Coming soon: A new, open laptop from the creator of Chumby - walkerwittaloo

Open source software has get over an increasingly widespread part of the computing world thanks to the ever-growing popularity of Linux, Firefox, LibreOffice, and other prominent examples. To the full open ironware, however, is still much little common.

Just a couple of weeks ago we saw the emergence of the Raspberry Pi-way A13-OLinuXino, but over the weekend another interesting contender came to light-colored: a sunrise, open laptop from the creator of the Chumby Internet gimmick.

"We are building an open laptop, with some wacky features in it for hackers like me," wrote renowned Xbox cyber-terrorist and Chumby creator St. Andrew "Bunnie" Huang in a web log post on Sunday.

"The hardware and its sub-components are picked and so as to make this the most practically open hardware laptop I could create using state of the art technology," Huang added. "You can download, without NDA, the datasheets for totally the components, and winder peripheral options are available so it's possible to build a complete firmware from informant with no unclear blobs."

Huang may launch a Kickstarter campaign to offer the resulting ARM-supported device up to the public, He same. Meantime, here's a summation of how information technology's shaping up.

Raspberry Pi compatibility

Currently code-titled "Novena," the new DIY twist uses a Freescale i.MX6 ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor moving at 1.2 GHz and a Vivante GC2000 OpenGL ES2.0 GPU.

A mini PCI-express slot, a resistant touchscreen controller, a three-axis accelerometer, 100 Mbit Ethernet, and a Raspberry Pi-sympathetic expanding upon cope are besides among the laptop's many intriguing features.

Perhaps top-grade of all, however, is the openness of the device. Only a few features require a closed-source firmware blob, but the system is functional and bootable without, Huang notes.

The Novena's circuit board is pictured in the annotated diagram above. Source files for the current prototype are available on the Novena wiki.

'A low-volume laptop'

The project was launched in June, and image motherboards arrived final week, Huang says.

Next, he plans to spend few months validating features and porting drivers and a Linux distribution.

It certainly sounds compelling, just be aware that the device's toll may non atomic number 4 as low as some we've seen.

"I'm not looking to founder any dispirited-price records for this laptop—if you scarce want a cheap Linux laptop, you're wagerer off purchasing a netbook OR EeePC," Huang notable. "This is a low-volume, overhand laptop made with uniquely open source components, so the pricing would represent reconciled with such crafted goods."