PiPhone: DIY Smartphone A With Raspberry Pi Heart

Raspberry Pi enthusiast David Hunt successfully built a smartphone by using our favourite mini-PC. Readers might have recognised Hunt from his previous creations such as #-Link-Snipped-# that opened by recognising a dog’s bark. His latest creation might not be as functional as an off-the-shelf smartphone but it works as a proof of concept where a Raspberry Pi and cheap components come together to make a smartphone. Hunt based the PiPhone on his previous creation Lapse Pi, which was a touchscreen time-lapse controller. He connected a SIM900 GSM/GPRS module via UART and added a 2500mAh Li-Po battery to power up the smartphone.


As you can see from the image above, the PiPhone has its own touchscreen UI that was developed by Hunt himself. The interface helps a user to initiate calls, send text messages and even browse the internet. Hunt admits that the PiPhone gets heated with prolonged usage and advises you to use a small fan around the CPU to cool it. Since we have a lot of Pi enthusiasts in the CE community, here is a list of components that you will need to build your own PiPhone.

• Raspberry Pi Model B – $40
• PiTFT Touchscreen 320×240 – $35
• 2500mAh LiPo battery – $15
• SIM900 GSM/GPRS module – $48
• DC-DC boost converter 3.3V – 5V 1A – $10
• Cables, connectors, switch, etc. - $10

If you add the cost of all the components, it comes to 158 US dollars. We would however advise you to wait for sometime before taking the plunge because Hunt hasn’t yet uploaded the source code for the PiPhone. Meanwhile you can have a look at the PiPhone in action in this video below.


News & Image Source: #-Link-Snipped-# via #-Link-Snipped-#