Endless Updates - August

Hello from the Endless OS Foundation, and thanks for subscribing to our newsletter! Here's what's happening at Endless.

Vote for our SXSW EDU PanelPicker! 

In the USA there are roughly 15 million students living with unstable internet access or no access at all. That’s a population larger than Los Angeles County. Although a $65 billion broadband-for-all plan is forming, the timeline to reach the last mile is not until 2030. Our offline students can’t afford to wait that long.

This is the theme of our 2023 SXSW EDU panel submission "Bridging Offline Students’ Connectivity Barriers". Offline learning solutions exist today to assist students and we'd like to bring this discussion to Austin next year. Your vote will help our talk get accepted. Follow this link to vote August 9 – 21. Thank you!

Above: The Endless Key's user interface.

Endless Key developments:
1) Help us assist offline students this coming school year:

We are seeking educators and IT admins in the USA to provide feedback on the new Endless Key app. Once installed, the free app works without internet for offline students. Assist and receive a $100 Amazon voucher, or donation to a US charity of your choice. Follow this link to apply.

2) A free rollout to app stores:
The Endless Key is planned for staggered release as a free app for Windows PCs, Chromebooks, and Android. We are already live in the Microsoft Store.

3) Make your own Key:

You can now create your own Endless Key! We've made 128GB of learning & discovery resources available to download to a USB drive for free on our Endless Key page. You'll also find how-to instructions there.

Above: Upcoming Endless OS 5 desktop.

Catch up on our most recent blog posts:

Endless OS 5 is coming!

There's plenty of excitement around our on-going OS 5 work as we get ready for the release date. Learn why.

Seeking US-based tech-focused educators & IT administrators

Read about our need for US-based educators & IT administrators to participate in feedback sessions about our new Endless Key App for offline US students.

Re-imagining the Open-Source PC Desktop

Learn more about how we're collaborating with the GNOME project to improve usability of the PC desktop for a wide audience.

Turning Smartphones into Computers

We believe that if smartphones could act as PCs, the digital divide would be significantly reduced in many parts of the world. Read about some exciting industry developments in this area.

Recent Events | Conferences | Talks

Endless OS is based on the open source GNOME desktop, and we contribute our changes to improve computer usability for millions of users around the world. GUADEC, the annual developer conference of the GNOME project, hosted in Guadalajara Mexico this year, featured 6 presentations from the Endless team. Our CEO Rob McQueen discussed how our offline-first OS is positively impacting rural Indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico – bypassing any internet connectivity needs, providing digital resources, and promoting Indigenous language preservation. Read more about our Oaxaca journey here.

"The Case For Internet Autonomy And How GNOME Can Help" was another talk presented by Rob, discussing how GNOME can help protect users from the threats posed by internet blocking, surveillance and disruption

Above: CEO Rob McQueen presenting at GUADEC 2022 in Guadalajara.

Our takeaways from the USA's Broadband Access Summit:

We attended The Pew Charitable Trusts' summit and met with the USA's Internet-For-All community in June. So many brilliant & dedicated teams are positioning to try and solve the Digital Divide in the USA by 2030.

There's a $65 billion plan in the works to drive affordable high-speed internet to every home in the USA. Our conversations around how offline learning resources like the Endless Key can serve as a complement to the USA’s broadband roll-out were enthusiastically received.

We look forward to collaborating with teams throughout the USA about how offline resources can immediately help those waiting for stable internet.

Contact Us

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