Up Squared

"Aaeon’s “Up Squared” hacker SBC offers dual- or quad-core Intel Apollo Lake SoCs, plus up to 8GB RAM, SATA, dual HDMI, 4K video, dual GbE, mini-PCIe, and more.

Aaeon Europe has launched a Kickstarter project for a follow-up to its x86-based “Up” hacker board. If it shipped today instead of its April 2017 due date, the “Up²” (or “Up Squared”) would be the most powerful hacker-friendly single board computer around. The SBC features the new 14nm-fabricated Intel Apollo Lake system-on-chips, and offers a feature set that is rare even on high end hacker boards.

The Up Squared supports up to 8GB DDR4 of RAM and up to 128GB eMMC 5.0 of on-board flash, and offers 4K video encode and decode, dual GbE ports, dual HDMI video outputs, a SATA interface, M.2 support, and mini-PCIe expansion. You also get eDP, dual MIPI-CSI, 3x USB host ports, and both a 60-pin GPIO and a 40-pin interface tied to an Altera Max 10 FPGA.

Like the original Up, the Up Squared is not open source, but it offers a price that is quite affordable for an x86-based SBC. The dual-core Celeron N3350 model starts at 89 Euros ($98) while the quad-core Pentium N4200 version goes for $169 Euros ($185), in both cases equipped with baseline amounts of SDRAM and eMMC flash.

The Linux- and Android-ready SBC is backed by extensive documentation, tutorials, a community site with forum, and a focus on the “maker” market. The only catch is that you can’t build your own board based on the Up Squared design without a license from Asus-owned Aaeon.

The original Up board was one of the first x86-based hacker-oriented SBCs from a company other than Intel or AMD. It used a 14nm, quad-core “Cherry Trail” Atom x5-Z8350.

The Up Squared inherits the 40-pin GP-bus from the first generation Up, although this time it’s controlled by an Intel/Altera MAX 10 FPGA, which is more powerful than the previous Up’s MAX V CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device).

The Up Squared can run the Debian-based Ubilinux and Ubuntu, as well as a Yocto Linux build, Android 6.0, and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. Aaeon’s Up community also provides professional services, including customized derivatives of Up and Up Squared boards."

http://linuxgizmos.com/sub-100-dollar-maker-board-packs-apollo-lake-4k-video-dual-gbe/

http://up-shop.org/