Look out Raspberry Pi, there’s a fearsome new competitor in town
Raspberry Pi may no longer dominate the microcontroller market
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Hong Kong-based single-board computer maker Pine64 is reportedly about to take onRaspberry Piwith its upcoming Ox64, according toCNX Software.
The Ox64 will be built on RISC-V architecture to directly challenge theRaspberry Pi Pico W. While Pine64 has not yet made an official announcement, awiki postdoes give us a fairly detailed hint at what to expect.
Its CPU features two Alibaba T-head cores, one 62-bit and the other 32-bit, and the machine has 64MB of DRAM (compared with the Pico W’s 264Kb). It also uses a Bouffalo Lab AI engine for video and audio detection and recognition.
Pine64 Ox64 specs
In terms of connectivity, like the Raspberry Pi Pico W, there’s built-in Wi-Fi. The Ox64 uses the same Wi-Fi 4 standard and only connects to 2.4GHz channels. While Wi-Fi 6 is beginning to gain serious traction in household devices, Wi-Fi 4 should be sufficient for most microcontroller users.
There’s also Bluetooth 5 with support for Bluetooth Low Energy, and for smart home aficionados, Zigbee (specifically IEEE 802.15.4).
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Onboard storage is capped at 128Mb/16MB, however there’s support for SDHC/SDXCmicroSD cards. Further expansion comes courtesy of a USB 2.0 port, 26 GPIO pins dotted around the outside of the module with SPI, I2C and UART functionality, and a USB-C port for power.
Like the Raspberry Pi Pico W, the Ox64’s footprint measures 51x21mm. It is slightly thicker than the Pico W, though, at 19mm (compared with 3.9mm for the Pico W or 12.9mm for the Pico WH).
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Little is known about the future applications of the Ox64, though it’s likely to support aLinux operating system, including many of the Raspberry Pi distros that are readily available. It’s also expected to come in at under $10/£10, much like its key rival.
TechRadar Prohas reached out to the company for further information on the Ox64 and will update this article accordingly.
ViaTom’s Hardware
With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!
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