{"id":9303,"date":"2019-02-08T15:15:26","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T15:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/?p=9303"},"modified":"2019-02-10T05:49:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-10T05:49:53","slug":"pine64-previews-open-source-phone-laptop-tablet-camera-and-sbcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appservgrid.com\/paw92\/index.php\/2019\/02\/08\/pine64-previews-open-source-phone-laptop-tablet-camera-and-sbcs\/","title":{"rendered":"Pine64 previews open source phone, laptop, tablet, camera, and SBCs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pine64\u2019s 2019 line-up of Linux-driven, open-spec products will include Rock64, Pine H64, and Pinebook upgrades plus a PinePhone, PineTab, CUBE camera, and Retro-Gaming case.<\/p>\n

At FOSDEM last weekend, California-based Linux hacker board vendor Pine64 previewed<\/a> an extensive lineup of open source hardware it intends to release in 2019. Surprisingly, only two of the products are single board computers.<\/p>\n

The Linux-driven products will include a PinePhone Development Kit based on the Allwinner A64. There will be second, more consumer focused Pinebook laptop \u2014 a Rockchip RK3399 based, 14-inch Pinebook Pro \u2014 and an Allwinner A64-based, 10.1-inch PineTab tablet. Pine64 also plans to release an Allwinner S3L-driven IP camera system called the CUBE and a Roshambo Retro-Gaming case that supports Pine64\u2019s Rock64 and RockPro64, as well as the Raspberry Pi.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

PinePhone Development Kit (left) and PineTab with optional keyboard<\/b>
\n(click images to enlarge)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The SBC entries are a Pine H64 Model B that will be replace the larger, but similarly Allwinner H6 based, Model A version and will add WiFi\/Bluetooth. There will also be a third rev of the popular, RK3399 based Rock64 board that adds Power-over-Ethernet support. (See farther below for more details.)<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

Pine H64 Model B (left) and earlier Pine H64 Model A<\/b>
\n(click images to enlarge)<\/p>\n

The launch of the phone, laptop, tablet, and camera represents the most ambitious expansion to date by an SBC vendor to new open source hardware form factors. As we noted last month in our hacker board analysis piece<\/a>, community-based SBC projects are increasingly specializing to survive in today\u2019s Raspberry Pi dominated market. In a Feb. 1 Tom\u2019s Hardware story<\/a>, RPi Trading CEO Eben Upton confirmed our speculation that a next generation Raspberry Pi 4 that moves beyond 40nm fabrication will not likely ship until 2020. That offers a window of opportunity for other SBC vendors to innovate.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a relatively short technical leap to move from a specialized SBC to a finished consumer electronics or industrial device, but it\u2019s a larger marketing hurdle, especially with consumer electronics. Still, we can expect a few more vendors to follow Pine64\u2019s lead in building on their SBCs, Linux board support packages, and hacker communities to launch more purpose-built consumer electronics and industrial gear.<\/p>\n

Already, community projects have begun offering a more diverse set of enclosures and other accessories to turn their boards into mini-PCs, IoT gateways, routers, and signage systems. Meanwhile, established embedded board vendors are using their community-backed SBC platforms as a foundation for end-user products. Acer subsidiary Aaeon, for example, has spun off its UP boards into a variety of signage systems, automation controllers, and AI edge computing systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So far, most open source, Linux phone and tablet alternatives have emerged from open source software projects, such as Mozilla\u2019s Firefox OS, the Ubuntu project\u2019s Ubuntu Phone, and the Jolla phone. Most of these alternative mobile Linux projects<\/a> have either failed, faded, or never took off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nPiTalk<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Some of the more recent Linux phone projects<\/a>s, such as the PiTalk and ZeroPhone<\/a>, have been built around the Raspberry Pi platform. The PinePhone and PineTab would be even more open source given that the mainboards ship with full schematics.<\/p>\n

Unlike many hacker board projects, the Pine64 products offer software tied to mainline Linux. This is easier to do with the Rockchip designs, but it\u2019s been a slower road to mainline for Allwinner. Work by Armbian and others have now brought several Allwinner SoCs up to speed.<\/p>\n

Working from established hardware and software platforms may offer a stronger foundation for launching mobile Android alternatives than a software-only project. \u201cThe idea, in principle, is to build convergent device-ecosystems (SBC, Module, Laptop\/Tablet\/ Phone \/ Other Devices) based on SOCs that we\u2019ve already have developers engaged with and invested in,\u201d says the Pine64 blog announcement.<\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

PinePhone (left) and demo running Unity 8 and KDE<\/b>
\n(click images to enlarge)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at Pine64\u2019s open hardware products for 2019:<\/p>\n