Intel open source hardware

[4to20Milliamps]

I did several searches and didn't see this posted anywhere:

[GeoffS]

Not cheap though at around $250.

[4to20Milliamps]

Especially compared to a raspberry pi, they're a bit late getting into the hobby stuff, it must be a big enough market to be drawing their attention though.

[amyk]

Unfortunately besides the price it's also not quite feature-complete to make it PC-compatible, which may have been their original goal - if it was, it would be a lot more attractive. The CPU is $54 and the chipset is $9. If it's open-souce I can see the Chinese getting copies out for far less than $250.

Only 12 GPIO is rather dismal; many of the other chipsets have several dozen.

At least datasheets for the devices are available, unlike the Pi...

EDIT: AMD GizmoBoard might be what they're competing against at that price point, but that one is supposed to be PC-compatible enough to run Windows.

[mickpah]

I can't see any innovative or attractive about this - simply a me too product hoping on the bandwagon
even the naming is lame. lure=shield=cape=boosterpack

aside from raspberry pi, beagle bone there is now also the cubieboard V2
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/cubieboard-a20-p-1553.html

The only thing that would get me close to buying the intel is a 50% drop in price and a second network interface for a cheap home/firewall router and PCengines have been doing this for years http://pcengines.ch/alix.htm (processors getting a bit long in the tooth though)

[mickpah]

I can't see any innovative or attractive about this - simply a me too product hopping on the bandwagon
even the naming is lame. lure=shield=cape=boosterpack

aside from raspberry pi, beagle bone there is now also the cubieboard V2
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/cubieboard-a20-p-1553.html

The only thing that would get me close to buying the intel is a 50% drop in price and a second network interface for a cheap home/firewall router and PCengines have been doing this for years http://pcengines.ch/alix.htm (processors getting a bit long in the tooth though)

[DutchGert]

Lol, gues what I am working on right now, an industrial HMI based on exactly the same processor and companion chips.

This is a very powerfull platform, much more powerfull than the Raspberry or even the Beagleboard. Also, this thing is fully x86 so running any type of Windows based OS is a easy.

This could be a lot better alternative for lets say a NAS or mediaplayer than one of the above solutions.

[amyk]

Also, this thing is fully x86 so running any type of Windows based OS is a easy.

Has it been done? From my understanding and a glance over the datasheets it seems to not be 100% PC compatible.

[DutchGert]

Also, this thing is fully x86 so running any type of Windows based OS is a easy.

Has it been done? From my understanding and a glance over the datasheets it seems to not be 100% PC compatible.

Over here we are able to run WinXP, Windows 7, DOS, and Linux on a E640/EG20T combo. The customer will get WEC7 installed with custom software from the company I work for.

[free_electron]

Take a look at the intel NUC family.
Starting at 139$ you have a full blown computer in a box, ready to run.
Has nice enclosure and you can have up to quad core cpus(pricier of course)

[amyk]

Over here we are able to run WinXP, Windows 7, DOS, and Linux on a E640/EG20T combo. The customer will get WEC7 installed with custom software from the company I work for.

I'm guessing that system also had a Super I/O? This board doesn't have one.

[DutchGert]

Over here we are able to run WinXP, Windows 7, DOS, and Linux on a E640/EG20T combo. The customer will get WEC7 installed with custom software from the company I work for.

I'm guessing that system also had a Super I/O? This board doesn't have one.

Correct

[westfw]

The last time I used some Intel hardware, it's documentation came in a series of databooks that were color-coded as to their level of secrecy.  Yellow-covered books you could get by agreeing never to let them out of your office, and to destroy them when you were done.  Orange-covered books were supposed to be kept under lock and key, and returned to Intel when you were done.  Red-covered books (I don't think I got to see a red covered book) could only be looked at if you were being supervised by an Intel employee.  (Something like this, anyway.  Fierce!)  BIOS-writers would need access to all of those.  I was writing bare-metal code on a production motherboard that had already be set up by a third-party BIOS, so I got away with mostly yellow books.

If this "open source" board of theirs can be programmed from the ground up without having to to go to such non-disclosure extemes, then it's a pretty major improvement, IMO!

[fudgebobs]

Seems like it would be a good buy if the cost was only lower. Personally though, I would much prefer this to the Raspberry Pi. I do have a Pi, and I have custom software running on it for media streaming, and it does tend to struggle. I think Intel has the right idea here but need to price it a bit better. I mean I am sure Intel can afford to take a little hit on their profit margins.