Sometimes I like to tweet links to well written articles on other tech news sites rather than re-write the news for Liliputing. And sometimes I like to roundup some of those recent Tweets into a blog post so that folks who don’t follow us on Twitter or Facebook don’t feel left out. With that in […]
Purism’s Librem 5 Linux smartphone getting a price hike in 2020 (also Purism sells servers now)
Purism got its start by selling laptops loaded with free and open source Linux-based software with an emphasis on privacy and security features. This year the company expanded into the smartphone space with the introduction of the Librem 5 smartphone (which recently started shipping in small quantities). Now the company is moving into new territory […]
Purism Librem 5 USA is a made-in-America version of the Linux smartphone (for nearly 3X the price)
Purism’s Librem 5 is a Linux smartphone that ships with PureOS, a GNU/Linux-based operating system with a user interface based on GNOME. That alone would probably be enough to make the phone stand out — but Purism is also emphasizing its privacy and security features including hardware kill switches that can disconnect the wireless components, […]
Purism Librem 5 Linux smartphone user reviews starting to come in (it’s a mixed, if optimistic bag)
The Librem 5 is the first smartphone from Linux laptop maker Purism. First announced more than two years ago, the Librem 5 still isn’t quite ready for prime time. But folks willing to pay $699 for pre-production hardware have started to receive devices from the Librem 5 Birch batch that began shipping last week. That means […]
PinePhone smartphone can run desktop Linux apps, also makes phone calls
The PinePhone is a $150 smartphone designed to run free and open source software. For the most part that probably means users will run Linux-based operating systems that have been optimized for mobile devices, like PostmartketOS, Ubuntu Touch, or KDE Plasma Mobile. But since the PinePhone is basically a cheap, low-power Linux computer, it can […]
Purism starts shipping the Librem 5 smartphone (Linux-based, privacy-focused phone)
Purism, a company best known for selling laptops that run free and open source, Linux-based software, is now shipping its first smartphone. The Purism Librem 5 phone has been under development for several years, and it’s still a bit of a work in progress. The first set of phones to ship are part of the […]
First batch of Purism Librem 5 Linux smartphones ships in late September
The Purism Librem 5 is a smartphone designed to run free and open source, Linux-based software and offer privacy and security features including hardware kill switches for disabling the wireless components, camera, and microphone. It’s been under development for several years, and it’s finally set to begin shipping soon. Purism has been promising to deliver […]
Purism finalizes specs for the Librem 5 Linux smartphone (shipping in Q3, 2019)
Linux laptop company Purism is getting ready to ship its first Linux smartphone. The Purism Librem 5 was first announced in mid-2017, raised over $1.5 million through a crowdfunding campaign a few months later, and has been under development ever since. But some details have been in flux. Now that Purism says the phone is […]
Purism’s upcoming Librem 5 Linux phone inches closer to being able to do what phones do
The upcoming Librem 5 smartphone doesn’t have the fastest processor, the most RAM, the highest-res display, the most cameras, or any of the other superlatives that phone makers are using to one-up each other these days. But what it does have going for it is an emphasis on privacy, security, and open source software. Purism […]
Purism’s Librem 5 smartphone’s Lockdown Mode will shut off all sensors
Purim’s upcoming Librem 5 smartphone has two key selling points. First, it will ship with free and open source GNU/Linux software featuring as little proprietary code as possible. And second, it features three hardware hardware kill switches that can disconnect: The mic and cameras WiFi and Bluetooth Cellular baseband In other words, it’s a phone […]
Purism Librem 5 Linux phone release date pushed back to Q3, 2019
There are a couple of efforts underway to develop smartphones that run GNU/Linux software. But Purism’s Librem 5 might be the most ambitious. It’s been under development for a few years, the company raised more than $1.5 million for the project during a crowdfunding campaign in 2017, and Purism started sending out development kits a […]
Lilbits 347: Xposed Framework for Android Pie (unofficial)
While I was kind of excited this week to see that it’s possible to unlock the bootloader and root the latest Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet, that’s because the Fire tablet lineup is unusual: they’re dirt cheap, Android-based tablets that run a highly customized version of Android that’s not to everyone’s tastes. Hacking them to […]
