card:
The Light Phone is an unlocked 2G GSM phone that comes with its own SIM and is ready to use out of the box. An active SIM is required because the phone does not rely on tethering (i.e Bluetooth) for connection, and it will work regardless of its proximity to your smartphone. The cost of using our service is approximately $5/month and it only works within United States currently. International users, please see our notes below. The Light Phone can also work without our Light SIM & App as an unlocked phone with a 2G Nano SIM of your choice.
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My comments: Outside of the USA, the phone is just an unlocked 2G phone which will accept any SIM and you pay according to whatever plan or pay-as-you-go or minutes you have. Inside the USA, the "cost of using our service is approximately $5/month".... is that a SIM they negotiated with a carrier to provide 500 minutes a month? or over the span of a year? What exactly is the plan they have given, on what carrier, and what do you get? They promised 500 minutes so is that free and then once you've used those minutes you pay $5/month? Details please...]
..... Oh one more thing ....
If they are in this hole by $3.6 million just to make 3500 phones so far, that offer nothing innovative and cost 3-5x what is already available on the market, that's about $1000 per phone made thus far. You gotta be kidding me.
You can buy 2G thin phones for $20-30 (or less) on eBay/Alibaba with free shipping. You can even buy 3G Nokia feature-phones for $50. I just don't get it... what did investors think when they looked at this as a viable business?
PLUS.... NO MENTION AT ALL on how they enriched any of those factory workers lives. Didn't they say they were going to give phones to the factory workers, or somehow write about how the phones are made in their book or give a candid glimpse on the living and working conditions of people in China? In my early discussion with them, they sounded like they were not just making a $100 rip-off of a $20 phone, but that it was more of a "statement" and socially-responsible project to inform the rich populations who are buying these things on how things are done over there. Does their book have any mention of it, or just nice photos? Do they have a documentary or videos? Interviews with their Chinese factory workers? I've seen nothing except small tidbits from that other guy (Andrew "Bunnie" Huang) on the recycling/cellphone documentary YouTube video I linked before. The Light Phone hasn't done anything that I've seen... and now that they are "in bed" and in deep debt doo-doo with Foxxconn, I am certain the story will be very different. The last thing they will want to do is hurt the image of one of their main investors, so how can we be sure about anything they tell us about the factories there?
They have mentioned a few things in their MANIFESTO and PROCESS:
https://medium.com/the-light-phone/100-for-a-phone-that-does-nothing-ae74ed88b8d3#.5pb33uwdp"There is no way a phone should ever cost $10 as people have suggested to us, that just cannot be right. "(Yet it is possible, we see it on eBay and Alibaba. Why not explain to us how this is so? Why it is not right, and why your phone has changed that)
"We think we can add value to this conversation by showing the true nature of the manufacturing process at our scale. The ecosystem is much more complicated than we can realize as consumers, and there are many factors that are not obvious to us as outsiders. Why are people lining up to try to get jobs at factories that we consider a terrible working condition?"(Good question, why not tell us the answer. From your experience what have you found? Can you divulge anything now or will this upset Foxconn)
"We’re going to provide an understanding of what and who is involved in bringing new models to market every year at such an incredibly competitive price points. It is unsustainable for many reasons, but especially for the environment. We believe by making this information available we might have a deeper appreciation for the technology we already have, and begin to think twice as we continue to consume more so quickly."(Yes, except that you just created a phone that is going to be landfill or is already landfill by making it 2G instead of at least 3G or even 4G)
"We also want to pose the question, shouldn’t we, the companies and consumers that are benefiting from the hard work of these employees, be responsible for improving their lives too? We can chose to not think about them often, but they are real people with stories too."(And so what have you done to showcase the lives of your factory workers... A few photos of these guys on a blog post, here and there. But what about their actual stories, how they grew up, their educational background, family, wages, their living conditions, how many hours they work a day, etc.... What about giving them more money? Is Foxconn paying them or is LightPhone agreeing to pay them more money? Is that $10 phone that you are now selling for $150 because the wage of the factory worker making it has gone up, or is it to pay your rich investors?)
Come on LightPhone guys... You've done an incredible thing making this limited release phone and using a major corporation to do it, but this was never really about the phone. I would argue that the only reason people would shell out 10x more money for this product was because they thought they were making a social impact or at least getting some education of what goes on over there, yet you have kept things in the shadows and your entire foundation is now in question as your company is heavily indebted to Foxxconn given that you accepted a huge amount of investment from them. How is anyone going to trust what you tell us?