Rasberry Pi beats graphics in iPhone 4S (claim).

arithma

The punch is, the Rasberry will sell for $25. I think this is insane; revolutionary.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/tiny-25-raspberry-pi-linux-board-reportedly-offers-twice-the-performance-of-iphone-4s-gpu.ars
http://www.broadcom.com/products/BCM2835

Joe

It's not the first device of the kind, although it is showing a lot of progress compared to others. I'm glad to see independent vendors still offering alternative offers.

I used XBMC for a while in 2008/9. My machine (a mid-to-low range laptop) couldn't really take it. It became slow, would sometimes lag and overheat a lot. I'm sure the software itself got a lot better, but still, to see a 25$ piece of hardware that could fit in my pocket run it like that is definitely novelty.

arithma

It would be really helpful if you shared some links to other similar devices then.

Xsever

@ arithma

It's "Raspberry" not "Rasberry" #corrections

Here is an interesting article about it: http://www.techpowerup.com/159473/$25-Raspberry-Pi-Hobby-Computer-Doubles-iPhone-4S-GPU-Performance-And-Beats-Tegra-2.html

Joe

- BeagleBoard
- PandaBoard (you should check out their Android ICS port)
- HawkBoard (maintained by Texas Instruments for their microcontroller products).

Those are just off the top of my head, as I happen to know people who actually work with them. While none of these products can compare with Raspberry Pi in matters of graphical processing power, they still are, at the core, very similar.

mezin

why is this being compared to the 4s ? there in a different league let alone category ...

arithma

They're based on the same basic technology. They're computing devices.
It really does show how inflated the value of current mobile devices are. I mean, $500 versus $35, and that's a conservative comparison. But my purpose is not dissing an iPhone.

Additionally, it may just be a reference to give the people a hunch of the processing power in the package.

Wouldn't you be interested in a drill that has the same power as that of a huge CAT machine?

@rahmu: I've only heard about the BeagleBoard before. I love the fact slim computing is getting a back onto stage opportunity. Gives devs that prefer low level a bit of an opportunity.

yasamoka

The most interesting point about the Raspberry Pi, for me, is the ability to connect to a TV via HDMI, and to the internet and home network via Ethernet, and to run XBMC or Linux. THIS, in my opinion, is phenomenal. We could finally be able to stream HD videos to our TVs with a very inexpensive device, rather than buying a media center PC, or a media device that runs into $90 / $100 + and is not as open (Cannot install the OS you need) as the Raspberry Pi.

Joe

@mezin: They only mention the iPhone to compare graphical processing powers. I don't think anyone would reduce an iphone to simple graphics, there is so much more to them than that. But as far as producing powerful graphics that users keep in their pockets (understand: mobile), the iPhone has been the reference since 2007, and has pretty much set the price bar to several hundred dollars. Rasberry Pi may be a game changer because it's opening up the market to a larger much cheaper range.

@arithma: the advance in graphic processing is a great thing, but the truth is advances in regular cpu processing have been very high in the past few years. In 2009 I implemented a home surveillance system with facial detection. We manage to create something for around 80euros worth of hardware. That included the special lock the we activated from the PC. My point: Slim computing attracts low-level devs, but also DIY-type people who won't mind hacking together a small distribution and run a media-player. There IS a market for it.

@yasamoka: Yes the performance/price ration is incredible, but don't forget that they're not the only factors you should take into account: stability and longevity, how difficult is it to repair if it breaks, can it endure heat/cold/humidity/dust, ...? But yeah, all in all Raspberry Pi does seem a lot more attractive than the current closed and expensive solutions we get. I hear Linux support for HDMI is getting better (it's even pretty good now) so expect similar devices to appear increasingly soon.

Joe

The fine folks at Citrix seem to have made Windows 7 run on the Raspberry Pi. Good news?

rolf

rahmu wroteThe fine folks at Citrix seem to have made Windows 7 run on the Raspberry Pi. Good news?

Interesting for thin clients.

arithma

That's not entirely correct. They streamed windows to a raspberry pi. I feel disgusted at the act for some reason.
Why would you hate the Raspberry Pi being capable enough to run a commonly used operating system. Could've been really cool.