When Raspberry Pi Zero launched at the end of November, it looked somewhat familiar to Hardkernel ODROID-W board that eventually had to be phased out as Broadcom would not sell Broadcom BCM2835 to the Korean company. In an interesting turn of events, Hardkernel has now shown the first prototype of ODROID-C0 (ODROID-C Zero), a tiny board based on Amlogic S805 found in ODROID-C1+. The name of the board may seem to be derived from Raspberry Pi Zero, but it’s not quite the case as Hardkernel first revealed their plans for ODROID-C0 back in November, a week before R-Pi Zero board was unveiled.
ODROID-C0 will have similar specifications to ODROID-C1+ minus Ethernet, and the USB ports in order to reduce the PCB size:
- SoC – Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex-A5 processor with a Mali-450MP2 GPU
- System Memory – 1GB DDR3
- Storage – eMMC module socket, and micro SD slot
- Video & Audio Output – HDMI port
- Expansion Headers – Unpopulated 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header
- Misc – On/off switch for battery power, RTC + RTC battery header, solder pads for IR receiver, CVBS, UART console, and USB host ports.
- Power Supply – 5V/2A DC input (2.5/0.8mm barrel) or Li-Ion/LiPo battery charger circuit and DCDC booster IC.
- Dimensions – 65 x 56mm
The company plans to sell a connector pack for one or two USB host ports, 40-pin header, an IR receiver and USB-UART console connector for people who request it. ODROID-C0 will be fully software compatible with ODROID-C1/C1+ boards. ODROID-C0 will be about twice as big as Raspberry Pi Zero, but also features a more powerful Amlogic S805 quad core processor instead of the ARMv6 BCM2835 found in RPi Zero. It’s more targeted to embedded applications, as there’s no USB port soldered at all by default.
Pricing and availability are not known so far, but I’m fairly confident that while ODROID-C0 won’t sell for $5, it should still be quite cheaper than ODROID-C1+ board going for about $37. [Update: I’ve just noticed they plan to sell it for $25 in February 2016]
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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