The Raspberry Pi has an almost cult-like following from hobbyists, programmers and teachers, and now a rival to the UK-based offering has entered the market. Taiwanese manufacturer Asus made a low-key unveiling of its own version named the Tinker Board.

This board looks very similar to the Raspberry Pi 3 option ($35), but could be a worthwhile alternative as it sports some rather solid specifications and a reasonable price tag of $68 (R920). For less than R1k, hobbyists will get a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB LPDDR3 onboard storage. Added to this is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0+ connectivity, as well as four USB 2.0 ports and interestingly a single HDMI port to facilitate 4K.

At this stage, Asus has not confirmed when the Tinker Board will be available in SA. It is, however, already available at online retailers like CPC.