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APC, $49 Android computer, now accepting pre-orders
- ukdm 14y agoCarries a $38 shipping charge for US/Canada/Europe
- moystard 14y agoThey just announced the preorder, might be worth waiting for suppliers to sell them on their behalf in the rest of the world.
- excuse-me 14y agoIt might be one of those under $49 for headline and customs (tax+duty)but we make the money on the $50 shipping. But since you can buy 7" resistive tablets for <$70 inc shipping from all the online chinese stores this shouldn't be too difficult to bring in a screen and battery-less device at this price.
- zabuni 14y agoFor close to that, you could easily get an ICS device from dealextreme. For a $100 with no shipping cost you can get something with an A9. http://dx.com/p/google-android-4-0-hdmi-tv-box-w-4gb-wifi-rj45-av-out-sd-mmc-usb-remote-control-128319 http://dx.com/p/google-android-4-0-hdmi-tv-box-w-4gb-wifi-rj...
- short_circut 14y agoIt probably doesn't actually cost $49 dollars is why.
- joelhaasnoot 14y agoThey're email has bad wording then: "APC can be shipped worldwide at a price of $49." I tried peordering just after I got the email but they were already out of stock supposedly.
- astrodust 14y agoYet another brand-new Android 2.3 device. Is there something about Android 4.0 that makes it difficult to work with from a hardware perspective?
- excuse-me 14y agoProbably more a supply chain isssue. Every component on this thing is bargain basement, so you use whatever driver the maker of the SoC core supplied. They are also bargain basement so have used whatever driver the GPU maker supplied. So you are really using components that were 'new' a couple of years ago. The makers of this would have to put considerable time/money into making 4.0 drivers for components that are supplied through a chain of subcontractors none of who have the technical ability to help. It is one of the big ironies of opensource Android that in a way it's a lot less open than a regular PC.
- astrodust 14y agoSo is it impossible or impractical because of the components not meeting Android 4.0 requirements, or is it because of software and driver issues? I've never really seen a clear answer. Whatever the Cyanogen Mod team is up to, it must be damned tricky.
- excuse-me 14y agoThe components might meet Android 4 requirements but you often don't have the info needed to write drivers for them Typically for lower end parts the makers implemented the simplest cheapest thing they could get away with - so buggy limited and out of date drivers - and they have bought in modules from others, so nobody has the complete specs. For better system the code in the SoC (and GPU especially) is what distinguishes it from other models and competitors so they are very careful about who they give details out to. Otherwise you could buy their $1 SoC and turn on the features in the $5 part. If you are a Samsung or an Apple you can control the supply chain better and insist on having the info and compliant drivers - but most of these are aimed at mobile phone makers who rely on you having to buy a new model every 18months rather than doing updates. Cyanogen etc do a very good job of custom kernels but they can rarely insert a much newer driver into an older chipset.
- christiangenco 14y agoI'm getting a 404 on apc.io.
- 89a 14y agohttp://apc.io/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/apc-screenshots/settings.jpg http://apc.io/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/apc-screenshots/s... Come on guys, get serious.
- lsaferite 14y agoSeems like they are hiding part of the cost in shipping. They are even charging $30 to deliver to Asia.
- kno 14y agoI don't actually see an Image of the device itself on the site.
- runako 14y agoImages are at http://apc.io/ http://apc.io/ at the top of the page. Based on the description, I don't think it comes with a case: "APC integrates memory, storage, and a full set of consumer I/O features in a small footprint Neo-ITX motherboard that can be connected to a TV or monitor."
- gamdang 14y agoYou're right; no case. "APC includes the system (with O/S) and a 13.5W, 9V/1.5A power adaptor. Case is not included." http://apc.io/faq/what-is-included-in-apc/ http://apc.io/faq/what-is-included-in-apc/
- xxiao 14y agoto call a low-end x86 box with 2GB NAND a PC?
- mrbill 14y agoIt's not x86. ARM11.
- mtgx 14y ago"Chip VIA 800MHz Processor" I'm confused by this. Is it a "VIA processor" or an ARM processor, made by VIA? I hope they didn't change the CPU mid-way with one of their own. Edit: In their PR they say it's a "VIA WonderMedia ARM 11 SoC". http://apc.io/files/2012/05/PR120522-APC-Final.pdf http://apc.io/files/2012/05/PR120522-APC-Final.pdf
- excuse-me 14y agoARM is a core design, there are no processors made by ARM - they only sell the IP. You can have an Apple ARM or a Samsung ARM or in this case a VIA ARM This entire machine is made by VIA who also make the CPU. VIA are more famous for making low power x86 clones but that's nothing to do with this.
- berdon 14y agoI can't remember why I bookmarked and signed up for their pre-order alert... Why do I want to spend ~$100 on a dumbed down *nix device? Note: I am a mobile developer too but...my Asus Transformer was only moderately more expensive...
- mtgx 14y agoThe only useful application for this I'd say is if something in your old PC died, and instead of buying parts for it, you could buy this, and make it live longer.
- izak30 14y agoThat's not a computer that's a cardboard box. It would probably be more effective to show a rendering + screen shots. They're not selling a box they're selling a computer.
- K2h 14y agobesides small form factor, I care about power consumption: [1] consumes 4 watts when operating at idle power and 13.5 watts at maximum load. [1] http://apc.io/faq/what-is-the-power-consumption-of-apc/ http://apc.io/faq/what-is-the-power-consumption-of-apc/
- excuse-me 14y agoThe first company that made something like this which worked 'out of the box' with YouTube, Netflix, BBC, Skype and sold for $50 (ie $100 at Worst Buy) would do very well. There are a lot of TV shows being watched on iPads because hooking up the big screen TV to a computer is too much effort / inconvenient for 'normal' people.
- bornhuetter 14y agoI think you can buy a cheap blu-ray player with internet access for not much more than that. No keyboard, but you can still watch YouTube, Netflix etc with basically no set up required.
- dangrossman 14y agoWhat you just described is Google TV (Logitech Revue). It's Android 3.0, works "out of the box" with YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Video apps preinstalled and most every streaming site other than Hulu. No Skype but it did include its own video chat app. And it was $99 at Best Buy. The product was a commercial failure. Logitech discontinued it last year. It's still available in some stores and online but once the stock is gone, it's gone.
- excuse-me 14y agoAnd like most of the systems it only worked in the US
- mattwdelong 14y agoThis is not true. I'm in Canada, and it works just fine.
- excuse-me 14y agoOk - I didn't buy one because it required a GooglePlay/TV (?) account that was only available in the US. But having seen what Netflix Canada offers I'm not too bothered!
- thechut 14y agoI was going to order until I realized it was actually going to be $87 not $49. This is only the first of many of these devices that should be coming soon
- grandalf 14y agoI did the same. There's something odd about shipping costing 40% of the price.
- utopkara 14y agoThe box hints at the size of the power brick. Yuck.
- dangrossman 14y agoFor $10 more (when you include shipping), you can get a Logitech Revue on Amazon. * Google TV/Android 3.0 instead of Android 2.3 * Access to Google Play market, which this doesn't have * 802.11b/g/n wifi, which this doesn't have * A really nice wireless keyboard+touchpad controller * Essentially identical power profile * Logitech Harmony software built in; it can control just about every TV, receiver, DVD player, etc. in existence
- grandalf 14y agoI think really nice is a bit of an exaggeration about the keyboard.
- dangrossman 14y agoIt's the best living room keyboard I've ever used. People have been buying them separately from the Revue just to use them with their other HTPC setups.
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- joenathan 14y agoYou forgot to add *Refurbished It's $154 new http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Companion-Google-Keyboard-Controller/dp/B0040QE98O http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Companion-Google-Keyboard-Con...
- mattwdelong 14y agoAnyone aware of an inexpensive place to pick up a small touchscreen LCD? APC, paired with a small touchscreen would be very useful in many situations.