- Joined
- Jul 28, 2007
- Messages
- 3,326
- Reaction score
- 3,052
Following in the footsteps of the low-cost Raspberry Pi ARM-based Linux device, VIA Technologies has announced a single-board computer running the Android platform that is expected to sell for just £32.
Set to be available from July, the APC is based on an 800MHz WonderMedia ARM processor chip and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
The APC is larger than the much sought-after Raspberry Pi, being designed to fit a new VIA form factor called Neo-ITX that is half the area of a compact Mini-ITX PC motherboard.
It ships with 512MB DDR3 memory and 2GB Flash storage, plus four USB ports, Ethernet, a microSD slot, and VGA and HDMI outputs, making the APC suitable to form the basis of a low-cost media player device.
The version of Android in the APC is also a custom build that has been optimised for keyboard and mouse input. It also comes with a browser and a selection of pre-installed apps, according to VIA.
"APC brings the familiarity and convenience of Android to the PC at a $49 price point that will open up exciting new markets and applications,"said VIA's vice president of marketing, Richard Brown.
"Like a bicycle for your mind, APC will enable more people than ever before to explore the vast online universe."
However, the APC is not a direct rival for the RaspBerry Pi, which is intended as an educational device to help build programming skills among students, and hence includes developer tools alongside its stripped-down operating system.
The Raspberry Pi also features a connector that exposes some general purpose I/O functions, allowing students or developers to interface to other circuits and build projects around the device, capabilities not included in VIA's APC.
Source
Last edited: