Gadget Master

It's not all about the (Atmel AVR-based) Arduino here on Gadget Master, check out the latest (TI OMAP3530-based) BeagleBoard offering, the xM.

Available from Digi-Key for $179, the devkit is equipped with 512MB of memory and an ARM Cortex-A8 based processor to run open source office apps such as OpenOffice.org and Firefox.

There is on-board Ethernet and four USB 2.0 ports that support low, full and high speeds. But here's the hardware spec in full:

• Super-scalar ARM Cortex-A8
• 512-MB LPDDR RAM
• High-speed USB 2.0 OTG port optionally powers the board
• On-board four-port high-speed USB 2.0 hub with 10/100 Ethernet
• DVI-D (digital computer monitors and HDTVs)
• S-video (TV out)
• Stereo audio out/in
• High-capacity microSD slot and 4-GB microSD card
• JTAG
• Camera port

Consider it a challenge, but the range of possible apps for the BeagleBoard-xM are listed as:

• Web services
• 3-D gaming
• 3-D UI
• Linux kernel and driver development
• Boot loaders and firmware
• UI framework
• ARM NEON codecs
• Codec plug-ins for GStreamers
• OpenGL applications
• OpenMAX TM IL applications
• Ubuntu TM , Android TM , MeeGo TM , WinCE TM , QNX TM , Angstrom, Symbian TM , Debian, Gentoo and others
• Home media centers
• In-vehicle entertainment
• Robotics
• Web kiosks

For more information, check out http://beagleboard.org/hardware-xM