PineTab tablet from Pine64 with Ubuntu Touch can be pre-ordered at the end of May

Pine64 is set to take pre-orders for its upcoming PineTab tablet at the end of this month after multiple delays, including due to the coronavirus. It runs on a modified version of Ubuntu Touch and will cost $99.

The PineTab was originally supposed to be on the market in the summer of 2019, but that turned out differently. Initially, the delay was due to a focus on the Pine64 smartphone and laptop, but then the coronavirus forced the planning to be overhauled. With factories in Asia cautiously reopening their doors, Pine64 is ready to take pre-orders. A keyboard cover with magnets and backlit keys is also available for pre-order for $20.

The tablet has a 10.1″ display with 720p resolution and an IPS panel. Under the hood is an Allwinner A64 quadcore CPU with a Mali-400 MP2 GPU, 2GB ram, and 64GB emmc storage. storage memory can be expanded with a micro-sd card that can also be booted from.Pine64 is also working on an m2-ssd adapter that can be mounted in the tablet.For the same slot, an lte-gps board is also being worked on, a lora board and an rtl-sdr board Several of these add-ons can be in the tablet at the same time, but only one can be used at a time.

The tablet will ship with Ubuntu Touch, a touchscreen-optimized version of Ubuntu, which can also switch to mouse-and-keyboard input. However, the makers state that the PineTab “supports many mainline 64-bit arm Linux desktop distros.”

On the PinePhone side, it is announced that the arrival of wireless charging via the Qi standard is expected to take place in July and that Pine64 is considering equipping the PinePhone with the possibility of dual booting in the future. They are also looking at the possibility to release a 5000mAh battery case for the PinePhone, to somewhat remedy the limited battery life.

Pine64 outlines this news and more smaller pieces of information in the May Update on its blog.