Intel pushes Atom-based MinnowBoard developer hardware

Top view of the MinnowBoard
Source: MinnowBoard

In a Google+ posting, Intel employee and Linux kernel developer Darren Hart has announced the MinnowBoard, a development board and associated community pushed by the company. The MinnowBoard is described as "Open Hardware utilizing Intel processors" and is supposed to be easily adaptable to the requirements of developers. To facilitate this, the board's design is deliberately simple and uses standard components.

The board includes an Intel Atom E640 CPU and 1GB of RAM. A Gigabit Ethernet adapter and two USB host ports are also included, as is a SATA port and a microSD card slot. The MinnowBoard web site references a Yocto Project compatible Ångström Linux distribution, which is open source and will be booted through the board's UEFI firmware.
Block diagram of the circuitry
Source: MinnowBoard The distribution will be available as an install image and as source code. However, some components of the operating system, such as the PowerVR graphics driver, are proprietary, and will only be released in binary form.

The board is supposed to be released in the spring. The web site doesn't include pricing information yet, but Hart says that it will be "less than $200."

(fab)