An 11″, 2K, 4:3 AMOLED touchscreen. A 1.8GHz 8-core ARM SoC. 8GB of RAM. 256GB of storage. USB-C. An included stylus. Sounds like an awesome tablet right? But the thing that makes the JingPad A1 truly special is that it’s running JingOS, a Linux-based operating system.
The idea is simple – to have access to Linux applications in a slim, light, and powerful tablet. The JingPad is the first hardware product from a company called JingLing. They actually started with the operating system first – a smart move, considering they’re sourcing the hardware components anyway. In fact, you can download JingOS right now. The OS supports multitouch, has basic apps and widgets, and has a desktop mode similar to Samsung’s DeX. Arguably the most important feature of JingOS is that it can run Android apps, although it doesn’t seem like you can simply sideload them. JingLing will have a dedicated app store for Android apps.
As I said, the JingPad A1 comes with a stylus. But it also has an optional keyboard and trackpad accessory. I like the integrated kickstand. That’s a neat implementation.
Here’s the JingPad A1 pitch video:
And here’s a brief demo of the tablet running popular Linux apps:
The touch response seems a bit iffy, but it looks like a polished product. If they can nail the compatibility with Android apps, I think JingLing has a winner in their hands. Pledge at least $549 (USD) on Indiegogo to get the JingPad A1 with the stylus. Pledge at least $699 and you get the keyboard too.
