This looks awesome. Finally a piece of tech I actually want, and by Intel of all companies.<p>The bigger consumer companies have been shuffling their feet, releasing arbitrary, very closed off pieces of tech that I don't really need. I really applaud Intel for making the tiny little PC I've been wanting for media and linux tomfoolery. The Chromecast was a no-go, and now with an apple tv, I'm feeling a little too enclosed; they don't have enough apps to satisfy all my media needs.<p>I've been watching the mini-pc market, chronically unsatisfied with what's been released up to this point. The Intel compute stick finally looks like the thing I've been looking for, mainly because they balance the size and low price, with just enough power for what I need. To top it off they're offering a Linux version, so I don't have to be worried about buying into a closed off platform.
Hardware like that makes me yearn for one with no wireless and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports to use as a firewall and server.<p>It's fairly interesting to note what it's not: Android or Chrome OS. I suspect Microsoft will do quite well out of this, especially in the digital signage market, anywhere which is reasonably price sensitive but if developer time and cost can be reduced then they get a lot of leeway.<p>Still, yet another reminder that the cost of computing is collapsing. Most of the cost here is Intel margin and in the case of the more expensive one MS licenses.
$149 for Windows 8.1 version and $89 for Linux version, not bad.<p>via:
<a href="http://techreport.com/news/27619/intel-compute-stick-is-a-149-windows-pc-to-go" rel="nofollow">http://techreport.com/news/27619/intel-compute-stick-is-a-14...</a>
"Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon." this is how product announcements work these days?<p>Would've been nice to have a bit of actual information.
"TV sticks" of this form factor have been all the rage on AliExpress, DealExtreme, and the like, although their popularity seems to have waned somewhat compared set-top-boxes (I read somewhere that it was due to trouble managing heat while customers demanded more powerful processors, but I don't know). See <a href="http://www.google.com/cse?q=tv+stick&sa=&cx=partner-pub-8120806476788575%3A3386820028&ie=UTF-8#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=tv%20stick&gsc.page=1" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/cse?q=tv+stick&sa=&cx=partner-pub-8120...</a> and <a href="http://liliputing.com/?s=tv+stick" rel="nofollow">http://liliputing.com/?s=tv+stick</a><p>They've mostly run on ARM and Android, with some hobbyists loading more traditional Linux distros on. Probably the most notable exception that I know of is the following: <a href="http://liliputing.com/2014/12/100-bay-trail-pc-stick-can-run-ubuntu-windows.html" rel="nofollow">http://liliputing.com/2014/12/100-bay-trail-pc-stick-can-run...</a><p>If this is priced well it will be interesting to see how it impacts that landscape.
This has already been done by some Chinese manufacturers, <a href="http://www.szapec.com/default.asp?id=1793" rel="nofollow">http://www.szapec.com/default.asp?id=1793</a>, and the Meegopad (<a href="http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/10/15/meego-t01-hdmi-tv-stick-supports-android-windows-8-1-and-ubuntulinux/" rel="nofollow">http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/10/15/meego-t01-hdmi-tv-sti...</a>).<p>And given that the Intel's Linux version will only have 1GB of RAM, and maybe a slower CPU than a Windows version, these Chinese alternative could get quite a bit more attractive, given that their price will go down in time as well.
It's already on sale in Taiwan for 1 or 2 months. (with a different case though)
<a href="http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495" rel="nofollow">http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495</a> (specs inside)
I was pleasantly surprised to find the Intel NUC ("next unit of computing ", sigh) devices recently - I've bought one and it sits under my TV. Having a full PC instead of a Chromecast/Roku stick/whatever really is awesome. Not only can I use every streaming option out there, I can also browse the web and order food, look up maps, etc. etc.<p>It'll be interesting to see how these perform, but if they are similar to the NUC units, they'll be worth the extra money. The only complaint I have with mine is actually software based - I can't find a way to make the Windows 8.1 tiles larger (and more suitable for TV viewing distances)
Somewhat similar open-hardware project that'll ship in March: <a href="https://www.crowdsupply.com/inverse-path/usb-armory" rel="nofollow">https://www.crowdsupply.com/inverse-path/usb-armory</a> (I'm not involved with the project)
Fascinatingly in one of the comments sections, someone referred to this product which looks like it's almost exactly the same product, just not directly made by Intel: <a href="http://de.aliexpress.com/item/2014-Original-MeegoPad-Meego-T01-Mini-PC-Windows-8-1-CPU-64-Bit-intel-Quad-Core/32245105251.html?recommendVersion=1" rel="nofollow">http://de.aliexpress.com/item/2014-Original-MeegoPad-Meego-T...</a>
Why this is interesting to me is that most of the <i>popular</i> hot-dog-on-a-stick devices run some crappy, limited, or proprietary OS (although if you have time to invest, many can be upgraded to Linux). But this one will ship with Linux or Windows.<p>For some decent background info on this form factor, see: <a href="http://www.stickcomputing.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.stickcomputing.com</a>
As the power increases beyond Atom processors, I think this will be very compelling.<p>I'd love to be able to unplug a dongle from my desktop monitor at home, and plug it into a tablet sized device to use on the train, then plug it into my monitor when I get to work, or a hotel rooms tv screen, or the presentation screen in our office conference room, etc. etc.
Presumably this thing needs a power brick too, though?<p>As I read it, HDMI as standard only supports +5V at 55mA. Taiwanese versions of this thing linked on this discussion suggest it needs +5V at 2A: <a href="http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495" rel="nofollow">http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495</a>
Cool.<p>Close, but not what I need. What I want (& maybe others?) is:<p>Compute on a stick that's a VM. Then, I can plug this into my laptop's HDMI or USB port to work on my project's local data/apps that's inside the VM.<p>Then I can take the stick when I travel, instead of taking my laptop. I can plug the stick into any laptop for full keyboard/trackpad. Or, I could plug the stick into a TV/monitor & use my phone/tablet's IO (keyboard/touch) over the same wifi. (Yes, the stick would need a minimal host OS to run a VM on a dumb monitor.)<p>Small local storage (working cache) with the rest in the cloud.<p>If such a device exists, please educate me/us.
My 2c ... I see a problem with it not being able to fit into the HDMI ports on my TV ... due to the design of the TV there is only room for a compact HDMI cable (the port is located in a small recessed section). In this case I'd need to connect it with an HDMI extension cable, and would end up having to mount the dongle itself somewhere.<p>Its probably better to buy an ultra compact PC such as an Intel NUC or Gigabyte Brix, which come with VESA mounts for mounting onto the back of the TV, and store data on an SSD drive.
Is it expectable that this will ship with Intel Management Engine?<p>And if so why is it that 4 hours after posting there is no mention of this? We should be asking these questions upfront.
This is a very welcome leap towards a new platform. From the perspective the musical-instrument manufacturers, this now allows us to do something we've wanted to do in synthesizers, effects, digital-audio processing, and so on: build an instrument that can be upgraded.<p>I imagine a new controller category, akin to the current iOS USB/MIDI controllers that allow music-making with iPads/etc., albeit its a synth workstation with all the knobs you could possibly want, and maybe a little screen.<p>And of course, a place to stick the 'compute device' of choice. I'll get 3 or 4 of these, put a different pre-configured music-production system on each one, and make a complete suite of instruments that can be easily upgraded in the future.<p>Very nice to see this happening.
I bought a i5 NUC [1] which I use for work (in the places I contract where I'm there for a bit longer than a few days). It's such a cool little device, the build took all of 15 minutes, and now Intel release this!<p>The NUCs come in a few sizes, the cheapest costing around 150 AUD. They make great media, desktop replacements or linux servers!<p>As soon as this little guy comes out I'm totally buying one (a stick), I like what they're doing with this stuff!<p>[1] <a href="http://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/nuc/overview.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/nuc/overview.html</a>
This is fantastic. As a car PC enthusiast, this kind of device is going transform the car PC community once again. Up until now, small form-factor PC's have been somewhat unaffordable.
Damn! Wonder why Ubuntu Edge didn't get the funding. It was quite similar but much better, why carry a separate stick when your smartphone itself is capable.
If they support a keyboard and mouse via USB then wouldn't supplying power to 2 USB ports be an issue? Assuming the stick itself gets its power from HDMI.
I just love the idea of having the computer being a plug in accessory to my display. Small enough that where ever I go and a display is available I have my computer and data.<p>Now if it is topped up with good sync software so I can have the truly workhorse computer at work/home and take whatever partition of it I want I will be sold
Intel's compute stick strikes me as a vehicle for "Windows 8.1 with Bing", which also appears in cheap laptops. There are already many powerful followons to the Raspberry Pi, with 1-2 GB RAM and up to four ARM cores for $40-$100. Microsoft must have jogged Intel and said, Do something!
This could be a direct competitor to the digital signage folks over at Brightsign - <a href="http://www.brightsign.biz/digital-signage-products/overview/" rel="nofollow">http://www.brightsign.biz/digital-signage-products/overview/</a>
Lately Intel is trying to enter several device markets. Other than their core products they now have at least the following "compute" products:<p><pre><code> - Intel NUC
- Intel Galileo
- Intel Edison
</code></pre>
Now comes the Compute Stick.
Great concept. I really like the idea of owning cheap computing devices. That way, if I break it I won't feel bad. Nothing feels worse than accidentally spilling water all over your expensive laptop. It would fit me just perfectly.
Now imagine if this were wireless, so that you didn't have to connect it to a TV? And while we're at it, add a screen, so that you can use it when you're not around a monitor.<p>And... it's a smartphone with chromecast.
Does anyone happen to know whether the quad-core atom mentioned would be sufficiently powerful to handle being a Plex client or Steam streaming client machine? This would make a remarkably cheap living room client PC.
Attach a highspeed microSD card reader (or build one in) and this would make a very compelling low power, personal media file server. Although needing to keep the television on to power it might get annoying.
Too bad the plug is on the end... my guess is that it's impossible to pick an arrangement that works for every TV, but this seems likely to be a problem for wall-mounted TVs like the one in the picture.
Consider the use case suggested by the image on the copy i.e; on-screen projection of slides in a business meeting. Can this use case be met with a tablet/smart phone using a VGA adapter?
Here's hoping they'll offer a version for embedded computing (and support it better than they historically supported their embedded motherboards).
Cotton candy [1] has been around for some years. This looks pretty similar.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.fxitech.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.fxitech.com/</a>
"Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon."<p>That made me chuckle. If just there was a technology based in XML that could be used to do that...
Intel offers "... Pre-installed with Windows 8.1* or Linux, ...".<p>"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Mahatma Gandhi