Beepberry is a Blackberry keyboard game from the founder of Pebble

Are you a hacker who loses his Blackberry? There seems to be new product This is just your speed: “Beepberry”. It literally feeds a Blackberry Classic keyboard onto a custom pocket-sized board designed to fit the Raspberry Pi Zero W, all paired with a 400 x 240 “Memory LCD” display that looks like it was ripped from an old graphing calculator — but is a bit more sophisticated.

Beepberry is built by Eric Migicovsky, founder of the unforgettable Pebble smartwatch, and co-founder of the most relevant Beeper: the all-in-one messaging app that stuffs every service from WhatsApp to iMessage (using a jailbroken iPhone) into one place.

The device is ostensibly designed to run Beeper without any other device Connected Distractions, but Mijekowski knows what you’re thinking: He is, too Beepberry describes As an “electronic paper” notebook for hackers.

In case you were wondering what this “e-paper” display is, it’s not technically e-ink – but a file Sharp LCD screen With a single-bit memory circuit embedded in each pixel to retain the e-ink-like image.

for $79 You get a Beepberry, mounting screws, and a 2000mAh battery — though you’ll have to find a way to hold the battery in place. (In some demos, the creators literally use a rubber band.) In addition to the 2.7-inch display and backlit Blackberry Classic Q20 keyboard, you get a USB-C port, RGB LEDs, a side button, a power switch, and I/O hacks. general purpose (GPIO).

to For $99, you can get the Beepberry set Includes Pi Zero W pre-installed. Otherwise, you’ll have to bring your own PC chip or another single-board chip like the Radxa Zero or MQ-Pro – which has to be dragged and dropped since the Beepberry has a solder-less header.

Notably, the Beepberry itself lacks any hardware for a cellular data connection, so it’s not a stand-alone whistle. In the traditional sense. You’ll need to use the Raspberry Pi’s built-in Wi-Fi, and possibly a smartphone hotspot when you’re out and about, unless you want to devise a cellular add-on that plugs into its heads.

If you’re interested in a Beepberry, you might want to act fast: There are only 50 initially available for shipping. You will need to submit your application, then fill out a file Early Access Program Template at the bottom of the page to let them know you want it now. The site doesn’t say how many, if any, of the first fifty remain available for purchase.

It is important to note that the software/firmware is still under development and nothing is final, so don’t expect many out-of-the-box features if you get one. If you want something with a complete out-of-the-box experience and a black and white screen, Playdate might be your pace. And if you’re just looking to support the Pebble founder’s next endeavor, you can wait for his team’s upcoming Android mini phone.