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I love the Pine lineup of devices. They are really helping the Linux phone by providing a dev platform, partnering with different OS implementations and mainl

I love the Pine lineup of devices. They are really helping the Linux phone by providing a dev platform, partnering with different OS implementations and mainlining as much as possible. I do wish they had a Pinebook Pro and Pinephone with a bit more oomph. And for them to focus heavily on RISC-V in the future once that becomes viable, which sadly seems a few years off.

josteink 6y ago
> I do wish they had a Pinebook Pro and Pinephone with a bit more oomph. The new SOC they say they have planned for their 2021 lineup seems to be just that. I wonder if I will be able to buy a simple mainboard upgrade to my existing PinePhone once they have something shipping. I certainly wouldn't mind more "oomph" in my PinePhone and it would be nice not having to buy a new device entirely.
- linmob 6y ago
  I doubt we are going to see the RK3566 in PinePhones in 2021. That sounds more like a 2022 thing to me – unless getting proper mainline Linux support is going to land extraordinarily fast for that new SoC. Knowing Pine64 I think they might provide upgrade boards unless it turns out that revising other aspects of the PinePhone hardware (e.g. screen, camera, battery) can be revised and improved cheaply so that this would not make sense economically.
- the_duke 6y ago
  The announcement says the new SOC is for "non-pro" devices. They seem to have something more powerful in the pipeline for those.
  - Iolaum 6y ago
    I think the chip for pro devices is likely to be the rk3588.
fsflover 6y ago
Not sure what you consider 'viable', but here is a RISC-V mobile development platform: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/precursor https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/precursor.
- the_duke 6y ago
  100 MHz FPGA softcore, keyboard, simple b/w screen. It's an interesting kit, but not relevant in the context of iterating on a modern phone OS.
  - m4rtink 6y ago
    Well, I think the project is called "Precursor" for a reason - one can assume it can come closer to a smartphone form factor in a couple more generations - if successful.
- snvzz 6y ago
  That's really meant for development of hardware.
somesortofsystm 6y ago
I agree .. I've been hacking away on the PineWatch as a platform for the last few months, mostly to teach myself baremetal Rust, and it is an extraordinarily satisfying circumstance to be able to tell time on a watch running my own code. The hardware is decent for the price (very cheap), and it is so very, very refreshingly open. I will pick up a PinePhone as soon as possible, based on this experience, and I'm probably going to be a Pine stalwart for the next few years, at least, as a general platform. These guys are finally delivering devices that we developers can be happy to get involved in. I say that as a dev with years of iOS experience, where I am currently fatigued with having to keep up with yet more proprietary bollocks from Apple: the future of these devices is open.
- FeepingCreature 6y ago
  The dev kit buy page has a scary warning that the cover doesn't pop on. How much of a problem is that in practice? I really want to get one to play with.
  - drewzero1 6y ago
    There was a recent post about that on r/pine64official (or maybe on Mastodon? I've been watching both) that said that the cover is held on with silicone glue. So it sounds to me like there's no mechanical detent, but you can use glue to hold on the cover. The main issues I could see with that would be waterproofness and possible glue mess if it isn't applied just so. This isn't the post, but it is mentioned. [1] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/PINE64official/comments/jaow6f/pinetime_is_it_normal_for_the_watch_back_to_not/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PINE64official/comments/jaow6f/pine...
    - somesortofsystm 6y ago
      Its easy to seal the watch in a way that produces water-tightness .. but I still wouldn't want bother wearing it in the shower. Maybe okay in rain, though.
      - 6y ago
nsajko 6y ago
I don't want them to focus on RISC-V. Only time will tell how appropriate RISC-V can be technologically in a smartphone application, and why would you want the company that focuses on open source to invest themselves into it? Are you aware that Riscv being an open ISA has absolutely nothing to do with open source (either software or hardware)?
- dahfizz 6y ago
  If every compiler cost $1000 for every time you wanted to compile something, there would be dramatically less OSS. Having an open, free ISA _allows_ for open hardware.
unwind 6y ago
Their upcoming Pinecil soldering iron runs on RISC-V, so there is that. :) Really looking forward to it, it has been schedule-slipping for as long as I've been tracking now (this fall, basically).

josteink 6y ago

> I do wish they had a Pinebook Pro and Pinephone with a bit more oomph. The new SOC they say they have planned for their 2021 lineup seems to be just that. I wonder if I will be able to buy a simple mainboard upgrade to my existing PinePhone once they have something shipping. I certainly wouldn't mind more "oomph" in my PinePhone and it would be nice not having to buy a new device entirely.

linmob 6y ago
I doubt we are going to see the RK3566 in PinePhones in 2021. That sounds more like a 2022 thing to me – unless getting proper mainline Linux support is going to land extraordinarily fast for that new SoC. Knowing Pine64 I think they might provide upgrade boards unless it turns out that revising other aspects of the PinePhone hardware (e.g. screen, camera, battery) can be revised and improved cheaply so that this would not make sense economically.
the_duke 6y ago
The announcement says the new SOC is for "non-pro" devices. They seem to have something more powerful in the pipeline for those.
- Iolaum 6y ago
  I think the chip for pro devices is likely to be the rk3588.

fsflover 6y ago

Not sure what you consider 'viable', but here is a RISC-V mobile development platform: https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/precursor https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/precursor.

the_duke 6y ago
100 MHz FPGA softcore, keyboard, simple b/w screen. It's an interesting kit, but not relevant in the context of iterating on a modern phone OS.
- m4rtink 6y ago
  Well, I think the project is called "Precursor" for a reason - one can assume it can come closer to a smartphone form factor in a couple more generations - if successful.
snvzz 6y ago
That's really meant for development of hardware.

somesortofsystm 6y ago

I agree .. I've been hacking away on the PineWatch as a platform for the last few months, mostly to teach myself baremetal Rust, and it is an extraordinarily satisfying circumstance to be able to tell time on a watch running my own code. The hardware is decent for the price (very cheap), and it is so very, very refreshingly open. I will pick up a PinePhone as soon as possible, based on this experience, and I'm probably going to be a Pine stalwart for the next few years, at least, as a general platform. These guys are finally delivering devices that we developers can be happy to get involved in. I say that as a dev with years of iOS experience, where I am currently fatigued with having to keep up with yet more proprietary bollocks from Apple: the future of these devices is open.

FeepingCreature 6y ago
The dev kit buy page has a scary warning that the cover doesn't pop on. How much of a problem is that in practice? I really want to get one to play with.
- drewzero1 6y ago
  There was a recent post about that on r/pine64official (or maybe on Mastodon? I've been watching both) that said that the cover is held on with silicone glue. So it sounds to me like there's no mechanical detent, but you can use glue to hold on the cover. The main issues I could see with that would be waterproofness and possible glue mess if it isn't applied just so. This isn't the post, but it is mentioned. [1] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/PINE64official/comments/jaow6f/pinetime_is_it_normal_for_the_watch_back_to_not/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PINE64official/comments/jaow6f/pine...
  - somesortofsystm 6y ago
    Its easy to seal the watch in a way that produces water-tightness .. but I still wouldn't want bother wearing it in the shower. Maybe okay in rain, though.
    - 6y ago

nsajko 6y ago

I don't want them to focus on RISC-V. Only time will tell how appropriate RISC-V can be technologically in a smartphone application, and why would you want the company that focuses on open source to invest themselves into it? Are you aware that Riscv being an open ISA has absolutely nothing to do with open source (either software or hardware)?

dahfizz 6y ago
If every compiler cost $1000 for every time you wanted to compile something, there would be dramatically less OSS. Having an open, free ISA _allows_ for open hardware.

unwind 6y ago

Their upcoming Pinecil soldering iron runs on RISC-V, so there is that. :) Really looking forward to it, it has been schedule-slipping for as long as I've been tracking now (this fall, basically).