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$50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

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bedtime
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$50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#1 Post by bedtime »

I MUST have it! :shock:

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Here are some specs (copied from link below):

Based on Raspberry Pi Zero, ESP8266 and Arduino
  • Has Wi-Fi, HDMI, full-size USB and a 3.5 mm jack (Bluetooth as an option)
    2G GSM connectivity (3G coming soon)
    128 x 64 1.3” OLED screen
    GSM/Wi-Fi/microphone hardware switch option
    RGB LED and vibromotor
  • IR receiver/transmitter
    Additional displays and buttons
    5 MP / 8 MP Pi Camera
    Extended batteries
    Various sensors, both analog and digital
    Wireless radios for IoT
    GPS, Ethernet and MicroSD expansion
    …and much more.
Links:
https://hackaday.io/project/19035-zerop ... smartphone
https://www.crowdsupply.com/arsenijs/zerophone
https://hackaday.io/project/19035-zerop ... -questions

The downside is the 2G GSM connectivity and 128 x 64 1.3” screen; though, it is at least an OLED display, and they did say 3G is coming soon.

I wonder what type of battery/batteries this would run on?

---

Did I mention that my birthday is coming up very soon? (in July) :wink:

kedaha
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#2 Post by kedaha »

It's good news. It's certainly affordable at that price.
I like Raspbery Pi and find it very useful. It would be even better if the binary blob for the GPU on the SD card to boot the system were unnecessary but maybe it wouldn't be needed for a phone unless one wants to connect it to a screen as well.
DebianStable

Code: Select all

$ vrms

No non-free or contrib packages installed on debian!  rms would be proud.

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debiman
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#3 Post by debiman »

why is the last picture from 2012?
weird.
also, 2G, seriously?
anyhow, it's good that it's working.
at the very least it's proof that we're going in the right direction, FLOSS phones are becoming a "thing".

CwF
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#4 Post by CwF »

Looks like another version of phonebloks. Still waiting...
I thought for sure something like this was going to be a sparkfun kit ages ago.

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pylkko
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#5 Post by pylkko »

Raspberry pi foundation had an article about this exactly one year ago:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/zerophone/

I think the 2 g modem is because 1) there is only a char lcd screen so what are you going to do with your 3g, it's not like you want to surf the net on that and 2) 3g modems are more expensive, they want to keep the price down.

In a way it is interesting that you have this phone that you can change the pieces to your self and you can program code to it to do what ever you want. However, you can get a new LCD-based 2-g phone that meets some kind of engineering quality standards for 15 USD. Also, they cannot resolve the problems with the proprietary IP and closed source firmware kinds of things that other people like Puri.sm are not able to do either.

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debiman
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#6 Post by debiman »

pylkko wrote:I think the 2 g modem is because 1) there is only a char lcd screen so what are you going to do with your 3g, it's not like you want to surf the net on that
what about streaming audio?
2G is not really enough for that (sufficiently high quality for music)
but then, i don't know if the hardware would support listening to music at all.
3g modems are more expensive, they want to keep the price down.
sure; but imo they should've just made a dumb phone then.
i'm probably missing something, but i don't see why it would have any internet connectivity at all.
they cannot resolve the problems with the proprietary IP and closed source firmware kinds of things that other people like Puri.sm are not able to do either.
yep, don't kid yourself that the hardware would be more open, just because it's dyi and crowdsourced.

IamJeffers
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#7 Post by IamJeffers »

"what about streaming audio?
2G is not really enough for that (sufficiently high quality for music)
but then, i don't know if the hardware would support listening to music at all."
Yeah, the quality would just be unbearable, overall.

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pylkko
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#8 Post by pylkko »

The hackaday page does say:

Code: Select all

2G modem for phone functions, can be replaced with a 3G modem

zotis
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#9 Post by zotis »

Is there any online guid to buit it ?

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Danielsan
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#10 Post by Danielsan »

Itfoss announced that Pin64 is preparing a cheap phone based on KDE Plasma:

https://itsfoss.com/pinebook-kde-smartphone/

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debiman
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Re: $50 Phone based on Raspberry Pi to be crowdfunded

#11 Post by debiman »

that is good news.
the ball is starting to roll, gaining momentum.

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