http://mobile.geek.com/latest/256705-chip-is-a-computer-that-costs-9-dollars?origref=
Looks intresting if they get this project shipped in time and budget.
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http://mobile.geek.com/latest/256705-chip-is-a-computer-that-costs-9-dollars?origref=
Looks intresting if they get this project shipped in time and budget.
Posted from WordPress for Android
10 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
David Scheltema / Make:
Next Thing Co. unveils CHIP, a $9 Raspberry Pi competitor with 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, running Debian Linux
Next Thing Co. Releases “World’s First” $9 Computer
http://makezine.com/2015/05/07/next-thing-co-releases-worlds-first-9-computer/
Snuggly situated in an industrial section of Oakland, CA is Next Thing Co. a team of nine artists and engineers who are pursuing the dream of a lower cost single board computer. Today they’ve unveiled their progress on Kickstarter, offering a $9 development board called Chip.
The board is Open Hardware, runs a flavor of Debian Linux, and boasts a 1Ghz R8 ARM processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of eMMC storage. It is more powerful than a Raspberry Pi B+ and equal to the BeagleBone Black in clock speed, RAM, and storage. Differentiating Chip from Beagle is its built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and the ease in which it can be made portable, thanks to circuitry that handles battery operation.
If you’re wondering how Chip could be this inexpensive, you can thank cheap Chinese tablets. The System-on-Chip used in the development board is based on an A13 processor by Allwinner, a Shenzhen-based semiconductor company. As recently as 2013, Allwinner was the second largest tablet manufacturer in the world, and the A13 was the most successful processor in Allwinner’s lineup.
Try it now — query for “a13-based tablets” and you’ll discover sub-fifty dollar devices at clock speeds near that of Chip.
How an industry giant and a tiny startup came to partner on a sub-$10 computing device owes to Next Thing’s history developing products and business connections with Shenzhen-based accelerator HAXLR8R
CHIP – The World’s First Nine Dollar Computer
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598272670/chip-the-worlds-first-9-computer
Tomi Engdahl says:
C.H.I.P. is a Linux Trojan Horse for Nine Bucks
http://hackaday.com/2015/05/08/c-h-i-p-is-a-linux-trojan-horse-for-nine-bucks/
I’m sure you’ve already heard about C.H.I.P, the $9 Linux computer. It is certainly sexy to say nine-bucks but there should really be an asterisk next to that number. If you want things like VGA or HDMI you need an adapter board which adds cost (natively the board only supports composite video output). I also have questions about MSRP once the Kickstarter is fulfilled. But what’s on my mind isn’t cost; this is still going to be in the realm of extremely-inexpensive no matter what shakes out. Instead, I’d like to look at this being the delivery device for wider Linux acceptance.
The gist of the hardware is a small board with a SoC boasting a 1GHz clock, half a gig of ram, four gigs of flash, one USB, WiFi and Bluetooth. It also has add-ons that make it a handheld and is being promoted as a gaming console. It’s amazing what you get out of these SoC’s for the cost these days, isn’t it?
C.H.I.P. is picking up on a movement that started with Raspberry Pi.
These are entry-level computers and a large portion of the user-base will be kids.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comments from http://hackaday.com/2015/05/08/c-h-i-p-is-a-linux-trojan-horse-for-nine-bucks/
I’m still extremely skeptical – mainly because that $9 price includes _worldwide shipping_.
It doesn’t include world wide shipping, US shipping is $5, rest of world is $20.
And did not check Kickstarter page. Shipping is $20 extra for me so suddenly $9 computer turned into $29 + VAT + customs computer (parcels < €10 are tax free here).
Kickstarter wanted $20 shipping to Canada
I don’t see how they can do it either… I figure they grab the market for the Kickstarter and then up the price on the second production run hoping that there will be enough community proof-of-concept to get people to pay it.
If you read the comments on Kickstart er you would see people complaining about $20 shipping. I went in for a pocket CHIP and it gave me $10 shipping. The real issue to complain about is its not shipping for a year! That will probably slip as well.
Look at the delivery dates – the “one of everything” package isn’t expected to ship until May 2016
Other than the price and lack of a few outputs, this is just a different spin on the Ras Pi. Heck, it’s effectively Sugar-Free Raspberry Pi.
On board lipo charger. WiFi and Bluetooth without needing adapters.
…it looks like it has a lot of GPIO but i don’t think it really does, their page said only 8 GPIO…(plus spi, lcd…)
Tomi Engdahl says:
I don’t think the price seems unbelievable — I see plenty of Linux-based WiFi routers on AliExpress/eBay in that $9 price range. Sure, they’re AR9331-based designs, and the Allwinner stuff is slightly more expensive, but a $9 board isn’t unfathomable. I’ve got an A13-based PCB I’m putting together with a BOM cost of about $12, and I’m buying parts in single quantity off AliExpress. Obviously, C.H.I.P. could easily get the BOM down to $4 or $5.
Source: Comment at http://hackaday.com/2015/05/08/c-h-i-p-is-a-linux-trojan-horse-for-nine-bucks/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Goodbye, Pi. Hello, C.H.I.P.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/goodbye-pi-hello-chip?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+linuxjournalcom+%28Linux+Journal+-+The+Original+Magazine+of+the+Linux+Community%29#
A new mini-computer is on the way, and it looks like it may be the Raspberry Pi killer we’ve all been waiting for (sorry Pi). C.H.I.P. is its name, and it looks set to wipe the floor with its established competitor on several counts
Of course, this isn’t the first Raspberry Pi competitor to offer more features than the original, but there’s one big difference. Whereas all of the others have been more expensive than the Pi, this one is cheaper. Much cheaper–the basic unit is only $9.
With a smaller profile than the Pi, a lower price tag, a more powerful processor and more memory, it could quickly replace Pi as the number-one choice for projects.
They are continuing to tinker with the specifications leading up to the official release, so keep an eye on those.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Interview with the Creators of CHIP, a $9 Single-Board Computer
http://hackaday.com/2015/05/19/interview-with-the-creators-of-chip-a-9-single-board-computer/
Single-board computing is hot on the DIY scene right now and riding that knife edge is C.H.I.P., a project currently in crowd-funding which prices the base unit at just $9. I was happy to run into the crew from Next/Thing Company who developed C.H.I.P. They were happy because, well, the project’s reception has been like a supernova. Right now they’re at about $1.5M of their original $50k goal. We spoke about running Linux on the board, what connectors and pinout headers are available, as well as the various peripheral hardware they have ready for the board.
Last week I published a post discussing the possibility of Linux evolving into mainstream because of engineers growing up with boards like C.H.I.P, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black, etc. At that point I was thinking that most of these boards would be used as a desktop computer. My thinking has changed a bit (which I’ll get to in a moment) but I think it’s important to note that most people will not use the $9 base model for this purpose. It only comes with composite video. So the “but” about the price is you need to spend an additional $10-15 for VGA or HDMI adapters. As I said before, that’s not a deal-breaker.
Having now seen it in person, I’m beginning to wonder if this won’t be used for a lot of headless projects?
…yeah, maybe just $9
There are a ton of reasons this should make it into projects that don’t have any need at all for a display — giving you the savings of not taking up board space or BOM cost for unused ports.
There is WiFi and Bluetooth, camera support, 8 GPIO, and your standard UART/SPI/I2C. Think of all the relatively heavy-lifting embedded projects that are begging for this horsepower and pricepoint: rovers, drones, and visualisation displays (think huge LED matrices or giant flip-dot displays) to name just a few.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Olimex Claims the World’s First $9 Computer Costs $39
http://hackaday.com/2015/06/11/does-the-worlds-first-9-computer-cost-9/
The C.H.I.P. from Next Thing Co. bills itself as the world’s first nine dollar computer. That’s not a lie; their Kickstarter took in over two million dollars for a tiny single board computer with composite Video, WiFi, Bluetooth 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and a 1GHz CPU. That’s a complete computer, sans keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
Understandably, the C.H.I.P. is already extremely successful. The company behind it has about 50,000 pre-orders
The Olimex blog has given their opinion of the C.H.I.P, and if that’s to be believed, the news isn’t good. The guys at Olimex know their stuff when it comes to making cheap single board computers; they have more than a few for sale, and they know what the Flash and DRAM market is like. To them, it’s impossible to sell a computer like the C.H.I.P. at $9. A quote from Allwinner for a similar module is $16 at the quantity Next Thing Co. would be looking at. That’s just the module with RAM and Flash – no Wifi, no board, no connectors. How could it be possible to sell this computer for only $9?
How to get in the News? Tell people that you will make and sell something which cost you $20 for $9!
https://olimex.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/how-to-get-in-the-news-tell-people-that-you-will-make-and-sell-something-which-cost-you-20-for-9/
Today I got datasheet of R8M and price of it is $16 including the PMU. Whaaat? Just the module is $16 but these guys sell this module on board with connectors and WIFI for $9 how this is possible?
On my question how then Next Thing Co. sell this computer for $9 Allwinner response is:
“CHIP 9$ computer launched a big advertising campaign to promote their new development board, their actual cost is higher than 9$. After the Kickstarter their computer will sell for 39$.”
The C.H.I.P. is just CHEAP marketing. At least for me R8 is not interesting at this price, better use A33 Quad core or H3 for your next design they are in same price range.
Tomi Engdahl says:
$9 single-board computer is set to make its debut
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/tech-edge/4441185/-9-single-board-computer-is-set-to-make-its-debut?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20160115&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20160115&elq=0ef180ceef354058a1a8715a3ec9f6bc&elqCampaignId=26543&elqaid=30339&elqat=1&elqTrackId=01117ed690c24e3aa954627722a1bb43
What can you expect in a development board with a $9 price tag? Known as CHIP, which stands for “Computer Hardware in Products,” the open source product features a 1-GHz R8 ARM processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 4 GB of onboard storage; has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity; and is designed to work on any screen.
Users can connect via a built-in composite output or with a VGA or HDMI adapter. According to Gizmag’s Heidi Hoopes, “If you can use a GUI Linux interface (Debian-based), then you can use the pre-installed applications, add peripherals, play games, and compute in a manner you’re used to.”
Smaller than a credit card, CHIP is the creation of Next Thing Co.,
The group raised more than $2 million from over 39,500 backers through a May Kickstarter campaign, far exceeding its initial $50,000 goal.
“If you’re wondering how CHIP could be this inexpensive, you can thank cheap Chinese tablets,” said David Scheltema of Make:. “The system on chip (SoC) used in the development board is based on an A13 processor by Allwinner, a Shenzhen-based semiconductor company. As recently as 2013, Allwinner was the second-largest tablet manufacturer in the world, and the A13 was the most successful processor in Allwinner’s lineup.”
CHIP comes preinstalled with dozens of applications, tools, and games. The Chromium browser makes Web surfing possible. LibreOffice can be used to create word documents and presentations and also edit spreadsheets. Scratch is a free basic programming language that allows users to create interactive stories, games, and animations. In addition, CHIP can run thousands of free applications from the open source community.
PocketCHIP, a much anticipated peripheral, is a molded case containing a 4.3-inch touchscreen, keyboard, and five-hour battery that makes CHIP portable and also resemble an original-style Nintendo Game Boy. Priced at $49 (plus shipping), PocketCHIP is expected to launch in May 2016
“Alpha” CHIPs, targeted at enthusiast hackers — Kickstarter backers who pledged at the “kernal hacker” reward level — have already started shipping.
The company is currently focused on fulfilling orders from the Kickstarter campaign, but the system is expected to be available for direct purchase at a later date.
Tomi Engdahl says:
C.H.I.P. is a Linux Trojan Horse for Nine Bucks
http://hackaday.com/2015/05/08/c-h-i-p-is-a-linux-trojan-horse-for-nine-bucks/
I’m sure you’ve already heard about C.H.I.P, the $9 Linux computer. It is certainly sexy to say nine-bucks but there should really be an asterisk next to that number. If you want things like VGA or HDMI you need an adapter board which adds cost (natively the board only supports composite video output).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Upcycle Old Speakers With C.H.I.P.
http://hackaday.com/2016/03/12/upcycle-oid-speakers-with-c-h-i-p/
Sometimes you get a piece of hardware that’s so cool you can’t help but fix it back up. There are a lot of companies after that sweet, sweet Raspberry Pi money, and the $9 US Dollar C.H.I.P. is a very interesting contender for the space. We have been especially enjoying the stream of neat hacks and example projects they’ve been putting out.
In this case, [Peter] wanted to get a pair of walnut speakers up to modern standards.
he added C.H.I.P., a power supply, an amplifier, and a 500GB hard-drive. The controlling software behind the installation is the venerable mpd.
http://hackaday.com/2013/03/14/raspberry-pi-as-a-spotify-server-with-mpd-control/