Qualcomm DragonBoard 410c Development Kit Launched for Hobbyists, Students

Qualcomm has announced a new credit-card-sized development board based on its Snapdragon 410 SoC, the DragonBoard 410c. The device will allow software developers, engineers, students, entrepreneurs, DIY makers and anyone interested in hardware or software development to quickly create and iterate on projects.

The DragonBoard 410c can be used to test and prototype projects ranging from app development to robotics. It can be deployed in embedded environments, including products for the Internet-of-Things ecosystem such as cameras, home appliances, security systems, medical devices, interactive kiosks, signage, wearables, and emerging product categories.

"The DragonBoard 410c is a powerful, low cost platform engineered to allow the rapid development of commercial solutions to address the expanding embedded compute and IoE industries across multiple operating systems," said Jason Bremner, senior vice president of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, in a press statement. "The DragonBoard 410c will play a critical role in helping drive the innovation of embedded computing products on a global basis."

The DragonBoard 410c joins higher-end DragonBoard offerings from Qualcomm based on the Snapdragon 810 and Snapdragon 800 SoCs, and thus brings similar functionality to a lower price point. It is expected to be widely available later this year.

The Snapdragon 410 is a 64-bit capable SoC with four ARM Cortex A53 CPU cores running at up to 1.2GHz, with integrated Adreno 306 graphics. Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth and GPS are also integrated. The SoC supports 1080p video playback and capture as well as 13-megapixel stills with hardware post-processing.

The DragonBoard 410c house a Snapdragon 410 and provides interfaces for hardware in the form of one 40-pin low-speed connector and one 60-pin high-speed connector. The board has an HDMI video output, two USB 2.0 ports, one micro-USB port for external hosts, and a 3.5mm headset socket that doubles as an FM radio antenna input. A microSD card slot allows for storage expansion. The Android and Linux operating systems are supported.

The low-cost development board will compete with Arduino boards, the Raspberry Pi, and Intel's Edison platform. Qualcomm and Linaro, a non-profit engineering firm which develops open-source software for a common open development platform called 96Boards, also announced a partnership to work towards supporting the DragonBoard 410c.