Short Bytes: Privacy-focused hardware maker Purism is here with its Librem 5 smartphone. It runs PureOS (an open source Debian GNU/Linux derivative) and other Linux-based operating systems. The phone puts an extra emphasis on providing an encrypted and open experience to users. Purism has launched a crowdfunding campaign to gather support and funds for Librem 5.

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e’ve already come across multiple efforts of creating a perfect security-focused smartphone in the past, for example, Blackphone, GranitePhone, Turing Phone, and other. It goes without saying that they failed to cause many ripples in the vast ocean of smartphones.

Now, Purism, which is known for creating security and privacy-focused laptops, is venturing into a new arena to manufacture smartphones. Their first offering is called Librem 5, which costs $599.

The highlight features of Librem 5 from Purism are:

Encrypted calling, masking your phone number

Email and text message encryption

VPN services for browsing protection

Support for any 2G/3G/4G, GSM, UMTS, or LTE network

Powered by PureOS or GNU+Linux distributions

Source code publicly available

Hardware kill switch

Todd Weaver, the founder and CEO of Purism, says that everyone’s digital rights should mirror physical rights. The device is built to protect you by default and abstain itself from any kind of tracking.

PureOS, which is created by Puris, is a derivative of the ‘universal operating system’ Debian GNU/Linux.

Librem 5 is a 5” phone with a metal case, high-resolution screen, and a multifunction port. It’ll be able to run HTML5 applications in isolation for extra security.

Purism is running a crowdfunding campaign for Librem 5 on its own website. You can know more details and support it here.

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