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Google and ASUS partner to create credit-card sized AI ‘Tinker Boards’

Google has partnered with predominantly PC-focused ASUS to create what they are calling a ‘Tinker Board’ credit card-sized single-board AI-focused computer.

The two systems, the Tinker Edge T and Tinker Edge R were formally announced by ASUS and support Android and Debian out of the box but they should also be able to run Linux and other operating systems too (via PC Watch h/t Anandtech). Both systems are set to be exhibited at the ET & IoT Technology 2019 conference in Yokohama, Japan.

As for the systems themselves, the Tinker Edge T is based upon the NXP i.MX8M with an Edge TPU chip that helps accelerate TensorFlow Lite. It comes equipped with a single USB Type-C port, two USB 3.0 ports, a wired LAN, and HDMI output for video.

The Tinker Edge R board is slightly more powerful and comes with the Rockchip RK3399 Pro processor with an NPU that is designed specifically for 4K machine learning. It comes with two USB Type-C ports, three USB 3.0 ports, a wired LAN, built-in Wi-Fi, and HDMI output. That makes it far more enticing to those that want to develop more enhanced AI applications.

With this partnership, Google and ASUS are aiming to provide hardware solutions that enable the development of AI solutions that are not only compact but are also energy efficient with far lower power draws than comparable PCs.

ASUS will be demonstrating the upcoming conference which starts on November 20. Pricing, release and wider availability details and information of these Google and ASUS ‘Tinker Boards’ is likely to be confirmed at the event later this month.

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Avatar for Damien Wilde Damien Wilde

Damien is a UK-based video producer for 9to5Google. Find him on Twitter: @iamdamienwilde. Email: damien@9to5mac.com