Pine64 has made a name for itself by releasing hardware products that are surprisingly cheap, capable, and run Linux. So far we’ve got a laptop, smartphone, tablet, and smartwatch, but now we’re getting an e-reader.
It’s called the PineNote, and Pine64 claims it’s going to be the most powerful e-reader available on the market. That’s thanks to its use of the Rockchip RK3566, which is a quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 processor running at 2GHz. It’s paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, as well as 128GB of eMMC internal storage, 5GHz AC Wi-Fi, two microphones, two speakers, and a USB-C port for charging and data transfers.
Anyone who wishes e-readers used larger displays will be pleased to hear the PineNote uses a 10.3-inch E Ink panel with a 3:4 aspect ratio and 1,404-by-1,872 resolution (227 DPI). A frontlight will offer cool (white) and warm (amber) lighting options, but it won’t be automatic. This is a touch screen device, but Pine64 also added a Wacom electromagnetic resonance layer (EMR) to allow for pen input, so the PineNote will double as a device for drawing as well as reading.
The PineNote is certainly not cheap at $399, but it’s much bigger than a Kindle Oasis and includes a pen and a magnetic cover. It’s also important to remember this is an open device that will run Linux as an operating system. Pine64 thinks that initial batches will ship with Manjaro Linux and use either a version of KDE’s Plasma or Plasma Mobile desktop for the user interface.
Writing on the Pine64 blog, Lukasz Erecinski, Pine64 community manager said, “As I see it, the PineNote will eventually not only make for a great device to read books, comic books, sketching, taking notes and productivity in LibreOffice, but also for browsing the web or listening to internet radio or podcasts.” He also believes owners will create their own software for the e-reader.
Pine64 expects to ship the first PineNote models later this year, but they will still need a lot of work. Erecinski explains, “you must expect to write software for it, not to write notes on it.” In other words, if you want a fully-functional e-reader out-the-box, the PineNote isn’t going to offer that this year, but probably will next year.
