Sharks Cove Intel Atom Bay Trail-T Development Board for Windows and Android is Now Available for $299

When Intel announced their Sharks Cove development board, they did not provide that much information, except for the fact that it aimed at Windows development, it would be easy to buy for hobbyist, and provided a picture of the board. The board has now been launched, is available for pre-order for $299, and technical details have been published.

Intel Sharks Cove specifications:

Soc – Intel ATOM Processor Z3735G, 2M Cache, 4 Core, @ 1.33GHz (Burst frequency: 1.88GHz) with Intel HD Graphics
System Memory – 1GB 1×32 DDR3L-RS-1333
Storage – 16GB EMMC 4.5, micro SD Card slot, 2MP SPI NOR
Video Output / Display – HDMI connector and MIPI Display Connector
Audio – Realtek ALC5640 audio codec, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, header for speaker, and on-board digital mic
Connectivity – None. But Ethernet or WiFi can be added through USB.
USB – 1x USB 2.0 type A connector, 1x micro USB type A/B for debugging, 1x micro USB type A/B for power
Debugging – micro USB, SPI debug programming header, LED display
Expansion headers:
- 12x 10-pin header connectors for ~~god knows what~~ various I/Os (GPIO, I2C, USB, Touch, UART, SDIO…)
- 1x 20-pin header for sensors
- 2x 60-pin MIPI connector for display and camera
- 5x 4-pin headers for power
Misc – Power, Vol -/+, rotation, and home screen buttons. DIP swtiches to disable/enable features
Power – 5V/2.5A via power barrel or micro USB port
Dimensions – 4″ x 6″ (10.16 x 15.24 cm) type 3 board with 4 stand-offs

The board also features Intel UEFI BIOS, and although it won’t ship pre-loaded with an image, Microsoft provides either Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro Evaluation (180-day free trial, aka evaluation version) or Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro with Update (x86) (Requires an MSDN subscription, aka full version). The board can also support Android, but details haven’t been provided yet.

Sharks Cove Block Diagram (Click to Enlarge)

As you can see from the picture, hardware features and price, it is not a typical low cost development board. It targets “hardware developers enabling devices for x86 based tablets” and “Developers of new products and market segments for Atom”.

You can read the full specs (PDF – 36 pages), and/or the getting started guide (Windows 8.1) for more information. The official website is Sharkscove.org.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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.