New ARM board: cubieboard

[HansH]

New pictures were posted, its looking good:
http://cubieboard.org/2012/09/02/some-p ... ubieboard/

1G ARM cortex-A8 processor, NEON, VFPv3, 512KB L2 cache
Mali400, OpenGL ES GPU
1GB DDR3 @480MHz
HDMI 1080p Output
100M Ethernet
4GB Nand Flash
2 USB Host, 1 MMC slot, 1 SATA, 1 ir
96 extend pin including i2c, spi, lcd, sensors, ..
Running Android, Ubuntu and other Linux distributions

Seems very interesting for only $ 49,-

More interesting ARM board also coming from Olimex....

[redhawk]

Power supply 5v @ A2 seems a bit heavy for a small ARM based computer and would probably generate a lot more heat than the Raspberry PI.
Having said that it does have a Cortex A8 Processor which I believe is ARMv7 and should run applications a lot better than ARMv6.

btw is it me or has someone splashed solder on the headphone jack??

Richard S.

[Max]

Power supply 5v @ A2 seems a bit heavy for a small ARM based computer and would probably generate a lot more heat than the Raspberry Pi

Think the 2A requirement might be for powering laptop hard disks.
Note the SATA 5V connector.

Wonder if a power supply is going to be included.

[HansH]

So far I know that A10 will be drawing approx the same amount of power as the RPi.
But with sata on board you could probably power a laptop drive.
So this will be very good for making a small NAS or XBMC server

Seems the same size as an RPi, perhaps a little longer, but it has mounting holes ....
And you don't need a sdcard, since it has 4 GB nand integrated.

The Olimex A10 and A13 board details are on : http://olimex.wordpress.com

[jamesh]

I believe the A10 is a little more power hungry than the Pi, esp. when using 3D (and the 3D is slower as well).

Mounting holes? Pah. Although the design does look surprisingly familiar...

[Ravenous]

You know in the early days the Raspi foundation took so much criticism for making a board with connectors all around the edges, but now everyone seems to be making designs that way. Talk about setting the trend

[riffraff]

Looks like Vader's RasPi. I do like a Gig and a Gig with 4 Gig flash and ability to run Ubuntu.

[rvalles]

This is looking awesome. I'm looking forward to general availability of these boards.

[90dfr3y]

I have just added myself in the notification list when this becomes available.
Excited to try building a NAS/HTPC from this board!
And running Ubuntu on this? I can't ask for more

[Lob0426]

I do not know JamesH;
There are quite a few of us that are not using the video the RasPi is capable of. In fact there are a lot of RasPi servers out there that really need almost no video at all. That is also true for things like robotics and device controllers.

The SATA connector will be very popular for a lot of people. Though if you want to run the HDD directly from t he Cubieboard you will be limited to a laptop (2.5") drive (5V). And the 512MB and1GB memory are going to turn a lot of heads. The $49 price is not going to hurt anyones feelings either. there is no real statement of whether the $49 is for the 512MB or the 1GB models. On top of that you if you can use the NAND Flash to store your boot it will another plus!

Most of this should not come as a surprise. The RasPi has shown the market, that there is a "market" for low priced ARM based products. And the features that are showing up probably have been gleaned directly from the Raspberry Pi Forums.

[Max]

The $49 price is not going to hurt anyones feelings either. there is no real statement of whether the $49 is for the 512MB or the 1GB models.

The first batch was for sale on AliExpress earlier (now sold out)
$ 49 was for the 1 GB model. With a matching case available for $ 4 extra.

[Lob0426]

Some more about this board.
1GHz but can be overclocked up to 1.5GHz. they will provide overclock instructions up to 1.2GHz
$45 for 512MB
$49 for 1Gb
Next batch will have a RTC (Real Time Clock)
Power 5V 1A or 5V 2A using SATA.
Supposedly SATA2 performance
USB ports 500ma each. (that will be kind of tight on a 1A PSU) they claim no hub is needed for WiFi. I think you would have to go up to a 1.5A PSU for that.
Puppy Linux, Arch ARM linux already run on board.
Fedora being ported, trying to get Debian official support.
Android firmware
No I2s, but spdif.
10x6x2cm
line in and stereo out.
Will be shipped out of china(claiming $10 airmail and $25 FedEx). Like just about everything else electronic these days.

May be a board to keep an eye on if it pans out.

[pygmy_giant]

that's raised the bar!

power consumption is a factor in mobile applications - perhaps the Pi can compete on that if not performance

[Ravenous]

Will be shipped out of china(claiming $10 airmail and $25 FedEx). Like just about everything else electronic these days.

Hmmm, I can think of a unit which is (now) made in a Western country and ships for less, to many of us at least. Do you know which one I'm talking about?

[Lob0426]

Will be shipped out of china(claiming $10 airmail and $25 FedEx). Like just about everything else electronic these days.

Hmmm, I can think of a unit which is (now) made in a Western country and ships for less, to many of us at least. Do you know which one I'm talking about?

Yes. I think I do; I have four of them with 3 more on the way. Might that be what you are referring too! I bought them from Farnell, so hopefully they will be western country produced! Of course the company that is producing those is own by interests out of Japan!

There have been a lot of requests, by forum members, for some of the features that are on this board. The original 400,000 or so of production for the above un-named boards was also from china. And though they are now being produced in a western country it just is not far enough west yet. The "Alphas" were actually produced far enough west, but only 50 were made.

I really would like to see everything made as far west as the Alpha's were, but big business wants everything dirt cheap on their end so they can rake in the profits. I also would like customer service that I could understand at least every other word.

Case in point; Intel, Far West manufacturer, well somewhat, the actuall "chip" is made here, due to federal technology laws. But it is placed in its pin package and packaged for sale in malaysia. Then it is returned here for sale. GM; The wiring is made in mexico, the lighting is made in Japan mostly and there is a lot more that is imported, only about 70% is made here. It is billed as made in far western but it really is not 100% made here. Ford and Chrysler products are much the same.

These cubieboards boards will eventually be put up for mass sale to vendors in many countries, if they are a successful product. The price is right and the features that many are looking for are there.

I am hopefull that some far western manufacturer will jump on the "inexpensive ARM" bandwagon.

[notarat]

I too entered my information for the notification of when they become available.

I think I'm going to buy 2 of them so I have one to use and one to tinker around with until destruction, lol.

[Max]

Now also available on Indiegogo
(For slightly less than what first batchers paid...)

[ricardforner]

See my unboxing Cubieboard at http://goo.gl/VqIsX and running Android for tablet.

[jamesh]

Do Cubieboard have their own forum, or does everyone just post here about it????

[hermanhermitage]

Do Cubieboard have their own forum, or does everyone just post here about it????

They have a google group - https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/

But I'm sure there are a few people reading the forums who are interested in both. indicates there might be room in the market here for a $45 model C for the hacker crowd say with wifi, better usb, more memory and a multi core more modern arm. What's the relative price point on a VideoCore SoC with more silicon on the ARM side? I really like the design on the VideoCore and other Broadcom blocks but the vintage ARM and USB do make things much more difficult for you.

[Lob0426]

As of June last year the Foundation did not have a forum either.

A $45 board with a newer ARM is non-starter. A newer ARM core is available in a different SoC from Broadcom. If, and I do mean If, there is another board made in the future, we will not hear about it until it is done and ready to be sold. The Foundation is not very forthcoming with info of that type. Something to do with the "Osborne Effect".

So they may, or may not be, listening to our input in the multitude of threads, concerning a "C" model or in other words, future designs from the Foundation.

We just will not know until it actually does, or does not, happen!

So we will just have to keep dreaming up our own boards! Or looking at others that are showing up!

[rvalles]

Worth noting cubieboard "push for fabricating 1000+" via indiegogo will end today:

http://www.indiegogo.com/cubieboard?a=1704773