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This $25 Raspberry Pi competitor delivers 4K HDR10 support alongside USB 3.0

When Pine64, a small start-up, set out to deliver the first 64-bit micro-computer, it didn't want to cut any corners and it would seem that it succeeded in this goal. The company recently introduced the Rock64 development board, which is similar to the wildly popular Raspberry Pi, but has some punch to it.

The board, which is several dollars cheaper than its biggest competitor, squeezes more power into its tiny frame. It comes with USB 3.0 which is absent from many of the micro-boards on the market and supports 4K HDR10, which is something you don't see in devices this small or cheap, for that matter. It is built using the Rockchip SoC and is completely customizable when it comes to memory. It supports both Linux and Android, but it's yet to be confirmed if Windows 10 IoT works on this device.

The hardware specifications are as follows:

  • Rockchip RK3328 quad core, Cortex A53-based processor
  • Mali-450MP2 GPU
  • 1/2/4GB LPDDR3 @ 1866 MHz Memory
  • eMMC flash module socket/micro SD card slot/128 Mbit SPI flash storage
  • HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR10 and HLG support
  • 3.5mm AV port (composite video + stereo audio)
  • 4K VP9, H.265 and H.264, 1080p VC-1, MPEG-1/2/4, VP6/8
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • 2x 2.0, 1x 3.0 USB ports
  • 40-pin Pi-2 Bus with GPIOs, 2x I2C, Analog inputs, UART, SPI, and power signals (5V, 3.3V, and GND). 22-pin Pi-P5+ Bus with GPIOs, I2S, S/PDIF, Ethernet, and power signals (5V, 3.3V, and GND)
  • IR receiver; power, recovery & reset buttons; eMMC jumper
  • 5V 3A power supply via Type H 3.5mm OD/1.35mm ID barrel 'coaxial' type plug
  • Dimensions: 85 x 56 mm

The company is selling the boards starting at $25 for a unit with 1GB of memory and scales up according to your requirements.

Source: Pine24 via TechRepublic | Images via Pine24

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