Intel’s Edison is an SD-card sized PC for the wearable computing market

Early this year, Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich announced the company’s goal of penetrating the wearable computing market will be led by an SD-sized computer with built-in wireless-ness, the Edison. The PC was initially based on a tiny, low-power system-on-chip technology called Quark, exclusively designed for wearables such as smart watches or IoT-related objects. But in a recent change of plans, Intel has revised Edison’s specs, making them much more robust “in order to best address a broader range of market segments and customer needs.”

New specs
Krzanich likened the preliminary Edison revealed during the first keynote at CES 2014 to “a full Pentium-class PC in the form factor of an SD card.” The device featured built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support, support for multiple OSes, and a proprietary app store. Since then, Edison has been upgraded to include the use of a 22nm Silvermont dual core Intel Atom system-on-chip; dual core, dual threaded CPU at 500 MHz; over 30 I/O interfaces via small 70-pin connector; software support; and a “simplified industrial design.” 

 
Maker outreach
“Bringing the board powered by the 22nm Silvermont dual core Intel Atom SOC to market first” was a priority ─ said Intel ─ in answering market demands. Intel believes that the fruition of wearables is linked to success of the maker community, as it’s first in line to test consumer reaction on a smaller scale. VP Michael Bell elaborates, saying that Edison will be compatible with developer tools commonly used by makers, such as Arduino IDE and Wolfram Language. Future plans will expand support to include Yocto Linux, Node.js, and Python languages.

“Simplified industrial design”
The term “simplified industrial design” is a euphemism for “slightly larger than an SD card.” The tradeoff for performance and connectivity upgrades comes at the cost of a larger chassis. Although the actual size is unknown, Barry Collins of PC Pro believes the small bump will size not hinder integration into the wearable market, “Intel Edison will provide more value for our customers by simplifying the design process for the companies creating the designs, increasing the durability and providing additional cost savings in comparison to building for an SD form factor.”

Edison will be available sometime this summer.

Via Intel