I realise I never posted about the Zyberdeck I have been prototyping last year; this was based on a wish to have PDA's back, and not being stuck in a walled garden. I got myself a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, a Hyperpixel square touch screen, I dug up an old bluetooth keyboard and some Lego and I made this:

Zyberdeck Lego PDA prototype

It's extra chunky because there is an entire 10000mAh USB powerbank in there too. It was a fun project, which stalled because the Pi Zero 2W is pretty slow doing desktop things (especially with its 512MB RAM). I got an Orange Pi Zero 2W with 4GB next, which runs a lot faster, but I yet have to solder on the hat. I will be back at it and might even try my hand at 3D-modelling a case holding replacable 18650 cells.

I am rather fond of this form factor with the qwerty keyboard and such though, which was created with my old Nokia N810 Linux slider 'internet tablet' in mind, and my Sony Ericsson M600i smartphone with teeny tiny keyboard back then.

Which is why I today shot this image:

From left to right: Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 5, Unihertz Titan 2 Elite, Pebble Time 2

Yes, that's a new Pebble. Isn't it awesome? I love it.

Also, yes, that's a new qwerty phone, and likely my new daily driver. Isn't it cute? It is pretty fun to have such a smol device again, which still can do basically everything the big glass slabs do.

I've only had it for a limited time, but I rather like having a physical keyboard. I don't know what happened to Gboard, but lately it sucks pretty hard at knowing what I'm actually swiping, causing me to read back and correct rather often. Typing on a keyboard without having to look at it is a pretty neat experience. The device is also very small, which is both a pre (very pocketable and great in the hand) and a bit of a con (the screen does not contain as much info at once as my Pixel 8 Pro of course). On the other hand, that con can be a pre, depending how hard I'm trying to not use my phone :)

Battery life is pretty good; today at the end of the day it's only about half gone, while my Pixel generally is almost empty right now (I charge it till 80% though, but still). Power button finger print sensor works well, and is well-placed. I also really like the shortcuts you can set up, especially with the Pastiera keyboard software; just launch some app but typing 1 (!) character at the home screen, or Sym+that char wherever you are. Global shortcut magic for the win.

I use my mobile comm device mostly for chats and note taking, so I am hoping this form factor will benefit those usecases and make me take it out of my pocket less to just kill time. I rather pick up my e-reader or a science magazine.

Preferably I end up with an upgradable Linux-based PDA-like handheld as my main 'take-everywhere' slab, but for now I will take this little guy for a spin.