QUANTITY. Our partners at Allwinner worked hard to help us find how to reduce costs, so that we could introduce C.H.I.P. to EVERYBODY. To sell C.H.I.P. for $9, we need to order tens of thousands of chips. By using common, available, and volume-produced processor, memory, and wifi chips, we are able to leverage the scales at which tablet manufacturers operate to get everyone the best price.

We’ve held off on allowing multiple C.H.I.P. orders from our early production batches in order to make sure that everyone who wants to be an early adopter via Kickstarter is able. Offering Multiple-C.H.I.P. packs would mean that a single manufacturing run reaches fewer people. Don’t worry, we plan to make C.H.I.P. available in larger quantities later.

Right now, we are entirely focused on the Kickstarter campaign. The only way to be an early adopter of C.H.I.P. is through Kickstarter. We plan to make C.H.I.P. available at a later date, but are committed to fulfilling our Kickstarter backers’ pledges first.

UPDATE! Thanks to BackerKit, you will be able to add extras and accessories to your pledge reward after the campaign has closed either by using excess from your pledge, or by adding on with a credit card directly to BackerKit!

We are working very hard to make C.H.I.P. possible, and every pledge on Kickstarter helps us prove that the world wants access to lower cost computing. By backing C.H.I.P.’s Kickstarter campaign, you add your voice to the conversation, and help show that the world wants a $9 computer for everything from education to home automation. Back C.H.I.P. today, and be a part of the early adopters that made it possible!

After weeks of work and dozens of import forms, we have found shippers who are able to mix and match freight forwarders and distribution centers to best utilize lower-cost national shippers in the countries with the most C.H.I.P. backers! This means for the vast majority of international backers, shipping prices on C.H.I.P. have been reduced by up to 44%!

8 digital GPIOs, one PWM pin, SPI, TWI (I2C), UART, USB, CSI, Parallel LCD output, touchpanel input, stereo audio out, mono audio in, composite video out, and a whole bunch of power rails in and out.

Most of these are set by the processor, but others are still subject to change as we finalize part selections. We’ll post more specific pinouts and electrical specs when we have finalized the design for “Alpha” modules in September.

Yes. If you come work with us. :) Otherwise, September for Kernel Hacker backers, December for the first C.H.I.P. backers, and early next year for everyone else.

Not yet, but the real beauty of open source hardware/software projects is that there is nothing stopping a motivated user from getting Ubuntu.. or a media player.. or ??? working on C.H.I.P.

C.H.I.P. takes power in from an attached battery, runs on wired 5V DC input power, or can be powered via the same microUSB port that is used for battery charging and USB-OTG.

C.H.I.P has an onboard X-Powers AXP209 PMIC chip which handles battery charging, pass-through-power, and DCDC conversions for the onboard power rails. It's a real workhorse!

YES!!

YES. Very open source, but we are still in the process of testing and refining the whole family of C.H.I.P. boards, and are not yet releasing our design files. We expect to be pushing files out publicly soon after the campaign.

YES! PocketC.H.I.P. is a real portable computer. It has a 3000mAH 3.7V LiPo battery included, which should turn out to about 5 hours of operating time, depending on use.

YES! 16 million beautiful colors on a 4.3” TFT backlit LCD screen. The exact screen may change slightly in sourcing, but we are committed to making PocketC.H.I.P. useful and fun right off the bat.

YES! All of C.H.I.P.'s ports are exposed through the bottom of PocketC.H.I.P.'s back:
USB, microUSB, and headphone/mic port. For even more hackery goodness, PocketC.H.I.P. has exposed GPIOs, power, and serial lines on its through-hole headers along the top edge of the screen too!

Through C.H.I.P.'s microUSB port.

PocketC.H.I.P. is literally powered by C.H.I.P. Both the battery charger and power supply for PocketC.H.I.P. are on C.H.I.P. So to charge the battery, plug power into C.H.I.P.'s microUSB port, the same way you would for a battery operated C.H.I.P. on its own.

Any single-cell (3.7V) LiPo battery will work with C.H.I.P. You can go bigger or smaller than 3000mAH as needed for your project!

The R8 is based on Allwinner's A13, so for tech references you can get a good sense of the R8's features from the A13 datasheet on linux-sunxi.org

https://linux-sunxi.org/images/e/eb/A13_Datasheet.pdf

Technically, yes, but the components are soldered on and not intended to be swapped out. If you really like reworking small BGA and fine pitch components, though, we won't stop you. :)

If you want additional storage, you can attach a USB drive!

YES! C.H.I.P. comes with Linux installed, and a selection of our favorite programs and games. Like any real computer, you can download more software and customize C.H.I.P.s applications and operating system to suit your needs!

The easiest way to accomplish this is to power C.H.I.P. as usual via the microUSB port, and attach a USB keyboard with an accessory USB port on it, then connect your wired mouse to that port. Alternatively, a bluetooth keyboard or mouse can be used to free up the need for one or both USB device ports.

For more advanced use cases, C.H.I.P. can be powered via its interconnects, leaving both the full size USB and microUSB ports available to attach devices to.

In our initial prototypes, we are using a JST-2.0 PH 2-pin shrouded male connector to connect LiPo cells to C.H.I.P. In the current design there are also BATT pins available on the interconnect headers, which allow alternate battery connectors/placements when attaching C.H.I.P. to a custom PCBA. ** FINAL CONNECTOR SELECTION WILL HAPPEN AFTER MORE REVISIONS!!** Please do not buy a whole pile of JST-PH crimps and housings just yet.

Current designs are for 3V3 digital logic on GPIOs, but part selection (and associated specs) may change slightly as designs are revised and prototypes are tested.

No, but you can add one via the USB ports if that suits your project. There *is* however, built-in 802.11b/g/n wifi.

C.H.I.P. is strictly B.Y.O.B. ;)

No, but adding an RTC is a great (and easy) hardware hack, for the folks that need it. For most people, though, an RTC isn’t necessary since it is easy to get C.H.I.P. to pull time from a remote NTP server over wifi.

We’re curious to hear what you think ;)

C.H.I.P. is a /real/ computer, and can run software written in all kinds of programming languages, so long as there’s a compiler for them. Python, Java (via JDK8), Ruby, PHP, C++, JS, Assembly, BF.. even our favorite, ArnoldC, and lots lots more.

Not at this time. Because there is no onboard digital audio support from our processor, C.H.I.P.’s current design only has analog audio output via the ⅛” headphone/composite jack. Adding a USB sound card is the easiest way to beef up your CHIP’s digital audio output options.

Maybe! C.H.I.P. comes pre-loaded with some of our favorite open-source applications, and the ability to install hundreds more. What’s even more exciting, though, is that if any given program isn’t supported out of the box, the community can work together to make it happen. That’s what we <3 about Open Source Software.

YES! The 1/8" mini (TRRS) jack can be used either with a video-only cable, audio only cable, headphones, headphones with mic, OR a combined Audio/Video composite cable. Pretty versatile little port, isn't it!?

Yes! C.H.I.P. has a tiny power / reset button and a status LED on the board itself.

PocketC.H.I.P. doesn’t have speakers built-in, but you can plug headphones or a portable amplifier into C.H.I.P.s ⅛” output jack. Since C.H.I.P. has onboard bluetooth, you can also pair a b also connect a BT speaker or headphones!

Several reasons: Televisions are the most commonly available screen in the world and the vast majority of them have a composite input. Composite video can also be integrated without having to work in licensing fees to the cost of C.H.I.P. Composite is also a very low profile connector, allowing us to keep the footprint of the board small for people wanting to build C.H.I.P. into projects.

No. But by integrating reliable storage onto the device, we’re able to both save you a “getting started” cost and allow Linux to come preinstalled on C.H.I.P. meaning it's ready to go when it arrives at your door. One of the big goals of this project is making C.H.I.P. easy to use, and this goes a long way towards that end. If you need additional storage, it’s easy to add an SD card reader over the USB ports on C.H.I.P.

Absolutely! The schematics and layout for the boards, both of C.H.I.P. and C.H.I.P.’s adapters will be released as they are finalized for production. From that, you can build whatever sort of adapters or add-ons you want!

You can connect a display through the 3.5mm (⅛”) TRRS composite video port on C.H.I.P. If you’d like to connect to a vga or hdmi monitor, we have adapters available for that! You can also connect any parallel LCD to the exposed display pins on C.H.I.P.’s headers.

Yes! C.H.I.P. is designed to be modular, versatile, and mobile. Strip it down and C.H.I.P. remains functional on its own, or stack it up and teach C.H.I.P. new tricks!

C.H.I.P. has exposed CSI pins on its headers for integrating a camera directly to the processor, or if drivers and sensor tuning sound like a bit much, you can always add a USB camera too.

Yes! Not having a case for C.H.I.P. is one of the ways we are able to keep our costs down. As makers, we’re excited to introduce people to the physical components of computers and show them that electronics aren’t scary, they’re fun! We hope people are encouraged to begin tinkering themselves.

PocketC.H.I.P. adds a molded case, battery, keyboard, and touchscreen display for C.H.I.P. That means that anything that C.H.I.P. can do, PocketC.H.I.P. can do portable!

We’re focused on individual uses of C.H.I.P. but what you’re talking about is called clustering, and may be possible -- A good place to start, if you’re interested in clustering, is reading up on Debian-Beowulf. https://www.debian.org/ports/beowulf/

Due to a lack of support for Silverlight (the back-end software that allows Netflix to be streamed) in Linux, it is unlikely that Netflix will work on C.H.I.P. using entirely open-source software unless someone comes up with an alternate back-end. That said, some very astute backers have reported that Netflix should be possible by installing the Google Chrome browser, which allows Netflix streaming via HTML5.

C.H.I.P. is designed to work at 720p resolution, though the Mali 400 GPU is technically capable of up to 1080p outputs.

No. C.H.I.P. will come preinstalled with a customized Linux OS and with an office suite, a series of tools and handful of games that we like. Just power on, and get started.

C.H.I.P. pledge rewards at the $9, $19, and $150 levels come with a ⅛” mini TRRS to RCA composite video output cable, which lets you hook C.H.I.P. up to most televisions. Any other cable, you’ll need to provide yourself.

C.H.I.P. can be powered via a standard (>500mA) microUSB phone charger and cable. Many old and existing phone charging cables will work, or most 5V USB power “wall wart” adapters.

We’re doing our best, but please be patient: there are 30,000 of you (!!!) in every imaginable timezone and only 9 of us! We are reading every comment and message and updating our FAQs with the most common questions so they do everyone good. Please take a minute to read through the FAQs, chances are pretty good your question has already been covered. (/◔ ◡ ◔)/

After years of searching, we found a South Carolina built Bajaj 20 miles from the office. Yes it's street legal.

YES! Thanks to BackerKit, all C.H.I.P. Kickstarter backers will be able to add extras and accessories (and even some special goodies) to their pledge reward even after the campaign has closed!