Single-Board Computer (SBC)

Home security camera systems can be expensive. But where there is a Raspberry Pi, there is a way. All you need is a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a Raspberry Pi camera module, some free software and an enclosure that you can buy for as little as €5 (~US$5.57).

The Chatterbox is a DIY smart speaker that even children can build. The device has a chipboard case and is built around a Raspberry Pi 3B. The speaker can be taught new commands using the Chatterbox app too. The Chatterbox is currently available for US$119 on Kickstarter and ships worldwide in December.

Who needs an Amazon Kindle when you can build one yourself? The Waveshare e-paper HAT comes in numerous display sizes ranging from 1.54-inches to 9.7-inches. The HAT communicates with a Raspberry Pi via SPI, UART or USB depending on the model and comes in a choice of two, three or four supported colours. The Waveshare e-paper HAT costs between US$15.99 and US$169.99 and ships worldwide.

Ever fancied having a small home server? Well now you can with the NODE Mini Server V2. Caution: soldering skills required.

The Jetson Nano Developer Kit is one mighty single-board computer (SBC). The device can churn out up to 472 GFLOPS of performance, despite its compact form factor, thanks to its quad-core CPU and 128 CUDA core GPU performance. The Developer Kit definitely gives other SBCs like the Raspberry Pi a run for their money.

The ToyBrick RK3399 Pro is a developer board that is powered by an RK399Pro SoC, which integrates an ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU and an RK1808 NPU that can achieve up to 3.0 TOPS. The board can dual-boot Android and Linux out of the box and comes with up to 6 GB RAM and 32 GB of eMMC flash storage.

An interesting new custom kit has been discovered that can turn a simple-looking Raspberry Pi board into a handheld gaming console with keyboard and game controls. The Hyper Keyboard Pi is currently being sold for ¥6,980 (~US$64), although users will have to purchase the rest of the key components separately.

Khadas has announced its new single board computer, the VIM3. The company has based the board on the powerful Amlogic S922X SoC and will equip it with up to 4 GB of RAM along with 32 GB of eMMC storage. The VIM3 supports Wi-Fi 5 and PCIe NVMe SSDs too.

Have you been unable to source an Atomic Pi? Well, it is now available to order worldwide once again. The Raspberry Pi alternative comes with an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of eMMC flash storage. Orders for the developer board will ship on May 20.

A Raspberry Pi enthusiast has managed to use one of the single-board computers as the basis of a mini laptop that looks amazing. The pocket RPi notebook features stripped-down components so that it could be assembled into its neat form, and the battery for the mini laptop was taken from a Xiaomi powerbank.

The RPI Relay Board allows the Raspberry Pi to control high current and voltage devices like home appliances. The expansion board supports up to 5A/250V AC or 5A/30V DC and comes with extensive development resources such as sample programs written in BCM2835, python, shell, WebIOPi and WiringPi. The RPI Relay Board is available worldwide for US$18.99.

The Bosstouch PM156 is more than your average portable display. The 15.6-inch 1080p touchscreen includes three video outputs and operates at 85 Hz. The PM156 is available to pre-order on Seeed Studio for US$169 and will ship on May 27.

The Grove AI HAT is designed to assist the Raspberry PI with running edge computing workloads. The board has a Sipeed MAix M1 module that integrates a Kendryte K210 dual-core processor along with numerous connectors, ports and sensors. The Grove AI HAT is available to pre-order on Seeed Studio for US$24.50 and will ship in mid-June.

The NanoPi NEO 4 is an affordable and compact Raspberry Pi alternative that FriendlyElec equips with a six-core processor and 1 GB RAM. The board has numerous ports and sensors including HDMI 2.0 and USB Type-C too. The NanoPi NEO 4 ships worldwide for US$50.

The Atomic Pi is an affordable Raspberry Pi alternative equipped with an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of eMMC flash storage. The developer board has numerous expansion connectors, ports and sensors too. The Atomic Pi costs just US$35.
Update: Shipping information clarified.

The NexDock 2 takes the power of your smartphone or Raspberry Pi and creates a laptop experience with a Full HD display, a plethora of ports including a headphone jack, four USB ports and a HDMI port. The NexDock 2 is currently available for US$199 on Kickstarter and ships in September.

The extremely popular single-board computer, the Raspberry Pi, now has a set of official peripherals. Specifically, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has released a wired keyboard and mouse, which come in two colours. The peripherals can be bought as a combo for £22 (~ US$29) or £16 (~ US$21) and £7 (~ US$9) respectively from third-party resellers.

The Pine H64 Model B succeeds the Model A and adds onboard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The Raspberry Pi competitor starts at US$25 and is now based on a Rock64 footprint.

Until now, the popular single-board computer has been specifically optimised for the Internet of Things version of Windows 10. However, there is now a tool that allows the installation of the full version of the OS on the Raspberry Pi 3. It is not all smooth sailing though.

Compact single-board computers can deliver excellent performance and fast file transfers. A new expansion board for the NanoPi M4 should allow it to be realised as network-attached storage (NAS).

The Raspberry Pi Foundation opened its first shop earlier this month, at the Grand Arcade shopping center in Cambridge, England. The move to a brick-and-mortar presence for the previously online-only Raspberry Pi gives enthusiasts a chance to physically browse through the products the charity has been working on, including the Pi 3A+ and Pi 3B+.

Hardkernel has announced its latest single-board computer, the ODROID-N2. The device is equipped with a hexa-core SoC and up to 4 GB DDR4 RAM, which should deliver considerably more performance than the Raspberry Pi while remaining affordable. There is 384 KHz/32-bit stereo DAC onboard too.

The next version of the popular single-board computers will be manufactured on a more advanced FinFET process, but it won't be any smaller, according to the CEO of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Pi 4 will still cost US$35 though.

The Orange Pi, an alternative to the Raspberry Pi, has received a RAM upgrade this week. There are four new versions of the single-board computer, which start at US$29.90 plus shipping.

The $25 Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ is the latest single-board computer from the venerable Raspberry Pi Foundation. The Model A+ boasts the same CPU and wireless connectivity as its bigger brother, the Model B+, but shaves off some I/O for the sake of thinness. Notably missing are three out of four USB ports and the Ethernet jack.

Raspberry have announced the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, an update to the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B that originally released two years ago. The most significant improvements are in networking (wired and wireless) and an increase in SoC clock speed.

In addition to the existing violet, blue, silver, and black editions, the LG V30 handset gets a "Raspberry Rose" variant. This new color option will be on display at CES 2018 and is expected to hit the South Korean market later this month.

Pi-Top's modular rail system that comes with the new notebook case allows users to add more optional modules. In addition to the new 14-inch 1080o display with the case, Pi-Top also included a Videocore IV 3D GPU, an hdmi port and an 8 GB microSD card preinstalled with the Android-based Polaris OS.

There are many Raspberry Pi cases, but none quite so unique as the Retrotube. Taking its design cues from a 1950s TV, the handmade Retrotube sports an 8-inch 4:3 ratio LCD screen, analogue sound controls, and a lacquered wood finish.

Hackaday.io member Peter Barker (aka "Moosepr") has used a Raspberry Pi Zero to make a tiny GameBoy-style handheld console that runs RetroPie games. It is so small that it is actually smaller than an original GameBoy cartridge.

A DIY tech enthusiast has decided to satisfy his nostalgia cravings by creating a Windows 98 "smartwatch" using a Raspberry Pi A+ as a base.

Intel has released its powerful single-board Joule 550x computer to compete with the Raspberry Pi 3, but resellers are wildly inflating its already high price.

The popular Raspberry Pi 3 board computer will soon be LTE-capable with a new communications chipset from Altair.