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Korean vendor launches wearable RPi clone

Smaller, cheaper and battery-powered pocket Pi

Korean outfit Hardkernel has snuck out a Raspberry Pi-compatible board it says targets developers with an interest in the wearables and Internet of Things space.

Due to ship towards the end of August, the Odroid-W uses the same Broadcom SoC as the popular Raspberry Pi – Broadcom's BCM2835. It includes an RPi-compatible 15-pin camera cable connector, an RPi-compatible 26 pin expansion header socket, 512MB SDRAM and an eMMC socket.

Interfaces on the barest-of-bare-bones board include a Micro SD slot, micro USB, and micro HDMI.

There's a docking board available for Odroid-W, which gives it Ethernet, audio, four USB hosts ports and a UART for serial displays.

As Makezine notes, to be fully RPi compatible, Hardkernel seems to have laid hands on the proprietary bootloader “binary blobs” developed by Broadcom and used to boot the Pi.

That post also notes that the Odroid-W seems to have escaped the notice of “Broadcom insiders such as James Hughes and Eben Upton”, since both of those individuals made Raspberry Pi forum posts expressing surprise at the launch.

The Odroid page offers the device for $USD30 with worldwide shipping, and the docking board is $USD20.

While the device's official name seems to be Odroid-W, The Register notes the Pi-symbol printed onto the board. Perhaps the official name reflects some sensitivity to a possible reaction from Raspberry.

The video below shows the Odroid-W operating as a miniature desktop. ®

Youtube Video

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