If you thought the $35 Raspberry Pi 2 was a small and cheap computer, think again. Next Thing Co.'s open-source C.H.I.P. is an even smaller barebones microcomputer that only costs $9.
Like the Raspberry Pi, C.H.I.P. can be used in a variety of ways. Connect the necessary parts — a keyboard, mouse, and a display — to it and it becomes a personal computer. Otherwise, you can hack it into a retro games emulator, or robot, or whatever you can dream up. Next Thing Co. encourages users to learn how to code and make things with C.H.I.P.
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As you can probably guess, C.H.I.P. is not a very powerful computer. Its 1GHz Allwinner A13 processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal flash storage are just enough to run apps and browse the web.
It's got a full-sized USB port, a Micro USB port, an audio jack with a microphone that doubles as a way to output video via a composite cable, built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.
C.H.I.P. runs any Linux-based operating system. It comes with a Debian-based OS and has access to a sizable chunk of Linux apps.
"Out of the box, C.H.I.P. can connect over composite video, so you can use an old TV or a tiny screen you have," Dave Rauchwerk, one of Next Thing Co.'s founders, said in a video for MAKE:.
If you really want to hook C.H.I.P. up to an HDTV or modern computer display, you can buy a separate HDMI ($15) or VGA adapter ($10) that snaps onto the computer, Lego-style.
You can also make C.H.I.P. portable by snapping it into PocketC.H.I.P, an accessory with a 4.3-inch touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard and battery that lasts up to five hours.
Next Thing Co. is currently crowdfunding C.H.I.P. through a Kickstarter campaign. At the time of this writing, the project has successfully reached its $50,000 funding goal with 29 days to go. The first C.H.I.P computers are expected to start shipping in December.