The UBPorts team is set to roll out the next update to Ubuntu Touch on May 12th. While Ubuntu Touch OTA-17 won’t have as many user-facing changes as some previous builds of the operating system, there are still some goodies baked in, particularly for folks with a couple of specific devices. For example, Ubuntu Touch […]
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Ubuntu Touch for the PinePhone is moving to a new kernel for better hardware support
Ubuntu Touch can run on dozens of smartphones that originally shipped with Android thanks to the Halium tool that allows the Linux distribution to communicate with the hardware in those phones using Android drivers. But if you’re running Ubuntu Touch on a PinePhone, you don’t need Halium since the phone supports mainline Linux kernels or […]
Lilbits: Chip shortage, Pebble smartwatch afterlife, and mining Bitcoin with a Game Boy
The global chip shortage is leading to product delays and price increases for a wide range of products including automobiles, game consoles, and single board computers. And it could continue through much of 2021, and possibly into next year or beyond. There are a number of factors contributing to the shortage – rising demand for […]
Ubuntu Touch port for the Fairphone 3 running Android 10
The Fairphone 3 is a smartphone manufactured using ethically-sourced materials when possible and designed to be repairable – the phone’s maker sells replacement parts and even a camera upgrade module that essentially turns the phone into a Fairphone 3+. While the Fairphone 3 ships with Android software, the bootloader is unlockable and you can install […]
Lilbits Leaks: Walmart’s Android TV stick, Qualcomm’s next-mid-range laptop CPU, Samsung’s Galaxy A phones
Walmart’s working on a media streamer powered by Google’s Android TV software. The company hasn’t actually announced the new product yet, but an FCC listing spilled the beans. Meanwhile Evan Blass has spilled the beans on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy A72 smartphone, Windows Future has spilled a few beans about Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon processor for mid-range […]
Ubuntu Touch OTA-16 released with improved browser, video recording, Android app support and more
The latest update to the Ubuntu Touch operating system for smartphones and tablets is here, and it’s a big update, with changes to more than a third of all binary packages in the operating system. With official releases available for 26 different phones and tablets, Ubuntu Touch OTA-16 includes a number of updates to core features of […]
Open Source phone news roundup: FreeBSD, Google-free Android, and Ubuntu Touch
The next version of Ubuntu Touch is scheduled to launch on March 10, and the folks at UBPorts are looing for testers willing to check out the latest features, bug fixes, and more. The developers of the ExpidusOS smartphone Linux distribution that uses the Xfce desktop environment have outlined a roadmap for the next six […]
Lilbits: Color E Ink, Huawei’s new laptops, more trouble for Huawei, and Linux phones
The upcoming Astro Slide 5G from Planet Computers is a smartphone with a 6.5 inch touchscreen display and a slide-out keyboard that lets you use it like a little laptop. First announced last year, the phone has been available for pre-order through crowdfunding and we learned last week that it’s now expected to ship in June. […]
There’s a new Manjaro ARM Lomiri dev build for the PinePhone
Manjaro is one of the most popular desktop Linux operating systems, and it’s increasingly becoming one of the most versatile GNU/Linux distributions for smartphones as well. The PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition smartphone that shipped a few months ago came with Manjaro ARM software featuring the phosh user interface pre-installed. The PinePhone KDE Community Edition phone […]
Lilbits: Cross platform edition (Stadia on iOS, Apple TV on Chromecast, HBO Max on Roku)
Apple doesn’t let developer submit apps to the App Store if they effectively include their own app store… and that means game streaming services like Stadia, Luna, GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming need not apply. But there’s an alternate path to streaming games on iPhones and iPads: the web browser. Amazon’s Luna game streaming […]