Fairphone 2 hardware extensions

[EricS]

@dvl, I don’t know how good you are but Always Innovating’s Smart Book has always intrigued me.

You could view this as the ultimate FP2 case

It would extend the FP2 into a Fair Tablet/Netbook/Laptop (take your pick).

How I would see it with the FP2:

• Take off the back cover. This will help the second step and also allow the extension port to be used.
• Slide the phone in the back of the panel, with the FP2 screen visible from the outside. That way, you can have the main (e.g. 10") screen to work on and the FP2 as small screen for notifications when the big panel is shut down or not visible (face down on a table or folded against keyboard).
• The panel would just be like an external screen with a good amount of extra battery power
• The FP2 would automatically detect it’s attached to the panel and create a second screen with higher resolution.
• Of course, a detachable or rotateable keyboard should be included (with even more battery power in it ).

To top this off, it would be awesome if someone could also duplicate Always Innovating’s Hot Multi-OS switching. That way, when the FP2 is inserted into the panel, it would switch to, e.g., a Debian Gnome desktop and back to Android when it’s taken out of the panel. Of course, sharing the the data among all the OS’s so if you make a change in your contact information in one OS, it would automatically be picked up in the other one as well.

Ambitious ? Definitely. But I’m willing to put some money down for this. That Asus EeePC was a quite convenient machine to take with you. Being able to combine this with a phone seems a very convenient step to me.

[dvl]

@EricS

I don’t know how good you are

You can assume I am extremely epic

@EricS

Always Innovating’s Smart Book has always intrigued me

Concept looks cool (like any convertible tablet that exists already but combined with padphone), but that website does not inspire confidence in the slightest. Generally speaking, if a company calls itself innovating, you can assume that innovating is the last thing they do.

@EricS

But I’m willing to put some money down for this.

I think it is cheaper for you to glue a usb monitor with powerbank to the back of your phone than to fund development

[Arvil]

Your proposal for Multi-OS switching looks quite similar to what Microsoft tried to do with Continuum (a big failure if I am to believe user reviews) and Ubuntu Touch with Convergence which is quite late but scheduled to appear with the launch of Unity 8, planned for next year.

You might have what you want when (and if…) we get to port Ubuntu Touch on the FP2.

@dvl

Generally speaking, if a company calls itself innovating, you can assume that innovating is the last thing they do.

Hello Apple !

[EricS]

@dvl

that website does not inspire confidence in the slightest

Luckily we’re talking about getting the concept to a fairphone. They had some really good ideas for a while, but seem to have dried up lately. Can’t hurt now to implement their ideas on a more modern platform.

@dvl

glue a usb monitor with powerbank to the back of your phone

LOL. That could really power your “nuclear disaster” as well One big ulgy motherf*er.

@dvl

if a company calls itself innovating, you can assume that innovating is the last thing they do

Recent history leads me to believe that the last thing they do is litigating.

Hello Apple and Samsung :ohno:

[Sonne]

I would also like a keyboard, although I have not really an idea how it could look like on a FP. The TOH keyboard looks cool, but I don’t see a way to combine it with the FP original case, which I really like. Also, in a youtube video it doesn’t seem like it is possible to write on it really fast. The best keyboard concept I saw so far was the QWERTY keyboard on the Sony Ericsoson P1I which allows you to write really quick, but then again I would have no idea how to get something like that on a FP2.

@dvl: I like your attitude: “If I like it, I try it, and then lets see …” Coming from an environment in which there is almost every time a lot of discussion first, and action later (if ever), I am reallly happy about this thread and you (independent of my personal wishes)

[Arvil]

I don’t know if that might work for you, but I’ve bought this keyboard (I found it for 8€ at the time) recently. When I don’t need to enter a lot of stuff on my phone/tablet I just use the software keyboard, and for longer texts I use it (it’s not really small but can fit in a small backpack easily).

[Sonne]

Thanks for the tip, but i really really hate typing on a touchscreen (I’m not able to type blind) so for me it would to have be an always-be-able-to-use it thing.
For longer text I use my computer anyway

[woIf]

I would wish for a back cover with integrated e-ink touch screen for reading with less power usage.
main problem probably is finding high resolution parts that are affordable still.
hope to see your projects soon

[dbrgn]

Really cool stuff, @dvl. Will you share the 3D printable case somewhere?

I’m also interested in doing some hardware with the FP2, but don’t know what I’ll tackle yet Maybe we (you?) should collect all hardware ideas in a single list somewhere.

Edit: Are there any docs about the expansion port, and how to use it from Android?

[paulakreuzer]

The list is here

[dvl]

@dbrgn

Really cool stuff, @dvl. Will you share the 3D printable case somewhere?

Maybe in this topic: https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fairphone2-3d-printed-casings-available-beta/11614

@dbrgn

I’m also interested in doing some hardware with the FP2, but don’t know what I’ll tackle yet Maybe we (you?) should collect all hardware ideas in a single list somewhere.

Paul beat me to it.

@dbrgn

Are there any docs about the expansion port, and how to use it from Android?

First post (scroll to top of page) I say: “I will be logging some stuff here and here”
One ‘here’ refers to this page, the other is a link to what you are looking for.

Maybe a good idea for you to read the rest of that post (and rest of topic) too

[dbrgn]

@dvl

First post (scroll to top of page) I say: “I will be logging some stuff here and here” One ‘here’ refers to this page, the other is a link to what you are looking for.

Maybe a good idea for you to read the rest of that post (and rest of topic) too

Of course I read your post, I already follow your repo on Github. To reword my question: Are there any official docs about the expansion port?

[jay]

I am looking for the pinout of the expansion port on the backside to develop additional hardware. where could it be found?

[TobiasF]

@jay

I am looking for the pinout of the expansion port on the backside to develop additional hardware. where could it be found?

Look at @dvl’s GitHub page: GitHub - dirkvl/FairPhone

[fp1_wo_sw_updates]

@TobiasF

Look at @dvl’s GitHub page: GitHub - dirkvl/FairPhone

Fun and sad to see at the same time. So is it simliar to a I2C with a wakeup?

[TobiasF]

@fp1_wo_sw_updates

So is it simliar to a I2C with a wakeup?

In the official specification, this is described as an USB port with power input.

[Stefan]

@dvl

@Stefan

Is Fairphone 2’s backside connector very different from Jolla’s one? Would it be much work to make a Fairphone 2 hardware keyboard?

USB host vs I2C. Different story al together, but generally USB is easier. Lets see how some simple projects pan out, then we’ll talk complex stuff like keyboards

@dvl says that it’s a “different story altogether”.

[Arvil]

@TobiasF

Look at @dvl’s GitHub page: GitHub - dirkvl/FairPhone

Please note the “(2) no idea” is the power input. @dvl said he would modify it when I told him (he was already aware of it but wanted to keep it for himself) but did not.

@Stefan

Is Fairphone 2’s backside connector very different from Jolla’s one? Would it be much work to make a Fairphone 2 hardware keyboard?

It’s quite different as dvl said, However it’s probably good news because you theoretically could remove the usb male plug from your usb keyboard, separate the cables inside the usb cable and stick them to FP2’s connector (putting the right cable on the right connector pin) and it should work out of the box.

[YileKu]

I am interested in building a module that will plug into a Fairphone 2. I have a few questions: Are the specs open? Where can one get the specifications?

Thanks
Yile