Google Chrome is the most widely used web browser in the world today. But back in December, 2000 Google wasn’t ready to launch its own web browser. So instead the company introduced Google Toolbar, which added a Google Search box and other features to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It was updated a number of times over […]
add-ons
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Lilbits: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra could kill the Galaxy Note
Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S22 Ultra might be the phone that fully replaces the Galaxy Note series in Samsung’s smartphone lineup. Not only does it support S-Pen input, but you can also store the pen inside the phone when you’re not using it, according to leaked real-world pictures. That was pretty much the last thing setting […]
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PinePhone news roundup (1-24-2021)
It’s been a busy week for PinePhone hardware and software developers. If you’ve been following LinuxSmartphone on Twitter you may have noticed that developers have made progress in making several different Linux distributions more usable, while other developers have been working to bring open source firmware to the PinePhone’s modem. The PinePhone KDE Community Edition […]
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PinePhone keyboard and wireless charging add-ons are on the way
One of the nifty things about the PinePhone is that there are a series of pogo pins hidden behind the back cover that make it possible to add new hardware to the phone. Individual hardware hackers have used those pins to add things like a thermal camera or a fingerprint reader. But, as revealed earlier […]
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PineEye is a DIY thermal camera add-on for the PinePhone
Pine64 is working on several official PinePhone accessories that add features like wireless charging, NFC, or a physical keyboard. But independent developers have also developed their own add-ons including a fingerprint reader and a 3D-printed keyboard. One of the newest DIY PinePhone add-on projects is a thermal imaging solution called PineEye. In a nutshell, PineEye […]
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Swappable PinePhone back covers will bring wireless charging, NFC, and a keyboard
There are a lot of interesting things about the PinePhone. At $150 it’s the most affordable smartphone designed to run free and open source operating systems. It gives you more privacy controls by letting you physically disable hardware you’re not using. And it supports add-on modules that can bring new features to the phone. Until […]
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Lilbits: Atari VCS is ready to ship, iPhone 12 is coming soon, and more
I know, I’m surprised too. But it looks like three years after it was first announced, two years after its name was changed, and more than a year after it was first supposed to ship, the Atari VCS is actually a real thing that’s about to ship to backers of a crowdfunding campaign. Designed to […]
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10 Comments on Firefox Daylight for Android brings a major design overhaul (and limited support for extensions)
Firefox Daylight for Android brings a major design overhaul (and limited support for extensions)
10 Comments on Firefox Daylight for Android brings a major design overhaul (and limited support for extensions)After beginning a rollout of a major new version of Firefox for Android in July, Mozilla has announced that the new app is now widely available in Europe, and coming to North American uses on August 27th. Technically, the new web browser is Firefox 79. But Mozilla is calling it “Firefox Daylight,” since it represents […]
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Essential releases second modular add-on for its phone (Audio Adapter HD)
A handful of phone makers have released models with support for modular add-ons in the past few years, with limited success. It’s unclear if modularity is going to continue to be a feature in the future… but it’s always nice when an existing device lives up to its promise. When Essential launched its first smartphone […]
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Essential Phone AMA reveals 3.5mm audio add-on in the works, kernel source and factory images coming soon
2 Comments on Essential Phone AMA reveals 3.5mm audio add-on in the works, kernel source and factory images coming soonThe Essential Phone PH-1 is the first smartphone from Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s new company Essential. So when Rubin and a group of colleagues from Essential took to Reddit to answer questions in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, it’s not surprising that people asked pretty specific questions about the phone and the decisions that […]