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ObsoleteNerd
Is this anything more than a pipedream at this point? I've seen it come up multiple times over the last year, and yet a quick skim through the Github shows that there's not really anything done other than some basic planning/brainstorming. Seems a bit early to be taking preorders.
bri3d
Their development blog is very detailed: https://blog.flipperzero.one/review-and-producing-plan/ . It's definitely past the "pipe dream" phase IMO, the drawings they've posted in the blog post demonstrate an awful lot of work and are a far cry from "idea kicking around." But, I also have pretty low expectations for the firmware for a while, and the delivery timeline as well.
I think they've decided to do the initial firmware development internally, which is a bit worrying but doesn't seem too unreasonable to me given that the signal-to-noise ratio for open sourcing this before it's done is probably pretty bad (while you may pick up a few contributors, responding to the "hax wen" crowd is almost certain to slow you down at first).
archagon
Wow, that's a fantastic mix of technical depth and endearing art!
neilv
I participated in the Kickstarter last year, along with a gazillion other people, and am waiting patiently for my Flipper Zero pet.
They asked the Kickstarter funders a month or so ago for their CC numbers for shipping cost, as well as shipping address, color preference, and any additional accessory&unit orders. But I don't know how soon the main production run will happen.
(I did find that a little funny: the idea of a bunch of customers of a "hacking" gadget, earnestly sending their credit card numbers and home addresses to a group of other hackers. :)
reidjs
I always thought it was odd that people are afraid of giving away their CC# but willingly give away their browsing/shopping history, home address, phone, etc.
My CC has fraud protection, and I can always get a replacement. all those other things have 0 protection and are not easily changed, especially home address.
ryukafalz
They posted a video of a preproduction unit that looks pretty far along: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDvdWo2h10c&feature=emb_title
Seems like a reasonable point to start taking preorders to me.
ObsoleteNerd
Ok that's fair, I hadn't seen that. They really should have more "real" photos/videos of it on their website then. A flashy website full of renders then a link to a Github that's 99% empty and full of "We're at Stage 0" etc just gave off lots of warning signs to me personally.
saul_goodman
It's a kickstarter, so it's going to run behind. I consider it gambling for fun toys, sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. They've sent out a stream of updates over the past year so i'm really not worried about them defaulting. They've taken a step back and redesigned the hardware since they reached enough funding stretch-goals to include several kitchen sinks now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDvdWo2h10c
Over a decade ago I backed the Bus Pirate early on and even though I got a unit shipped, it never worked. Defective code shipped on my batch and it wasn't until a few years ago that I figured out that's what was wrong. Even if I had figured that out early on I don't have access to an expensive Pic programmer then so I couldn't do anything to fix it then. The Flipper is Arduino compatible so updating the code shouldn't require a programmer unless something blows up the chips bootloader.
They are hiring, if you speak Russian that is: https://www.flipperdevices.com/jobs
jmiskovic
I reflashed my Bus Pirate to behave as OpenOCD-compatible JTAG programmer. It was quite easy process with their bootloader. Perhaps your board was so early that they still haven't put the bootloader on it?
VectorLock
This makes a lot of sense. I was looking at this thinking "that is a shitload of feature" so it makes sense they're future-hopeful features.
dmd
The last update I got from them said:
> In the last two months, we have been actively working on hardware validation, covering all the use cases with tests, and now we are almost ready to lock the BOM and start Flipper's production in EVT (Engineering Validation Test) phase. Devices from the first batch will be sent to contributors who participated in the development.
That seems like they're pretty far along.
cgb223
Is there a different tool that’s available now in non-tomagochi form that accomplishes more or less the same features?
daniel_iversen
It says they took some inspiration from the DIY pwnagotchi [https://pwnagotchi.ai/]
saul_goodman
I have most of the parts to do the individual tasks this thing is supposed to do. What I don't have is the time or desire to whip it all up into a functional tool including a display, buttons, etc. It doesn't do anything that you can't do right now with parts available from SparkFun/Ada Fruit/etc. It's the form factor and interface that makes it desirable.
In fact the form factor is too sexy for its own good in that it made it so desirable it has slowed down development as they had to go backwards in development to include several kitchen sink features that should have been left behind. But hey I'll take an extra kitchen sink when it comes.
nvader
Well, well, well. It's a Sonic Screwdriver.
devit
Wouldn't a software defined radio transceiver be more effective for this task? (so you can eavesdrop and interfere with any radio system)
Or are they too bulky/expensive to fit in a portable device?
Rebelgecko
I've seen SDRs that are roughly this size but they're the TV tuner ones that don't necessarily work well across a range of frequencies (not sure about specifics, but I imagine Bluetooth is pushing it). Some of the Flipper's advertised capabilities (infrared, NFC, RFID, 1-wire) are also beyond the scope of SDRs.
grymoire1
They also don't transmit.
grymoire1
There is a SDR device for hacking that is self-contained. It's the HackRF+Portapack, (https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/hackrf-one-kit/) - which costs significantly more. It uses a FPGA to decode raw signals at up to 6GHZ. The Flipper uses dedicated chips to decode the specific protocols, with each chip having a specific protocol (NFC, LF RDID, 433/900Mhz), which allows a general purpose CPU to interface with other devices.
qbasic_forever
Interfering with a system over RF is going to get the FCC and authorities after you very quickly. The law is very broad and hand-wavey here, a lot of innocent fun could be interpreted as something worthy of a felony.
christiansakai
I don't know what this is but I want it.
ASpaceCowboi
Alright! I just need to learn how to hack and i am set!!
FooHentai
So... babby's first FCC violation?
cjoh
I’m not particularly familiar with FCC law, but don’t they tend to... not approve things like this? Not being sarcastic, honest question.
bri3d
The FCC care about emissions criteria in various frequency bands. They are worried about undue interference with other devices caused by incorrect use of spectrum or inadequate and poorly made transmission equipment, not protocol level reverse engineering concerns.
If Flipper can supply a device to an FCC approved testing lab which passes the emission criteria in the emitted bands, I don't see why they couldn't get approvals in those bands. For example, for NFC, Flipper is no different from a normal Android phone with respect to compliance.
They'll have to get the 433Mhz "Tamagochi" feature compliance approved, and that gets them the CC1101 chip signed off to live in the device. Notice how the homepage cleverly does not mention any transmitting features besides NFC/LF RFID and the Tamagochi one...
Probably they will have to include a "locked" firmware with any arbitrary SDR transmission features above and beyond approved frequencies/bands disabled, and the user will be responsible for compliance past that point.
rtkwe
The other option is pre-approved modules. IIRC if you're using drop in daughter boards you can generally skip additional FCC approval because the thing actually transmitting is pre-approved.
kh_hk
As https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26407897 noted, worth checking a project that inspired it
https://pwnagotchi.ai/ is such a wholesome and cool project
mknippen
Pre-ordered one on Kickstarter. Still have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but the tagline got me. Hope it's awesome!
hnnameblah365
Oh, a hacker dolphin. We are now only one laser garotte away from possessing all the tech in Johnny Mnemonic.
klingon78
Not so fast. I’ve not yet seen a broken bridge with two cars suspended by chains.
breakfastduck
Love the product, but the site also has a wonderful cookie notification. So much better than a huge banner.
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If curious, past threads:
Flipper Zero Manufacturing and Shipping Plan - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25870255 - Jan 2021 (14 comments)
Flipper Zero (Repository will be open in public soon) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24090716 - Aug 2020 (1 comment)
Flipper Zero – Tamagochi for Hackers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23996733 - July 2020 (53 comments)
Show HN: Flipper Zero – Tamagotchi for Hackers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22941733 - April 2020 (10 comments)
Tamagotchi for Hackers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22859083 - April 2020 (1 comment)
Flipper Zero: Under Development Multi-Tool Device for Pen-Testers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21842830 - Dec 2019 (1 comment)