Orange Pi is a US$10 single-board computer with a 2G modem

Yet another single-board computer has come to market to look for a piece of the Pi (apologize profusely for the pun). The Orange Pi, which comes not from the Raspberry Pi Foundation but from a Chinese company, is a cheap Linux development board which sells for about US$10. The Raspberry Pi and other developer's computers have had WiFi for quite a while, but where the Orange Pi differs from other single-board computers is its inclusion of a 2G cellular modem.

The specs on the Orange Pi are not very impressive, but they are what one expects for the price:

• ARM Cortex A5 CPU at 1.0 GHz
• 256MB LPDDR2 RAM
• 512MB NAND storage
• Vivante GC860 GPU
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE 2G Modem w/ SIM card slot
• Micro SD slot
• 3.5mm audio and FM jack
• 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 1 USB Type-A port, 1 micro USB

While the inclusion of a 2G modem makes the board's application for IoT (Internet of Things) devices much more appealing, CNX Software notes that some countries have actually stopped supporting 2G cellular signals already. The Orange Pi is available now from AliExpress, but be sure to check if 2G is available to you before you buy one of these for a project.