Pine64’s Linux E-ink Tablet Is Coming Back

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Oct 03, 2024

Quoting: Pine64’s Linux E-ink Tablet Is Coming Back —

Pine64 has released many different Linux-powered phones, tablets, development boards over the years. Now the company is planning to bring back the e-ink PineNote tablet with improved software and hardware.

The PineNote was first announced in 2021 as an e-ink tablet with an open hardware and software design, complete with a 10.1-inch display, stylus input support, ARM-based RK3566 chipset, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a USB Type-C port. It was eventually released as the PineNote Developer Edition for $399, with Pine64 explaining that it was “an experimental device” and “only suitable for experienced developers.” There wasn’t even a default operating system for the PineNote.

Pine64 has now announced that the PineNote is coming back with “plans formalized for a production run,” though there’s not a firm timeline yet. There has been extensive work on a Debian-based Linux distribution for the PineNote, allowing the tablet to function more like a standard tablet or e-reader. The announcement blog post shows off the tablet running the Gnome desktop, with some modifications that improve functionality on e-ink screens.

Read on

Also:

• Pine64's Linux-Powered E-Ink Tablet is Making a Return - OMG! Ubuntu

  The PineNote was announced in 2021, building on the success of its non-SBC devices like the PinePhone (and later Pro model), the PineTab, and PineBook devices. Like most of Pine64’s devices, software support is largely tackled by the community.

  But only a small natch of developer units were ever sold, primarily by enthusiasts within the open-source community who had the knowledge and desire to work on getting a modern Linux OS to run on the hardware, and adapt to the e-ink display.

  That process has taken a while, as Pine64’s community bloggers explain...