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Full Featured Computer - Smaller than a Credit Card

theinquirer.net — In this space, they somehow manage to fit in an Intel XScale chip running Windows CE or Linux, half a gig of flash, 128MB of RAM, AC ’97 sound and a Philips 802.11b wireless interface, as well as some things you wouldn’t find on a PDA, such as a PCI bus, 4 USB host ports and wired networking.

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  • fubar109, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35Just think.. in a few years, our current generation computers will fit onto something like this. Technology is amazing!
    • MattLat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+72Just think.. in a few years, we'll be able to lose our computers, like we lose our keys
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11"Just think.. in a few years, we'll be able to lose our computers, like we lose our keys"

      I already lose my computer like that...

      ..well, my cellphone, which is also a computer (Treo 600). But, it just goes to show you how fast technology is moving. Miniaturization is actually still quite far behind CPU design. And you thought the Mac Mini was tiny..
    • atomicpoet, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Indeed, technology is amazing. But what is the practical application for this device. I already find most PDAs to be frustrating -- due to the tiny buttons on the damn thing. How will this improve my experience?
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Indeed, technology is amazing. But what is the practical application for this device. I already find most PDAs to be frustrating -- due to the tiny buttons on the damn thing. How will this improve my experience?"

      I imagining it is being marketed towards deep embedded applications such as a computer in a car, or remote sensing (like a robot), the only problem is, it's probably overkill for a car, and for a robot, there would have to be so much custom design work built around it, that it might be cheaper to roll your own solution.. (unless you wanted to build some really cool intellegent roombas and start a roomba soccer league to take on the Brazillians).

      I'm sure there are some other novel uses for the device, but it's simply too featureful for most people's use, and not featureful enough for others. It'd make a great platform for building a PDA around, but we already have established platforms for that, so it's going to be very hard to find a place for it. But, I'm sure if they're still in business they've got some customers somewhere.
    • ArcticCelt, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1"...But what is the practical application for this device..."

      Your comment reminds me of a part of the 1960 "The Time Machine movie" where after looking the demonstration of a mini time machine some dude say to the inventor something like: "Well this is a nice toy but its worthless, there is no commercial application to it ...." As an entrepreneur and sci-fi fan this always give me a good laugh. :)
  • sock2828, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Daaaang
  • unamas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29wow only $47! now if i can only find 9,999 friends to get one too...
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You can buy an eval kit, but at the price they're charging, well, let's just say it's totally not worth it unless you're in the embedded industry looking for a tiny wireless device and can subsidize the price (and I can't think of too many reasons you would be... and I'm IN that industry, shocking).
    • Madh2orat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Ok, i know how we can do this, we get every person on digg to buy one, then, maybe we can get a discount above and beyond the 50 bucks a pop, there are definetly more than 10k users on digg.
    • pabster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, so you've got to buy in lots of 10K, but $47 isn't shabby. Imagine the devices something like this could be used for. We're about to usher in an era of small, cheap, electronic devices which are more powerful than some aging desktops (and more functional to boot.)
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"Ok, i know how we can do this, we get every person on digg to buy one, then, maybe we can get a discount above and beyond the 50 bucks a pop, there are definetly more than 10k users on digg."

      I'm sure everyone on Digg wants a module computer, and even if they DID want one, I'm definitely certain they'd know exactly what to do with it once they got it.

      But, if you really, realllly want one, and can't afford the price they're charging for eval kits (about two grand), and can't get your college/university to subsizide the cost for you, you could probably dial up some of the factories around your area, find one that has someone certified for embedded computer design or maintainance, and see if they'll tag one onto the next order they make. (Yes, I know it's probably against all kinds of company's policies, but I couldn't see any harm in it, and I'd personally do it if I had any power over ordering components).

      You might also try digikey or calling the company and telling them your situation and seeing if they will help you out (hell, when I was in college, they'd throw microprocessors at you, just so you'd come back to their company when you needed parts. That's how Analog Devices won me over).
    • critic, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1Dang $47 in lots of 10,000....Can you say IPO

      EYE PEE OWE!
    • TKDWILSON, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4How about get it on WOOT? That would do it.

      Eric Wilson
  • BugMeNot2, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27Wait, so you're telling me that little thing has as much RAM as my computer?
    • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -2/+58Good lord. it's 2006. Buy some more RAM.
    • BritOverseas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Man, I love the dude above me, nearly spat out my VAT
    • mastercheif, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2No, it does not. It has 512MB flash memory, and 128MB of ram.
    • bayonetblaha, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I would be proud if my computer were efficient enough to run on 128MB RAM
    • NeoPlatonist, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0I have a memory leak in firefox that is eating up almost 100 megs of my RAM. I too would be impressed if anyone running XP could live with 128mb.
    • bayonetblaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was thinking more like linux
  • Subcranium, on 10/12/2007, -10/+9ohmygawdiwantit
    • threethirty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3that will never be a legitimate computer 512MB of porn is NOT enough
  • automagically, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I can't wait to see what things will be like in the future. I wish I could take a sneak peak! I wonder though, what happens when the computers are small enough for anything? Would the gov't start implanting them in us? Puts on *tin foil hat*. The way things are going though, I think that's a justifiable question!
    • Shdwdrgn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4When tinfoil is outlawed, only parnoid secret-hiding outlaws will have tinfoil...
  • miken32, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5http://www.compulab.co.il/x270/html/x270-cm-datasheet.htm
  • aragami, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2thats pretty impressive
  • trollick, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6I predict that within 100 years, computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them.
  • ph30nix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2put it in a UMPC...better than cellular applications.

    I agree though, up the ram, and up the rom...even if its a little bigger size wise... applications for this are endless...even a remote control could have basic computer functionality with this...or a car-puter...
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Or an in-car GPS device (but it's a bit too powerful, I'd use something simpler personally), or a household environmental control panel (again, really feature loaded, but imagine being able to control your thermostat over WiFi).

      There are tons of uses, but this board just seems a bit on the high side for anything I'd use it for at my job. But, it would make an excellent PDA or Cellphone-PDA.
  • SuperSunny, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3it's the inquirer! their stories are usually mock-ups or jokes! Obviously this isn't the real thing!
  • SourWorm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All I want is a simple cell phone that is very thin and small like that. They always seem to be throwing in extras instead of miniaturizing what they have.
    • pabster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Got to throw in extras to keep that $499+ price tag.
  • templest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I sure hope PDA companies start using this technology. Think about it:
    Smaller PDA *and* packs a thicker punch *AND* is cheaper!
    win-Win-*WIN*!

    (PS, anyone know what the CPU is clocked at? Site doesn't say).
    • templest, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Nevermind, click the link at the bottom...

      "Optional 2700G Multimedia Accelerator - 1280 x 1024 max resolution, 8 MB frame buffer, 3D accelerator, MPEG-2 & MPEG-4 decoders. (only with X270W)"

      Jesus *****! You can run *games* on this thing!
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"I sure hope PDA companies start using this technology. Think about it:
      Smaller PDA *and* packs a thicker punch *AND* is cheaper!
      win-Win-*WIN*!

      (PS, anyone know what the CPU is clocked at? Site doesn't say)."

      PDA companies already use this technology. What, do you think a PDA costs $200 because it's really that expensive to manufacture a thousand of them? Nooo, it's more expensive to sell PDAs than it is to build them (you're out $65 on raw materials including the packaging, maybe including labor if you farm it off to Taiwan).

      And they sell two modules, one clocked at 320MHz and one clocked at 500somethingMHz, pretty much standard XScale speeds (550MHz IIRC). The only thing new about this module is using a chipset with WiFi built in (which would be a great addition to PDAs... if we could keep up the battery life at the same time as running WiFi, just ask anyone who has an SDIO WiFi card about that sometime ;))

      ""Optional 2700G Multimedia Accelerator - 1280 x 1024 max resolution, 8 MB frame buffer, 3D accelerator, MPEG-2 & MPEG-4 decoders. (only with X270W)""

      Yeah, you could. But you'd better be plugged into a wall, even at 5W, that graphics card's gonna kill your battery life (think of all of the refreshes to the LCD too).
    • ana10g, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Speaking of batteries, this looks to be without one. Any idea how that would change the size and weight? And how about battery life, how long are you going to be able to run your tiny little computer?
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Speaking of batteries, this looks to be without one. Any idea how that would change the size and weight? And how about battery life, how long are you going to be able to run your tiny little computer?"

      Documentation on the site's pretty clear about it's power draw, .2 to 2W @ 3.3V (or 5V configurably; .4-.6A, so theoretically it could be ran off two AA batteries for a few hours depending on power draw) (and no, it doesn't come with a battery, it's just a computer). Pair it with a NiMH battery and you should have a thousand or so power cycles before replacement.
  • kuromimi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sure it's impressive, but entering data into devices that small is always a pain. Now if they had a keyboard that was just as portable...
    • ph30nix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3How about putting the computer INSIDE the keyboard...think iMac...except with any LCD you want
    • SirDaShadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ph30nix

      the 80's called, they want your idea back.....

      http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=98
    • captjc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@SirDaShadow

      Personally I think the idea may come back. But as far as I know, only a couple of companies actually made computers like this within the last ten years. (though technically the formfactor is most, if not all, notebook computers as well)
  • mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You have to install that on your cranial expansion slot. Yep looks like it. You wont need those antennas if you have a pre-built antennas already. I wont ask you where you installed it.
  • Gdoubleod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I don't see 4 USB ports nor the PCI Bus. They could all be on the back but that doesn't leave much room for the wireless and other components that are going to be feeding the ones on top. Just seems fishy. Not to mention the antennas are bigger than the actual card.
    • geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"I don't see 4 USB ports nor the PCI Bus."

      You're not looking hard enough, or are a PC user who thinks that USB ports are actually going to be located on a CPU board the size of a credit card (hint: you solder them on for use with your application, if you intend to use them). The PCI bus is accessible similarly.

      These aren't fully assembled computers; you buy them, and you custom tailor them to your solution, whatever that solution may be. That's why they can sell them so cheaply (zero specialization).
  • drathosX3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0instead of making small computers how about they make large computers, and i don't mean parallel computers, i mean proper large computers... wonder what the specs would be....

    **daydreams then dribbles**
  • Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It even has antennae like my credit cards!
  • Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+447$ each in bulk of 10,000?

    Hopefuly someone rich buys a bunch and sells them for like $80, I'd pay that much.
  • cdmarcus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That antenna is crazy.
  • romulusnr, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0OK SO WHERE DO I PLUG IN MY EYEPOD???///
    • romulusnr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Bah, you guys can't detect the humor of the pseudotroll.
  • chasemj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What are those pin plug-is? Is that where the periperals go? USB, keyboard, video, Etc? I don't think that you can solder stuff on a circuit board that small. I can't seem to find more info about the pins...
    • chasemj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wait, I found it!
      From the website:

      The standardized CAMI ("CompuLab's Aggregated Module Interface") connectors of the CM-X270 module allow interchangeability with other Computer-On-Module's available from CompuLab, enabling the flexibility required in a dynamic market where application requirements can change rapidly.
  • artman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Keyboard? What about voice activated. Also the viewer would have to be big sunglasses. Then attach those antennas to them. Put the CPU in your pocket and off you go.

    /sorry
    //reading accelerando
  • mrpizza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1meh, I liked the cube computer that was here some tima go...and they are available now for purchase...
  • Rabid_Llama, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, with the best graphics options built-in, that thing can drive a 1280x1024 display. Impressive.
  • redfox2600, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hell even I want one. We should find a way to constructively use the Digg effect. Such as buying power.
  • michaelw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Does anyone remember Time Trax?

    http://imdb.com/title/tt0106154/
  • nil8r209, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The first thing I would do is connect 2 giant wireless antennas to it. I mean, whats a super tiny computer without a pair of huge ones, right?
  • bramanga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I did the math...

    If only ten people pool thier money together and by 1k of them, each person would have to pay $5200.
    But, if 100 people do it, it's down to $520, obviously. What they could do is sell them on ebay for a slightly inflated price, so that they could make a profit, and provide the CM-X270 for the masses.
  • pschulz01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The company that I work for is using a previous version on this System-on-a-Board (SoB), and I would like to add the following comments:

    - Development (cross compilation) can be done using 'scratch-box' under Debian/Ubuntu (we are using Ubuntu), or you can just make use of their supplied (older) cross-compiler toolchain.

    - Thay are using custom binary Flash drivers, together with a binary boot monitor (ARMmon) which

    - This new version (CM-X270) now has all the JTAG lines available via pads on the board. This makes it theoretically possible to 'un-brick' a module should you mess with the boot monitor, but don't expect any
    instructions from Compulab. (They offer a 're-flashing' service.. but you need to send them the unit.)

    - A Debian filesystem is available.

    Things that I would still like to see:

    - Change boot manager to 'u-boot' - this would extend boot options and be better supported.

    - Use open source NAND and NOR flash drivers (using MTD) - currently there is no way of upgrading the Linux kernel without using the monolithic patch from Compulab, the most recent being linux-2.6.12.2


    • pschulz01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3(Some more things)

      - On hardware design. If you want to create a 'base board' to take this module, by having the two connectors close together, Compulab make it impossible to route all the tracks without going to a 4 and possibly 6 layer board, which increases the production cost of any application.

      For an alternative, using the same processor as their previous board (Intel XScale-255), check out the Waysmall Gumsticks, which also comes in a plastic case. Not as suitable for industial applications but good for development.

      http://www.gumstix.com/
  • MrSidnet, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0haha. Funny looking thing
  • SirZRX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4where do i plug the monitor?
  • PhoenixOfBlood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wouldn't mind this kind of thing for a laptop. But if they shrink down normal computers there would be less space for cooling systems, and I am no way in hell going to try and fit my fingers in something the size of a credit card. But this is some awesome technology.
  • dinkumator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i dont know where y'all got your math earlier for the pricing, but this page has the pricing for other quantities... an order for 1 item is 2.5x the 1k unit price... 57 * 2.5 = $142.5 each... 10 units is 57 * 2.0 = $114 each...

    http://www.compulab.co.il/x270/html/x270-cm-price.htm
  • pocketcalc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1every desktop now looks outdated.
  • RT55J, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's almost as powerful as my computer.
  • slythfox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here are the 'single board' versions, containing the ethernet and usb connector, etc. The link is broken on Compulab's website, but I found it never the less:
    http://www.compulab.co.il/x270/html/x270-sb-datasheet.htm
  • cv4ever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe this will get possible sometime soon :P
    http://www.plusminus.ru/call.html
  • The_Dude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But can you play Quake on it?
  • atarijedi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Base Unit $57 (1k Units)
    128MB DRAM $38
    4MB NOR Flash $6
    520MHz CPU $15
    Xtended Graphics $30 (Only on W Model)
    512MB NAND Flash $44
    Interface Bridge $20 (PCI Bus etc..)
    Ethernet $7
    Audio & Touchscreen $7
    RTC $3
    WLAN/Wifi $30 (Only on L Model)

    Total for Model W is $227 (for 1k units)
    Total for Model L is $222 (for 1k units)

    The biggest let down in my opinion is you have to pick either Extended Graphics (W) or WiFi (L), cant have both onboard.

    So, if you buy only one, its 2.5x, which is $567.50 and $555.00 respectively. Over all it isnt that bad, if you could get 1000 people to buy them, I'd get one, one of these plus a cellular module would be awesome.
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