Linux tablet maker JingLing secures $10M funding, starts JingPad crowdfunding campaign

One of the projects that we often followed on our Twitter throughout the last months was Jingling's upcoming tablet and desktop environment. The Chinese start-up initially appeared in January 2021, promising an openly iPadOS-like operating system and releasing a bootable ISO which we test-drove just after its release alongside sources. In fact, the latest JingOS v0.9 was released days ago alongside its detailed changelog.

The news of today is, JingLing's first tablet, the ARM-based JingPad A1, is finally going for sale. Some minutes ago the campaign for the A1 tablet device was opened, and the company started accepting pre-orders for devices to start shipping as early as September 2021. Several reports of the progress made were punctually released on the company's YouTube channel, showing Linux and Android apps running with surprising smoothness for the Linux tablet standard, and the device prototypes being showcased. Their first tablet, the ARM64-based JingPad A1, was initially presented during Linux App Summit 2021.

The device, which starts at $550 and retails at $695, ships with optional keyboard and pen to compete with Apple's latest offerings, and should run both Linux and Android programs. The "JDE" desktop is based on KDE's Plasma Mobile platform, and work on this front has been open-sourced on GitHub and developed in active communication with upstream KDE developers since its early days.

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