PineNote Developer Edition Core Linux e-Reader Now Available for $399

The Pine64 community had a tear in 2022, with the launch of the PineNote Developer Edition Linux eReader following the availability of the PinePhone keyboard case and the PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition Linux smartphone over the past 2-3 weeks.

Until now, a limited number of PineNote prototypes have been sent to developers, but it is now possible to order the PineNote Developer Edition for $399 direct from the Pine64 store. As the name suggests, the e-Reader is not ready for end-users, but recent advancements with mainline Linux make it suitable for developers and enthusiasts who want to play with the device knowing that many more work is required to make it a usable device. .

Specifications remain the same as in PineNote’s original announcement:

• SoC – 1.8GHz Rockchip RK3566 Quad-Core A55 Processor with Arm Mali-G52 EE GPU, 0.8 TOPS NPU (AI Accelerator)
• System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 RAM
• Storage – 128 GB eMMC Flash
• Display – 10.3-inch panel with 1404×1872 resolution (227 DPI), 16 levels of grayscale, front illumination with cool (white) to warm (amber) light adjustment, capacitive glass layer for a touch input, hardened scratch-resistant glass and a Wacom electromagnetic resonance (EMR) layer for EMR pen input (included).
• Audio – 4 microphones, stereo speaker
• Connectivity – Dual band 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0
• USB – 1 USB-C 2.0 host port for fast charging and data
• Sensor – G-Sensor for portrait and landscape detection
• Battery – 4000mAh / 14.8Wh LiPi battery
• Power – 5V/3A via USB-C port with USB PD support (15W)
• Dimensions – 191.1 x 232.5 x 7.4mm
• Weight – 438 grams
• Materials – magnesium alloy inner frame, plastic back shell

The PineNote Developer Edition comes with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, quick start user manual, EMR stylus, and protective sleeve.

The Developer Edition only comes with a bootloader, no operating system, so you’ll have to install, or even create, your own. The photo above shows the PineNote running Alpine Linux v3.14 with Linux 5.16-rc7 (mainline) and a working DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) driver for the device’s controller and e-ink panel. This is still an early release that uses the basic grayscale waveform and support for optimized anti-ghosting waveforms, the fast monochrome waveform used for input at low-latency stylus and the dithering waveform needed for watching videos will come later.

Nevertheless, this should allow developers to optimize programs for E-ink screens, including removing animations, maximizing contrast and checking whether the information conveyed by colors is still usable on a grayscale screen. .

Going through Pine64 January Update.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 on a part-time basis, before stepping down as Director of Software Engineering and starting writing daily news and reviews full-time later in 2011.