Intel puts Atom soc in a computer the size of an SD card

Intel trades in the Quark processor in its SD-card-sized Edison computer for a Silvermont-series Atom soc. As a result, the small computer, which should have been the size of an SD card, will still be slightly larger.

Intel doesn’t say how big the Edison will be, but does admit it will be “slightly larger” than originally intended. The chipmaker showed the Edison at CES electronics fair in January and then claimed that it would be exactly the size of an SD card. It ran on a Quark processor, which Intel makes for wearables.

The mini-computer now gets a Silvermont-soc with two processor cores at 500MHz, made at 22nm. The Edison supports 30 I/O interfaces and has a 70-pin connector. In terms of software, the Edison Yocto can handle Linux, Node.js and Python. For wireless connections, the Edison has support for WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 LE on board.

The Edison will be a family of products, Intel says, but it has not presented any new models. The design of the Edison with Atom version is also still unknown; Intel does not show any images. The mini-computer should be released in the summer.