Fairphone releases open version of Android 6
Today Fairphone has released Fairphone Open, an open version of Android 6 Marshmallow, to its users. This version of Android has publically available source code and does not have pre-installed Google Mobile Services (GMS), while the standard Fairphone OS comes with these popular services. Fairphone Open gets the same support, regular updates and security fixes as the regular Fairphone OS.
Fairphone also announced a partnership with Qwant, the European search engine that protects its users privacy. Fairphone aims to include the search engine on the Fairphone 2. Based in France, Qwant provides an ethical and comprehensive search engine that does not collect any personal information.
Giving choice to our community
The release of Fairphone Open continues to give users the opportunity to choose between two different operating systems that Fairphone actively supports. Those give everyone the choice to choose actively what apps and services they want to run on their devices. By publishing the source code Fairphone also invites everyone to contribute to the ecosystem of the Fairphone 2. This has already enabled the Fairphone community to independently port different operating systems to the Fairphone. These include Lineage OS (with Android 7) Sailfish OS, Firefox OS and Ubuntu Touch by UBports.
More alternative operating systems
Fairphone launched code.fairphone.com in the beginning of 2016, which is an open source and development website that contains the code for the Open Android Version of Fairphone OS and now also shows the code for its newly released operating system Android 6 Open. The release of the source code lays bare how the device functions, and with programming experience every user can find out through this code how their device works. This form of transparency gives everyone the opportunity to fully understand and control their device. Apart from booting alternative operating systems on the Fairphone 2, users could even write their own software updates based on the source code, which supports Fairphone’s vision for long lasting devices.
Fairphone 2 Key Technical Specifications
Display
5-inch, Full HD LCD display
Gorilla® Glass 3
Operating System
Android ™ 5.1 ( Lollipop)
SIM slots
Dual SIM
Connectivity
4G LTE/3G/2G
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n/ac),
Bluetooth® 4.0 LE, GPS
Platform
Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 801 platform,
2GB RAM
Camera
8 megapixel rear camera
Battery
2420 mAh removable lithium-ion battery
Storage
32 GB internal storage
Expandable storage via MicroSD slot
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
