*fun hobby?

That must be what PCs cost before microsoft adds-on their margin.
Much too cheap, I can afford at least $100 for a new computer!

Whatever happened to that Obi guy?

Abge, I don't believe it has too many uses in its current incarnation, but it is certainly an innovation, and may become useful in the future. Also, hello new spy gadget? lol.

This thing would be awesome for mobile robotics research, especially aerial robotics. Shipping with Ubuntu is a plus as the best robotics software out there runs on Ubuntu. I saw nothing about wireless of any kind however.. :(

What about power, battery? Internal or External? I couldn't find that info, and it looks to be another 12 mo. before this thing is even available.

According to a different article I read, they plan on adding WiFi, but not ethernet. Power was very confusing to me, too. If you look at any of the pictures, you can see 4 wires as well as a USB cable going somewhere. It isn't clear at all which of these are power, debugging, or I/O peripherals. But, clearly the way they power the device could either be a plus or a deal-breaker.

One possible use I thought of is public computer terminals. All around my campus, we have Macs, which is ridiculous because even after any deals Apple has with the University, they must still be orders of magnitude more expensive than this device. So, rather than people carrying this device around with them, it could be cool if they turned this $25 into a $100 device and just had it everywhere for people to log onto.

Also, is any one else surprised this is running Ubuntu? I had no idea Ubuntu could run on an ARM architecture.

I'm no expert on HDMI, but could the TV/monitor feed power to the stick via the HDMI connection much like USB can power peripherals from the PC? I mean, the montior is going to be plugged in and has plenty of power to spare for something that small.

Draug,

Yes, this is true. HDMI is just like USB in that regard. If it's enough to power the whole device, that would be great.

I wasn't certain if the TV could power the device. I know the power flow is one way in USB, but thought it was a two way flow if needed in HDMI. The key is the power requirements can't draw too much from the HDMI buss as it will degrade the signal. That much I know, but I've always worked from powered device to powered device in HDMI.

We're running Ubuntu currently on several ARM processors in my lab.

Power could be a real issue for us in a device like this. Obviously if we're putting this on an autonomous RC helicopter, we wouldn't be including a monitor or keyboard, thus the device would be standalone. Thus wireless is a must. We'd hook in a USB camera and/or a laser range finder and we could probably do zigbee or a USB wireless device, but that bus is getting crowded now if it doesn't have built in wifi. External power on this device so that everything onboard the helicopter could be powered from one battery source would be nice.

Mr Braben, mind accommodating us with all these feature requests??


Back to earth..

One big advantage this device would have is portability, so I see a battery option somewhere as a necessity for this to be feasible in that sense.

A portable display or projection unit would be hand as well, but forget the cheap cost at that point.

I'm not sure HDMI peripheral can power the source.. never looked into it. I know the USB peripheral can't power it's source, just the other way around.

Wait, why can't a USB peripheral power it's device? That must be an artificial limitation because the power lines in USB are just wires. I see no reason why you couldn't make a custom device which accepts power.

The standard doesn't allow for the power to flow back, so most hubs and such are setup as one way devices and few peripherals (mostly just hard drives and external hubs) plug in to the wall and power themselves.

But HDMI uses the same buss and plugs at both ends (no male/female, host/slave relationship if I understand the standard correctly), so it should be able to feed power both ways.

OK. So, it seems that for "normal" use, the monitor could supply power, but for more specialized tasks (like Lief), it would be nice if there was some designated power port.

Draug beat me to it. In USB the standard limits power to flow from source devices to peripherals only and not backwards.

If you had a portable monitor, you'd still need a power source for it or power it from the device, which would need a power source.. having a palm size device that requires a desktop size display unit for power isn't worth much, except I guess when it only costs $25..

I wonder if they have any temperature issues with the proc..?

ARM processors are in cellphones and PDAs. I doubt there is any thermal issues with it.

And yes, even if it has onboard power, it needs to be rechargablewithout removing the device so you could "plug and play" when put into something like a Robotic Arial Vehicle. But I suspect they are expecting kids to haul them around and plug them into the monitor and keyboard in a classroom somewhere. In fact, the keyboard and mouse (and a USB ethernet dongle) could all be connected to a USB hub at a workstation, then you sit down with your CPU/drive (the little device) between the monitor and the hub and away you go.