VIA Technologies has introduced a new hardware platform aimed at folks that want to create Android or Linux powered devices or software. It’s called VIA SpringBoard, and to kick things off, the company is offering a $99 Springboard Kit which is a small ARM-powered board.
The VAB-600 Springboard Kit is a Pico-ITX board with an 800 MHz ARM Cortex-A9 system-on-a-chip, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of storage. It also has a 10/100 Ethernet port, mini HDMI port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a Mini Card slot and a range of other features to help with development including GPIO pin headers and support for touchscreens.
The kit also includes a VAB-600_A I/O Extender card which adds additional input and output options including 2 USB ports and line and mic jacks.
VIA also offers a $130 model that comes with an 802.11bb/g/n WiFi module.
This isn’t exactly VIA’s first foray into developer boards. The company’s APC mini-computers have been around for over a year, offering small form-factor PC boards with low-power ARM-based chips.
VIA actually introduced the VAB-600 earlier this year, but now the company is trying to build a developer platform around the device.
via Phoronix
It’s not a SIM card. It is micro SD slot.
No, it is a SIM card reader. Read the docs.
It looks like there is a SIM card placement on the board ! I don’t see any GSM spec so what is it ??
Yes, it’s a SIM card slot. The signals are available on the mini-PCIe card slot, for a 3G modem card.
Thx ! 🙂
Looks like a good platform for tinkering too.
Hardware is dated, but the applications this thing is intended for probably don’t need the latest greatest either.