Month: April 2022

The GPD Pocket 3 mini-laptops gets a 3rd-party 4G LTE module (Making the most of modularity:)

The GPD Pocket 3 is a mini-laptop with a QWERTY keyboard that’s just barely big enough for touch typing, an 8 inch touchscreen display, and a swivel hinge that lets you use the little computer as a notebook or tablet. It’s also a modular computer: in addition to full-sized USB, HDMI, and Ethernet ports, the […]

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The GPD Pocket 3 is a mini-laptop with a QWERTY keyboard that’s just barely big enough for touch typing, an 8 inch touchscreen display, and a swivel hinge that lets you use the little computer as a notebook or tablet.

It’s also a modular computer: in addition to full-sized USB, HDMI, and Ethernet ports, the little computer has a modular port area that you can use to swap out a USB-A port for something else. GPD offers a few official modules, with more on the way. But third-party modules are also a thing, and one of the latest is a GPD Pocket 3 4G LTE module that brings cellular connectivity to GPD’s handheld computer.

The 4G module features a Quectel EC20-CN 4G chip (which, incidentally, is similar to the one used in Pine64’s PinePhone) and a nano SIM card reader. It’s a 4G LTE Cat 4 module with support for download speeds up to 150 Mbps and uploads speeds up to 50 Mbps.

Like other modules for the Pocket 3, connecting the 4G LTE module is as simple as unscrewing whatever model is already connected, popping it out, and replacing it with the new module. It communicates with the computer over a USB 2.0 connection, but since it’s designed as a modular that fits inside the computer’s case, it won’t jut out like a USB wireless dongle.

The developer doesn’t appear to be selling the Pocket 3 4G LTE module, but everything you need to make your own is hosted in a GitHub repository, including design files for the printed circuit board, 3D printed case, and Windows drivers for the EC20-CN modem.

The new 4G module comes from the same person or persons who designed the P3 Clicker module we looked at in March. That module is an open source set of programmable buttons that can be added to the back of the case, giving you three buttons that can be used for power, volume, or other functions while using the Pocket 3 in tablet mode.

As for first-party modules, GPD currently ships the Pocket 3 with a USB Type-A module and offers optional RS-232 and KVM input modules. The KVM module is one of the most unusual, as it features an HDMI input and USB port, allowing you to plug the Pocket 3 into a server or another computer and use the handheld computer as a dumb terminal for controlling external hardware using the Pocket 3’s display, keyboard, touchpad, and touchscreen.

GPD also plans to offer a microSD card module soon.

thanks bz9t!

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Anzeige: Einstieg in Kubernetes

An Kubernetes führt bei der Container-Orchestrierung kein Weg vorbei. Die Golem Akademie bietet Entwicklern und Admins einen leichten Einstieg in den De-facto-Standard. (Golem Akademie, Server-Applikationen)

An Kubernetes führt bei der Container-Orchestrierung kein Weg vorbei. Die Golem Akademie bietet Entwicklern und Admins einen leichten Einstieg in den De-facto-Standard. (Golem Akademie, Server-Applikationen)

Pythom Space tests its rocket with questionable safety practices

“We knew better as untrained college students.”

A Pythom Space video from March 19 shows employees reacting to an expanding cloud of dust and exhaust.

Enlarge / A Pythom Space video from March 19 shows employees reacting to an expanding cloud of dust and exhaust. (credit: Pythom Space)

There's a small rocket company based in eastern California named Pythom Space. And like a lot of space startups, it has big dreams. In this case, co-founders Tina and Tom Sjögren have the goal of flying to Mars in 2024—and if not then, by 2026.

"We see this as a new world," Tina Sjögren said recently. "When Columbus sailed to America, there were both better boats and sailors. But no one else did it. He did. All it took was three weeks. It was not difficult; it was fear that held everyone back. It was believed that one would fall over the edge of the earth. Or be eaten by sea monsters. He showed... that was wrong."

This seems naïve, of course. Even SpaceX, which from the beginning was well-funded and able to hire excellent early employees, is still years away from sending humans to Mars after its founding in 2002. But the Sjögrens are undaunted. "You have to work hard, but you do not have to be very smart," Tina Sjögren added.

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Vivo X Fold is a $1400 smartphone with an 8 inch, 120Hz foldable display

Chinese phone maker Vivo is the latest to enter the foldable market with the launch of the Vivo X Fold. It’s a mobile device with a tablet-sized with a 8.03 inch, 2200 x 1800 pixel, 120 Hz AMOLED display that folds in half like a book and a secondary 6.53 inch cover display that lets […]

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Chinese phone maker Vivo is the latest to enter the foldable market with the launch of the Vivo X Fold. It’s a mobile device with a tablet-sized with a 8.03 inch, 2200 x 1800 pixel, 120 Hz AMOLED display that folds in half like a book and a secondary 6.53 inch cover display that lets you use the phone without unfolding it.

The Vivo X Fold is available in China from JD.com with prices starting at 8,999 CNY, which is a little over $1400.

That’s the price for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but there’s also a 12GB/512GB model priced at 9,999 CNY (about $1570).

Both versions feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 4600 mAh battery, and support for 66W fast charging with a wired power adapter or 50W wireless charging. The phone has four rear cameras with Zeiss optics:

  • 50MP primary with optical image stabilization
  • 48MP ultra-wide (114 degrees)
  • 12MP telephoto zoom (47mm equivalent)
  • 8MP Periscopic zoom (5X optical zoom or 60X digital zoom)

The phone also has two 16MP selfie cameras, one in the foldable tablet-sized 4:3.5 aspect ratio inner screen and another in the 21:9 aspect ratio, phone-sized cover display.

While the design and feature set hardly makes the Vivo X Fold unique in 2022, the launch of yet another foldable phone could be an indication that the market is maturing a bit… although the high price tag shows that it’s not maturing quickly enough to make these phones particularly affordable for budget-conscious customers.

Vivo isn’t putting all its eggs in the premium foldable basket though. The company has also introduced a new Vivo X Note smartphone with a 5,999 CNY ($940) starting price for a phone with a single 7 inch, 3080 x 1440 pixel 120 Hz AMOLED display, 80W wired and 50W wireless fast charging, up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and a 5,000 mAh battery.

via Vivo (Weibo), MySmartPrice, and GSM Arena

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Researchers home in on possible “day zero” for Antikythera mechanism

arXiv preprint suggests December 23, 178 BCE; others think it was summer 204 BCE.

The Antikythera mechanism

Enlarge / Fragment of the Antikythera mechanism, circa 205 BC, housed in the collection of National Archaeological Museum, Athens. (credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Image)

The mysterious Antikythera mechanism—an ancient device believed to have been used for tracking the heavens—has fascinated scientists and the public alike since it was first recovered from a shipwreck over a century ago. Much progress has been made in recent years to reconstruct the surviving fragments and learn more about how the mechanism might have been used. And now, members of a team of Greek researchers believe they have pinpointed the start date for the Antikythera mechanism, according to a preprint posted to the physics arXiv. Knowing that "day zero" is critical to ensuring the accuracy of the device.

“Any measuring system, from a thermometer to the Antikythera mechanism, needs a calibration in order to [perform] its calculations correctly,” co-author Aristeidis Voulgaris of the Thessaloniki Directorate of Culture and Tourism in Greece told New Scientist. “Of course it wouldn’t have been perfect—it’s not a digital computer, it’s gears—but it would have been very good at predicting solar and lunar eclipses.” 

As we've previously reported, in 1900, a Greek sponge diver named Elias Stadiatis discovered the wreck of an ancient cargo ship off the coast of Antikythera island in Greece. He and other divers recovered all kinds of artifacts from the ship. A year later, an archaeologist named Valerios Stais was studying what he thought was a piece of rock recovered from the shipwreck when he noticed that there was a gear wheel embedded in it. It turned out to be an ancient mechanical device. The Antikythera mechanism is now housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

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Verbände: Gleiche Rechte für alle Flüchtlinge

Es lässt sich kaum abstreiten: In Deutschland wird ein Unterschied gemacht zwischen ukrainischen und anderen Flüchtlingen. Sozialverbände fordern, dass die neuen Regeln für alle gelten sollen

Es lässt sich kaum abstreiten: In Deutschland wird ein Unterschied gemacht zwischen ukrainischen und anderen Flüchtlingen. Sozialverbände fordern, dass die neuen Regeln für alle gelten sollen