Developer Lukas Hartman is showing off a prototype of the printed circuit board for the upcoming MNT Pocket Reform mini laptop with a 7 inch display and a modular, open hardware design. And speaking of modular miniatures, the reTerminal is a Raspberry Pi-based device with a 5 inch touch display and a modular design… except when it launched last year there weren’t any modules. Now the first has arrived, adding ports, storage, and other expansion options.
In other recent tech news from around the web, Steam support is coming to Chromebooks with 12th-gen Intel Core chips, Samsung’s next foldable phone could launch August 10th, and it looks like Microsoft will not be launching a cheaper version of its Surface Duo dual-screen phone. A prototype showed up on eBay last month, but Windows Central reports that while the device is real, Microsoft decided to scrap the project rather than bring it to market.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech news.
Microsoft appears to have been working on a cheaper version of the Surface Duo 2, code-named “Cronos.” The project has allegedly been canceled, but a prototype showed up on eBay last month. Specs included 2 screens, a mid-range chip, and a plastic body. https://t.co/GqLvFfKXRM
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
Steam gaming comes to Chromebooks with 12th-gen Intel Core processors. It’s still alpha and not widely available (and not all games work yet), but this marks an expansion. Previously Steam only officially supported Chromebooks with 11th-gen Intel chips. https://t.co/dPfktoUfCP
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
Samsung may be planning to launch is next foldable smartphone(s) on August 10th, according to this announcement leaked by @evleaks https://t.co/NqaHriTtFx
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
Amazon Prime Video’s new user interface looks nice, and the company says it’s “easier” to tell what’s included with a Prime membership and what’s available for purchase. But it’d be nice if you could just block stuff that you’d have to pay extra for. https://t.co/1O8y5AclUG
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
it’s real! pic.twitter.com/3thTIxX0hK
— lukas f. hartmann (@minut_e) July 18, 2022
This $109 expansion module for the Raspberry Pi-powered reTerminal touchscreen display adds a Gigabit Ethernet port with support for PoE, a 12V DC power input, batteries, a speaker, fan, more ports, and Mini PCIe and M.2 B key support for SSDs & modems. https://t.co/DVXnDtteMz
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
The latest version of the Linux-based operating system for smartphones adds support for the PinePhone Pro and Samsung Galaxy E7, updates the Megapixels camera app, and other improvements. https://t.co/X7Y9z5hFkH
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
here’s a demo and overview of the state of #Linux mainline on the #Pixel3 right now, I haven’t tested the modem but mobile data and SMS should work. It’ll be in @postmarketOS soon! pic.twitter.com/oUHVRaBoXW
— caleb (@calebccff) July 16, 2022
Intel’s desktop Arc graphics card lineup details leaked. It looks like the top tier A770 is a power-hungry 225W GPU meant to compete with NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti and AMD Radeon 6650 XT cards. https://t.co/Cscbug9Oer pic.twitter.com/oOkwdHeY2r
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) July 18, 2022
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The MNT Pocket Reform PCB looks interesting. I see an Raspberry Pi RP2040 chip on the board, I wonder what that’s for. Maybe it’s a microcontroller for an onboard USB device, like the keyboard?
Also, I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like there is a MicroSD reader in the centre of the board? Are they going to load the OS from an internal SD card?
That’s a SIM card slot. The microsd card slot is on the bottom in that picture.
Yeah that makes more sense, theres 3 pins visible, and a Sim card’s contact pins are 3 pins wide. I guess I just didn’t expect the device to have an LTE/5G modem