Pine64

PinePhone is currently prototyping a fingerprint scanner that goes on the back of the phone. I'm just curious, how important would a dedicated killswitch be for you?

Also, a bit of a tangent, but how do you feel about the fact that the killswitches are hidden behind the back cover instead of easily reachable on the side like the Librem?

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

More updates in January, but the gist is there will be a online retail presence (North America and Europe were both mentioned) complete with support options like RMA but at an increased cost; the PineStore will still have the same (lower) prices we're used to.

Edited: Said USA instead of North America

My current Android phone's battery is on it's last legs (and it's glued together so I can't replace it), and I fear it's time to move on to greener pastures. I'm really excited for the recent developments in "pure Linux" phones so my first thought was to get one of those when I switch. Either that or I could try to get a Fairphone and put a degoogled ROM on it, but it seems they only ship to Europe.

Does anyone have any experience with using the Pinephone as a daily driver? How are the Linux operating systems in terms of stability and availability of software that's compatible with the mobile form factor?

I recall seeing somewhere a while back, that there would be an upgrade path for those who have the pinebook to upgrade the internals (soc) to the new pinebook pro internals. Is this still a thing? I have two pinebooks and would love to just upgrade the guts to the pinebook pro guts. Both my white pinebooks have the HD screens on them.