Turning a Nokia 1680 feature phone into a Linux computer

The Nokia 1680 classic is a simple push-button mobile phone that was released in 2008, when smartphones were just starting to appear. It supports the functions of calling, receiving and sending SMS, and so on, but only in 2G mobile networks. However, a hardware hacker and enthusiast under the pseudonym Remu NotMoe was able to turn a simple dialer into a full-fledged Linux PC. He called the project Notkia.

To do this, he created a special printed circuit board with a processor, memory and other components. But the keyboard is completely original. The board features a 1GHz single-core MIPS Ingenic X100E processor, 64MB RAM, 32MB NOR flash, and 4GB SLC NAND flash.

The display is a 2-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, although it turned out to be too large for the body. As a result, the apparent screen resolution is 220 x 280 pixels – the edges are simply not visible.

Among other features of Notkia, we note the following:

• USB Type-C port;
• Waveshare OV5640 5 MP camera with autofocus;
• musical synthesizer Yamaha MA-3 (with support for ringtones);
• analog MEMS microphone;
• AMPAK adapter with Wi-Fi 4 and BT 4.0 LE;
• Semtech SX126x LoRa transceiver;
• BL-5C battery.

It all runs under Linux, including text entry using the phone’s original numeric keypad. T9 technology is also supported. The device can be used as a computer, walkie-talkie or modem. But Notkia does not know how to make phone calls. The fact is that Remu NotMoe could not find a sufficiently compact 4G LTE module.

The author described the schemes, components, list and design process on Hackster and Hackday. In the future, the author promises to open the source code of the firmware.

B&H Photo, America’s largest Apple Authorized Reseller, has listed two new Mac mini computers at once. These are Mac mini with M2 chip and Mac mini Tower with M1P processor (perhaps we are talking about M1 Pro). Both versions have 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. There are no prices or photos yet.

Previously, resellers have repeatedly published the names of various devices even before they are actually shown. On the other hand, these may simply be stub pages, which will then be replaced by pages of the presented devices.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, WWDC 2022, kicks off tomorrow, June 6th at 10:00 AM ET. There, as expected, they will show the operating systems iOS 16, macOS 13, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9 and tvOS 16. In addition, new computers and laptops can be shown there.

In particular, many expect to see new M2-based Macbook Airs in old colors, thin bezels, and white keyboards. At the same time, some insiders believe that the Macbook Air will remain with the SoC M1 for now.

The other day we learned what changes Apple is preparing in its operating systems. Now there are details regarding iPadOS 16.

As already mentioned, Apple will improve the features related to multitasking. In fact, the changes will indeed be quite tangible, albeit far from being necessary for everyone.

The new interface will allow users to easily switch from the task they are working on to viewing the entire list of open applications. This will allow you to quickly switch from one application to another.

Apart from this, iPadOS 16 is also expected to have the ability to resize windows. What’s more, Apple could also offer users a new way to interact with multiple apps at the same time. This will bring iPad multitasking closer to that of the Mac, thereby closing the gap between the two platforms. That is, it is not yet worth counting on the company to transfer its tablets to macOS, given Apple’s efforts regarding iPadOS.

According to Bloomberg editor Mark Gurman, the new multitasking changes in iPadOS 16 will be one of the biggest announcements at WWDC 2022.

HP announced the expansion of its range of mobile computers with the Dev One model, focused on application developers. There has not yet been a full premiere, but the company has already revealed key details. So, for example, the device is running Linux (Pop!_OS is pre-installed).

HP Dev One will be equipped with an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 5000 Pro processor, will receive 16 GB of DDR4-3200 MHz RAM, a 1 TB SSD. The screen diagonal will be 14 inches, the resolution is Full HD. When sales start, there is no data, but the cost is already known – $ 1,100. In general, in the US, for that kind of money, you can buy a laptop with more interesting characteristics, and replace the pre-installed Windows with Linux.