Qualcomm has announced the acquisition of Arduino, an Italian open-source electronics platform popular with developers, enthusiasts and educators. The deal was not disclosed for an undisclosed amount. Qualcomm said the Arduino brand will remain independent and will continue to produce controllers and processors based on chips from various manufacturers.
Along with the announcement of the acquisition, Arduino introduced the Uno Q, a board that resembles the Raspberry Pi in terms of capabilities. It is equipped with a Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 processor and an integrated microcontroller, can run Linux Debian, and has peripheral support via USB-C.
The Uno Q is also designed to work with compact AI models, allowing you to create real-time image and sound recognition systems. The device comes pre-installed with App Lab, an environment for developing projects using Arduino Sketch, Python, and AI models. The board costs $44 and is available for pre-order now.
Qualcomm notes that the combination of the two companies' technologies will allow more than 33 million users of the Arduino community to access Qualcomm's capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence and IoT.