smartphone

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on 60W Pocket Cloud is a microSD card reader with USB PD passthrough for your smartphone (Crowdfunding)

60W Pocket Cloud is a microSD card reader with USB PD passthrough for your smartphone (Crowdfunding)

60W Pocket Cloud

60W Pocket Cloud is a microSD card reader with 60W USB PD passthrough for your smartphone that works with Android (USB-C) and iOS (USB-C or Lightning) mobile devices, as well as other hosts with a spare USB port. Once upon a time, smartphone manufacturers would include a microSD card socket in their devices, but those have now become harder to find. If your device’s spare storage is getting dangerously low, you’d need to either purchase cloud storage or connect a microSD card reader to the USB-C port of your phone. The latter works, except you can’t charge your phone when it’s connected. Conner’s 60W Pocket Cloud brings back microSD card storage support to mobile devices, while still allowing USD PD charging during use. 60W Pocket Cloud specifications: Chipset – Vinpower iVP309 flash controller chip with 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), SD 3.0 UHS-I, SDCX SD card interface, USB […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Android 17 Beta 1 released with H.266/VVC support, camera improvements, and more

Android 17 Beta 1 released with H.266/VVC support, camera improvements, and more

Android 17

Google has just announced the release of Android 17 Beta 1 with performance improvements, H.266/VVC video codec support, smoother camera mode transitions, privacy and security enhancements, and more. The company is not releasing Developer Previews anymore, and instead follows the “continuous Canary channel” announced with the first Android 16 Developer Preview. So, with Android 17, the very first release is the “Beta 1” release. Some of the key changes in Android 17 so far: Developers can’t opt out of orientation and resizability restrictions on large screen devices (sw > 600 dp), so they’ll have to make sure their apps work on tablets, foldables, and desktop windowing environments. With one exception: apps categorized as games with android:appCategory flag. Google published a separate blog post about the change. Performance improvements and tools Lock-free MessageQueue that will reduce missed frames. Added Generational garbage collection to ART’s Concurrent Mark-Compact collector. This aims to reduce […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Linux 6.19 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.19 Release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.19

Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 6.19 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): No big surprises anywhere last week, so 6.19 is out as expected – just as the US prepares to come to a complete standstill later today watching the latest batch of televised commercials. The betting man would expect them all to be AI-generated, but maybe some enterprising company decides to buck the trend? Doubtful, but there’s always a slight chance. But for anybody outside the US, maybe taking the newest kernel out for a spin instead is an option? I have more than three dozen pull requests for when the merge window opens tomorrow – thank you to all the early maintainers. And as people have mostly figured out, I’m getting to the point where I’m being confused by large numbers (almost running out of fingers and toes again), so the next kernel is going to […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 6 Comments on REETLE SmartInk I – An AI-powered E-Ink phone case with voice recording (Crowdfunding)

REETLE SmartInk I – An AI-powered E-Ink phone case with voice recording (Crowdfunding)

REETLE SmartInk I in hand case

The REETLE SmartInk I is a phone case with a touch-enabled E-Ink display and built-in AI features. It features a secondary screen on the back for reading text, viewing notes, recording voice, and displaying to-do items, allowing basic tasks to be completed without using the phone’s main display. In the back, you have a 3.97-inch E-Ink touchscreen with one-press voice recording, AI-based transcription, summarization, and smart to-do display, all synced to a companion mobile app via Bluetooth 5.0. It supports iPhone 13–17 series and a wide range of Android phones, features a 300 mAh battery with 10W MagSafe wireless charging, and delivers up to 10 hours of reading, 8 hours of recording, and over 2 weeks of standby time. Weighing around 55 grams with a total thickness under 4 mm, it includes military-grade drop protection, tempered glass, widget switching (QR codes, notes, schedules), a thin design, and a 10°C to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on Linux 6.18 LTS release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.18 LTS release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.18

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 6.18 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML), which will likely become the next LTS kernel [update: it’s now official]: So I’ll have to admit that I’d have been happier with slightly less bugfixing noise in this last week of the release, but while there’s a few more fixes than I would hope for, there was nothing that made me feel like this needs more time to cook. So 6.18 is tagged and pushed out. Most of the last-minute fixes are minor fixes to drivers, with some random noise elsewhere (bluetooth, ceph, afs..). Nothing strikes me as standing out, but hey, there’s a shortlog appended if you want to see the details. And this obviously means that the merge window will open tomorrow, and I already have three dozen pull requests pending. Thanks. And as I already mentioned a couple of […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on The Librephone project aims to remove proprietary blobs from smartphones running an open-source OS

The Librephone project aims to remove proprietary blobs from smartphones running an open-source OS

Librephone project

Some of you may already be running an open-source operating system on your smartphone, which could be Android-based, such as LineageOS, GrapheneOS, and e/OS, or Linux-based like postmarketOS and Ubuntu Touch. However, due to closed-source firmware files/proprietary blobs, you’re only running a partially open-source OS. The Free Software Foundation aims to change that with the Librephone project, whose goal is to reverse-engineer nonfree blobs and provide open-source alternatives. Some proprietary blobs are used to run WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G LTE/5G modems, touchscreen, fingerprint sensor, and other hardware. So it won’t be a trivial task, as serious reverse-engineering work is needed and done in a clean-room way to prevent copyright lawsuits, plus there may be regulatory issues with the code handling the radios\ frequency and power from the FTC and other governmental agencies around the world. To be clear, the Librephone project won’t be another operating system, and the only goal is […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments on $200 SpecFive Spectre Pro Android 12 smartphone integrates LoRa Mesh connectivity

$200 SpecFive Spectre Pro Android 12 smartphone integrates LoRa Mesh connectivity

Spec5 Spectre Pro LoRa Mesh Android 12 smartphone

LoRa Mesh solutions like Meshtastic or MeshCore enable off-grid messaging, GPS coordinates, and in some cases, audio communication for emergencies, working or hiking in remote areas, or simply to be able to communicate outside of cellular networks. However, adoption is limited, as users need to buy a terminal that costs about the same as an entry-level smartphone, or they may not see any use for it, except for emergencies. Integrating LoRa Mesh into Android smartphones can lower the cost of the feature, since the battery, enclosure, etc… are already there, and you just need to add a LoRa module and an antenna. That’s what SpecFive has done with the SpecFive Spectre Pro 4G LTE smartphone with a LoRa module. The rugged phone runs Android 12 and ships with Meshtastic, Mesh Tic Tac Toe, CheckTastic, and Mesh Chess. Spec5 Spectre Pro specifications: SoC – Unnamed quad-core processor System Memory – 4GB […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on Broadcom unveils WiFi 8 chips for access points and clients

Broadcom unveils WiFi 8 chips for access points and clients

Broadcom WiFi 8 router chips

Broadcom has recently revealed its first WiFi 8 (802.11bn) chips with the BCM43109 for wireless clients such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and automotive devices, the BCM6718 designed for residential and operator access applications, and the BCM43840 and BCM43820 made for enterprise access applications. Broadcom BCM43109 WiFi 8, Bluetooth 6.0, and 802.15.4 client chip Specifications: IEEE 802.11bn compliant Dual-stream spatial multiplexing data rate of up to 5 Gbps during single-band operation and 5.25 Gbps in RSDB mode Up to 320 MHz channels for the 2×2 5 GHz and 6 GHz radio, and 20 MHz channels for the 2×2 2.4 GHz radio STR MLO and EMLSR support Scan radio enhances 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz channel performance Dual-core Bluetooth 6.0 with 2G, higher band SDB with HDT, and support for future Bluetooth versions IEEE 802.15.4 supporting OpenThread, ZBOSS, etc. Host interface PCIe Gen3 x1 for WiFi UART for Bluetooth PCM and I2S […]

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