Meet the Pine 64

The Pine64 is being hailed by its creators as the world’s first $15 supercomputer, laptop, IoT device, and gaming machine combined into one device, but how can it be all of these? The answer is quite simply: the Pine64 is akin to the Raspberry Pi in that it’s an open source platform, similar to a blank canvas, for your ideas.  Whether you’re looking to build a device that monitors your sprinklers at home or construct a gaming console, this new gadget will let you do so.

The Pine64 is flexible in that it allows you to choose the operating system you prefer: Android 5.1, Ubuntu, OpenWrt, or Open Hab. All give you access to over 1.7 million apps you may use with your newly created device. 

Priced at less than half of what the Raspberry Pi goes for, the Pine64 still comes loaded with features, including a full 64-bit architecture with the capability to run the latest OSes, a quad-core 1.2Ghz processor, 512MB DDR3 RAM, and 4K video output as standard. 

For those looking for a bit more firepower and options, there is a Pine64+ available that comes equipped with either a 1GB or 2GB RAM for $10 more and features a camera port, LCD port, and a touch panel port all for $19.

While there are other competitors in the ultra-small computing market, none have as many features or such app friendliness that the Pine64 offers at an affordable $15 price point. 

Funded by a Kickstarter campaign with a few weeks left to go to reach its goal, a pledge of $15 can be made here and will secure you your own Pine64 expected to begin shipping by March 2016. 

By Aaron LaBarbera