NexPhone

[Richelle-H]

Anybody else seen the specs on the as yet unreleased NexPhone. I have to say, that if their specs prove out and it works the way they claim it will work, it has to be my next phone. It has three inate operating systems, (i.e. Android, Windows 11, and Linux) that you can choose between. Hook it up to a monitor and, with the phone's port expansion unit, it can become the equivalent of a laptop. If it meets expectations, I'm in. My current pnone is already 7 years old and is a bit flaky with the charger connection. I really like the idea of a multi-system unit for it gives one a freedom hitherto unknown without requiring a great deal of setup time.

Anyone else as interested as I am?

Link to web site: NexPhone |

 

[fattymeatysardine]

I fail to see the point in this phone.
If you want to use it as a laptop, you'll need to carry a keyboard and mouse.
If you want to use it as a desktop, you'll need a monitor that supports USB C input and you'll probably want to charge it while using it(yay more gear)
Modern phones already have desktop functionality if plugged into a monitor anyway.

If you want a new phone, get a refurbished one for cheap. You can get a Pixel 7a for $180 right now on Ebay.

 

[Outdated]

I'm interested in having a Linux phone, but for me the whole point of that would be to not have Android and most certainly not Windows. I never use the phone for anything except phone calls and in general I hate using them.

 

[the_tortoise]

I'm interested in having a Linux phone, but for me the whole point of that would be to not have Android and most certainly not Windows.

Same.

Also sounds like this wouldn't technically ever be running a non-android Linux OS ...

From what I undertand of the info on the website, the base android system can create a virtual box to host what is more like a Debian emulation than actually running Debian as the operating system...

[is link:] How it Works | NexPhone :
NexOS also includes Linux as an app, so you can launch a full Debian environment anytime

What I would love to see in a Linux phone, is just a small and simple initial base OS that was extremely bare bones so you could use the phone to make voice calls and text...but that also contained a terminal program and basic command-line software development tools, and a more-complex-than-average bootloader-type program written into the firmware -- one that would contain links (or allow the end-user to input an address) to the "current" download repositories for a number of different Linux distributions for mobile smartphones, so the end-user could download and install (and tinker and customize if they wanted to -- but most popular Linux distributions make this very, very easy and a person can just use default settings and doesn't have to customize anything unless they want to) their preferred Linux OS, rather than being stuck with pre-selected options.

 

[Outdated]

From what I undertand of the info on the website, the base android system can create a virtual box to host what is more like a Debian emulation than actually running Debian as the operating system...

I noticed that too, makes the entire concept completely bloody useless.

The whole point of wanting Linux is to get away from unsecure and untrustworthy platforms. What we want is a phone that has Linux as it's operating system. Other OSs can be run from within Linux just fine, I do that already, but they are sandboxed and don't get to compromise my security or my privacy.

 

[Judge]

Too bad. I'll pass. So wanting an exclusively based Linux OS running on a smartphone.

Have to agree with @Tortoise and @Outdated :

"The NexPhone can launch a full Debian Linux environment as an app within the Android interface, meaning it does not run Debian as the primary OS but allows access to it on demand."

So are we to presume one can hack through Android as a catalyst to hack Debian Linux ?

"Yes, vulnerabilities in Android, which is based on the Linux kernel, can potentially be exploited to gain access to Debian Linux systems, especially if the same vulnerabilities are present in both platforms. However, such exploits typically require specific conditions and knowledge to be successful."