This is a very interesting project. I actually opened their Telegram chat room and they’re figuring out the changes for version 2, which should be a lot smaller and use a bigger screen.
There’s an interesting discussion and a spreadsheet about several boards that could be used, including the Orange Pi5 pro.
The cool stuff is that you can easily upgrade parts as better, smaller or more Linux compatible parts become available.
Unfortunately I’d reckon the knowledge required to build something like this might be too high right now, especially if you wanted to include stuff like NFC and a fingerprint reader.
But I suppose since it uses a simple USB-camera that Linux drivers would not be an issue and it would work out of the box ?
Specs List
4G LTE internet
Call, SMS, Contacts book (contains a SIM7600 with sim card)
Quad Core 1.2GHz Broadcom BCM2837 64bit CPU
1 GB RAM
Running Raspbian - a Debian Linux OS with installable app store
Capable of running Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube etc in browser
4 inch 480 x 800 colour touch screen
5MP colour camera
GPS (in browser)
Wifi
Bluetooth audio
1 watt onboard audio speaker
3 USB ports
"Convergent": HDMI port to plug in external monitor, USB to plug in keyboard and mouse
Screen lock switch
90mm x 160mm x 30mm
5 hours battery life
Not to be a negative nancy, but if I already have a LibertyPhone, what would be the reason that I would want an OURSPhone made with an RPi that requires nonfree drivers?
I would prefer an eink display or LCD to r
educe battery drain.
The narrative is confusing
the smartphone is big tech free but:
The project is hosted on micros0ft github
The discussion channel on Telegram
Capable of running Facebook, WhatsApp, You
Tube etc in browser (aren’t those big Tech
? )
So what is the purpose of doing that devic
e to use consuming big tech networks ?
Could be lots of reasons someone with a libertyPhone might want this, also lots of reasons someone might not. I don’t really see how a given individual wanting this or not has any bearing on the device or the conversation.
Unless you’re looking for justification to get one/build one at which point some reasons might include:
Going through the build process yourself to have the experience of putting the phone together yourself
Experimenting with different hardware/software combinations on a secondary device without impacting your LibertyPhone
Contributing to the project in ways that work toward more free hardware being used/usable so that there will be competition to the liberty phone thus providing further incentive for growth via competition
Contributing to more options that are more accessible to more people
Off course not many people will have the will and the skill set to go after that (I know I don’t ).
It’s an interesting project though. You can use any SBC you like, including the ones from Pine64, or the Orange Pi 5. You can use components that only work with free software.
What’s interesting is that apparently he didn’t solder anything, just grabbed off the shelf components and put them together.
The Orange PI 5 pro runs Debian 12, I have to imagine Pure OS and Mobian could be ported / could work there.
Imagine a future where we don’t have to wait for companies like Purism, we could assemble phones on our own, based on our own needs, with a little bit of work.
Nowadays, you still need to create a custom PCB to fit the components, which I find a very high barrier of entry. Either that or use the base board available for the Orange Pi 5, but that has ethernet ports which make the phone too bulky ( I guess some would be happy with that though).
Hopefully some company like Pine64 would come up with a smartphone PCB that could be used, you just plug the compute module, modem, ssd, camera and display and fit it all in a either 3d printed or bought off the shelf case.
The ultimate dream is to set this all up, then use a Laptop shell like Nexdock, and then this would be your only device (phone and computer all in one).
To whom it may concern, Evan has now started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the carrier board design for version 2 of the OURPhone, which is meant to have a bigger screen and a thinner design. There are more details about what’s in plan for version 2 in a link available on the channel description in Telegram.
If anybody here has experience designing a carrier board for an Orange PI CM, you are welcome to join and offer feedback.
I don’t know much about hardware, so I’ve joined the telegram channel to learn a bit about how this all works. https://buymeacoffee.com/ourphone
)