Release date May 31, 2016 Operating system | Introductory price US$9 CPU 1 GHz R8M/R8 Storage 4 GB onboard | |
 | ||
CHIP (stylised as C.H.I.P.) is a personal single-board computer created by Next Thing Co., released on Kickstarter. It is advertised as "the world's first $9 computer".
Contents
Milestones
Initially launched via Kickstarter campaign in May 2015 successfully funded, started with a goal of $50,000 US Dollars, ended with 39,560 backers pledged $2,071,927.
NextThing began shipping alpha boards to "Kernel Hacker" backers in late September 2015. First customer ship (for Kickstarter backers) began by May 31, 2016. In addition, NexThing has opened pre-order since December 2015.
Models
A few months after NextThing released the original C.H.I.P board, it announced that it would release SiP board called CHIP Pro, targeting industrial and mass production.
C.H.I.P
This is the original board, mostly targeting hobbyists. The system is built around the SoC processor R8 from AllWinner as its core, which integrates an ARM CortexTM-A8 CPU (based on ARM architecture V7-A) and peripherals, such as Graphic Engine, UART, SPI, USB port, CIR, CMOS Sensor Interface and LCD controller. The CPU is also accompanied with NEON SIMD coprocessor and has RCT JAVA-Accelerations to optimize Just-in-time (JIT) and dynamic adaptive compilation (DAC).
Features implemented on this model:
C.H.I.P Pro
CHIP Pro is similar to the original CHIP board, but uses the newer version of the chip called GR8. GR8 is a System in Package (SiP) that was made by Next Thing Co. It features a 1 GHz Allwinner R8 ARMv7 Cortex-A8 processor with NEON SIMD extensions and a Mali-400 GPU. 256 MB of Nanya DDR3 SDRAM is combined with the R8 SoC into a 14mm x 14mm, 0.8mm pitch 252 ball FBGA package, simplifying the routing of connections. Instead of having two dual-line 40-pin sockets as on CHIP, it implements castellated edges where the pin holes are designed and optimized to embed to another board with SMT. Most of the CHIP's hardware features are also included in this model.
Pocket C.H.I.P. and Pockulus
NextThing offers a case with a built-in screen and keyboard and a 5 hour battery called the Pocket C.H.I.P. The C.H.I.P. snaps into the case with no "screws or glues" creating a truly portable computer. On the lower right corner of the Pocket C.H.I.P. is a hexagonal hole that takes a standard #2 HB pencil. Inserting the pencil creates a stand that allows the Pocket C.H.I.P. to stand upright on a desk. Likewise, on the lower left is a circular hole for a pen. The Pockulus is a virtual reality setup incorporating a Pocket C.H.I.P. that requires some 3d printing.
The C.H.I.P. as a game console
The Pico-8, Lexaloffle's fantasy console for 8-bit-style games, allows the C.H.I.P. to function as a game console. Code, music, sound and sprites can be altered at will. There are also many compatible emulators (like fceux, Mednafen, etc.) that work well on C.H.I.P.