Intel starts sale of ‘stamps computer’ Edison

Intel has started selling its do-it-yourself module Edison for internet-of-things applications, among other things. The computer, slightly larger than a postage stamp, costs just over $50 in the US.

The small computer module has dimensions of 35.5x25mm and is therefore slightly larger than a postage stamp or SD card. Edison is built around an Atom Z34xx, an x86-soc produced at 22nm and which has two cores at 500MHz, supplemented by a 32bit Quark microcontroller running at 100MHz. There is 1GB lpddr3 and 4GB emmc flash storage. In addition, the board supports dual band WiFi-n and Bluetooth 4.0.

In terms of I/O, the Edison supports thirty general-purpose interfaces, including i2c, i2s, and uart. There is also an interface for SD memory card readers, a USB 2.0 controller and an I/O connector with 70 pins. The platform runs standard Yocto Linux 1.6 and there is support for the development environments Arduino IDE, Eclipse with support for C, C++ and Python, and Intel XDK with support for Node.JS and html5.

Two breakout boards for the Edison module are available. The first is simple, with soldering tips, two USB ports, a battery charging point and a power input. The Edison Kit for Arduino is more comprehensive and offers, for example, 20 digital I/O pins, 6 analog inputs and pin compatibility with the Arduino Uno R3, or Arduino 1.0 pin-out.

The Edison itself costs $50 in the US and is available immediately. The Intel Edison Breakout Board Kit is available at American shops such as Maker Shed for $75 and the Kit for Arduino is available for $107. Euro prices are not there yet.