A Tunisian startup, dawndrums, has released a hardware update for its Divine D. Linux-powered smartphone, featuring advanced privacy controls and expansion options. The project aims to give users greater control over their devices through open-source technology. A prototype video demonstrates DawnOS booting successfully on the new Rev 1.1 board.
Founded by engineers in Tunisia, dawndrums is a young company focused on open mobile systems. Led by Dr.-Ing. Sadok Bdiri, the team pursues an ambitious vision of creating open-source projects that empower individuals and communities to reclaim control over technology.
The Divine D. smartphone is central to the Divine project. It runs DawnOS, an operating system based on Mobian and Debian, with Phosh as the desktop interface. The recent Rev 1.1 board design marks a significant hardware advancement. A video shared by the company shows DawnOS booting on a functional prototype.
At its core, the device uses a Rockchip RK3588S processor, including four Cortex-A76 cores at 2.4 GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8 GHz. Graphics are managed by an Arm Mali-G610 GPU. A three-core NPU provides 6 TFLOPS of power, enabling local processing of language models without external data transmission. Memory options reach up to 32 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, paired with 64 GB, 128 GB, or 256 GB eMMC storage.
Privacy is a key emphasis, with physical kill switches that disconnect power to the cameras, microphones, and cellular modem at the hardware level. Connectivity and expansion are robust: a LoRa module supports long-range, low-power communication for mesh networks and off-grid messaging; a Micro HDMI 2.1 port handles 8K video at 60 Hz; a MicroSD Express slot offers up to 500 MB/s speeds via PCIe 2.0; an M.2 B-key slot accommodates 4G/GSM modules; and an 18-pin pogo interface exposes GPIO, SPI, UART, I2C, and JTAG for peripherals. Additional features include a haptic engine for vibrations and dynamic UI feedback, plus multiple LED indicators for status, charging, battery, and LoRa connectivity.
Pricing and shipping details remain unavailable as development continues. Software repositories are hosted on GitHub under GPL-3.0 licensing, though hardware design files' availability is unclear. Updates are shared via the project's documentation, forum, and Discord.
