Why can't anyone simply build...

[LumiaIcon]

Why can't anyone simply build a Windows 8.1 phone that is essentially the internal specs and screen of the Lumia Icon/930 with the camera from the 1020, and the hardware design features of the 830 with expandable memory, glance and tap to wake and just be done with it? Everyone would buy THAT phone and it would be over. It really can't be that hard. I often wonder why, with windows phone we always say "...it would be the perfect phone if it just had...".

 

[HelloLudger]

I for one would prefer a 10MP camera with ultrafast shot-to-show time than a slow 41 MP cam.

I think the easier question is WHY HASN'T MICROSOFT PUT A SNAPDRAGON 800 IN THE LUMIA 830?

It's not a flagship and not affordable....

 

[Guytronic]

When it comes to design these phones try to meet certain criteria in a balanced manner.

Maybe limitations for features of a desired "super phone" could be the battery size and output.
I would say the goal would be getting a high end phone to run for say 16 hours of heavy use minimum with a little bit of "limp along" left over.

We see constant threads\posts here about battery time and overheating.

When one thinks about what it may require to run one of these things we have to remember the battery is trying to run:
5GHZ transceiver
Near Field transmit\receive module (high end)
Magnetometer (high end)
GPS location
Energized color display
Digitizer
Memory modules
Registering data in RAM
CPU
...while tying all this together thru the OS framework and API's

Integrating all the features we might be asking for may take a total redesign that may be as yet not reliable.
Perhaps the gap between engineering and marketing a desirable device is a difficult one to span at this time.

 

[xandros9]

Ok, we toyed with making our own webOS phone before over at webOS nation and here's some stuff I and some others brought up before.

You can't just build a phone like a PC.
Well, first we need components, and few are available at RadioShack. You'll need to figure out and build a motherboard with all the necessary components and stuff. You'll have to make sure they all fit and work together, and function properly with the other components. you'll need the right knowhow to do that. Nokia engineers and stuff who do this for a living failed to find a not-exorbitantly expensive OLED display, what about you? Design it yourself?


Now lets say you pull it all off and have a working phone and schematics that work.
How are you going to mass produce it? How will you purchase all the parts? Just trying to make a few prototypes already is expensive. You'll need certification by the governing body where the phone will function.
And say you get a batch of phones out, they will make the Note 3 look like the last word in budget. You don't have the economies of scale on your side.

I haven't covered it all, but you get the idea.

 

[Squachy]

When on the outside looking in, its always easy to say 'why cant this and that be done?'.
When you're in that position to actually do it, you'll find out its never as easy as it seems. There's so much more that goes into R&D than anyone realizes.
Someone can build just whatever...and it'll most likely end up being stupidly expensive or be a money losing device.

What goes into the phone, how to acquire components, what's the right components, how do you deal with space constraints, how do you keep it under x amount of dollars, etc. No one ever thinks of these things when dreaming up their dream stuff from the outside looking in.

Its like building a computer, you don't just grab the best off the shelf parts available (unless you WANT to), or any random parts just because computer. you have to answer the Why's before you can answer the What's.