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Cellphones Linux

Pine64 Announces Updated PinePhone Pro Linux Powered Cellphone (tomshardware.com) 30

Posted by BeauHD from the what-more-do-you-need dept.
Pine64 today announced its latest Linux-powered device, the PinePhone Pro, an update to the original PinePhone which sees a more powerful device running mainline Linux (Manjaro in this case) on a mobile device that works as a cellphone and a desktop computer. Tom's Hardware reports: This combination of hardware and software makes the still slightly futuristic idea of confluence between mobile and desktop devices seem a step closer. Carry it around with you, and it's a phone. Plug it into a monitor, and it's a desktop PC. The KDE Plasma Mobile front-end adapts to the circumstances. Inside, it's much like any other phone, with a Rockchip RK3399S six-core SoC operating at 1.5GHz, 4GB of dual-channel LPDDR4 RAM, and 128GB of internal eMMC flash storage. It features a 13MP main camera sensor and a 5MP front-facing camera. There's a Micro-SD slot for expanded storage, and a six-inch 1440 x 720 IPS touchscreen. The PinePhone Pro is not a typical cell phone, rather the concept of convergence, the ability to use your phone as a computer is intriguing. Plug your PinePhone Pro into an external display and use it as a low-power desktop computer is something that has been attempted by a number of companies, including Canonical's attempt with Ubuntu Edge.

PinePhone Pro offers something that is missing from the majority of phones, privacy. A series of hardware DIP-switches, hidden under a rear cover, cut off access to the cameras, microphone, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.1 chips, headphone jack, and LTE modem (including GPS) should you ever need to. The layout and Pogo Pins of the new phone are identical to the original PinePhone, so all existing accessories should work. Retailing at $399, the PinePhone Pro's makers are realistic about the challenges of putting desktop Linux on a mobile device, especially in an ecosystem dominated by iOS and Android.
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Pine64 Announces Updated PinePhone Pro Linux Powered Cellphone More

Pine64 Announces Updated PinePhone Pro Linux Powered Cellphone

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  • More details... (Score:5, Informative)

    by gQuigs ( 913879 ) on Friday October 15, 2021 @06:37PM (#61896801) Homepage

    on the wiki - https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/P... [pine64.org]

    • Unfortunately, it's still not dual SIM, which makes it impossible for me as a daily driver... I've got a Pine Book Pro, which is usable for quite a few things. The Pine Phone Pro is slightly slower, but with a suitably configured Linux it should still be a very capable device.

  • However, I'm still waiting for reviews to say that it's closer to being practical as a daily driver with at least one of the distros tailored for it. The phone and the OS's have come a long way, but the last time I looked SMS didn't work without kludges and didn't work well even with them, pictures were pretty poor, touchscreen function was iffy, and battery life was mostly abysmal. I don't need a lot out of a phone, but the basics need to be solid.

    That said, with a true Linux phone I'd probably use data an

    • Re:That's awesome! (Score:5, Informative)

      by StormReaver ( 59959 ) on Friday October 15, 2021 @08:27PM (#61897003)

      I bought a PinePhone a year or so ago (I don't remember exactly when). When I got it, the PostmarketOS was all but unusable. It was sluggish, and very little actually worked. I bought it with the intent of developing on it, but it turns out that my life is already filled to capacity. So I installed Mobian on it (which made it far more useful and responsive), and found that phone calls worked, texting worked, but the camera was all but useless. While phone calls and texting worked, they didn't work all the time. So I neglected it for quite a while (several months at the very least).

      My interest in using it as my main phone, and leaving Android entirely, was recently rekindled, so I installed the most recent Mobian on it and tried again (I love how the default OS can be overridden via the SD card). This time, I found that the SIM configuration had been greatly simplified. It was simplified to the point that it no longer worked. I could no longer configure my SIM card, so phone calls and texts no longer work. It's stupefying how the Mobian developers arrived at the decision to cripple SIM configuration and make a phone that can't make phone calls.

      The camera driver, however, has been fixed. Live previews work at full speed, and pictures can be taken (I haven't tried video). The pictures are saved as TIFF's, rather than JPEG's, but it works. I'm confident, though, that Mobian will continue to improve over time.

  • I've seen a few reviews of this phone and, while I love that it's open source, there are still a lot of glitches. Give them credit though at least they are upfront about it. Text messaging is still problematic. On the plus side the hardware switches to disable the camera, wifi, etc. is awesome. The main problem I see is support for mainstream apps like Facebook and TikTok etc. A lot of people are going to claim they need that.

    For me I would be ok with basic phone, text, driving directions, a browser, and VP

    • Re:It's cool...for hobbyists (Score:4, Insightful)

      by BeaverCleaver ( 673164 ) on Friday October 15, 2021 @11:47PM (#61897331)

      The main problem I see is support for mainstream apps like Facebook and TikTok etc.

      That's a feature, not a bug!

    • Yep, right on the front page:

      Who isn’t it for?

      We’re not in the business of selling empty promises – a much faster mainline Linux smartphone won’t make the existing operating systems more refined, nor will it magically spawn software replacements for your iOS or Android applications. There is a long road ahead of us, all of us, and it will require time and effort for the software to reach a degree of maturity that would satisfy mainstream users.

      If you depend on proprietary mainstream mobile messenger applications, banking applications, use loyalty or travel apps, consume DRM media, or play mobile video games on your fruit or Android smartphone, then the PinePhone Pro is likely not for you.

      That doesn't sound like it was written by a marketing team, and I say that with all admiration. They're not trying to deceive anyone that this is ready for a mainstream audience yet. They are basically telling you "yeah, your favorite apps are NOT on this platform." I think, realistically speaking, those "popular" apps like Facebook and TicTok are probably never going to be available. I think eventually, there may be enough functionality for people to do most of what they ty

      • I don't know if TicTok works on a a browser but facebook definitely does.

        I understand the complaint for apps like snapchat that are only app based but navigating to a bookmark vs an app should not be a problem for slashdotters who bitch about big corp phone OSs

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by JustNiz ( 692889 )

          I've never installed their app and don't miss it but facebook only sorta works via mobile browser. A long while back zuckerprick moved a bunch of functionality from the mobile web interface into fb's messenger app so if you want the full-fat version you need to install it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      It does support Android apps so you can install as many security holes as you want. Freedumb!

  • Futuristic? (Score:3)

    by loufoque ( 1400831 ) on Friday October 15, 2021 @07:30PM (#61896897)

    Nokia already did it in 2009.

    Part of the reason it died is that Nokia went the Microsoft route and shot themselves in the foot.
    Another reason is that consumers are too stupid to use full-featured operating systems on their phone.

  • Thatâ(TM)s what the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3 is: a giant phone / 8â tablet / desktop computer (via Dex) when hooked up to a display/keyboard/mouse. As for privacy, have you heard about Flight mode? Linux is nothing w/o the apps and BTW Android _is_ Linux and it runs MS Office. And honestly, for $400 I can get a mainstream smartphone.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gTsiros ( 205624 )

      dex? Does that do anything beyond support different IO devices?

      Can I run gcc on the device?

    • BTW Android _is_ Linux and

      Which proves yet again that RMS has an annoyingly good habit of being right 10-15 years before people realise.

      He always insisted on calling it GNU/Linux. His detractors whinged about it being an ego trip, but it was never about that. It was about quelling the confusion between the kernel and the OS. When people talk about "linux" they mostly mean the GNU/Linux variants which run on a desktor, laptop or server. Android might use the Linux kernel way under there but it is not GNU/Li

  • It says USB-C DP alt out. I wonder if the port and OS combo will support those USB-C docks with USB-A ports, audio, and Ethernet...

    This could be pretty cool.

    • My Pine Book Pro does, except for no audio over HDMI with my dock (and my lacking Linux skills plus a lack of time to find the fix), but the wired gigabit Ethernet, HDMI video and USB A connectors are functional. The dock I use is from AliExpress, and I got it to use it with my Dell work laptop.

  • Am I the only one who though Pine64 was a 64 bit version of the Pine email client?

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