In the last Community Update of the year we look back at 2020, talk about the PinePhone keyboard, introduce the PinePower and much more.

TL;DR for this month’s update

  • RK3566 boards available to developers next month; more info in January
  • Community page (.org) getting a make-over & chat bridge will be worked on over the holidays.
  • An apology to early KDE CE pre-orders who received refunds and an explanation of what happened
  • A word about retail stores coming early next year
  • Look back at 2020 – our shortcomings and accomplishments discussed
  • PineTime – classy analogue watch faces available for InfiniTime
  • PineTime – InfiniTime receives many fixes including wake-up time, battery readout and call notifications
  • PineTime – new WaspOS version has been released
  • PineTime – Amazefish companion app now runs on multiple distros, including KDE Plasma Mobile; you can now sync your PineTime to the * PinePhone running Manjaro KDE & more!
  • Pinebook Pro – production resumes after Chinese New Year, late February/ early March 2021
  • Pinebook Pro – is now supported by official Debian Installer (Alpha 3)
  • Pinebook Pro – the Docking Deck receives a warm response from end-users and reviewers
  • PinePhone – software and firmware news: Megi’s 5.10 kernel and new firmware for the modem result in improved power management + thermals
  • PinePhone – Megapixels camera app now supports smooth 30FPS viewfinder; works on multiple mobile UIs.
  • PinePhone – We signed a contract for a PSION5-like keyboard with a specialized vendor(!); developers will receive keyboards already in January 2021
  • PinePhone – Qi charging back case entered production (molding process)
  • PinePhone – We’re working on a fingerprint reader back case with a community member who created a working prototype
  • PinePhone – showcase of awesome PinePhone hacks and DIY projects
  • PinePower – a range of power supplies (PSUs) for PINE64 products coming soon
  • PinePower – portable 65W GaN PSU due in late Jan/ early Feb and a 120W desktop PSU coming later in 2021
  • PineCube – we now have Armbian support (Debian & Ubuntu) for the PineCube
  • PineCube – we created a case for the PineCube and released STL files for it
  • Pinecil – initial batch sold out incredibly fast, more units are being produced for January 2021
  • Nutcracker Challenge – more evaluation boards shipped
  • Nutcracker Challenge – we’re getting more source code soon & early community developed flashing tools now available