Pocket-sized computer tools are the definition of cool, recruiting many people over to the developer side of things, including your humble writer.
A project like Flipper One, which is intended to be a device that features the full mainline Linux kernel in a small package with a full range of connectivity, not to be used as a full-fledged computer (not all the time, at least) but rather a cyberdeck that can be used for development, experimentation and last but not the least, pentesting, is such a dream come true.
With its radical philosophy of complete openness, both in terms of hardware and software, and the ability to do whatever is possible with the hardware on board, it is a project that would have sent my 14 year-old self into a hyperventilating fit. So what exactly can it do? And how do you fit into the picture? That's exactly what we will tell you today.
Flipper One at a glance
Flipper One hasn't been released yet, but there are some ambitious features that have been planned for it. While Flipper Zero was more of an offline access tool, with emphasis on NFC, RFID infrared, UART and so on, Flipper One is intended to be a network connected Linux system. So obviously, we start with:
Connectivity
Flipper One self proclaims as a "Swiss Army knife for IP networks across all OSI layers", which include:
- 5G modem
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
- Upto 5 Gbps wired connectivity over USB-C Ethernet
All this results in Flipper One being usable as anything from a multi-hotspot bridge, an inline Ethernet sniffer, a VPN gateway, or a USB Wi-Fi/Ethernet adapter for another device.
Hardware
The hardware is a particularly interesting aspect of Flipper One, as it is has a completely custom, unique build. We will describe the technical aspects later, focusing first on the build of the device. It has a small monochrome 256x144px display, designed to show all necessary information from the custom software onboard, a touchpad, a 5-button D-pad, a back button, an app-switching button, and 5 buttons used for further navigation to power, edit, run or escape programs, and to view other options. Oh, there's a push-to-talk button as well for a pre-installed offline AI assistant. Fancy, eh?
As for the ports, it has the following:
- Two USB-C, one multipurpose, one only for power
- USB-A
- HDMI
- Two Ethernet
- 3.5mm audio jack
- MicroSD card slot
- Nano SIM card slot
- M.2 expansion module
Now finally onto the hardware on board:
- A main Rockchip RK3576 chip
- A secondary low-powered Raspberry Pi RP2350B MCU
- 8 GB RAM
- 64 GB internal storage
- 7000 mAh battery (tentatively)
As an ARM based device, the processing is comparable to the power offered by a Raspberry Pi 5, handling basic operations rather well.
Software
Here's where things get really interesting. The Flipper team intends Flipper One to be able to support the mainline Linux kernel, and has gone to the massive undertaking of having absolutely no proprietary binary blobs in any of their software. This includes the operating systems as well as the firmware. They're building FlipperOS, a layer on top of Debian, which you can do anything to.
There's also FlipperCTL, which has been created as a response to full-fledged Linux operating systems being awkward and uncomfortable on small screens. It is, therefore, a UI designed for a screen as small as that, controlled by a D-pad and a few buttons. The idea then, is to wrap utilities like ping, nmap and traceroute into this FlipperCTL interface.
Abilities
Apart from the use cases already mentioned, like as a pentesting tool or a networking agent, it can also be used as a survival desktop or a thin client, using the USB-C port to connect to a monitor. The exact details of the OS haven't been decided yet, but something slick like KDE Plasma with something resourceful like Kali Linux to suit all pentesting needs is the way Flipper is planning to go. It is also being planned as a hacker's TV media box, to be used as a media platform using Kodi or something similar. This would turn any HDMI input taking monitor into your personal media box, a luxury that is quite underrated in situations like a strange hotel room.
Not to forget, the presence of both a CPU and an MCU is by design, as the intention is to have the device functioning at low power, with the LCD and buttons, even without the main CPU running. Even when Linux is off, the device can run simple programs off of the MCU.
So what can you do?
But where do you come in? Well, the entire device is still under development and needs contributions from anyone who can provide it to be completed. Flipper has made a Developer Portal for Flipper One, where the entire development process is to be made open. That means half-baked task tracking, documentation, internal discussions, debates and everything.
You don't need to be a software developer, strictly, you could be a designer, just work on documentation, 3D models, so on and so forth. So, what all can you contribute to?
- Hardware: PCBs, antennae, chips, processors, connectors and everything in between (literally).
- Mechanics: Designing, enclosure, plastic/metal parts, mounting parts and so on.
- Linux: Firmware for the RP2350 microcontroller, relating to practically every component that the software will interact with.
- Interface: UI/UX design, visuals and graphics.
- Docs: Documentation, wikis, guides, progress made on the portal itself.
- Testing: This one you can find out for yourself.
Conclusion
Flipper's team has taken up a humongous task, trying to make this entire project totally open, the hardware design plans, the software blobs barring no small proprietary bits, and has shown courage admitting the need for help finishing the project. The Developer Portal is a great approach, inviting all the people from across the globe to contribute in any way that they possibly can. And with a beautiful passion project such as this? I'm expecting they absolutely will want to. I urge the readers to do that as well, if you have some skill and time to contribute.
This kind of project instills hope in user-level innovation after long bouts of polished, corporate products and we're all here for it. Let us know what you think of the device in the comments. Cheers!
Flipper One is a Pocket-sized Linux Cyberdeck
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