The list of companies jumping on the Apple Silicon bandwagon is growing. Google just released a version of Chrome for Apple’s new computers with M1 processors, and Mozilla is developing a version of Firefox that will support the new chips as well. Meanwhile, Adobe’s recent move to release a beta version of Photoshop for both […]
purism
Purism’s Librem 5 Linux smartphone is now shipping
Purism’s first smartphone is now shipping. The Librem 5 is a smartphone with a 5.7 inch display, an NXP i.MX8M quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 4,500 mAh battery. It’s also one of only a handful of smartphones designed to ship with a GNU/Linux distribution rather than Android or iOS. The […]
Purism upgrades the Librem 5 Linux phone battery to 4,500 mAh ahead of shipping
Mass production of Purism’s Librem 5 Linux smartphone is underway and the company expects to begin shipping phones to customers later this month or in early December. While Purism had already shipped a small quantity of pre-production units to early backers, the phones about to head out the door are part of the company’s “Evergreen” […]
Lilbits: Linux laptops, RISC-V hardware, and a ransomware attack (maybe)
Purism has been selling laptops designed to emphasize privacy and software freedom for a few years. But the company’s new Purism Librem 14 is the first of its Linux laptops to feature a 14 inch display. The laptop went up for pre-order in July, but it’s taken Purism a while to get all the necessary components […]
Lilbits: Deeper dives into Intel’s discrete GPU, Raspberry Pi’s PC-in-a-keyboard
Over the weekend Intel officially introduced its new discrete graphics solution for laptops. The first notebook with an Intel Iris Xe MAX GPU is now available for purchase, and at least two more are on the way in the coming months. But the GPU is based on the same Intel Iris Xe technology Intel uses […]
Librem 5 Linux phone mass production begins, shipments start mid-November
Purism’s Librem 5 Linux smartphone is set to begin shipping in mid-November. The company has announced that mass production is underway, and the first customers could start receiving phones by the end of the month. The Librem 5 has been under development for several years. It was one of the first modern Linux smartphones to […]
Librem Mini v2 is a little Linux PC with Intel Comet Lake
Purism’s Librem Mini is a small desktop computer that ships with the Linux-based PureOS operating system pre-installed. When the computer began shipping earlier this year, it was powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U Whiskey Lake processor. Now Purism has introduced the Librem Mini version 2 which has an Intel Core i7-10501U Comet Lake processor instead. It’s […]
Lilbits: Microsoft’s app store, Google’s 5G network, and Fedora for phones
Apple and Google have been taking a lot of heat for their app store policies recently, with developers bristling at the companies’ insistence that apps distributed through their respective stores follow very tight restrictions that many see as anti-competitive. Microsoft, meanwhile, also has an app store. You probably don’t use it very much, and developers have […]
Purism’s Fund Your App asks what apps you’d like on the Librem 5 (and if you’ll donate to get them)
There are thousands of Linux applications that can run on Linux smartphones like the Purism Librem 5. The problem is that most of them are desktop applications that aren’t really optimized for devices with small touchscreen displays and cellular capabilities. Want to run mobile-first apps like WhatsApp? Then you might need a tool like Anbox […]
Lilbits: PinePhone unboxing, Purism launches an MVNO, and more Pixel and Chromecast details
The PinePhone is one of the first smartphones designed specifically for open source software enthusiasts. It’s an affordable phone with a starting price of $150 that ships with a GNU/Linux distribution pre-installed, but which can also boot from a microSD card if you want to try a different operating system (or 13) before deciding whether […]