Are there smartphones in Freelancer/Discovery ?

[Lanakov]

Hello there. Quick and perhaps silly RP question, but : what do people use to communicate in this world ? We see transmissions all the time, ships have onboard radios that seem to cover a rather large range, the comms we send to each other go through entire systems with no bother (I'm assuming through Mass Effect-like relay beacons, for those who've read the novels)...
But how do people read/listen to them ? There are communication terminals in ships, sure, but do people have a handheld equivalent of today's phones ? To my knowledge, we never see anything like that during SP, and Freelancer does come across as somewhat low tech in certain aspects. Its release at the dawn of the 21st century probably helped... So there you go. I've been scratching my head during story writing because of this particular, and admittedly benign topic : smartphones have become ubiquitous in our world and it's hard to imagine a sci-fi setting without them... But FL is no ordinary sci fi setting, and it kinda feels off mentioning a character using a literal smartphone.

Discuss.

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Feedback, insults, marriage proposals and declarations of fealty

If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.

[Corile]

In my stories I use a concept of a PAD (personal access device) inspired by the Android universe. These are various electronics for accessing the net. Can be smartphone-like, a projected holoscreen or other stuff.

I also been iRP developing a tech for mental access to the Net, search for Project Vergil if you're interested

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Reflections on the Revolution in Gallia
Custodi // High City of Heraklion // The Cult of Archangels
Log Filter // Post Creator // Manhattan

[Laura C.]

I used term PAD/datapad as well, exactly because of its uncertainty. You can imagine whatever you want behind it - it can be smartphone, smartwatch, smartglasses or even some apparatus integrated in the skin with miniprojector.

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On a ragebreak. Or ragequit. Time will tell.

[SnakThree]

If there is thing such as eye mounted displays, you can be darn sure there is something as simple as smartphone but much more advanced

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[Nerva Regis]

My guy had something like a Galaxy Gear S on steroids that he used to communicate.

Edit: @SnakThree I think there should be at least some super-duper contact lenses.

[oZoneRanger]

I use the term... Comm Unit. Sometimes it is sown into the sleeve of a flight suit. Sometimes it is a "Hand held Comm Unit". If a character is in an office setting....they usually have a DataPad or a Comm Console.

[Username removed]

Somebody on Manhattan wants to contact somebody on Freeport 9 in Omicron Theta.

The person on Manhattan sends out the message that is picked up by one of the many high-rise transmission towers on the planet.

The transmission tower boosts the signal and sends it over a satellite that boosts the signal again and sends it towards the direction of a jump gate.

This way the signal can travel to the neighboring solar system at ultraluminal speeds just like the ships do.

The signal then bumps against even more satellites sending it in the direction of jump holes etc...until it reaches an antenna of Freeport 9, this implying we're still using radio waves to communicate.

Trade lanes have arrays sticking out too, they may be used to boost/redirect transmissions too, but then Lane Hackers would have a field day...

[SnakThree]

All op is asking is the end-point product, not the whole transmission route.

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[Lanakov]

All op is asking is the end-point product, not the whole transmission route.

Oh, I was curious about the receiver, but I could never really get how the information was transfered. You see, I'm a navy analyst, and undersea cables are a big part of my job, the way they carry info, can be listened to by unwanted parties or even sabotaged... I wondered how this could be applied to Disco. Could be very useful for all kinds of signals intelligence RP.

But thank you all for your input. I see the consensus and it makes sense in this world to have various forms of smartphones as an accepted, common device. I'll keep that in mind for further stories !

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Feedback, insults, marriage proposals and declarations of fealty

If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.

[Croft]

I'm fairly certain some form of datapad is used by Dr Sinclair during the Freelancer story, so its a safe bet to say something like a smartphone would exist. As for the transfering of information, well that is handled by the tradelanes and jumpgates acting in the same capacity as our current undersea cables.
Though its not actually detailed in the lore, I like to imagine that every tradelane disruption by pirates prevents the data being passed on to the next ring and causes hell for that particular House's data service.

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