Congratulations are in order–we are so proud to say that Nicole Faerber just got nominated to the short-list of such a meaningful award. Nicole’s nomination means a lot to Purism, and we are here today to say just so.

She totally deserves this nomination (and, if we may say so ourselves, she’d also deserve to get the award…) for oh-so-many reasons:

• for her amazingly innovative work on our upcoming Librem 5 smartphone
• for her concerns about privacy and security and avoiding data and user exploitation
• and of course her assertive presence in the free software community, where she contributes to making free software an industry standard… helping the rest of the world take its possibilities seriously.

So thank you, Nicole Faerber for all that you do!

“Women have been an important part in creating the very foundations of modern IT, naming Ada Lovelace as just one example (here and here are some more), and have ever since played an important role in IT and computer science.” – Nicole

Women in technology are clearly not represented enough: they amounted to somewhere between 2% and 5% of all programmers a decade ago, and about 10% now. At Purism, we pride ourselves on being gender diverse, in addition to being racially and geographically diverse. Our full team is comprised of 20+% women (with women accounting for 37+% of our board, and 33+% of Purism executives) and we continue to work to increase that percentage. Diversity is an asset, and creates safe workplace environments. If you want a safe workplace environment that respects diversity, we are hiring.

The post Nicole Faerber nominated for “CTO of the Year” by Women in IT Awards appeared first on Purism.

Librem 5

Display : 5.7″ IPS TFT screen @ 720×1440
Processor: i.MX8M (Quad Core) max. 1.5GHz
Memory: 3GB RAM
Storage: 32 GB eMMC internal storage
External Storage: microSD storage expansion
Wireless: 802.11abgn 2.4 Ghz / 5Ghz + Bluetooth 4
Baseband: Gemalto PLS8 3G/4G modem w/ single SIM on replaceable M.2 card
GPS: Teseo LIV3F GNSS
Smartcard: Reader with 2FF card slot (SIM card size)
Sound: 1 earpiece speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
Accelerometer: 9-axis IMU (gyro, accel, compass)
Front Camera: 8 MPixel
Back Camera: 13 MPixel w/LED flash
Vibration motor: Included
USB Type C: USB 3.0 data, Charging (Dual-Role Port), Video out
Battery: User replaceable – 3,500 mAh

You can pre-order the Librem 5 for the early bird discounted price of $649 — with the price going up $50 after July 31st.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the Librem 5 hardware and specific components included:

CPU i.MX8M @ max. 1.5GHz

• Quad core Cortex A53, 64bit ARM
• GPU: Vivante GC7000Lite (hardware supports OpenGL/ES 3.1, Vulkan, OpenCL 1.2)
• Auxiliary Cortex M4

RAM:

• 3GB RAM

Storage:

• Internal 32GB eMMC
• microSD storage expansion slot (max 2 TB)

Display:

• 5.7″ IPS TFT screen @ 720×1440

3 Hardware Kill Switches:

• WiFi / Bluetooth
• Cellular Baseband
• Cameras & microphone
• All 3 off = additionally disable IMU+compass & GNSS, ambient light and proximity sensors

Other Buttons:

• Power button, Volume ± buttons

Battery:

• 3,500mAh, user replaceable

Wireless:

• 802.11abgn 2.4 Ghz / 5Ghz + Bluetooth 4

Baseband:

• Option 1: Gemalto PLS8 3G/4G modem w/ single SIM on replaceable M.2 card
• Option 2: Broadmobi BM818 (made in China)
• nanoSIM tray for cellular

GPS:

• Teseo LIV3F GNSS

Cameras:

• Rear camera @ 13 MPixel
• Camera flash LED for rear camera
• Front camera @ 8 MPixel

USB Type-C Port:

• USB3.0 data
• Power Delivery (Dual-Role Port)
• Video out

Audio:

• 1 earpiece speaker + digital microphone
• 3.5mm headphone jack with stereo out and mono microphone input
• Audio DAC: Wolfson Media WM8962
• 1 loudspeaker

Smartcard:

• Reader with 2FF card slot (SIM card size)

Notification Lights:

• RGB LED with PWM control per color

Other Sensors, Components:

• Acceleration, gyro and compass sensor (“9-axis” by ST, LSM9DS1)
• Ambient light and proximity sensor: VCNL4040
• Haptic motor

The post Librem 5 Smartphone – Final Specs Announced appeared first on Purism.

If you’ve missed any of the previous videos, check out parts One, Two, and Three to get all caught up — then enjoy the 8 videos below (ranging from a music player to running the Apache Web Server right on the Librem 5).  And you better believe we’ve got more on the way.  A lot more.

If you pre-order the Librem 5 before July 31st, you save $50.

Day 21 – Music Player (also on YouTube)

Day 22 – DOSBox (also on YouTube)

Day 23 – GNOME Disk Utility (also on YouTube)

Day 24 – July Librem 5 Update (also on YouTube)

Day 25 – Image Viewer (also on YouTube)

Day 26 – Apache Web Server (also on YouTube)

Day 27 – GNOME File Open Dialog (also on YouTube)

Day 28 – GNOME Help Viewer (also on YouTube)

The post Runs on the Librem 5 Smartphone – Round 4 appeared first on Purism.

And we’re not done.  Because, holy smokes, do we have a lot more to show.  And, let’s be honest, these are just plain fun.  Daily videos kick back off tomorrow (July 11th) with video number 21.

You can enjoy Days 15 through 20 below — and Days 1 through 14 in the Week 1 and 2 posts.

If you pre-order the Librem 5 before July 31st, you save $50.

Day 15 – Cryptocurrency Tracker (also on YouTube)

Day 16 – Something a little different… (also on YouTube)

Day 17 – GNOME Contacts (also on YouTube)

Day 18 – Telnet (also on YouTube)

Day 19 – Sudo (also on YouTube)

Day 20 – PureOS Store (also on YouTube)

The post Runs on the Librem 5 Smartphone – Week 3 appeared first on Purism.

Below you’ll find the software for Week 2 (days 8 through 14) — from Emacs to Torrents to Games.

Side note: If you pre-order the Librem 5 before July 31st, you save $50.

Day 8 – GNOME Clocks (also on YouTube)

Day 9 – Emacs (also on YouTube)

Day 10 – Password Safe (also on YouTube)

Day 11 – OpenTTD (also on YouTube)

Day 12 – GNOME Podcasts (also on YouTube)

Day 13 – Fragments Torrent Client (also on YouTube)

Day 14 – Drawing (also on YouTube)

The post Runs on the Librem 5 Smartphone – Week 2 appeared first on Purism.

Below is the first week worth–Solitaire, web browser, system tools, note taking… just all over the map. Some of these are mobile optimized applications. Others are desktop Linux applications, running unmodified on Librem 5 development kit hardware.

What will the next week hold? Which applications and games will we take a look at over the coming week? Who knows! (Well. I do. But I’m not telling.)

Side note: If you pre-order the Librem 5 before July 31st, you save $50. And fifty bucks is fifty bucks.

Day 1 – Solitaire (also on YouTube)

Day 2 – Gedit and Apt (also on YouTube)

Day 3 – Web Browser (also on YouTube)

Day 4 – GNOME Calculator (also on YouTube)

Day 5 – GNOME Dictionary (also on YouTube)

Day 6 – Evince Document Reader (also on YouTube)

Day 7 – Annotated Note Taking with Xournal (also on YouTube)

The post Runs on the Librem 5 Smartphone – Week 1 appeared first on Purism.

We put the Librem 5 dev kit next to an HTC One, both powered completely off, then pushed the power buttons at the same time.

The result… it wasn’t even close.  I almost feel bad for Android.  Almost.

(You can also watch this over on YouTube.)

I mean, sure.  “Boot speed” certainly isn’t the end-all, be-all of performance.  In fact, it may not even be in a “Top 10 Important Performance Metrics.”  But it gives a good indicator of what’s possible with the system — and what to expect.  Add to it, the fact that this was done without any boot speed optimizations at all?  Downright exciting.

The Librem 5 smartphone is schedule to begin shipping in Q3 of 2019.  Stay tuned to this blog — or follow Purism on Librem One or Twitter — for updates and details.

Also worth noting: You can pre-order the Librem 5 now for $649.  That price goes up at the end of July.  So if you want the lower price, now’s the time.

The post Librem 5 vs Android — Which boots faster? appeared first on Purism.