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Another Raspberry Pi? $49 ARM Single-Board Computer With Android

Posted by Soulskill on from the not-bigger-than-a-breadbox dept.

n7ytd writes "Announced today and running on an 800 MHz VIA core, the 170 x 85mm 'APC' is expected to ship this July. It has 2GB of flash storage and 512MB of DDR3 memory. 'A modified version of Google Android 2.3 uses up most of that 2GB of flash storage, but there are external storage options. On the back I/O is a microSD slot, and of course you could hook in an external USB 2.0 drive. VIA spent a lot of time customizing Android to enable keyboard and mouse support which natively it does not support. ... On the I/O panel you get VGA output, HDMI output (up to 720p playback with hardware acceleration), four USB 2.0 ports, gigabit LAN and audio out and microphone in.' With a 'Neo ITX' form factor, VIA touts the single-board computer as a 'bicycle for your mind.'"

4 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Toy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Without the GNU userland it's a consumer toy.

    1. Re:Toy by jmorris42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > really dumb lockdown decision by RPi it seems to me

      No, the really cheap SoC they got their hands on didn't support it. Beggars can't be choosers. On the other hand, VIA's does, probably because they wanted it to and so they made it that way. But the real win is the VIA has a network port that doesn't appear to be just bolted onto a USB bus through a converter. And four (and perhaps a header for two more) USB ports. But the huge difference is 512MB of RAM vs 256MB; especially since at least 64MB has to come out for video and many sources for the Pi are saying if you plan on actually doing 3d or heavy video you will end up splitting it 128/128. Give this board the same 128M for video and you end up with three times the program space, maybe even enough to run a app or two.

      If this board had a few spare GPIO pins brought out to a header there really wouldn't be a reason for Pi to exist at this point. Add in the the hard reality that VIA will probably be able to actually ship product near the announced date in whatever quantity you care to order in and that has to count for some extra points in their favor.

      And just wait until Win8 ships, bet we see ARM motherboards then with even better specs, stuff good and hefty enough to run Windows on. Of course we will have to wait a few months beyond that so that the usual suspects can jailbreak them before being able to load up a useful OS.

      --
      Democrat delenda est
  2. No 1080 support? by jmorris42 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Kinda wierd to be releasing a product in 2012 that won't play 1080 video. I certainly wouldn't like a desktop on a 1280x720 display.

    Some sites say the chip can do 1080, others only claim 720p. And if they are putting it on a *-ITX form factor would a SATA port have killed em to add? Any existing case will have this little guy rattling around in it, might as well have the option to put a small drive in. Sure Android probably won't use it but how many hours does anyone think it will take to get a more normal Linux distro on it?

    --
    Democrat delenda est
  3. yes it does support keyboard and mouse by farble1670 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    VIA spent a lot of time customizing Android to enable keyboard and mouse support which natively it does not support.

    yes, it does.