Google and Huawei have partnered with Integrated Circuit Board manufacturer LeMaker to develop the HiKey960, a Raspberry Pi like development board specifically designed for Android. The $240 USD device is powered by Huawei’s powerful Kirin 960 SoC with a healthy 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
Just like a Raspberry Pi the HiKey960 include all of the IO ports needed to get connected as well as wireless protocols like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built into the board.
Check out the full specs below
Of course, a development board wouldn’t be worth much without the software and Google has provided instructions on how to install Android 7.1 onto the HiKey960. From there the Android World is your Oyster. I can think of some cool applications for an always on Android Device living in my house.
If you’re interested in grabbing a device they are being sold via Amazon, which isn’t shipping to Australia, and via Lenovator who are offering $30 shipping to Australia, fulfilment should start in early May.
Could be the start of Android being inbedded into a lot of IOT devices. Exciting!
> a Raspberry Pi like development board … The $240 USD device
Unless there is a misprint on the price, it’s decidedly not a Rasp Pi like device.
Frankly unless they could come in under $100 it’s hardly worth trying. Who do they think they are, apple?
It’s a dev board, that comes with all the stuff you need to develop Android on a basic board. Just because it’s priced exorbitantly doesn’t mean it’s not Rasp Pi like.
I disagree with you Daniel and agree with Fred here that it is not all that Raspberry Pi like as it cost way too much and is way too powerful for probably 99% of IOT projects. This is a Failed product line before it is released if they are aiming for the IOT market. Don’t get me wrong that this is a nice board that I am sure could be used for multimedia purposes but not great for IOT in my opinion. I could see this being used as a media centre / games box / lite server but not… Read more »
I agree with you both. Daniel made the excellent point that both are development boards, even if the Huawei model is technically overpriced. I also agree with you that it’s over powered but technically this board is Rasp Pi like.