Banana Pi Open-source Single Board Computer

Banana PI is an Open Source hardware platform which was produced to run the Elastos.org open source OS among others. Banana PI a dual core, Android 4.2 product which is much better than the Raspberry Pi.

The Banana Pi hardware runs Android, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux, OpenSuse linux and images that run on the Raspberry Pi and Cubieboard. Banana PI has a Gigabit Ethernet port and a SATA Socket. It can run with Android 4.2.2 smoothly. The size of Banana PI M1 is about the same size as a credit card, It can easily run games as it supports 1080P high definition video output. The GPIO is compatible with Raspberry Pi and can run Raspberry Pi images directly.

Step 1: Why Do the Banana PI Open Source Hardware Project：

Now open source hardware , have become a trend, a lot of open source hardware projects continue to launched their own open source hardware products. The mainstream on the market have :. Raspberrry Pi, arDuino, pcDuino, CubieBoard. During their development process, all are in the maintenance of their community -- entironmentt, each with its own advantages and shortcomings . The original intention for design the Banana PI is fully compatible with various open-source platform. compatible is the goal of the Banana PI.

Raspberry PI, the most successful open source hardware projects , and has the largest sales, as charity organizations to promote open-source hardware , and achieved great success . The Advantage is the development information and application , community support and mainly in application-based education . Greatly help students develop the ability to facilitate novices . But the disadvantage also very clear, that the hardware launch several years, has not been updated hardware platform, the performance can not keep up with the demand of the Era, can not meet the multi-level applications of the developers. And the hardware is relatively closed, raspberry pie equipped with a 700MHz BCM2835 processor produced by BOtong , with 512M memory (B type ) , but the BCM2835 chip , only supply to raspberry pi, greatly limiting the developer to do their new hardware product after the completion of the development products , and the performance can not keep up to the development of the Era.

Banana Pi , becoming the great complement of raspberry Pi. More faster CPU (allwinner A20), 1G dual core, larger memory : 1G DDR3, more richer interface support .The most important is that all the hardware is generally use in the market. After developer complete the development , they can free to develop their own new hardware products without any restrictions , all interfaces are also common interface , any developers are free to develop accessories. Finish the process from development to product. And the Banana Pi, through the efforts of the developer , can compatible with raspberry Pi software system, even the GPIO,also will fully compatible with the raspberry Pi GPIO definition. In this way, raspberry Pi software , Open source data , GPIO accessories can combination fully with Banana Pi . Banana Pi provide stronger hardware platform , fully integrated into the raspberry open source community applications. It allow developers and learners have more choices. complete different applications.

Banana Pi, pcDuino, and CubieBoard, all use A20 scheme. For open source, it can integrated into the various open source project directly . Through developers’s define various accessories interfaces , it can easily compatible with various accessories and community ecosystem . Our job : to provide more cost-effective hardware platform , integrate of mainstream open source platform, to provide more choice to developer and leaner. To promote open-source hardware development, integrate each’s advantage, develop the open source hardware together, Spread the open source sprit.