Hooch Tan
06-13-2012, 09:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/12/via-technologies-apc-up-for-pre-order-ships-in-july/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/12/...-ships-in-july/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"VIA Technologies' small -- but not bite-sized -- Neo-ITX-based barebones Android PC is now up for pre-order. Folks willing to plunk down $49 now will be among the first to play with the APC's version of Gingerbread that's been modified for use with a mouse and keyboard."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1339613004.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Tiny computing boards have been around for a while. Mini, micro and nano-itx based systems have seen uses as light use PCs in living rooms, offices and cars. The race for extremely low cost general purpose computers continues with VIA's entry. At $49, it is slightly more expensive than the popular Raspberry Pi board, but offers different strengths. Whatever platform you go with, what I think is most important when it comes to these devices is developer support. Tiny computers such as the Gumstix and Arduino are great old school devices, but I suspect that they have not taken off as much partly because of the amount of tinkering needed. It looks like we are approaching a point where it is accessible to more people and should see these devices or things based on these devices becoming much more popular.</p>