Now, a maker who goes by the name ‘Node’ has built a homemade project called the ‘Zero Terminal’, wherein he has converted the Pi Zero W into a phone-sized computer with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen display. The aim to build this project is to develop a small, all-in-one computer that is both portable, and usable. The basis of the Zero Terminal is the Pi Zero W, and an iPhone 5 sliding keyboard case. Instead of using the default phone OS, Node uses the Linux-based system, Raspbian in the Zero Terminal to run a full desktop.
The Zero Terminal is powered by a rechargeable 1,500mAh battery. It has a full sized USB port, and a mini HDMI port, which also can be used to connect the Zero Terminal to a monitor and mouse. Further, it also includes a micro USB port for charging, below which there is a micro SD card slot. The switch to turn the device on is hidden in the camera hole of the case. While the phone case of the Zero Terminal is 3D printed, Node has plans to release the 3D files once he has finished refining the design of the chassis. On the down side, the specifications of Zero makes it better suited for easy tasks such as coding, word processing or running old games in emulators, working in the command line, rather than using the web browser and other desktop programs. However, Node has plans to build an alternate model of the Terminal, which will include a slightly larger and powerful Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which can run a desktop OS reasonably comfortably along with a bigger battery. Let’s have a look at the features in a glance: 3.5″ Screen (480×320) 512MB RAM 1GHz, 32-bit single-core ARM-based Broadcom BCM2835 CPU Full QWERTY Keyboard 1,500mAh Battery Micro SD Slot 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.0 Mini HDMI Out 1xUSB Port Micro USB charging port If the above concept has interested you and you fancy yourself building your own version, then click here to get started for more information.
