Set-top boxes and streaming sticks are decent, cost-effective ways to turn the TV you already have into a “smart TV,” but Intel has an intriguing new option for those of you who want something a little more versatile. The Intel Compute Stick is a full Bay Trail PC complete with a USB port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a micro SD expansion slot, and you’ll be able to get them with both Windows 8.1 and Linux.
Fascinating. I want one.
THIS is the future of computing. Smart watches and TV are full of gimmicks. This announcement on the other hand will change how offices work. Rather than lugging a laptop to meetings and demos, pocket sized pc that runs your desktop and key apps.
Actually… when wireless display technology fully takes off, THAT will be the future of computing. You take your computing device with you wherever you go and just “cast” it to your screen of your choice. It’s quickly getting to the point where we can get a lot of power in a small package making most computing needs solvable by pocket/phone/watch/wearable computers with wireless capabilities.
The following device was pointed out in a thread on Ars:
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/PIPO-X7-Windows-8-1-Smart-Mini-PC-TV…
Same SoC, same specs as the Windows version, but with a proper wireless antenna, a real Ethernet port, and a few more USB ports. Maybe not as portable as a straight HDMI dongle, although it’s still as portable as a paperbook. Plus, it’s less expensive.
It’s tempting to get one of those. I’ve been waiting for the Amazon FireTV (not the Stick) to be available in Canada, but I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. Now it’s a toss up over which online retailer is more “trustworthy”: geekbuying.com or ebay.com.
Good to see Intel on this field. I don’t like ARM-based solutions: aside from binary compat issues (closed-source software, like my VPN client tends to be x86-only), they are very blobby (read: you are stuck with Linux kernel the blobs were compiled for).
Edited 2015-01-09 02:35 UTC
I thought Intel was the company that promoted open, but as you can see from, for example this recent article on OSNews, they are not:
http://www.osnews.com/story/28176/Why_Rosyna_can_t_take_a_movie_scr…
DRMs basically not only involves Intel, but more often a whole industrial consortium that are eager to protect their IP. Hence that’s why some stuff aren’t open sourced.
Do Imgtech have released some open source driver for their PowerVR line of GPU ? Nope. And the list can go on, so it’s no use pointing the finger at Intel.
Who or what trend is forcing Intel to add DRM to desktop processors/architectures ?
This is bullshit! What if I want the version with better RAM and storage but don’t want Windows? That’s not a normal PC which you can upgrade later.
I don’t know if this device will allow you to install your own OS, so you can buy the Windows version, wipe it and install whatever you want, but that is not a solution because it will 1) require to pay for Windows and 2) artificially inflate stats for the Windows model.
Update: according to Ars Intel says you will be able to install your own favorite Linux (on the Linux version, is unclear about the Windows version), the points stands.
Edited 2015-01-09 08:33 UTC
Unless you build it from scratch, ALL computers come with Windows, and have for decades. And with the price of these things, by the time you want more memory, it’ll be cheaper to just buy a new one with more memory than it would have been to update the memory (if it had allowed it, of course). I dare say most folks buy a new (regular) computer any time they wish to upgrade rather than actually upgrade the old computer themselves. A few of us don’t, but we’re not the average person, now, are we?
i write this on a “n Series” Dell laptop, which came with FreeDOS. There are plenty of PCs, even from major brand names, which are sold without Windows.
I’ve yet to *ever* see a major OEM give you a choice of operating system (i.e. between Windows and Linux) for a laptop or desktop on their standard product pages (i.e. as a radio bullet point choice when you go to “Customise”).
On the rare occasions you’ll find a Linux model of a desktop or laptop on HP or Dell sites for example, it will be in a different section of the site with deliberately different specs and often a different price from the Windows. Also the Linux model will often not get the same special offers (extra RAM, larger HDD etc.) that the Windows version gets. You’re usually better off getting the Windows version and either wiping it for Linux or dual booting it with Linux.
This complete failure to treat Linux as an equal to Windows (when it’s at *least* that!) means that Linux has been and will remain stuck on 1% market share.
That’s the thing: around here (Eastern Europe) the likes of Dell don’t sell directly to consumers, you use 3-rd party sellers (think the local equivalents of Newegg) and those have all interest to keep the prices low and sell units, they put on almost equal footing Windows (sometimes also Windows 7), Linux and Free DOS. If you walk in a brick and mortar store will see MINT and or Ubuntu on display (people will usually wipe those and install a pirated Windows, but that’s an entirely different story).
One the one hand it is interesting, on the other i find myself reminded that the x86 ISA have maybe 3 suppliers.
This news sounds interesting, and is probably just the first of a slew of similar devices. Personally, I feel more tempted by the MeeGoPad T01, can be found on eBay. Unfortunately, the Linux support seems to be somewhat lacking at the moment though…
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W8rVsn_f1uM
have anyone of you found anything about CEC support?
It should be a must for this kind of device, but they dont seem to write about it anywhere.
You’ve been able to buy USB stick computers for a few years now, the only difference with this one is it’s an x86 with Windows.
ARM/Android ones start around $28 on eBay.
not that Intel created this, but if they can use their position to bring low cost and low powered pc’s to any tv, then it would undercut these other android tv sticks.
Annoying that Linux gets the underspec’ed hardware yet again – this often happens on the rare occasions an OEM bothers to put Linux on a desktop/laptop. I’d like the RAM/storage from the Windows version of the stick, but with Linux on please.
Unlikely to happen of course, because any price difference would show us how much Windows is costing us.
Oh, if I want to install a different Linux distro, are the drivers for all the stick hardware open source? And I’m assuming whatever its equivalent of a BIOS/bootloader is isn’t locked down with Secure Boot nonsense?