Would you like to build your know smartphone? Well you can with the Raspberry Pi and a little know how. Now we all know you can usually pick up a phone for free (or at least cheap) these days, but if you’d prefer to build your own, DIYer: David Hunt shows off how to use a Raspberry Pi as a phone. Check out the quick video of the Pi Phone in action.
The build here costs $158, which means it’s probably cheaper to buy a phone off the shelf. Still, this one’s fully customizable to your liking. It uses a touch screen, a Raspberry Pi, a GSM/GPRS module, and a few other parts. You’d obviously want to build a case for it to actually use it, but if you’re in the mood to create your own phone, this is a pretty solid way to do it. Parts needed to build your know Pi Phone.
Raspberry Pi (model B)- $40
Adafruit TFT touchscreen display- $35
2500mAh LiPo battery- $15
SIM900 GSM/GPRS module- $48
DC-DC converter (bought on EBay)- $10
Cables and zip-ties to hold it together- $10
Total for the PiPhone project- $158
“As you can see, the project was very inexpensive to design and David will upload the software he created to GitHub for those interested in reproducing his creation. However be forewarned as there are some drawbacks to his design. Users will need a headphone/mic adapter to actually make calls, as there are no speakers or microphone present on the device. There is also no word on how long the battery will last while making calls or on standby for that matter, however this is speculation that it’s only a couple of hours. As a testament to the public mind, David took his PiPhone to his local FabLab to showcase his creation and afterwards a member of the audience had asked if ‘they had to pay for credit’ in order to use the phone. Since it uses a prepaid SIM card from a local provider, the answer is obviously yes, however it never hurts to ask.”
Source: element14