At the beginning of the year we shared here on the blog about JingOS which is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu that was created with the aim of improving the functionality and performance of tablets in general The team behind the new operating system was inspired by iPadOS to offer a simple, powerful and beautiful solution for turning tablets into computers that you can use anywhere.
The project is being developed by the Chinese company Jingling Tech, which has a representative office in California. The development team includes employees previously employed by Lenovo, Alibaba, Samsung, Canonical / Ubuntu, and Trolltech, plus plans include a transition to their own JDE (Jing Desktop Environment) shell.
For the tests by JingOS, developers use Surface pro6 and Huawei Matebook 14 tablets, But theoretically the distribution can run on any tablet compatible with Ubuntu 20.04. OTA updates are supported to keep the software up to date. To install programs, in addition to the usual Ubuntu repositories and the Snap catalog, a separate app store is offered.
To create the application interface, Qt is applied, a set of Mauikit components and the Kirigami framework of the KDE Frameworks, allowing to create versatile interfaces, automatically scalable, taking into account different screen sizes. To control touchscreens and touchpads, on-screen gestures are actively used, such as pinching the zoom and turning pages. The use of multi-touch gestures is supported.
Of the components developed for JingOS:
- JingCore-WindowManger- A composite manager based on KDE Kwin, enhanced with on-screen gesture control and tablet-specific capabilities.
- JingCore-CommonComponents: is an application development framework based on KDE Kirigami that includes additional components for JingOS.
- JingSystemui-Launcher: it is a basic interface based on the plasma-phone-components package. Includes implementation of home screen, base panel, notification display system and configurator.
- JingApps-Photos: is a photo collection software based on the Koko application.
- JingApps-Kalk: it is a calculator.
- Jing Haruna: is a video player based on Qt / QML and libmpv.
- JingApps-KRecorder: is a program for recording sound (voice recorder).
- JingApps-KClock: It is a watch with timer and alarm functions.
- JingApps-Media-Player: is a media player based on vvave.
About JingOS 0.9
The new version of JingOS 0.9 is based on Ubuntu 20.04 and the user environment is based on KDE Plasma Mobile 5.20. In addition to this the new version stands out for the continuation of optimizations for touchscreens, tools for working in several languages (even through the virtual keyboard), automatic adaptation of the interface design according to the parameters of the screen, adding additional settings (desktop background, VPN, time zone, Bluetooth, mouse, keyboard, etc. ), new visual effects and file manager integration capabilities for working with compressed data.
An extended environment is being developed for the ARM platform, which allows, in addition to stationary desktop applications such as LibreOffice, to run applications created for the Android platform.
As well a hybrid environment is offered where Ubuntu and Android programs they run in parallel. And ARM builds and Android app support are promised for the JingOS 1.0 release, scheduled for June 30.
In parallel, also It is worth noting that the project is developing its own JingPad tablet, supplied with JingOS and using ARM architecture (UNISOC Tiger T7510, 4 Cortex-A75 2Ghz cores + 4 Cortex-A55 1.8Ghz cores).
JingPad is equipped with an 11-inch touch screen (Corning Gorilla Glass, AMOLED 266PPI, 350nit brightness, 2368 × 1728 resolution), 8000 mAh battery, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of Flash, 16 and 8 megapixel cameras. , two noise-canceling microphones, 2.4G / 5G WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB Type-C, MicroSD, and a dockable keyboard that turns your tablet into a laptop.
It should be noted that JingPad will be the first Linux tablet to ship with a stylus that supports 4096 levels of sensitivity (LP). The start of pre-order delivery is scheduled for August 31, with bulk sales beginning September 27.
Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about the new version, you can consult the details in the following link