Librem 5 Hardware Update

Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by eptcyka on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @10:03AM (#19026819)

My current question is - will there be silicon cases and tempered glass screen protectors available? I've pre-ordered, and I don't expect the sturdiest build quality, so I'd want to have some tools to protect agianst it. I'm not meaning any offense towards Purism and their craftsmanship, it's just that the first iterations of projects like these have more important things to optimize for than hamfist-compatibility.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by bunnycorn on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @10:19AM (#19026972)

For glass, it's different, but if it's glass, you can always cut from a bigger glass.

For cases, 3D print one, for comfortably less than 200€ you can get a Open-Source Hardware Certified Ender 3, and that's with DHL shipping already.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by benj111 on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @01:07PM (#19028460)

You can't cut tempered glass, you can cut then temper though thats not really a diy option.

Laminated glass is an option.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by bunnycorn on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @01:29PM (#19028686)

Didn't knew, thanks.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by gh02t on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @02:43PM (#19029229)

Phone cases printed from regular plastic aren't that great in my experience, you really need to use plastic with some flex (like TPU). The Ender 3 can print flexible filaments to some degree, but it's not very good at it without some significant modifications to constrain the filament path.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by tivert on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @01:42PM (#19028807)

> For cases, 3D print one,

I know someone who 3D-printed a phone case with a consumer printer he got for Christmas, and it fell apart within a few days.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by penagwin on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @02:44PM (#19029241)

As a hobbyist that built my own printer I assure you he could've printed it at a better quality then that. Prints can vary wildly in quality, and the price of the machine is largely irreverent (1000$ printers can easily match a 10,000 $ in quality in many cases). He may not've had the most optimal settings for the print.

That said I don't think 3D printing phone cases is worth doing for any reason other then the cool factor. I'd expect 3rd parties to start selling cases for it fairly quickly, there just might not be a huge range of colors/options/prices

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by bunnycorn on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @02:54PM (#19029308)

> I know someone who 3D-printed a phone case with a consumer printer he got for Christmas, and it fell apart within a few days.

Then that's his fault, because millions of people made durable flexible material things with their consumer 3D printers.

A bad workman always blames his tools...

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by fest on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @12:41PM (#19028225)

My biggest worry would be that they don't seem to have chosen a modem for the phone.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by trumped on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @01:38PM (#19028772)

they can't find an open modem? that would not surprise me....

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by oosjc9a5 on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @12:52PM (#19028321)

Unless you're worrying that they will be shipping without a modem... what's the problem?

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by fest on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @02:51PM (#19029291)

It's just that I have seen projects delay making an important decision by rationalizing that there is not enough information and that the decision can be made later.

Then it turns out that the vital piece which fits the requirements does not exist at all (or does not exist for small time customer), or is incompatible with the architecture which has a lot of resources invested in.

Not saying that this will be what happens and most likely Librem team are already well aware of this risk, but it is certainly a possibility.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by jamiek88 on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @03:27PM (#19029529)

Yes, just on power evelope alone so many unknowns that could influence other parts of a ‘done’ design.

I wish them well but I’m sceptical. Still, it would be great to be surprised.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by flukus on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @07:21PM (#19031352)

The problem is not knowing if it will work in my region and on my network. It's a rather big caveat for something with open preorders.

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by calvinmorrison on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @05:42PM (#19030579)

Based on playing with my little adafruit cell chip I have, I can talk to it pretty simply by sending it standard modem commands. I don't know how this exactly lines up with a more modern phone but it's pretty cool. You could theoretically talk to it with something like this too

https://geoffg.net/terminal.html

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by 153791098c on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @01:19PM (#19028586)

I hope they are able to create a free RIL for whatever modem they choose (in time).

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Re:Librem 5 Hardware Update by seba_dos1 on Thursday January 31, 2019 @09:21PM (#19051059)

That's actually not a big deal, as there are already multiple to choose from. FSO, oFono, ModemManager, and even more if you count ones from Openmoko times. Most of them should work with a module like PLS8 with minimal or no modifications.

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