[Chicago] WiPhone, a phone you can program in Python

[Rob Kapteyn]

Hi Randy, good to "see" you too.  You back in Texas ?

I do not have a Makerphone yet.
The people making it are young and in Croatia.
They seem to have their act together, but they have been swamped by the
huge response they got when it started in November.
It seems like lots of people are interested in a cellphone that does only
what you want, and can't be easily hacked to spy on you ;)

Their FAQ page answers most of those questions:
makerphone faqs
<https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/albertgajsak/makerphone-an-educational-diy-mobile-phone/faqs>

I don't know how US carriers will deal with the lack of 911 location, etc.

I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm not sure when I'll have time to
mess with it.

- Rob


On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 9:43 PM Randy Baxley <randy7771026 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Good to 'see' you Rob.
>
> This thread is very interesting to me.  Would service providers like AT&T
> still provide a SIM card and standard plans?
>
> Randy
>
> On Sat, Apr 20, 2019 at 7:56 PM Rob Kapteyn <robkapteyn at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I am actually a backer on a similar Kickstarter, a phone that DOES come
>> with a cellular modem (either 2G or 4G):
>>
>>
>> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/albertgajsak/makerphone-an-educational-diy-mobile-phone
>>
>> I am still waiting for it, but it is supposed to ship any day now.
>>
>> I do have a complaint however  ---
>> DO NOT ADVERTISE "MICROPYTHON" as "PYTHON"  -- it is not the same thing.
>> Micropython is a very nice way to program an ESP32 microcontroller -- but
>> -- to me -- the name "Python" implies a level of of-the-shelf functionality
>> that Micropython simply does not have.
>>
>> I have to admit when I jumped on the Kickstarter of the Makerphone, I was
>> misled in exactly this way.
>>
>> Why don't you make a phone with a Raspberry Pi Zero ?
>> THAT would run REAL PYTHON, and THAT I would jump on as a backer.
>>
>> Hope you appreciate the criticism ;)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Apr 14, 2019 at 11:32 PM Joshua Herman <zitterbewegung at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Could you add support for a cellular modem from that expansion slot?
>>>
>>> You are taking an esp32 and adding a keypad and a screen . I would be
>>> expecting a cellular modem to be honest as a part of it. I have seen
>>> similar builds with that feature . Why did you decide to only support WiFi ?
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Apr 14, 2019, at 11:14 AM, Ben Wilson <ben at wiphone.io> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hey all... I'm making a VoIP mobile phone that runs Python apps. The
>>> firmware will be open. Wanted to share and get the word out.
>>>
>>> I wanted a phone that lets hackers do what they want (instead of
>>> trapping you in a walled garden, huge IDE, non-serviceable design, etc.).
>>> The hardware is also meant to be easily expandable: the back of the phone
>>> is a PCB that can be swapped out for custom modules. Sort of like project
>>> Ara, except it's just a PCB. any hobby-level electrical designer should be
>>> able to make their own custom module.
>>>
>>> Kickstarter link:
>>>
>>> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/wiphone-a-phone-for-hackers-and-makers?ref=1jz5jk
>>> <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2103809433/wiphone-a-phone-for-hackers-and-makers/>
>>>
>>> recent Reddit discussion:
>>>
>>> https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/bagyxv/wiphone_a_phone_you_can_program_in_python/project
>>>
>>> build logs: https://hackaday.io/project/159811-esp32-wiphone
>>>
>>> Happy to answer questions here or on Reddit.
>>>
>>> -Ben
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Chicago mailing list
>>> Chicago at python.org
>>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Chicago mailing list
>>> Chicago at python.org
>>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chicago mailing list
>> Chicago at python.org
>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Chicago mailing list
> Chicago at python.org
> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/chicago/attachments/20190420/657048fa/attachment.html>