Replying to Avatar Derek Ross

I honestly haven't owned a non Google device since the HTC Incredible in 2010 and Moto X in 2012. It's been Google Nexus and Google Pixel since. They are the most open and most developer friendly devices.
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ChipTuner 1y ago

Yeah seems to be the consensus.

I am honestly looking for alternatives. Every time I bring up the argument it goes, (like a dozen times on nostr)

Them: yeah you don't have to buy a Pixel, there are other options

Me: Sweet, literally name ANY other smartphone that is purchasable in the US, made within the past 5 years, works with US carriers, and can ACTUALLY be flashed. Not theoretically, like actually you've done it, or seen someone with your own eyes do it.

Them: Oh, dunno the pixel is what I use and it works great.

Me: *facepalm*, literally my argument!

I just don't like that I have NO other option than to give Google money in software or hardware at some point. I just want the option to be different, don't like being told what to do XD

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Low Information Voter 1y ago

I am designing and planning to home-build my next phone. I think its the only way...

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ChipTuner 1y ago

I'm listening?!?

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Low Information Voter 1y ago

I need to keep the heat production down, way down, for the Australian summer. My Pixel powers off if I leave it on the passenger seat while I drive with aircon on, and its only late Spring. So that's a design constraint you probably won't have.

There are a bunch of dubious diy smartphones built around the RPi Zero, but the heat production is unacceptable for me, even though I could fix the hideous form factor.

So far I'm looking at hardware:

Cellular module (anything SIM7000-compatible should do)

e-Ink screen (4.3")

Mechanical i2c keyboard

LoRa module

Huge lipo pouch cell (slow boat waiting on for two months now)

1S BMS

Raspberry Pi Pico W

Remote server (or shell account) to run heavy apps

For the software, I've been collecting libraries.

Going to run Micropython and go bare metal for the native apps (sms, calls, email, terminal client, image viewer, TCP-IP and Reticulum) and run as much as possible on the server.

Will see!

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ChipTuner 1y ago

That's quite interesting, I'll be following along! If you make it OSS I'd love to contribute. I have prosumer PCB design, LoRa, and FSK firmware and driver code experience :) I spent a ton of time on power management for AVR's and the radios too. We had pretty strict constraints and LoRa radios can pull a ton of power.

e-ink will be interesting, simple i suppose.

How big is the lipo?

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Low Information Voter 1y ago

12mm x 60mm x 110mm. Claimed 10 Ah, but I'll be happy with half.

Overkill, probable mistake, and dominates the form factor decisions, but I do miss my Nokia 3210's battery life :p

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ChipTuner 1y ago

I have an off topic question. Funny enough I have like a dozen pic boards but haven't had a chance to play with them. I was reviewing the debug assembly for noscrypt and realized how much I missed writing firmware.

Question: do you have experience with a full or "commercial grade" simulation tool for the pico? I don't think they have debugging hardware, iirc it's software only. I've never heard complaints, but hobbyists aren't usually aware of commercial debugging equipment and software suites that people like Microchip and TI offer for their MCUs. I want to be able to see state for every instruction. Microchip has a generic simulation tool for each MCU series, so it's not perfect but it's so nice and fast to build with.

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Low Information Voter 1y ago

I don't, I'm afraid! Data / software background, but I'm learning :)

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ChipTuner 1y ago

Grrr, thank you! I'll keep looking. Something about fast dual core mcu with lots of memory is really appealing. I've never done multi core firmware before, which is why I purchased them!