Microwave Engineering Europe
A Raspberry Pi Zero-based, open-source, Linux-powered handset – called ZeroPhone – has been launched as a crowdfunding project.
ZeroPhone, coming soon on crowdfunding platform Crowd Supply, is offered as featuring no carrier locks, bloated apps, or data mining, and doesn’t depend on big companies. Instead, says its developer, its open source hardware and software give users as much control over their phone as possible.
“ZeroPhone is user-friendly and will have the typical features of a phone, but will give you advanced features when you need them,” says the phone’s developer. “You can modify and repair it easily, and it’s power-user and programmer-friendly. It’s also built from widely available components, so you can build a ZeroPhone independently if you need to.”
The phone is based on the Raspberry Pi Zero, the ESP8266 Wi-Fi module, and an Arduino microcontroller. It will feature a 128 × 64 1.3-inch OLED screen, a mini-HDMI port, a full-size USB 2.0 port, a 3.5-mm jack, and Bluetooth as an option.
ZeroPhone will initially come with 2G GSM connectivity, with 3G “coming soon” and 4G to be available at some point. Additional components can be used with the phone, such as IR receivers, the five- and eight-megapixel Pi camera, extended batteries, various sensors, wireless radios for IoT, and more, including GPS, Ethernet, and MicroSD expansion.
