With the Raspberry Pi’s success, the idea of an ultra-low-cost computer became a reality. But as cheap as the $35 Pi is, it’s still exorbitant next to the C.H.I.P, a full fledged computer that costs all of $9. For this price you get a board that carries a 1Ghz CPU, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. You can do all kinds of things with C.H.I.P, such as work on documents with LibreOffice; surf the web with the Chromium browser; connect any screen, old or new; attach keyboard and mouse wirelessly thanks to its Bluetooth chip; connect to WiFi B/G/N. There’s camera sensor support, and you can power C.H.I.P. for hours with a single LiPo battery. It comes pre-installed with tons of apps, and you have access to thousands more, all free. It’ll even play games. All this in a 2.3in. (60mm) by 1.5in. (40mm) package.
All in all, C.H.I.P. has the potential to broaden the computing revolution to more parts of this world, as well as introduce children to computing from an early age. It’s a fully-funded Kickstarter project, with expected delivery in May 2016.
[ Project Page ]
