KIANEWS Converting a Nokia 1680 phone into a Linux computer
07. 01. 2023 Saturday / By: Robert Denes / The key / Exact time: BST / Print this page
The Nokia 1680 was a phone introduced in 2008, just before smartphones became mainstream. Designed for calling and texting, this one has little extras, a small screen, a T9 numeric keypad and supports 2G networks.
But a hardware hacker nicknamed Reimu NotMoe took apart the entire phone and replaced it with a custom circuit board and components to turn the Nokia 1680 into a Linux computer. pocket. It's called Notkia.
By replacing the more modern software, Notkia can be seen almost as a Linux smartphone in the body of a special phone. While replacing the circuit board, this hacker kept the case, keyboard and other buttons.
The new board is powered by a 1GHz Ingenic X1000E single-core MIPS processor with 64MB of RAM and 32MB of NOR flash memory and 4GB of NAND flash memory.
The original 128×160 pixel TFT screen is also replaced by a 2-inch IPS LCD with 240×320 pixels. However, this screen turned out to be a bit large for the device, so some pixels were cut to fit the phone's plastic frame. With this, the screen resolution is deceptively 220x280 pixels.
In addition, Notkia's circuit board includes additional components such as: USB-C port, 5 MP OV5640 camera with autofocus, Yamaha MA-3 music synthesizer (including ringtones), analog MEMS microphone, AMPAK wireless card with wifi 4 and Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Semtech SX126x LoRa transceiver, and finally BL-5C battery.
Combined with the Linux software, the phone can also type with the T9 keyboard. With added wireless connections, the Notkia can also be used as a wireless communication device or walkie-talkie. But there's one thing this Notkia can't do like a modern smartphone - make phone calls or transfer data over a high-speed data network.
This is because Reimu NotMoe couldn't find a small enough 4G LTE module to fit in this phone case. The board is also equipped with a GNSS module for satellite navigation, but it has not been tested yet. And since there's no 3.5mm jack, you'll need wireless headphones or headphones with a USB-C port to use the headphones.
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