By Heather Hamilton, contributing writer
While the Raspberry Pi and other pocket computers have become almost synonymous with the hobbyist scene, new solutions have sprung up offering alternative hardware configurations for those looking for a slightly more powerful platform. Introducing the Lattepanda, an Arduino-compatible dev board that comes with pre-installed Windows 10. The board also includes Visual Studios, NodeJS, and Java pre-installed, which, together with its compact design and wide range of sensor compatibility, makes it well-suited for rapid-prototyping IoT niche devices.
In the promotional video on the LattePanda’s Kickstarter page, two men, identified only as Lauren the Product Manager and Matt the Tech Specialist, say, “We are a small team of engineers and hobbyists based in Shanghai, each with specific skills. Supported by DFRobot, we have an array of hardware and software resources at our disposal. We love tinkering with hardware, and we are very excited to share our creations with you.” The team emphasizes that they’re not interested in discriminating from hobbyists, DIYers, educators, engineers, and researchers, and instead hope to foster a collaborative environment with user-friendly products.
Professionals and hobbyists everywhere are likely to be glad that they did — the LattePanda is 40% smaller than the single-board computing device used in the iPhone, approximately the size of a playing card. Still, it has an Intel Cherry Trail Z8350 Quad-Core Processor, 2-/4-GB Ram or 4 GB, and 32-/64-GB flash storage — not to mention the 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 ports, onboard Wi-Fi 802.11n2.4G, and Bluetooth 4.0. The 4-GB RAM and 64-GB flash variant is available for $149 on Dfrobot’s site.
As if that wasn’t enough, LattePanda also runs a full version of nearly every operating system available, including Windows 10. It’s highly compatible, which is something that competitors just haven’t been able to offer. The Next Web reports that the combination of Arduino compatibility and ability to use Windows 10 will capture the attention of techies, even at a price point that is nearly double.
After crushing their Kickstarter, LattePanda seeks to fill the gap of available tools for Windows-based projects, something that’s been largely neglected in recent years. “LattePanda is serving as an alternative that has all the same (if not better) technology than a traditional PC,” writes The Next Web.
The promotional Kickstarter video shows LattePanda in place of a gaming console, in a color-recognizing robot, and being used for real-time 3D modeling, among other things. In a survey posted by the site in their forum, users report using LattePanda for a variety of purposes, the most popular being as a general-use PC for software development, “Other,” and then gaming, home automation, IoT, robotics, as a media player, and a server.
By all accounts, the LattePanda team seems excited to provide support for users as their product grows in popularity. Their site includes help resources as well as a forum, where they continue to contribute.
On The Tech Blog Writer podcast with Neil Hughes, CEO of DFRobot Ricky Ye and Lauren the Product Manager explain how they got the name: “We are developers, so we always love to drink coffee sort of things, so latte is our favorite drink. We usually spend overnight to code and to program. So when you wake up, your eyes will be like panda eyes, so that’s why we called it LattePanda.”
Sources: LattePanda,The Next Web,The Tech Blog Writer
Image Source: LattePanda
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