More specs at anandtech <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/9797/asus-launches-the-chromebit-cs10-hdmi-stick" rel="nofollow">http://www.anandtech.com/show/9797/asus-launches-the-chromeb...</a><p>Its Mali T764 GPU seems more powerful than an xbox360: the T760 has 326 GFLOPS; xbox360 xenos GPU has about 240 GFLOPS. Not sure what difference the 4 in 764 makes.
<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_(GPU)" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_(GPU)</a>
<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenos_(graphics_chip)" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenos_(graphics_chip)</a><p>These PC sticks have been around for years... I wonder if the killer app will be 4K streaming? 4K TV's look great, but no TV programming available; no media (4K blu-rays are not out yet); downloading 40GB takes too long; whereas streaming is popular.
What I'm after is something that can run Kodi (xbmc) which links to a NAS for its media. Running Netflix is a nice to have. What devices are out there that I can use for this purpose?<p>At the moment I have a fairly heavy htpc running Windows, but I have more tvs that I would like to use for similar purposes.<p>Edit: Bonus if it can do 4k video, but 1080p minimum is a must.
I'm trying to figure out what in the world people are going to use these for. Single-app kiosk? Sure, but that's gotta be a tiny market. TV streaming box? Maybe, but it's not clear to me that it really offers anything I care about that isn't already done by Chromecast/Roku.<p>I dunno. It's kind of a cool idea, but it feels like a solution in search of a problem.
The pricing is ridiculous. In Germany it costs 120€. I really don't get why Google is constantly making their products so unaffordable here. That makes it slightly more expensive than the Intel Compute Stick with Win 8.1 which goes for 110€
If it supports both chromecast and some reasonable open protocol screen sharing, I'd really like to upgrade my chromecast stick. While I'm usually happy with android/chrome integration, there are times when I want to cast some app, or even someone else's itunes. Currently that's not possible.<p>If this can destroy some garden walls, I'll be happy to pay.
Bootloader? Can we use our own?<p>Network settings? Is this like Chromecast where they try to prevent the user from changing them (gateway, DNS, etc.)?
I might have a use case for this. I bought a Toshiba Chromebook 2 this year and I am surprised how much I use it for work since it supports SSH shells, and my web based writing setup.<p>I have a nice 1080p monitor sitting on my desk that I seldom use. With this device it could morph into an always setup desktop version of my Chromebook. I mostly just use my laptops when I need IntelliJ for coding tasks, otherwise "lesser" devices like my iPad and Chromebook meet my needs.
Kudos to Google for building this one, but I've gotta wonder what drove the decision to use Rockchip. I'll be very interested if firmware flashing tools / kernel sources become available for this.
This is great.<p>For the last several years, I have had a ChromeBox connected to my tv. If lets me play amazon video, netflix, regular hulu (non-plus), nickelodeon, and just about anything out there that doesn't require silverlight. In another room, I have plex serving up all my local media. A k400 wireless keyboard/trackpad combo makes it work anywhere.<p>Prior to that, I spent a lot of time messing with android sticks, either with android or putting linux on them. Neither Hulu or Amazon prime work on Android, and if you switched to linux, you couldn't get flash to work.<p>So while I probably won't be replacing my chromebox anytime soon (actually, I also like the better performance of having a wired network connection), I could see putting something like this on a monitor in my office. And if I want something more featured, I'm sure someone will get linux working on here ala crosh.
Also see the $99 Lenovo Stick which runs Windows 10: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ideacentre-Stick-Computer-90F20000US/dp/B014644NPI/ref=sr_1_1" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ideacentre-Stick-Computer-90F20...</a>
How much control can you get in one of these things?<p>Are the drivers open source?<p>Could you install GNU/Linux and get a full FOSS system?<p>Since Chromebit also has an USB port, could you boot an untrusted desktop or laptop with it?
Couldn't something like this replace a networked based OS (Windows) that use a dumb network base, keyboard, mouse and screen in a corporate environment? AKA: VDI<p>You could walk around with this computer stick and plug in wherever there's a keyboard, mouse and monitor...
I wonder how much it shares with the cromecast, and whether (possibly) being able to hack at this, will open up the chromecast a little. Should be interesting to watch, since I expect there might be a few spare chromecasts lying around now ;-)
>it’s a pretty unassuming device that’s mostly meant to disappear behind your screen anyway (hence why I’m not sure why there is an orange version)<p>One reason for having an orange one is it's easier to spot when it's time to unplug.
Lowering prices and adding form factors is great, but for me, I kind of wish they the chrome project had started immediately after rather than before the smartphone revolution. I think they got locked into "The Web is Enough." Smartphones reminded us that apps matter too.<p>Chrombooks sell well, apparently, but I rarely see them in the world.<p>I just think it's past time for a new desktop OS. Windows is not a great option for most home users. OSX's job is to sell a premium apple product. I wish there was an android of laptops and I think chrome OS would be doing it if not for the bad timing.<p>It might also be the a solution for TV.
While this is surely interesting, it sort of ignores the point of what a computer is. Look at the Raspberry Pi for example. It affords a computer for $20-$30 or less than half this price, for something that simply computes without the peripherals.<p>If someone needs a computer for free they can go to the library. While the 'Chrome OS' might be more powerful than a Pi, you would never know since all it does is connect to the Internet. The amount of storage is also irrelevant since most users won't figure out how to store anything on the stick and flash storage is approaching $0-$2 in price.
A few ideas how to make it better:<p><pre><code> - include a small screen so I can still do stuff even if I don't have TV at hand
- use touch screen so I can use it without mouse / keyboard too
- use Android instead of Chrome OS so I can play games with it
- while you are at it, can this thing make phone calls too?
</code></pre>
In other words, why not just make it simple to plug an Android smartphone to peripherals (screen, mouse, keyboard)? That would be much more valuable to me.<p>Also, why is there just one USB port? If I were to use such a stick the first thing I would add to it is a separate USB hub just so I can use it... why do I need to carry two pieces of HW around?<p>EDIT: reformatting.<p>EDIT2: can someone explain the downvotes? My point is that I don't see a niche that couldn't be better served by a smartphone, especially if you could plug in the peripherals.