The upcoming PinePhone keyboard accessory will basically let you use the Linux-powered smartphone as a tiny Linux laptop. Just pop off the back cover, snap the phone into the new keyboard case accessory and you’ll get a QWERTY keyboard, a nice big battery, and a new way to use the PinePhone.

While the keyboard isn’t available for purchase yet, Pine64 has been sending prototypes to developers and it looks like they’re making progress in creating open source firmware that will allow the keyboard to interact with the phone.

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2 replies on “Lilbits: PinePhone keyboard, Beats Studio Buds, and a mini PC with discrete graphics support”

  1. Wow, the PinePhone is large enough to be a UMPC with that keyboard.

    Too bad it doesn’t have a built-in mouse though. Otherwise, I’d get it as a Linux UMPC.

    1. It is actually rather small for an UMPC. To fit a mouse of any kind in there they’d probably have to use a blister switch style keyboard like a lot of old sliders use.
      There are, however, various ways bind cursor movement to key presses in Linux.
      It’s been a while (as in, I last did it on windows XP when my mouse broke for some reason) but mousekeys was definitely useable. About as awkward as a pointing stick when you start out.
      I’d probably bind Pine Key plus those keys that serve as arrow keys with FN.

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