Mar 9, 2016 (but I read it today on Hackaday!!!)
ESP8285 is the ESP8266 chip embedded with 1 MByte flash memory specially designed for wearable devices.
The chip includes an enhanced version of Tensilica’s L106 Diamond series 32-bit processor with flash memory of 1 MByte. Like its predecessor, ESP8285 is a highly integrated Wi-Fi SoC solution that will meet users’ continuous demands for efficient power usage, compact design and reliable performance in the Internet of Things industry.
Obviously, the designers have NOT been following how the NodeMCU boards with 4M flash are being used… SPIFFS. Now if the ‘8255 had 4M on-the-module, it would become very, very interesting.
Anyway, I am going to have some built in China which I hope will allow me to drop the price. The lower the price, the more I expect to sell.
My one disappointment with the ESP8285 is the six pins normally used for external SPI flash were not made available for GPIO use.
So, here again I don’t see how adding the cost of component you can end up with price tag of $24.95 + $14.95 for shipping in Canada and that you modules doesn’t offer much more than a Wemos-D1-Mini at 10 times the price !!! 
<…>
So, here again I don’t see how adding the cost of component you can end up with price tag of $24.95 + $14.95 for shipping in Canada and that you modules doesn’t offer much more than a Wemos-D1-Mini at 10 times the price !!!
Should that not read ” ESP8285 a ESP8266 with 1Mb flash onboard”
And yes I copied and pasted ESP8255 into goggle and found nothing before spotting it.
I believe it should be:
” ESP8285 an ESP8266 with 1Mb flash onboard”
I can develop on a nodeMCU or Wemos D1 and then use an ESP8285 alone in my project.
But in the announce it is written that this new chip has a new Tensilica core, maybe there will be other new things.
<…>
But in the announce it is written that this new chip has a new Tensilica core, maybe there will be other new things.
IMHO, its just more hackaday click bait.
It doesnt seem to be faster than the ESP8266, as the on board flash seems to still be access by SPI. The flash is size seems to be smaller than the 4Meg that is in most ESP-12 modules.
It seems to have less GPIO and peripheral connections.
The smaller form factor will actually make it harder to hand-solder the connections.
Its slightly smaller than the esp8266, which will interest some industrial users, who need to save space, e.g wifi lights, wifi mains plugs etc
BTW.
I noticed that in the Tindie page that @onehorse wrote that he has a sketch running on this device, which implies that it must share the same SDK / API and memory map etc as the ESP8266, unless he has a modified version of @iggr’s 8266 core, but there was no mention of that.
If it does require a different , or modified core, I wonder if @iggr would have time to develop it in parallel with the 8266.
Actually the same core issue applies to the ESP32, as I presume the SDK / API will be different, so we wont be able to use the Arduino IDE .
I know that someone has done a Arduino core for the ESP32, but its not @iggr, and its not been updated for a month, which suggests to me that it will not end up being the primary arduino core for the ESP32.
But there are two other advantages besides lower cost and reduced BOM count, 1) there is the minor benefit of one less chip so either slight overall pcb size reduction or easier trace routing and 2), the biggie, since the ESP8285 is designed to use Dual Out mode for flashing pins 9 and 10 are available for GPIO that otherwise would be used to support QSPI.
Now the latter benefit could be had with the ESP8266 and an external flash if one chose to limit flashing to DOUT, so even this is not really unique.
So I agree with Roger, this is Hackaday click bait relaying old news and not much of it to boot.
Still, you should have seen the traffic spike at my site!
As far as board cost, well, when making small quantities of new products either by hand or by fab it is not possible to compete with mass manufactured Chinese “stuff”. I like to believe my stuff is better designed and supported, but that is for the customer to decide. The only way the price can come down to satisfy the penny pinchers is for volume to increase. Chicken and egg, but I can’t drop the price and make loss leaders of all of my low volume products hoping to attract buyers. This is not a realistic strategy for small makers. And for those who balk at paying a few dollars more I say it is the price you have to pay for innovation and new products. Sorry but there is not much I can do about that.
But Martin you are right about shipping to Canada. To anywhere else outside the US the US Post Office charges $13.50 so $14.95 for international shipping is just what it costs with packaging and handling (my time). China has a special deal with the US allowing distribution costs for delivering Chinese originating mail (including packages) to be off loaded to the USPS, so US mail users subsidize Chinese products! But to Canada the rate is only~$10 I think so I should offer a ~$3 or 4 discount. It’s just hard to manage this on Tindie.
Re: Size
Sorry, I didnt make it clear that I was referring to the ESP-12 style package that was in Hackaday, as this seems to be smaller than ESP-12
I find it hard to predict whether the Chinese manufacturers decide to start making modules with these, or any other device.
The “development board” market seems to be extremely price sensitive in the eyes of the Chinese manufacturers, as I noticed loads and loads of really cheap STM32F103 boards, but far less STM32F4 boards, which seem to be 10 x the price (or the F103’s)
Also. IMHO the EMW3165 is a much better product, as it has the power of the STM32F2 processor as well as a well supported and stable Broadcom wifi device.
But the EWM3165 never seems to have taken off in the way that the ESP8266 has, which I presume is mainly because of price.
(I bought 4 x EMW3165’s when the first came out, but never ended up using any of them, as the ESP8266 does all I need at a fraction of the cost)
<…>
(I bought 4 x EMW3165’s when the first came out, but never ended up using any of them, as the ESP8266 does all I need at a fraction of the cost)
I found a pre-sale on aliexpress from a distributor some times ago – $3.75 a piece with Wifi + BLE.
BTW, How well does ESP8266 module (such as EP-12F) perform in a Wifi crowded environment?
I found a pre-sale on aliexpress from a distributor some times ago – $3.75 a piece with Wifi + BLE.
BTW, How well does ESP8266 module (such as EP-12F) perform in a Wifi crowded environment?
https://www.itead.cc/psf-a85.html?acc=8 … dd4bea2543
But the first batch sold out already. The best batch is now in pre-order
This module is for pre-order now!
Estimated shipping date: July 25th, 2016.
HOT, First Batch sold out in less then 48hours.
Estimated batch #2 shipping date: Early Aug.
It is not professional that in one place is written that you have in stock and in another place that the stock is empty.
Having owned my own U.S. S-Corp for 25 years, I can easily explain the markup:
– taxes
– more taxes
– insurance (liability, property)
– more insurance (bonding)
– salaries + more taxes (FICA, SUTA, Fed, State, Local)
– State Corp Charter
– County/city business licenses
– inventory taxes
– sales taxes
– utilities, fuel, marketing, attorney, etc.
Honestly, @ $24.95 I am doubting he is making 25% profit after expenses.
Ray
Most of your list can boil down to taxes of some sort.
Michael
