Intel today announced the launch of a brand new platform targeted at education and hobbyist markets. Dubbed Galileo, the platform is based on Intel's 32 nm Quark architecture. Quark was launched last month at IDF and is Intel's smallest silicon yet. CEO Brian Krzanich didn't give much when he showed it off in September but did say that it was aimed at wearable tech. Apparently, it's also going to be the base of this Arduino platform.
Galileo is the first Intel-based Arduino compatible development board. Intel said it will also work closely with the Arduino community on future projects that will bring better performance and scalability to the maker community. Part of these efforts will include a large-scale donation of 50,000 Galileo boards to 1,000 universities around the world over the next 18 months. Intel is working with 17 universities across six continents to develop curriculum based on the new Intel Galileo board and expects to name additional universities in the coming months.
Intel'sQuark chips use one tenth of the power of its Atom CPUs and measure one fifth of Atom's size. The Galileo board runs an open source Linux OS with the Arduino software libraries. It can be programmed through Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux. The board is also designed to be hardware and software compatible with the Arduino shield ecosystem. Galileo will go on sale in November. No word on pricing just yet.
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