Beepberry brings all your chats in your pocket

Beeper is a new chat app for mobile and desktop that brings together all the major networks in one app. It uses the open source Matrix protocol, and with the exception of the mobile apps, all the code is also open so anyone who doesn’t want to pay for a subscription can install and run the server.

The company’s founder is Eric Migicowski, who previously co-founded smartwatch manufacturer Pebble, which broke records on Kickstarter but shut down after a few years. He hasn’t lost his passion for making hardware, and is now launching a side project of Beeper.

amber It is a small pocket computer developed solely to run Beeper, and combines a custom-built circuit board with the Raspberry Pi Zero W, a black-and-white LCD screen that looks like electronic paper, and a physical keyboard that came from older Blackberry phones.

The screen has a resolution of 400 x 240 pixels and uses a technology developed by Sharp called LCD memory which means that unchanging pixels consume very little power, just like in electronic paper.

The mini-computer comes with a battery but no cover, and the idea is for users to fix it themselves. For example with a 3D printer. But on the example photo, the developers show that it is also possible to hold the battery with an elastic band.

For $79 plus postage and import tax, the developers order the gig, and hope to start shipping in August-September. There are already 50 clones that developers and hackers can register interest in via one form in the store.