I prefer to think of it as a modern alternative to a traditional microcontroller for hobbyists, because that's what it seems to be. Look at the number of people already using the Pi as a microcontroller substitute due to the ease of programming (ubiquitous operating environment and standard programming tools) and ready availability. This is not only cheaper than the Pi, but it comes with battery management built in, making it a heck of a lot more convenient to "makers".
The other big advantage this has is in prototyping embedded systems. People use the Pi in prototype systems, but it means that there's a lot of reworking to do to bring the code to production readiness, as you may well be changing architecture -- the Broadcom SoC in the Pi is only available in massive bulk, whereas Allwinner parts can be bought off the various direct export sites in fairly low numbers, meaning that code prototypes developed on CHIP can be moved to production on the same SoC without the CHIP board with little or no reworking.
And that's what I think drew Allwinner to be so cooperative here -- they can see the potential in the market for all the low-order gadgets coming through Kickstarter, and they want to get that cash.
What does that mean? (Score:0)
What does that even mean, a "tablet computer without the tablet bits"?
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Posting as AC because Slashdot isn't giving me another option.
After poking around without being able to watch the video, here's what I've found out:
It plugs into their Pocket CHIP mobile device, which has:
And here's a pic [imgix.net].
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:0)
It appear that is a Allwinner R8, basically a single core Cortex-A8 + Mali 400.
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It is indeed an old Allwinner design. It's a new spin of a crappy core.
Think of a US$ 45 tablet of 4 years ago. Strip screen, battery, case and you basically have Chip.
Cheap crap but still crap.
Re:What does that mean? (Score:2)
Cheap crap but still crap.
I prefer to think of it as a modern alternative to a traditional microcontroller for hobbyists, because that's what it seems to be. Look at the number of people already using the Pi as a microcontroller substitute due to the ease of programming (ubiquitous operating environment and standard programming tools) and ready availability. This is not only cheaper than the Pi, but it comes with battery management built in, making it a heck of a lot more convenient to "makers".
The other big advantage this has is in prototyping embedded systems. People use the Pi in prototype systems, but it means that there's a lot of reworking to do to bring the code to production readiness, as you may well be changing architecture -- the Broadcom SoC in the Pi is only available in massive bulk, whereas Allwinner parts can be bought off the various direct export sites in fairly low numbers, meaning that code prototypes developed on CHIP can be moved to production on the same SoC without the CHIP board with little or no reworking.
And that's what I think drew Allwinner to be so cooperative here -- they can see the potential in the market for all the low-order gadgets coming through Kickstarter, and they want to get that cash.