Flipper Devices, maker of the Flipper Zero hacking machine, at this time announced a brand new gadget known as Flipper One which has a number of community connectivity chops and may act as a Linux PC (is that this the yr?). The corporate has bought over one million Flipper Zero models and has generated over $150 million in gross sales. Nevertheless, the brand new machine shouldn’t be a successor because it operates on a distinct layer than the Flipper Zero, the corporate stated.
The Flipper Zero machine is widespread within the hacker neighborhood, which may hook up with radios like Bluetooth, RFID, NFC, a sub-1GHz transceiver, and Infrared. The machine may act like a key fob or an entry go, however may be utilized in instances like spamming close by iPhones.
In the meantime, the brand new Flipper One machine depends on community connectivity by 2x Gigabit Ethernet, USB Ethernet (5 Gbps), and Wi-Fi 6E (2.4/5/6 GHz). What’s extra, the machine has an M.2 port, which can be utilized to attach a modem for 5G connectivity or different gadgets like SDR modules, AI accelerators, SSDs (NVMe or SATA), and Wi-Fi playing cards by way of adapters. The machine remains to be in growth, and the corporate is merely asserting the undertaking in the meanwhile.
The machine will run two processors together with an 8GB RAM. The primary is an eight-core RK3576 chip that runs open Linux together with a Mali-G52 GPU and an NPU to run native AI fashions.
The corporate stated that it labored with open-source software program consulting agency Collabora to push this chip’s help into the mainline Linux Kernel, so anybody can obtain it from Kernel.org and tinker with it.
The second chip is a two-core Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller. This powers show, buttons, and touchpad, LEDs, and the facility subsystem, so even when the Linux a part of the machine is turned off, customers can function the machine.
Flipper Units CEO Pavel Zhovner stated that the corporate can be growing its personal Linux-based flavour. He stated in a weblog that whereas Raspberry Pi OS is fluid and he enjoys utilizing it, it’s arduous to do a clear manufacturing unit reset after putting in packages until you re-flash the SD card for a brand new undertaking. The Flipper OS, which is at the moment in an idea stage, will permit customers to entry profiles with totally different pre-configured packages and settings. By doing this, customers can mess around with software program and return to a clear copy with out swapping or flashing SD playing cards.
As a part of the event, the corporate can be making a FlipCTL interface to manage small display LCDs on gadgets like Flipper One with D-pad and contact controls.
The corporate stated that with community connection drivers, customers can use Flipper One as a router, a VPN gateway, or a bridge between. Plus, they’ll plug in a monitor, together with a keyboard and a mouse by a USB Hub to make for a Linux desktop or use it as an on-the-go media field by its HDMI 2.1 port with help for 4K streaming at 120Hz. Customers may run native AI fashions to function the machine, generate configs, and get helpful ideas with out an web connection.
Flipper Units has simply introduced the machine and general roadmap of the way it could possibly be used. There are nonetheless a number of lacking software program items to allow all of the talked about options. For example, NPU for AI and {hardware} video decoding lacks mainline kernel help. Each FlipperOS and FlipperCTL are ideas in the meanwhile. The staff has but to coach offline LLMs that might assist customers with configs.
The corporate is inviting builders to join the community and develop elements of the software program that could possibly be used to ship the ultimate machine. It stated that the ultimate particulars of the buyer launch could be introduced sooner or later, however the machine is more likely to value lower than $350 for the bottom configuration with out mobile modules.
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