At IDF last month, Intel previewed its latest small chip initiative, Quark. Slotting in well below the Atom line, much less Haswell, Quark is aimed at that old chestnut, "the Internet of things." We were curious about when we'd see the first consumer Quark device, and it seems the time is now. At Maker Faire Rome today, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich introduced a collaboration between open source bastion Arduino and Intel's New Devices Group, and the first fruits of that collaboration are Galileo (PDF).

Typically driven by simple microcontrollers, basic Arduino boards are usually quite limited in connectivity, mainly USB and some Arduino-specific connectors. Expansion comes through those connectors, which allow daughterboards, called shields, to be layered atop the main board, adding additional I/O options. The ease of use—and ease of expansion—has long made the Arduino a favorite among the do-it-yourself crowd for things as simple as Christmas tree lights or as complex as a homebrewing robot.

The Intel Galileo reference board isn't a basic board. The Quark SoC is quite potent for a device of this type, resembling a Pentium 3 more than a microcontroller. Though the legacy Arduino connectors remain for compatibility with shields, Galileo features connectivity through USB (host and client), 100Mbps Ethernet, microSD, RS-232, and a full-size mini-PCI Express slot.

"Intel Galileo features the Intel Quark SoC X1000, the first product from the Intel Quark technology family of low-power, small-core products," the company said. "Intel Quark technology will extend Intel architecture into rapidly growing areas—from the Internet of Things to wearable computing in the future."

Intel will be donating 50,000 Galileo boards to universities around the world as part of the collaboration, and it will be available to hobbyists for $60 or less by November 29. That price makes Galileo quite competitive with existing Arduino boards, most of which aren't as feature complete. Intel promises full compatibility with Arduino software and existing hardware, which could make this a very attractive board for complex projects.

Today's announcement continues Intel's attempts to target the DIY market dominated by Raspberry Pi, BeagleBoard, and Arduino. Intel recently teamed up with the maker of the BeagleBoard to create the "Minnowboard," a $199 computer powered by open hardware and software.

Tiny computers have been run in large part by Intel's rival ARM lately. That's true of the Raspberry Pi and the BeagleBone Black. While Arduino traditionally used microcontrollers such as Atmel's, Arduino unveiled its first ARM-powered board one year ago with the Arduino DUE. Intel has boasted that its chips will provide more power, and, of course, compatibility with x86 applications. The Arduino/Intel partnership is a big deal for Arduino, but it's also important for Intel to prove its worth in this small but growing market.