

Ask HN: I want to build my own Android phone. Where do I start? - farmerwu

I want to build my own phone at home. As a kid, I remember building my own PC from a kit (or going to Fry's). Where do I even start if I want to build a phone? Forget about form factor, it won't be sleek or tiny. Where do I get drivers and silicon? Has anyone seen any good books or manuals on the topic?
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zokier
Qualcomm seems to have some nice 3G products that are supposedly compatible
with Android. Some drivers are included with Android, but you may need to
write some of your own.

But seriously, you don't just walk into Mordor, nor do you just build a phone.
Building a basic 2G phone that does only voice and nothing else probably would
be doable by a hobbyist, but building modern 3G phone capable of running
Android is waaay harder. And a lot more expensive too. I'd be surprised if you
can actually get your hands on 3G chips without buying thousands of them.

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cmos
This is where I would go when I build my own phone. Wrap it in metal with a
hinge to mimic a standard flip phone.

<http://www.opencellphone.org>

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wmf
<http://hbmobile.org/>

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eli
I believe the Neo FreeRunner can run Android:
<http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Neo_FreeRunner_GTA02_Hardware>

I'd suggest you start with some sort of kit unless you're a real whiz. It's
not a small project.

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dystopia
I'd probably start with phone components from Bug Labs:
<http://www.buglabs.net/products>

Maybe start off with some of their modules for a base phone and hang out on
their forums for a while.

