13 ms·

$99 ARM-based PC runs either Ubuntu or Android

venomsnake 13y ago
How exactly it will manage to squeeze ssd into this price tag? Something don't add up. Otherwise a welcome evolution that is even developer station ready at the higher end.
- smoothify 13y ago
  Since the price is "starting from $99" then i assume the base model will be without SSD, and either allow you to add your own or use microSD card / USB to boot.
  - samcrawford 13y ago
    I suspect it's based upon this SBC (given it's from the same company and this SBC is marked as a new product): http://compulab.co.il/products/computer-on-modules/cm-fx6/#ordering http://compulab.co.il/products/computer-on-modules/cm-fx6/#o... This should give some rough indication of the options available and the price increments.
stephengillie 13y ago
Graphics Processing Unit supporting OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0, OpenVG 1.1, and OpenCL EP I'm curious about what level of output this GPU can do -- are we looking at an OUYA competitor or bitcoin-miner, or is it only powerful enough for basic desktop acceleration?
- pmh 13y ago
  Going on the MX6 specs[1] and GFLOPS alone[2], it should be a bit faster than Ouya's Tegra for the cheapest option and handily beat it on the more expensive models. Bitcoin mining is out of the question - it's basically a tablet-class GPU. GFLOPS isn't the whole picture of course, but my Google-fu is failing me at the moment. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX6x_series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX6x_series [2]: http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/01/19/gpus-comparison-arm-mali-vs-vivante-gcxxx-vs-powervr-sgx-vs-nvidia-geforce-ulp/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/01/19/gpus-comparison-arm-m...
- chmodd 13y ago
  By the way, bitcoin can no longer be efficiently mined on GPUs since the network hashrate has been increasing tremendously with ASICs (tenfold growth in the past 6 months and continuing steadily)
- Lerc 13y ago
  Do any of the Arm chips that have GPUs that are OpenCL capable have the appropriate support software to enable you to actually use OpenCL in programs?
  - wladimir 13y ago
    Yes. You can actually use OpenCL on the i.mx6. It's pretty cool. That said, there is still quite some room for improvement in the drivers (see my other post above). It is also more limited than desktop-class GPUs (CL embedded profile), so don't expect to be able to run all current OpenCL code unmodified.
- wladimir 13y ago
  Alas, the Vivante GC2000 cannot do bitcoin mining (not that you'd want to, anyway). The GPU can indeed do do OpenCL, but the maximum kernel size is limited whereas double-SHA1 requires quite a lot of operations. It's more aimed at computer vision applications such as image filters for robotics. FYI, I did some OpenCL tests and benchmarks on the GC2000 some time ago and reported about it here: https://blog.visucore.com/2013/3/12/opencl-on-i-mx6 https://blog.visucore.com/2013/3/12/opencl-on-i-mx6 . I'm also working on a reverse engineered open source driver for Vivante GPUs such as that in the i.mx6 (https://github.com/laanwj/etna_viv https://github.com/laanwj/etna_viv).
pstuart 13y ago
It was noted on reddit that prices start at $99. However you can get a quad-core android "pc" now for under $100 easy: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CS918-Cortex-A9-Mini-PC-Android-TV-box-4-2-Smart-tv-stick-1-8-GHz/1023696089.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CS918-Cortex-A9-Mini-PC-Andro...
- hosay123 13y ago
  Sadly the rk3188 on-chip controller is only capable of 100mbit. There's a few more (particularly Freescale) units with gigabit, but generally more expensive. Gigabit or USB3 is when these things start to look insanely attractive IMHO (as possibilities to attach e.g. storage to the external bus exist)
  - justincormack 13y ago
    The imx6 onboard Ethernet can't really do gigabit but the second Ethernet on this new machine is apparently a PCIe connected Intel chip which is more promising.
- zobzu 13y ago
  yeah but no integrated dual gig ethernet 'n stuff. so yes the price/feat ratio is higher on TFA.. but it offers something that's hard to find elsewhere right now, for the router+tv+everything box.
  - eloisant 13y ago
    Why would you need dual ethernet?
    - jon-wood 13y ago
      > for the router+tv+everything box While its possible to use VLANs to do routing over single ethernet port, its much less hassle if you have two.
untog 13y ago
I really do hope for a world where (if we accept DRM as a given) DRM is more universally accessible. I'd love to get one of these machines to use a media center PC, but I can't do things like watch Netflix/Amazon Prime on them. (I know I can get a Roku box or similar, but I'm yet to find something that can replicate all the functions I want. An Android machine would be perfect)
- schrodingersCat 13y ago
  This runs ubuntu AND android. I have a netflix app on my android tablet and phone. This should hypothetically support all streaming video services.
  - xanderstrike 13y ago
    Android with Netflix/Hulu/Amazon plus XBMC ought to make a very satisfying set top box. If you're doing that though, you might be better off buying an Ouya for the same price, and getting the controller + games as well.
    - tracker1 13y ago
      My biggest issues with the Ouya are that the one USB port is USB2 (not 3), and that the options for USB storage are pretty gimped currently. Some apps aren't too bad at being able to use USB storage, others are.. and you can't install anything to secondary storage as it stands.
      - xanderstrike 13y ago
        Definitely true. I stream most of my media (home server, seedbox, or Netflix) so the storage isn't that big a deal. I have an 8gb flash drive for ROMs and haven't come close to filling the internal storage with games. I wouldn't use the Ouya for serious storage anyway because I couldn't readily access or manipulate that data through the network, but that's just me.
  - untog 13y ago
justinsb 13y ago
Dual gigabit, wi-fi and the ability to run Ubuntu makes this very interesting for a "home router / hub" type device. Video output makes it interesting for a media player device. Putting both in one low-powered box is awesome...
- msoad 13y ago
  For video this doesn't really work. I tried a bunch of ARM devices to use as my HTPC. Problem is video codecs are not optimized for ARM. I think ARM devices are good enough for 6Mbps videos but software is not there yet.
  - ZoFreX 13y ago
    If the GPU can do the decoding, or it has a separate decoder chip, then it will cope just fine regardless of the CPU.
  - jeena 13y ago
    I'm using my Raspberry Pi for showing full HD video on my TV and the files are on my iMac which is connected with the 10/100 Ethernet controller. I have not had any problems watching movies on my TV. Or is it something else you're talking about?
    - msoad 13y ago
      If decoding happens in your Mac (PLEX) then Raspberry doesn't really do anything. Raspberry can not decode a Loseless REMUX MKV from Blu-Ray in my experience. Maybe GPU can help, but I have not seen any ARM board with decent GPU like Nvidia ION.
      - azernik 13y ago
        The Pi is an interesting system in that it has a truly impressive GPU (according to the manufacturers "capable of BluRay quality playback"), especially compared to its bottom-shelf CPU. Which means you need everything encoded in h.264 or some other format the GPU can do, but that's achievable.
dfc 13y ago
Does anyone know if the "two RS232 serial ports" is a typo? If they are real serial ports it sounds too good to be true. They would make great S1 ntp boxes with GPSDOs. I have a sneaking suspicion that line is a typo and/or they have some whacky interdependence on USB and the lines will be riddled with jitter.
- takluyver 13y ago
  The pictures appear to show one port on the front and one on the back (on the left side of each) that match what I find searching for 'ultra mini serial connector', so it doesn't look like a typo.
  - dfc 13y ago
    I looked a little more and it looks like you can plug a RS232 converter into the ultra mini ports but it does the serial connection over the USB bus. This makes the serial ports useless for feeding the computer the Pulse Per Second signal from the GPS. Oh well back to the GPIO pins on the BeagleBone.
- nfriedly 13y ago
  From the diagram on the company's website, it looks like it does indeed have two RS232 ports - although they both have the "ultra mini connector". See http://utilite-computer.com/web/home http://utilite-computer.com/web/home for a picture.
  - dfc 13y ago
    I am not convinced that it is not rs232 over USB. I can get a DB9 to USB adapter and plug a GPS into any computer. The PPS will come in over the USB port but the jitter will make the signal useless for timing applications.
    - joezydeco 13y ago
      They're real. Freescale has the drivers in the Linux kernel at drivers/serial/mxc_uart.c if you want to see for yourself. The iMX UARTs are internal to the SoC, all you need is a line driver to bring them out of the board.
grok2 13y ago
Feels similar to Tonido, but fancier looking. Having been using the Tonido for a few weeks as a development web-server and it has been pretty good so far.
fulafel 13y ago
anyone know what the 99 USD configuration includes, ram/flash wise?
- schrodingersCat 13y ago
  The $99 model will be bare-bones for sure. http://utilite-computer.com/web/utilite-specifications http://utilite-computer.com/web/utilite-specifications
vidarh 13y ago
The design of that box takes me back to '99 and testing Linux on the StrongARM based Corel Netwinder...
- peatmoss 13y ago
  I was trying to remember the name of that one. I've had something of an unfortunate predilection toward small, low-power, general purpose Linux boxen. As a general rule, if I think something looks like a good idea, it is doomed to failure. I really like the looks of this one!
ColinWright 13y ago
Link to the actual site submitted here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6046604 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6046604 However, currently the site isn't responding - I suspected it's died under the load. Direct link: http://www.utilite-computer.com/ http://www.utilite-computer.com/
sciurus 13y ago
Too bad there's no connectors for fast external storage, like eSATA or USB 3.
- j-kidd 13y ago
  For general computing purpose (e.g. HTPC + bittorrent + samba), there are always something missing with these small ARM computers. I am holding on to my AMD E-350, especially with the rapid improvement in the radeon driver lately. Gigabyte Brix with AMD Kabini is going to be interesting, and possibly very competitive in pricing without sacrificing performance: http://liliputing.com/2013/06/gigabyte-brix-mini-computer-to-come-in-amd-kabini-intel-haswell-flavors.html http://liliputing.com/2013/06/gigabyte-brix-mini-computer-to...
  - friism 13y ago
    Exactly. What I'm looking for is a board with a reasonably fast CPU (preferably dual core), SATA and a a PCI-E or USB3 port for a fast 802.11n/ac wifi adapter. PogoPlug v4 is almost there, but the CPU is too slow to sustain more than ~40MB/s of I/O.
    - ndaugherty18 13y ago
      I preordered this, gigabit lan and sata, http://shop.udoo.org/pre-order/udoo-quad.html http://shop.udoo.org/pre-order/udoo-quad.html
  - puzzlingcaptcha 13y ago
    Wyse and HP will probably refresh their thin client product lines with the new AMD APUs as well. Re-purposing those if you can get them second-hand can be quite cheap and get you the hardware you want (HP has standard BIOS, Wyse boots SUSE so should work with some fiddling). As a side note, I have had a lot of fun with thin clients in the past few years due to a variety of interesting x86 architectures (AMD Geode, Transmeta Efficeon, VIA Nano) each with its own little quirks and features (accelerating torrent hash checking and peer handshaking with hardware sha-1 crypto engine and montgomery multiplier on VIA cpu was probably my silliest project).
drivebyacct2 13y ago
>a single-, dual-, or quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 There are literally dozens of these boxes. Go to alibaba and search cortex a9. They can be bought in bulk (even in small quantities) for $60.
sspiff 13y ago
One of the many we've seen over the past 12 months. the iMX6 (NDA-free hardware reference) and dual gigabit make it stand out, but it's hardly revolutionary.
stevepotter 13y ago
I do R&D for laboratory machines. We're trying to break away from the clunky old components (which also almost always use Windows). I started with the Pi but it was too underpowered. Now I'm using hardkernel's odroid u2, which has been a decent experience. But Hardkernel's support is spotty, site is shady, and shipping takes forever. Plus the dual ethernet and SSD are exactly what I was looking for (using usb replacements now which aren't as good). I used an Atom but had trouble with video drivers in Debian. Crossing my fingers on this one. Will pre-order if they offer. I'd love it if someone could offer touchscreens that would easily plug into it, as this has been tough for me.
- dfc 13y ago
  Have you tried the BeagleBone Black?
  - stevepotter 13y ago
    Actually one is on the way and I'm hopeful. I found the odroid to be incredibly fast and the 2gb ram it provides is great since the machine runs a gui, web server, and other various things.
- hosay123 13y ago
  Also check out e.g. http://boundarydevices.com/products/sabre-lite-imx6-sbc/ http://boundarydevices.com/products/sabre-lite-imx6-sbc/ for sterling "real" Linux support, GigE and PCIe
  - stevepotter 13y ago
    Wow thanks. I can't believe this slipped by me. You are awesome.
    - hosay123 13y ago
      You might find a few hours flicking through the past year of http://www.cnx-software.com/ http://www.cnx-software.com/ archives useful
yawniek 13y ago
the wandboard quad is not much more expensive at 129usd and sports 2gb ram, gigabit and sata. http://www.wandboard.org/index.php/details http://www.wandboard.org/index.php/details
- homeomorphic 13y ago
  This is great.
ChuckMcM 13y ago
This is an excellent price point for this capability. I've been playing around with a lot of different ARM implementations from Atmel to Nvidia and many places in between. What struck me is how spoiled I had become to x86 machines all having esssentiall the same set of "features" just at different service levels. I find myself wanting a Marvell CPU (good at networking) and an nVidia GPU (great at throwing pixels around) with an Atmel floorplan (easy to layout). I'm not complaining, it is a lot more fun exploring the choices people have made putting together their ARM SoCs than it is exploring the differences between an Intel Core i3 and a Core i5.
dmritard96 13y ago
This sounds pretty handy as a replacement for an old tower I have hooked up to my tv. The one thing that the RPi offers that I would love to see on this is gpio access. Arduino tethering is fine but I love having really easy access for quickly hacking.
51Cards 13y ago
Looking at the back of this unit some of the ports seem awfully close together. With that many it might have been better to stack some of them vertically vs. trying to lay them all out side by side?
jlgaddis 13y ago
Oh hell, another one!? I'm running out of room in my lab for all of these cheap single board computers that I simply can't resist buying! Please make it stop!
jlgaddis 13y ago
On a side note, if anyone is looking to build something like this, please consider building a low-end device (running on Linux) with 16 or 32 RS-232 ports that I can SSH to... Other than that, give it two USB ports so that the end user can connect a wireless USB NIC and/or a 3G/cellular card if they need to. Two (at most) 10/100 or 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports would be perfect. Video (VGA/HDMI/whatever) wouldn't be necessary, nor would sound. Keep it under $200 and I imagine the networking industry will be happy to take them off your hands real quick.
- steevdave 13y ago
  Mirabox comes close to what you are looking for, I think
- Ecio78 13y ago
  You're right, last time I bought one for a datacenter (in 2008) I think it was around 1500-2000$ for 16 ports version...
- damian2000 13y ago
  Why the need for so many RS-232 ports?
  - jlgaddis 13y ago
    Serial consoles on network gear (routers, switches, firewalls, etc.). When everything is working properly, you almost never need them... but when SHTF, they can be invaluable and save lots of time and money.
rwmj 13y ago
$99 is quite expensive. Go on ebay and get an A10/A10s-based mk802 for $40-50. Supported in Fedora and Android: http://osdir.com/ml/fedora-devel-list/2013-07/msg00754.html http://osdir.com/ml/fedora-devel-list/2013-07/msg00754.html
- Moto7451 13y ago
  While it's more expensive the native gigabit ethernet ports are nice to have. I use my RPi as a dev server/file server and I sometimes have problems with the USB based ethernet going brain dead and needing a USB bus reset (I keep a USB wifi adapter plugged in so I can still SSH in). I don't really fault the RPi since I'm not using it for what its designed for (hell, the ARM CPU is actually the coprocessor to the GPU[1]). I think I'll pick one up. It will make for a much better dev server/Time Capsule clone/AirPlay server clone/router than my PI, and then I'll have a free RPi to use as a micro-controller. [1]http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/7122/level-of-hackability-of-raspberry-pi http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/7122/level-of...
- Fuzzwah 13y ago
  I have one of these (mk802ii to be exact) as well as a raspberry pi. I run lubuntu on the mk802 and it does what I need it to do. However, that doesn't include fast networking and/or video playback. Personally I would happily fork out an extra $50 to get 2x gb ethernet and decent video performance. I would dearly love USB 3 too.....
deleted 13y ago
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mwcampbell 13y ago
I wonder why CompuLab chose an ARM SoC over a recent Atom-based one. The Atom-based Clover Trail SoC, for example, is competitive with the Tegra 3 in terms of power consumption and performance. And of course an x86-based system can run a lot more software out of the box.
- hollerith 13y ago
  There are no Linux drivers for the graphics engine in Clover Trail. (And of course licensing Windows would have increased the price by a large factor.)
gcb0 13y ago
Is this the official launch price? The same company makes an atom box for $1,700.00 ...just saying.
baudehlo 13y ago
I don't see any mention of IR input. No way it will work as a TV device without remote control support.
- VMG 13y ago
  I already prefer a remote smartphone app for my TV
  - mahmud 13y ago
    What? Dedicated, tactile buttons to feel around in the dark, vs fidgeting with phone.
    - VMG 13y ago
      Something adaptive that you'll probably fidget with anyway vs something that is hiding behind a sofa cushion most of the time and needs direct line of sight to work.
- aroch 13y ago
  They sell USB IR receivers, they sell USB remote controls, there are smartphone apps for such a thing
- Ecio78 13y ago
  If you have a not-so-old TV and the relevant software installed (i.e. XBMC) you can use directly the remote control of your TV via HDMI-CEC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=CEC http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=CEC
pippy 13y ago
This looks very nice. I've been looking for a decent replacement for my sheevaplug for a while now.
contingencies 13y ago
I looked at this market last week and settled on ~$150 x86 FoxConn NanoPCs instead. Why? Mostly time saving worrying about driver support and cross-compiling non-x86 kernels. Also, they can be stuck on the back of a monitor to stay out of sight. Google ChromeOS devices were also suggested for consideration but written off due a combination of cost and the perceived risk of rapid deprecation.
- hollerith 13y ago
  Thanks. some of Foxconn's NanoPCs are the first Mac-mini-like things I have seen that beat Apple on price, specifically http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119085 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119...
sbenario 13y ago
I'd love to see if anyone could hack Windows RT into one of these. Could make quite the little desktop machine.
lispython 13y ago
Last month I had a chat with Raspberry Pi's founder Eben, I asked him between or beyond Raspberry Pi and Arduino, did he think there's a chance to birth other new platform? If so, what characteristics this new platform should have? And he said "There's scope for something very powerful (almost PC-like) in the $70 price range. If I was starting a new venture today, this is where I'd aim."
nutate 13y ago
I feel like with the rash of computers* at this price point, I'm waiting for something at $9.99 before I get excited. *for some value of computer

How exactly it will manage to squeeze ssd into this price tag? Something don't add up. Otherwise a welcome evolution that is even developer station ready at the higher end.

smoothify 13y ago
Since the price is "starting from $99" then i assume the base model will be without SSD, and either allow you to add your own or use microSD card / USB to boot.
- samcrawford 13y ago
  I suspect it's based upon this SBC (given it's from the same company and this SBC is marked as a new product): http://compulab.co.il/products/computer-on-modules/cm-fx6/#ordering http://compulab.co.il/products/computer-on-modules/cm-fx6/#o... This should give some rough indication of the options available and the price increments.

stephengillie 13y ago

Graphics Processing Unit supporting OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0, OpenVG 1.1, and OpenCL EP I'm curious about what level of output this GPU can do -- are we looking at an OUYA competitor or bitcoin-miner, or is it only powerful enough for basic desktop acceleration?

pmh 13y ago
Going on the MX6 specs[1] and GFLOPS alone[2], it should be a bit faster than Ouya's Tegra for the cheapest option and handily beat it on the more expensive models. Bitcoin mining is out of the question - it's basically a tablet-class GPU. GFLOPS isn't the whole picture of course, but my Google-fu is failing me at the moment. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX6x_series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX6x_series [2]: http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/01/19/gpus-comparison-arm-mali-vs-vivante-gcxxx-vs-powervr-sgx-vs-nvidia-geforce-ulp/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/01/19/gpus-comparison-arm-m...
chmodd 13y ago
By the way, bitcoin can no longer be efficiently mined on GPUs since the network hashrate has been increasing tremendously with ASICs (tenfold growth in the past 6 months and continuing steadily)
Lerc 13y ago
Do any of the Arm chips that have GPUs that are OpenCL capable have the appropriate support software to enable you to actually use OpenCL in programs?
- wladimir 13y ago
  Yes. You can actually use OpenCL on the i.mx6. It's pretty cool. That said, there is still quite some room for improvement in the drivers (see my other post above). It is also more limited than desktop-class GPUs (CL embedded profile), so don't expect to be able to run all current OpenCL code unmodified.
wladimir 13y ago
Alas, the Vivante GC2000 cannot do bitcoin mining (not that you'd want to, anyway). The GPU can indeed do do OpenCL, but the maximum kernel size is limited whereas double-SHA1 requires quite a lot of operations. It's more aimed at computer vision applications such as image filters for robotics. FYI, I did some OpenCL tests and benchmarks on the GC2000 some time ago and reported about it here: https://blog.visucore.com/2013/3/12/opencl-on-i-mx6 https://blog.visucore.com/2013/3/12/opencl-on-i-mx6 . I'm also working on a reverse engineered open source driver for Vivante GPUs such as that in the i.mx6 (https://github.com/laanwj/etna_viv https://github.com/laanwj/etna_viv).

pstuart 13y ago

It was noted on reddit that prices start at $99. However you can get a quad-core android "pc" now for under $100 easy: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CS918-Cortex-A9-Mini-PC-Android-TV-box-4-2-Smart-tv-stick-1-8-GHz/1023696089.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CS918-Cortex-A9-Mini-PC-Andro...

hosay123 13y ago
Sadly the rk3188 on-chip controller is only capable of 100mbit. There's a few more (particularly Freescale) units with gigabit, but generally more expensive. Gigabit or USB3 is when these things start to look insanely attractive IMHO (as possibilities to attach e.g. storage to the external bus exist)
- justincormack 13y ago
  The imx6 onboard Ethernet can't really do gigabit but the second Ethernet on this new machine is apparently a PCIe connected Intel chip which is more promising.
zobzu 13y ago
yeah but no integrated dual gig ethernet 'n stuff. so yes the price/feat ratio is higher on TFA.. but it offers something that's hard to find elsewhere right now, for the router+tv+everything box.
- eloisant 13y ago
  Why would you need dual ethernet?
  - jon-wood 13y ago
    > for the router+tv+everything box While its possible to use VLANs to do routing over single ethernet port, its much less hassle if you have two.

untog 13y ago

I really do hope for a world where (if we accept DRM as a given) DRM is more universally accessible. I'd love to get one of these machines to use a media center PC, but I can't do things like watch Netflix/Amazon Prime on them. (I know I can get a Roku box or similar, but I'm yet to find something that can replicate all the functions I want. An Android machine would be perfect)

schrodingersCat 13y ago
This runs ubuntu AND android. I have a netflix app on my android tablet and phone. This should hypothetically support all streaming video services.
- xanderstrike 13y ago
  Android with Netflix/Hulu/Amazon plus XBMC ought to make a very satisfying set top box. If you're doing that though, you might be better off buying an Ouya for the same price, and getting the controller + games as well.
  - tracker1 13y ago
    My biggest issues with the Ouya are that the one USB port is USB2 (not 3), and that the options for USB storage are pretty gimped currently. Some apps aren't too bad at being able to use USB storage, others are.. and you can't install anything to secondary storage as it stands.
    - xanderstrike 13y ago
      Definitely true. I stream most of my media (home server, seedbox, or Netflix) so the storage isn't that big a deal. I have an 8gb flash drive for ROMs and haven't come close to filling the internal storage with games. I wouldn't use the Ouya for serious storage anyway because I couldn't readily access or manipulate that data through the network, but that's just me.
- untog 13y ago

justinsb 13y ago

Dual gigabit, wi-fi and the ability to run Ubuntu makes this very interesting for a "home router / hub" type device. Video output makes it interesting for a media player device. Putting both in one low-powered box is awesome...

msoad 13y ago
For video this doesn't really work. I tried a bunch of ARM devices to use as my HTPC. Problem is video codecs are not optimized for ARM. I think ARM devices are good enough for 6Mbps videos but software is not there yet.
- ZoFreX 13y ago
  If the GPU can do the decoding, or it has a separate decoder chip, then it will cope just fine regardless of the CPU.
- jeena 13y ago
  I'm using my Raspberry Pi for showing full HD video on my TV and the files are on my iMac which is connected with the 10/100 Ethernet controller. I have not had any problems watching movies on my TV. Or is it something else you're talking about?
  - msoad 13y ago
    If decoding happens in your Mac (PLEX) then Raspberry doesn't really do anything. Raspberry can not decode a Loseless REMUX MKV from Blu-Ray in my experience. Maybe GPU can help, but I have not seen any ARM board with decent GPU like Nvidia ION.
    - azernik 13y ago
      The Pi is an interesting system in that it has a truly impressive GPU (according to the manufacturers "capable of BluRay quality playback"), especially compared to its bottom-shelf CPU. Which means you need everything encoded in h.264 or some other format the GPU can do, but that's achievable.

dfc 13y ago

Does anyone know if the "two RS232 serial ports" is a typo? If they are real serial ports it sounds too good to be true. They would make great S1 ntp boxes with GPSDOs. I have a sneaking suspicion that line is a typo and/or they have some whacky interdependence on USB and the lines will be riddled with jitter.

takluyver 13y ago
The pictures appear to show one port on the front and one on the back (on the left side of each) that match what I find searching for 'ultra mini serial connector', so it doesn't look like a typo.
- dfc 13y ago
  I looked a little more and it looks like you can plug a RS232 converter into the ultra mini ports but it does the serial connection over the USB bus. This makes the serial ports useless for feeding the computer the Pulse Per Second signal from the GPS. Oh well back to the GPIO pins on the BeagleBone.
nfriedly 13y ago
From the diagram on the company's website, it looks like it does indeed have two RS232 ports - although they both have the "ultra mini connector". See http://utilite-computer.com/web/home http://utilite-computer.com/web/home for a picture.
- dfc 13y ago
  I am not convinced that it is not rs232 over USB. I can get a DB9 to USB adapter and plug a GPS into any computer. The PPS will come in over the USB port but the jitter will make the signal useless for timing applications.
  - joezydeco 13y ago
    They're real. Freescale has the drivers in the Linux kernel at drivers/serial/mxc_uart.c if you want to see for yourself. The iMX UARTs are internal to the SoC, all you need is a line driver to bring them out of the board.

grok2 13y ago

Feels similar to Tonido, but fancier looking. Having been using the Tonido for a few weeks as a development web-server and it has been pretty good so far.

fulafel 13y ago

anyone know what the 99 USD configuration includes, ram/flash wise?

schrodingersCat 13y ago
The $99 model will be bare-bones for sure. http://utilite-computer.com/web/utilite-specifications http://utilite-computer.com/web/utilite-specifications

vidarh 13y ago

The design of that box takes me back to '99 and testing Linux on the StrongARM based Corel Netwinder...

peatmoss 13y ago
I was trying to remember the name of that one. I've had something of an unfortunate predilection toward small, low-power, general purpose Linux boxen. As a general rule, if I think something looks like a good idea, it is doomed to failure. I really like the looks of this one!

ColinWright 13y ago

Link to the actual site submitted here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6046604 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6046604 However, currently the site isn't responding - I suspected it's died under the load. Direct link: http://www.utilite-computer.com/ http://www.utilite-computer.com/

sciurus 13y ago

Too bad there's no connectors for fast external storage, like eSATA or USB 3.

j-kidd 13y ago
For general computing purpose (e.g. HTPC + bittorrent + samba), there are always something missing with these small ARM computers. I am holding on to my AMD E-350, especially with the rapid improvement in the radeon driver lately. Gigabyte Brix with AMD Kabini is going to be interesting, and possibly very competitive in pricing without sacrificing performance: http://liliputing.com/2013/06/gigabyte-brix-mini-computer-to-come-in-amd-kabini-intel-haswell-flavors.html http://liliputing.com/2013/06/gigabyte-brix-mini-computer-to...
- friism 13y ago
  Exactly. What I'm looking for is a board with a reasonably fast CPU (preferably dual core), SATA and a a PCI-E or USB3 port for a fast 802.11n/ac wifi adapter. PogoPlug v4 is almost there, but the CPU is too slow to sustain more than ~40MB/s of I/O.
  - ndaugherty18 13y ago
    I preordered this, gigabit lan and sata, http://shop.udoo.org/pre-order/udoo-quad.html http://shop.udoo.org/pre-order/udoo-quad.html
- puzzlingcaptcha 13y ago
  Wyse and HP will probably refresh their thin client product lines with the new AMD APUs as well. Re-purposing those if you can get them second-hand can be quite cheap and get you the hardware you want (HP has standard BIOS, Wyse boots SUSE so should work with some fiddling). As a side note, I have had a lot of fun with thin clients in the past few years due to a variety of interesting x86 architectures (AMD Geode, Transmeta Efficeon, VIA Nano) each with its own little quirks and features (accelerating torrent hash checking and peer handshaking with hardware sha-1 crypto engine and montgomery multiplier on VIA cpu was probably my silliest project).

drivebyacct2 13y ago

>a single-, dual-, or quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 There are literally dozens of these boxes. Go to alibaba and search cortex a9. They can be bought in bulk (even in small quantities) for $60.

sspiff 13y ago

One of the many we've seen over the past 12 months. the iMX6 (NDA-free hardware reference) and dual gigabit make it stand out, but it's hardly revolutionary.

stevepotter 13y ago

I do R&D for laboratory machines. We're trying to break away from the clunky old components (which also almost always use Windows). I started with the Pi but it was too underpowered. Now I'm using hardkernel's odroid u2, which has been a decent experience. But Hardkernel's support is spotty, site is shady, and shipping takes forever. Plus the dual ethernet and SSD are exactly what I was looking for (using usb replacements now which aren't as good). I used an Atom but had trouble with video drivers in Debian. Crossing my fingers on this one. Will pre-order if they offer. I'd love it if someone could offer touchscreens that would easily plug into it, as this has been tough for me.

dfc 13y ago
Have you tried the BeagleBone Black?
- stevepotter 13y ago
  Actually one is on the way and I'm hopeful. I found the odroid to be incredibly fast and the 2gb ram it provides is great since the machine runs a gui, web server, and other various things.
hosay123 13y ago
Also check out e.g. http://boundarydevices.com/products/sabre-lite-imx6-sbc/ http://boundarydevices.com/products/sabre-lite-imx6-sbc/ for sterling "real" Linux support, GigE and PCIe
- stevepotter 13y ago
  Wow thanks. I can't believe this slipped by me. You are awesome.
  - hosay123 13y ago
    You might find a few hours flicking through the past year of http://www.cnx-software.com/ http://www.cnx-software.com/ archives useful

yawniek 13y ago

the wandboard quad is not much more expensive at 129usd and sports 2gb ram, gigabit and sata. http://www.wandboard.org/index.php/details http://www.wandboard.org/index.php/details

homeomorphic 13y ago
This is great.

ChuckMcM 13y ago

This is an excellent price point for this capability. I've been playing around with a lot of different ARM implementations from Atmel to Nvidia and many places in between. What struck me is how spoiled I had become to x86 machines all having esssentiall the same set of "features" just at different service levels. I find myself wanting a Marvell CPU (good at networking) and an nVidia GPU (great at throwing pixels around) with an Atmel floorplan (easy to layout). I'm not complaining, it is a lot more fun exploring the choices people have made putting together their ARM SoCs than it is exploring the differences between an Intel Core i3 and a Core i5.

dmritard96 13y ago

This sounds pretty handy as a replacement for an old tower I have hooked up to my tv. The one thing that the RPi offers that I would love to see on this is gpio access. Arduino tethering is fine but I love having really easy access for quickly hacking.

51Cards 13y ago

Looking at the back of this unit some of the ports seem awfully close together. With that many it might have been better to stack some of them vertically vs. trying to lay them all out side by side?

jlgaddis 13y ago

Oh hell, another one!? I'm running out of room in my lab for all of these cheap single board computers that I simply can't resist buying! Please make it stop!

jlgaddis 13y ago

On a side note, if anyone is looking to build something like this, please consider building a low-end device (running on Linux) with 16 or 32 RS-232 ports that I can SSH to... Other than that, give it two USB ports so that the end user can connect a wireless USB NIC and/or a 3G/cellular card if they need to. Two (at most) 10/100 or 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports would be perfect. Video (VGA/HDMI/whatever) wouldn't be necessary, nor would sound. Keep it under $200 and I imagine the networking industry will be happy to take them off your hands real quick.

steevdave 13y ago
Mirabox comes close to what you are looking for, I think
Ecio78 13y ago
You're right, last time I bought one for a datacenter (in 2008) I think it was around 1500-2000$ for 16 ports version...
damian2000 13y ago
Why the need for so many RS-232 ports?
- jlgaddis 13y ago
  Serial consoles on network gear (routers, switches, firewalls, etc.). When everything is working properly, you almost never need them... but when SHTF, they can be invaluable and save lots of time and money.

rwmj 13y ago

$99 is quite expensive. Go on ebay and get an A10/A10s-based mk802 for $40-50. Supported in Fedora and Android: http://osdir.com/ml/fedora-devel-list/2013-07/msg00754.html http://osdir.com/ml/fedora-devel-list/2013-07/msg00754.html

Moto7451 13y ago
While it's more expensive the native gigabit ethernet ports are nice to have. I use my RPi as a dev server/file server and I sometimes have problems with the USB based ethernet going brain dead and needing a USB bus reset (I keep a USB wifi adapter plugged in so I can still SSH in). I don't really fault the RPi since I'm not using it for what its designed for (hell, the ARM CPU is actually the coprocessor to the GPU[1]). I think I'll pick one up. It will make for a much better dev server/Time Capsule clone/AirPlay server clone/router than my PI, and then I'll have a free RPi to use as a micro-controller. [1]http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/7122/level-of-hackability-of-raspberry-pi http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/7122/level-of...
Fuzzwah 13y ago
I have one of these (mk802ii to be exact) as well as a raspberry pi. I run lubuntu on the mk802 and it does what I need it to do. However, that doesn't include fast networking and/or video playback. Personally I would happily fork out an extra $50 to get 2x gb ethernet and decent video performance. I would dearly love USB 3 too.....

deleted 13y ago

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mwcampbell 13y ago

I wonder why CompuLab chose an ARM SoC over a recent Atom-based one. The Atom-based Clover Trail SoC, for example, is competitive with the Tegra 3 in terms of power consumption and performance. And of course an x86-based system can run a lot more software out of the box.

hollerith 13y ago
There are no Linux drivers for the graphics engine in Clover Trail. (And of course licensing Windows would have increased the price by a large factor.)

gcb0 13y ago

Is this the official launch price? The same company makes an atom box for $1,700.00 ...just saying.

baudehlo 13y ago

I don't see any mention of IR input. No way it will work as a TV device without remote control support.

VMG 13y ago
I already prefer a remote smartphone app for my TV
- mahmud 13y ago
  What? Dedicated, tactile buttons to feel around in the dark, vs fidgeting with phone.
  - VMG 13y ago
    Something adaptive that you'll probably fidget with anyway vs something that is hiding behind a sofa cushion most of the time and needs direct line of sight to work.
aroch 13y ago
They sell USB IR receivers, they sell USB remote controls, there are smartphone apps for such a thing
Ecio78 13y ago
If you have a not-so-old TV and the relevant software installed (i.e. XBMC) you can use directly the remote control of your TV via HDMI-CEC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=CEC http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=CEC

pippy 13y ago

This looks very nice. I've been looking for a decent replacement for my sheevaplug for a while now.

contingencies 13y ago

I looked at this market last week and settled on ~$150 x86 FoxConn NanoPCs instead. Why? Mostly time saving worrying about driver support and cross-compiling non-x86 kernels. Also, they can be stuck on the back of a monitor to stay out of sight. Google ChromeOS devices were also suggested for consideration but written off due a combination of cost and the perceived risk of rapid deprecation.

hollerith 13y ago
Thanks. some of Foxconn's NanoPCs are the first Mac-mini-like things I have seen that beat Apple on price, specifically http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119085 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119...

sbenario 13y ago

I'd love to see if anyone could hack Windows RT into one of these. Could make quite the little desktop machine.

lispython 13y ago

Last month I had a chat with Raspberry Pi's founder Eben, I asked him between or beyond Raspberry Pi and Arduino, did he think there's a chance to birth other new platform? If so, what characteristics this new platform should have? And he said "There's scope for something very powerful (almost PC-like) in the $70 price range. If I was starting a new venture today, this is where I'd aim."

nutate 13y ago

I feel like with the rash of computers* at this price point, I'm waiting for something at $9.99 before I get excited. *for some value of computer