This Hardkernel ODROID-XU Octa Core big LITTLE dev board is $149

Hardkernel has launched the ODROID-XU Octa Core big LITTLE dev board at a $149 price point. The board is powered by Samsung’s Octa Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 SoCs in a big.LITTLE configuration.

Additional key specs include 2GB of RAM, USB 3.0, micro SD slot, eMMC 4.5 connector, micro HDMI + MPI LCD interface, touch screen I2C ports (IPEX-40PIN), headphone jack, Ethernet and 4x USB 2.0 Host.

There is also an expansion header with 30 pins (GPIO/IRQ/SPI/ADC), PWM connector for Cooler, 5V/4A power supply, PMIC – MAX77802 10 high-efficiency Buck regulators and 32 LDOs.

As the folks at CNX Software explain, there are currently two versions of the board available: ODROID-XU ($149) which includes a plastic case, an active cooler and 5V/4A PSU; and the ODROID-XU+E ($199) which adds four current & voltage sensors for monitoring A15 and A7 cores, GPU and RAM power consumption in real-time.

“You’ll also need an additional MicroSD card or eMMC module (recommended) to install the OS (Android first, then Ubuntu Linux in Q4 2013),” writes CNX Software. “Shipments are expected [to kick off] on September 10, 2013.”

Additional information and pre-order options are available here on the ODROID-XU page.