Small and versatile, the C.H.I.P. will arrive to backers

Sep 25, 2015 15:58 GMT  ·  By

We already presented to you the C.H.I.P., a tiny, extremely cheap single-board computer that costs only $9 (€8). The device is actually smaller and cheaper than the famous Raspberry Pi.

C.H.I.P. was launched at first on Kickstarter, and now, Next Thing Co., the company that makes the thing, has announced that it starts shipping the device to the campaign's backers.

According to Make, what's shipping at the moment are Alpha C.H.I.P. devices aimed at “kernel hackers” that arrive without any firmware, but the team does offer instructions on how to flash software on the small computer-PCB.

Those who would like their C.H.I.P. units to arrive with a buildroot image flashed on them should wait for the second Alpha C.H.I.P. batch. The device arrives with a 1 GHz Allwinner R8 single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a composite video port. Additionally, USB and micro-USB ports are available, together with some very helpful developer pins for attaching hardware.

Next Thing Co. will probably start making some money

After the first batch of Alpha C.H.I.Ps is delivered, those who pledge another $9 on the official website for a regular unit will need to wait a bit longer, as they will probably have their models shipped in January and February.

What's nice is that they'll come with a version of Debian Linux pre-loaded, but as any self-respecting Linux hardware, users could get other Linux-based operating systems up and running on the platform.

The specs the C.H.I.P.arrives with are actually powerful enough to make it a great integration tool for your studio or home-bound PC. It can be a normal PC, a media center or even a console emulator, and if you've ever wondered if you can make this little thing actually portable, find out that the C.H.I.P. also comes with a single-cell rechargeable LiPO battery that can power the device for hours.