Tag: Product or service launch

Inventory shipping in June 2017: case designs and final assembly

For the past few weeks, the new Librem 13 and 15 have been undergoing stage 1 production with our case modifications and silkscreening. We had some back and forth between us and the printer to finally have clearly identified killswitches:

…and our certification marks and model identification on the underside:

At first the screenprinters had trouble with the font we’re using (as you can see above, if you have a keen eye), but we got that corrected as you can see further below. We were not so lucky with the keyboard’s “Purism logo” key as the aspect ratio was squashed a little bit by the backlit keyboard supplier and we found out too late, but at this stage the #1 priority is getting these machines delivered to you as fast as possible, so we’re hoping you don’t mind the Purism rectangle logo being in “ultra-wide” cinema format just this once 😉

As the laptops are now at stage 2 production, we have some teaser photos of the completed case work. These were shot a bit hurriedly, the lighting and compression is not flattering, but this at least provides a rough idea. We’ll take the time to shoot proper studio photos when the first new wave of shipments is mailed out in June.

Here is what the underside of the Librem 13 looks like:

Here are the silkscreened killswitch labels:

Note: the IPS display panels we source for the Librems are matte (as they should be!) The reason why the screen in the picture above seems reflective is that a glossy protective film is applied to protect the laptops during shipping.

For the curious among you, here is a bare view of the case’s interior, with only the multitouch trackpad and backlit keyboard (underneath the black electrical isolating layer) installed:

With this, we are confident that we will be able to begin shipping out finalized units to customers in roughly two weeks. Afterwards, we will have stock on hand allowing new orders to be fulfilled within a week. If you were reluctant to preorder and were were waiting for the presence of rapidly-shipping stock to purchase a Librem, this will be a deal changer for you.

Spring 2017 product design update and operations report

Let’s recap recent progress with a summary of where we stand and where we’re going next on the “operations” front.

We have begun production of the two new revisions of Librem laptops. As we narrowed down on component choices and successfully raised additional funds, we have now made great steps towards our “zero outstanding orders” milestone and our goal of creating our first inventory to ship future orders from.

  • Last month, we ordered a batch of supplies to begin production of the new Librem 13 “v2” units. We have also tested and evaluated three prototype units, the latest of which we will use to extend our coreboot work.
  • Two weeks ago, we also ordered parts for the new Librem 15 “v3” units. So far we have evaluated one prototype unit for this new batch (which will also be used for our coreboot work), and will evaluate a second one soon.
  • We are currently working to leverage investment to make the Librem 11 batch order happen sooner and create an inventory directly; we will let you know of any progress on that front. In the meantime, we thank you for your patience. And please spread the word about the Librem 11 to those around you looking for a nice security-oriented and freedom-respecting convertible tablet with stylus support (especially interesting for visual artists who want to use the plethora of free creative tools such as MyPaint, Krita, Inkscape, GIMP, etc.)! The more people know about it, the sooner we should be able to put it into production.

Revised products specifications

For the upcoming Librem 13 v2 and the Librem 15 v3, we evaluated various prototypes, including different cases and keyboard models, alongside various possible CPU, GPU, RAM and storage combinations. With the newer motherboards, we aimed to keep the same flexibility in terms of storage: one M.2 slot and one standard SATA slot. As usual, the RAM and SSDs are all user-replaceable, not soldered.

The Librem 13 gets a whole slew of improvements for version 2:

  • A newer i5 processor, using the 14 nanometers lithography of the Skylake generation, bringing additional performance and power savings over previous generations
  • A backlit keyboard (the most often requested feature)
  • Newer Intel graphics as part of the Skylake chipset
  • DDR4 memory
  • One USB 3.0 “type C” connector
  • A much better trackpad (sourced from Elantech instead of BYD), which works better out of the box. It supports vertical and horizontal two-finger scrolling, allows changing workspaces with a simple four-finger swipe gesture, has smoother scrolling, and various multitouch gestures (dependent on applications support).

Those who have ordered the Librem 15 also get the free update to Skylake, newer graphics, DDR4, and improved trackpad. The Librem 15 already had a backlit keyboard and USB-C.

As you can see, when you pre-order a Purism device, you don’t need to worry about the specs becoming outdated by the time of production & delivery. For all our products, we strike a balance as per our manufacturing & sourcing approach, yet strive to stay close to the latest technology out there. We aim to please our supporters by bundling these updates at no additional cost whenever possible.

Upgrading from the Broadwell microarchitecture for this round, we chose to go with Skylake (rather than Kabylake) in order to service orders more quickly without bringing on delays in supplies or testing. To provide the best user experience, we prefer to test more thoroughly before moving on to a new chipset (for instance, we’ll be able to provide coreboot support more quickly with Skylake as part of our current roadmap). We expect to upgrade the chipsets/microachitecture again for the next production run (planned for the second half of 2017 once we complete this batch), which will involve a revised motherboard design, as we will also be adding new hardware features in prevision of full support for Heads.

The power of the Dark Side comes as a duo

We chose to keep the same overall chassis, although the location of Librem 15’s killswitches will be different this time (all on the hinge cover, like the Librem 13).

A notable aesthetic improvement for the Librem 15 v3 is that it will be anodized black just like the Librem 13. The temptation of the Dark Side was strong! Here you can see an anodized aluminium extrusion sample of the Librem 15 v3, next to an existing Librem 13 v1:

As we are beginning to have quite a bit of hardware revisions and models to keep track of, the laptops will now also feature some subtle branding underneath the backplate for model identification and to show the appropriate certification marks (we are FCC and CE certified). The publicly visible parts such as the screen bezel, palmrests, or the back of the screen lid, all remain unbranded.

Better power connectors

We are now sourcing power supplies with L-shaped coaxial connectors, so they keep a low profile when plugged into the side of your Librem:

This is particularly useful if you like to sit cross-legged with your laptop on a sofa, for example! (or for those who like to meditate with a computer on their lap)

Wrapping up

We are well on our way to provide a great new set of laptops this summer. We should be receiving the final components around the end of May, at which point we will do the final assembly and shipping throughout June. We will then be able to celebrate having cleared all the existing Librem 13 and 15 orders (including the recent big spike in orders). After that point, we will be able to ship within days and weeks (not months), which will be a huge relief for everybody looking to buy a Librem “in a pinch”. We hope you’re as excited as we are about that!

As always, thank you for your support, and feel free to contact us with your thoughts and encouragements, or to spread the good news around you!

Edit: post updated to reflect the processor models available as of June 2017. For the time being, the Librem 13 will still feature an i5 processor instead of the i7, albeit with the newer Skylake chipset.

New Librem 13 version to be manufactured & shipped through Spring 2017

True to the promise we have made last month, we are thrilled to announce that today, February 15th, 2017, we are placing orders throughout our supply chain for all components needed for the Librem 13 v2 to begin shipping-from-inventory in April-May onwards! This comes after months of efforts to:

  • upgrade parts of our supply chain, case, backlit keyboard, kill switches, and battery;
  • close investment to place a large-enough order that we can have inventory to ship directly from.

This is a critical step. Future Librem 13 orders, from May onwards, will only take days to fulfill. Incrementally throughout 2017, this will become the way we fulfill orders for all our existing products. Read more

Purism Unveils the First Computer Built to Respect and Protect Digital Privacy

World’s first notebook computer with “privacy switches” — ensuring the camera, microphone, wireless, and Bluetooth data connections are completely turned off. Every hardware feature and software application specifically selected to respect and protect your privacy, security and freedom.

New York, New York — June 18, 2015 — Answering the public’s need for a high-end computer built from the ground up respecting users’ digital privacy, security, and freedom, Purism, Inc., a San Francisco-based hardware maker, today will release the Librem 13 — the world’s first notebook computer with every feature and application designed specifically for security and privacy.

The private notebook computer will be revealed on June 18th, 2015, at 6 pm EST at the Digital Experience, a press-only event in New York City at the Metropolitan Pavilion. The Librem 13 can be preordered starting today on Crowd Supply at crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-13/ The “earliest bird” price is $1,449.

This sleek 13.3” laptop has features never before seen in computing—hardware “privacy switches” to turn off the camera, microphone, WiFi, and Bluetooth, to prevent hackers, snoops, stalkers or data thieves from compromising your privacy.

Innovative slider toggle switches, placed near the Librem’s hinge, ensure that the electrical circuits for Bluetooth, wireless, camera and microphone are physically severed. The hardware “kill switches” prevent digital adversaries from eavesdropping using the microphone or accessing the camera remotely. The switches also as sever the radio and networked connections, removing the possibility of remote access.

THE FIRST CONSUMER-FRIENDLY PRIVACY LAPTOP

The Librem is built chip-by-chip and line-by-line to respect privacy and protect security. Consumer friendly, it is private from the moment you turn it on — there are no additional software applications, downloads or accessories needed.

Unlike ordinary computers, with the Librem, there are no “backdoors” or “mystery code” in the hardware, kernel, operating system or software. These vulnerabilities, present in other computers, enable a hacker or intruder to steal data.

“With massive data breaches of users’ private financial information happening almost daily, we cannot afford to trust our most personal data to ordinary computers anymore. This is why we created the Librem, the first truly private personal computer, to protect and respect users’ rights to privacy, security and freedom,” says Purism CEO Todd Weaver.

The Librem 13 is endorsed by notable security and privacy experts, including Jacob Appelbaum, who joined the company this week as a technical advisor. Appelbaum will be analyzing security threats, communicating trends, and championing needs for users. Appelbaum, who was a core developer of Tor, an anonymous browsing protocol, is an internationally-recognized privacy crusader.

THREATS THE LIBREM COULD PREVENT

The following examples of data theft and security breaches from the past year illustrate potential security threats Librem computers can prevent:

  • Corporate data exploitation: “Superfish” pre-installed man-in-the-middle malware, where all secure communications were intercepted, including user’s bank login credentials.
  • Social media data theft: Over 2 million Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter accounts were intercepted from keylogger malware.
  • Spying and stalking: There have been numerous reports of stalkers remotely activating user’s microphone, webcam, or recording VoIP services, such as Skype calls.
  • Backdoors: “Backdoors” (or proprietary code for which no security experts can verify the source code) are built into competitor’s software and operating systems.
  • Data-mining: Third-party trackers and ad trackers gather personal information about users’ browsing habits, often selling the information.
  • Ransomware: Malware such as CryptoLocker and CryptoWall encrypt the users’ drives, forcing them to pay for a decryption key to retrieve their data.

Antivirus applications do not prevent these threats. While these examples are recent, there may be more threats in the future that could be prevented using a Librem private computer.

SECURE HARDWARE WITH “PRIVACY SWITCHES”

Hardware switches, cleverly located on the Librem 13 laptop’s hinge cover, enable a user to completely turn off the camera, microphone, Bluetooth, and wireless ensuring total privacy.

On ordinary computers, these features are turned off with software. Therefore, an adversary can remotely turn on these software features enabling remote access to a users’ microphone and camera. On the Librem 13, however, the user simply toggles one or both of the hardware “kill switches,” severing the electrical circuit, rendering the laptop truly off the grid.

Highlights include:

  • Ultra-thin aluminum case with stylish dark anodized finish
  • Intel 5th Generation CPU
  • Up to 16GB of Memory
  • Matte screen display
  • Large multitouch trackpad
  • Sturdy reinforced metal hinge
  • Hardware “Privacy Switches” to turn off camera, microphone, wireless, and Bluetooth
  • Wired networking, with a pop-down RJ45 network jack
  • “Purism Key” for one touch search of all documents

PURISM’S CUSTOM OPERATING SYSTEM, PureOS, PROVIDES SECURE SOFTWARE

Purism’s own PureOS is a secure, consumer-friendly GNU/Linux-based operating system built using entirely free/Libre and open source software. PureOS ships with hundreds of free software applications, all respecting users’ rights to privacy, security, and freedom.

PureOS also pre-installs LibreOffice, a Free/Libre and Open Source (FLOSS) office suite, including spreadsheet, word processor, and drawing programs. These programs are file format compatible with Microsoft Office, ensuring users will work productively with office files from Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, as well as Adobe PDF files.

PureBrowser is provided within PureOS. A completely secure and private web browser, based on the Firefox browser, it includes the private Tor browser.

NO “MYSTERY CODE”

The Librem 13 ships without “mystery code” or proprietary software of any kind, offering users complete transparency into the source code and control over all software.

All other conventional computers today ship with proprietary software pre-installed. This “mystery code” creates a vulnerability that adversaries, data thieves and criminals can exploit to access your data.

SPECIFICATIONS

For complete software and hardware specifications for the Librem 13, visit the Purism products page.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

The Librem 13 can be pre-ordered on https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-13/ starting at $1649. The optional hardware kill switch feature is an additional $89. The computer will ship to backers in September 2015.

The first Librem 15 unit, assembled at Purism’s facility in South San Francisco, CA, was shipped to early backers on June 5, 2015, the same week as bulk data collection programs—already having been declared illegal by Federal district courts—were disavowed by the US Congress. The Librem 15 rev2 will begin shipping in July 2015.

Launched in December 2014, the Librem 15 computer was endorsed by Linux and Open Source press, as well as privacy experts, raising $470,000 and exceeded the funding goal on CrowdSupply, an open source crowd funding site.

About Purism

Purism follows a strict belief in users’ rights to privacy, security, and freedom. We believe users should have access to the highest quality computers without compromising these beliefs.

The founder and CEO of Purism, Todd Weaver, created Purism to combine the philosophies of the free/libre and open source software movement with the hardware manufacturing process. Purism is devoted to providing the highest quality hardware available, ensuring the rights of security, privacy, and freedom for all users.

Purism is based in San Francisco and its products are assembled locally in the United States from components sourced internationally. Privately held and privately funded, Purism has raised $470,000 to date, solely with crowd funding.