The Asus Tinker Board gives North American makers a new computer option

By Mark Coppock April 19, 2017

asus releases tinker board single computer in north america asustinker02 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

North American makers and hobbyists take note: There is another single-board computer option in town. Your options for building your own computing device just increased by one, and this time it’s being offered by a major consumer electronics company.

Specifically, Asus has been offering its Tinker Board in the U.K. and throughout Europe since early 2017 to compete directly with other options such as the Raspberry Pi. Now, it is available in North America from leading retailers and its shipping at a competitive price, according to Tom’s Hardware.

The Asus Tinker Board is based on a quad-core Rockchip RK3288 system-on-chip (SoC) operating at up to 1.8GHz and utilizing Mali-T764 GPU, which is the same SoC that’s used in some Chromebooks. The single-board computer offers 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM and includes a gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI port, four USB 2.0 connections, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.

1 of 4

asus releases tinker board single computer in north america rear packaging — Image used with permission by copyright holder

asus releases tinker board single computer in north america top down — Image used with permission by copyright holder

asus releases tinker board single computer in north america bottom up — Image used with permission by copyright holder

asus releases tinker board single computer in north america rear slanted — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Asus offers its own TinkerOS, based on the latest Debian 9 release, to power the Tinker Board. An LXDE desktop environment and Chromium web browser round out the core software load, with a TinkerOS media player co-developed with Rockchip to enable hardware-accelerated 4K video playback.

To support the kinds of connectivity options expected by makers and hobbyists, the Tinker Board includes a standard 40-point GPIO interface. Also standard are the PCB dimensions and topology, which means that the board will work with common chassis and accessories. Finally, two HD MIPI connections allow for connectivity to HD displays and cameras.

The Asus Tinker Board is available now from retailers like Amazon for $60. That is a bit more expensive than the latest Raspberry Pi and other similar single-board computers, but it is also more powerful, thus giving makers throughout the new world a competitive option for building their computing projects.

Topics

Computing Writer

Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…

Computing

Power up your tech game this summer with Dell’s top deals: Upgrade for a bargain

Dell Techfest and best tech on sale featured.

One of the best times to upgrade your tech stack, be it your desktop, a new laptop, or some high-resolution monitors, is when great deals are to be had. Well, I'm here to share that thanks to Dell's top deals, you can power up your tech game and have most of the summer to make it happen. Maybe you're happy with your current system or setup. That's excellent, but you're likely considering upgrading somewhere, and that's precisely what these deals are all about. Dell has a smorgasbord of deals on laptops, desktops, gaming desktops, monitors, accessories, and so much more. We'll call out a few of our favorite deals below, but for now, know that you should be shopping this sale if you're interested in anything tech-related.

What summer tech should you buy in Dell's top deals?

Computing

I love the MacBook Pro, but this Windows laptop came surprisingly close

Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

There are some great machines in the 15-inch laptop category, which has recently been stretched to include the more common 16-inch laptop. The best among them is the Apple MacBook Pro 16, which offers fast performance for tasks like video editing and the longest battery life.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is aimed not only at other 16-inch Windows laptops but also at the MacBook Pro 16. It offers many of the same benefits but at a lower price. Can it take a place at the top?
Specs and configurations

Computing

How to set an ‘Out of Office’ message in Microsoft Teams

Person using Windows 11 laptop on their lap by the window.

Many people use Microsoft Teams regularly to communicate with colleagues both inside of the office and remotely. It is considered one of the most efficient ways to ensure you can stay in contact with the people on your team, but what if you need to let people know you’re not readily available? Microsoft Teams has a method for you to set up an "Out of Office" status for your profile to let staff members know when you’ll be gone for the afternoon, for several days on vacation, or for an extended period.
Where do I go to set up my ‘Out of Office’ status for Teams?
It is important to note that your Microsoft Teams and Outlook calendars are synced. This includes your out-of-office status and automatic replies. So, whatever you set up in Microsoft Teams will reflect in Outlook. Similarly, you can set up your out-of-office status in Outlook, and it will be reflected in Teams; however, the former has a more straightforward instruction.

First, you can click on your profile icon in Teams and go directly to Schedule an out of office, as a shortcut. This will take you to the settings area where you can proceed. You can also click the three-dot icon next to your profile icon, then go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you'll find out-of-office settings and click Schedule.