From Arduino-powered sewing machines to racing drones, the Bay Area Maker Faire held in the Event Center in San Mateo, CA is the place to be for makers of all walks of life. And if you did as much as stroll past the technology show-cased in zone 2, PocketCHIP, with its large, inviting display, could not be missed.
Founding partner and designer, Thomas Deckert, showed off PocketCHIP at Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA.
Powered by a $9 computer, CHIP was created by Next Thing Co., a small team of California-based engineers and artists turning the dream of a lower-cost single-board computer into a reality. The board is open-source, runs a flavor of Debian Linux, is equipped with a 1GHz R8 ARM processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of eMMC storage.
So what makes CHIP so cheap? Simply put: quantity. By partnering with Chinese semiconductor company, Allwinner, the team was able to figure out how to reduce costs in order to make it affordable for everyone. And to keep it priced at $9, the start-up must order tens of thousands of chips. By using common, available, and volume-produced processor, memory, and Wi-Fi chips, Next Thing Co. is able to leverage the scales at which tablet manufacturers operate to get the best price.
Fortunately, using the CHIP Operating System is simple. Just grab an old TV (or any screen with a composite video input), a keyboard and mouse, and send electricity into the micro USB port. In a matter of seconds, you’ll have CHIP’s operating system on the screen, which was built for doing. If you browse the Internet, send emails, play video games, listen to music, write novels, watch videos, or are learning to program, you’re in luck. And because it’s based on the popular Linux Debian, if there’s something you need, you can probably install it.
For a brief run-down on all that CHIP offers, check out the video below featuring founding partner and designer, Thomas Deckert.
With its price and solid build, CHIP will, without a doubt, find its way into many future maker projects.
For more information, visit getchip.com.
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