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Hardware

Japanese Pocket-Size PC Cube Demonstrated 254

Posted by simoniker from the sharp-edges-the-new-rock-n-roll dept.
rocketjam writes "The Japanese company, Personal Media Corporation, has demonstrated a prototype of a cube-shaped pocket-sized computer called the T-Cube (tentative name). The T-Cube runs the T-Engine OS, an operating system apparently being developed by a consortium of Asian companies for embedded devices and networked computers. The machine is about the size of an orange, uses a CPU made by NEC and sports a desktop written for the Chinese Market supporting Multi- and Super-Chinese Character sets. It is scheduled to ship in Q1 of 2004."
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Japanese Pocket-Size PC Cube Demonstrated More

Japanese Pocket-Size PC Cube Demonstrated

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  • Larger photo (Score:5, Informative)

    by Karamchand ( 607798 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:49PM (#7726787)
    Get it here [personal-media.co.jp].
    Looks quite nice to me. Even an integrated ethernet port, audio... - nice, where can I get it? ;-)
    • It looks very nice, and appears to be quite an accomplishment. But...who actually wants this thing? And what are you using it for?

      I can't think of any large advantages, considering the availability of PocketPCs, laptops, and desktops. What do we need another configuration for?

      • Re:Larger photo (Score:4, Insightful)

        by HTH NE1 ( 675604 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:30PM (#7727190)
        But...who actually wants this thing? And what are you using it for?

        Seems like a natural for the wearable computing platform. This thing can be easily concealed inside a fanny pack, and still be hooked up to more traditional perhiperals when not on-the-go.

        • Re:Larger photo (Score:4, Insightful)

          by tambo ( 310170 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:54PM (#7727430)
          Seems like a natural for the wearable computing platform.

          How does a box the size of an orange fit into anyone's apparel? Even with the emphasis on thinness in the PDA/cellphone market, we have to choose between cargo pants and bulging pockets.

          Integrated ethernet port? I guess you can wear the computer as a necklace by using the ethernet cable that you'll also have to carry around. Why in the world wouldn't they build in an 802.11(something) chip?

          Integrated audio? I hope but doubt that it's also got integrated speakers.

          This is just about the low point in bad tech design. I am crazy about the idea of truly portable computing - schlepp your entire data store and OS on a high-density flash card; pop it into any computing device - handheld, notebook, public-access workstation, kiosk - and get instant and full access to your data, according to your preferred interface style, in a presentation appropriately scaled to the device. But toys like this represent a step back from that movement. They're totally useless for a dozen reasons, and they lead people to believe that buzzwords like "wearable computing" have no non-geek future.

          - David Stein

        • Re:Larger photo (Score:2, Informative)

          by Frogg ( 27033 )
          easily concealed inside a fanny pack

          It's worth pointing out that in the UK we call 'em "bum bags" -- as the word 'fanny' is slang for that part of the anatomy that is particular to only the female of the species.

          [insert variant on obvious joke here..]

      • Re:Larger photo (Score:3, Insightful)

        by macshit ( 157376 )
        I think the answer is simple: people who like cool, small, cute, things will buy them.

        Maybe in the U.S. that wouldn't fly, but there are lots of people like that in Japan. Some of it is for a purpose (e.g., if your room is smaller, you may be less willing to have a big-ol' tower case taking up space and looking ugly), but in part it's also simply preference, and fashion.

        A laptop can also satisfy this, but the integrated nature of laptops is an unecessary restriction for many uses, and let's face it -- l
    • if this is meant to be a pocket PC, then I don't know where into my pocket I would fit this big LCD display (shown on the photo)...

      (all the sites are /. so I'll ask here:) does this thing come equipped with some small erm... pocket display?

      btw: IMHO the thing of this size and proportions does not fit good into trousers pocket.
    • If they just make it thinner then it could plug into Kirk's command chair.

      Still, if that's the power connector, it seems awfully close to the speaker out connector. There could be AC noise bleedthrough. How much isolation can it have at that size?

    • Not really an orange. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by infinite9 ( 319274 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @03:07PM (#7727556)
      Actually, it's not sitting next to oranges. They're mikans, sort of like tangerines. These things are somewhere between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball. Very tasty too.

      And that price tag is not really abnormal in Japan. When I was there, 10,000 yen was about $40. They were selling cantaloupes for that price. They would cut the vine nicely and gift wrap them in little window boxes. Now, that's about $100. Oddly enough, honeydew melons were only about 500 yen at the time, maybe $2.

  • site's a bit slow (Score:3, Funny)

    by ejaw5 ( 570071 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:50PM (#7726796)
    they must be beta testing them as webservers today...

  • Strange that they call it a "pocket computer"... (Score:5, Funny)

    by wrinkledshirt ( 228541 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:50PM (#7726799) Homepage
    The machine is about the size of an orange...

    That's some pocket computer. Excuse me, but is that a PMC T-Cube in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
  • ... to make full use of it (and perhaps learn chinese ).

    CC.

  • rock on!! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by nyteroot ( 311287 )
    any bets on how long before linux gets ported? ill say.. 2 weeks.


    in all seriousness, imagine linux on that thing. your own desktop pc to take with you whereveer you go. and if you bought one of those pocket tv's, it could serve as a pda too, maybe ..

    ok that would need some hacking, but you get my point

  • Computers that fit in a pocket (Score:4, Insightful)

    by t0qer ( 230538 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:52PM (#7726828) Homepage Journal
    End up going home in a pocket.

  • screen (Score:2, Interesting)

    by penguinoid ( 724646 )
    Uhh, with the screen it is bigger than a laptop :-(

  • is that an orange in your pocket? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:52PM (#7726830)
    While it might be the size of a small orange it isn't exactly flat and I don't consider it to be conducive to fitting in my pocket. The other PDA to the left of the screen shot, while being quite a bit taller, is far thinner and would probably fit into a pocket easier than this.

    So the OS is some non-standard thing w/probably little or no support, the shape is not really good for "pocket PCs", there is no screen, and everything is in yen and Japanese ;)

    No thanks. I'll stick to my rarely stable PocketPC for now.
    • First, this isn't meant as a PocketPC. Yes, there's no screen and instead a VGA port- duh.

      The TRON family of OSes (of which this t-engine is a derivative) have plenty of support- in Asia. Not in the US, no.

      Rarely stable PocketPC? You should get a Linux PDA! I had to reboot my Zaurus far more times than I've had to reboot any PocketPC; and the reboots take 5 minutes instead of 20 seconds. Count your blessings. :)
    • I'm waiting for unlocked sidekicks, but the details are sketchy if SSH application will work without access to the application servers.

      The Sony P900 or the Treo 600 is the one that I would go with. But I really like the sidekicks size and layout. Too bad its locked to 1 carrier. Being able to SSH and having a fullsize thumbboard is really nice.

      The T-Cube seems like a perfect replacement for an audio/visual pc. I play all my mp3s/videos over the network on an Xbox. The t-cube has audio, not sure if the vg

  • So what? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rjstanford ( 69735 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:53PM (#7726834) Homepage Journal
    Honestly, I don't think that the size of a (not-very-powerful) computer matters beyond thresholds. Ie:

    Can it easily slip into my pocket?
    Yes: iPod, etc
    No: cube the size of an orange

    Can I carry it around easily?
    Yes: cube, laptop
    No: server

    Does it need reinforced flooring?
    Yes: mainframe
    No: server

    So, basically, I'm not seeing much of a reason to go minimalistic on computers. If portability is a concern, that's already solved with modern laptops - which this isn't meaningfully smaller than (I mean, can't be treated much differently than). If it isn't a concern, then you don't need the extreme small size. And if density is a concern, you're better off with more powerful systems (per cubic whatever) than smaller ones.

    Just MHO, of course.

    • Re:So what? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Xzzy ( 111297 )
      I quite disagree.

      The lure of a small fully functional PC that's easily totable (granted this one isn't really pocket sized but it's still quite portable) and can plug into a full size keyboard/monitor kiosk type thing is definetly there. For me anyways.

      Granted the current world doesn't have the infastructure for this sort of thing but if it took off, I think it would be awesome to have a fully configured machine to my tastes available wherever I went.

      Even if it was just a gateway to accessing my real mac

      • Re:So what? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by RevAaron ( 125240 )
        I totally agree. A small computer has a huge appeal to me and a lot of other folks. No, it'll never be the thing for gamers, or folks who prefer having a large and loud computer. Some people like that, just like some folks like having a large and loud car.

        I have a WinCE-based PDA/handheld PC/palmtop, the Sigmarion III. Japanese-only (like all the good stuf!), but as a non-Japanese speaker it works great for me after I had it imported.

        It has USB, which is rare on a PDA- so there is external kb and mouse.
        • Yeah...I'm really tempted by those shuttlecases w/ the integrated handle (like the fragbox) especially since my friend convinced me to put my minitower on my desk rather than on the floor, for catfur reasons...
    • Sure, but all else being equal or similar, I'll take the smaller item.

      The category for this one is "it fits easily inside pretty much any backpack". Laptops don't.

      Bryan

    • Re:So what? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by dasmegabyte ( 267018 )
      A teach of mine told me that, back in the old mainframe and terminal days, when mass storage and computing were costly, students would be asked to buy keyboards. Owning a keyboard permitted you to use the mainframe at any terminal on campus.

      This seems almost like the reverse idea. Build docking stations to fit the cube, and you can carry the COMPUTER with you. No need to worry about the privacy of your data, or the expense of a monitor. I could see where this could become VERY popular in Asia, where th
      • No need to worry about the privacy of your data
        You still have to trust that the kiosk isn't bugged. There could be a sniffer built into the keyboard, or the PS-2 cables you plug into your cube could lead to another computer instead of to the keyboard and mouse.

        When security is the issue, ask yourself if you are paranoid enough.

        • ask yourself if you are paranoid enough.

          Kid, you're paranoid enough for the both of us.

          Obviously, if your only source of communication is public, you've got to be careful what you're saying, no matter the transmission method. But there is a big security difference between reading unencrypted files saved on a public machine, and building an inline sniffer device. The former can be done by any curious person who comes along. The latter requires know how and intent. You're talking the difference between

  • Just bad engineering (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rorschach1 ( 174480 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:54PM (#7726843) Homepage
    Don't you think they could have designed a less-pointy form factor for a pocket computer? Sheesh.

  • What's the big deal? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:54PM (#7726849)
    We've had PDAs for years, since the days of the Apple Newtons and early US Robotics Palms. We've had handhelds like the Casio handheld computer with the 200MHz MediaGX processor from Cyrix in it. We've had HP and Compaq handhelds that are powerful enough to play mp3s for about three years.

    Another small computer is cool, but is it really especially newsworthy?
  • Sorry. Old pun for a new age.

  • Article: New PC T-Cube as small as an Orange (Score:3, Informative)

    by thedillybar ( 677116 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:56PM (#7726862)
    At the TRON 2004 Show Japanese Personal Media Company [personal-media.co.jp] shows off the T-Cube a pocket-size PC running T-Engine.

    T-Engine is somekind of OS standardization project for networked computers in Japan that started in 2002. Seems they want to build something that does not require to license Windows. Don't know why they not just adopt Linux.

    The T-Cube runs the current T-Engine OS and uses a CPU from NEC VR5701. The desktop is written for the chinese Market supporting Multi- and Super-Chinese Character sets.

    The T-Cube (tentative name) is supposed to ship in Q1 2004. Press-Release [personal-media.co.jp] (Raw Translation [i4u.com])

    See also the Java Wrist Watches [i4u.com] that were presented at the TRON 2004 show in Tokyo.
    • I've been seeing alot of news and slashdot posts about TRON being the most popular OS in the world, but have not see it or used it.

      Is there an SDK for this OS somewhere, free for download? Support on migrating linux apps to it?

      Just currious, if TRON will make a migration to the US and electronics over here. That t-cube looks sweet, 400mhz cpu, even audio support.
      • Tron is not an OS, but a specification (like POSIX is not an OS, but a specification). Tron is normally used for embedded applications. This device should have two benefits: expanding the use of Tron into a new area and also drawing on Tron expertise.

        I've heard there's a tTRON wrapper for eCOS, but have not checked this out personally.

        A 400MHz CPU can achieve a lot if not loaded with a fat-ass OS. One of the slickest machines I've ever seen was a RiscOS box running on a 200MHz ARM.

        • There have been various *TRON-based desktops in Japan for quite a while. See bTRON. [super-nova.co.jp] Looking at those screenshots it looks like this is what the T-Cube is running, although it's been renamed and remarketed. Same company, PMC.

          Indeed, without a big, slow OS a lot can be done. Certain things will be slow no metter the OS on a 400 MHz CPU- MP3 encoding, for example. My main machine is a 400 MHz WindowsCE box. Tiny, light, and fast as hell. Anything else that Win9x/NT has I don't need and haven't missed. And
          • I'm not sure about this device, but quite a few CPUs have basic dsp capability which can be of significant benefit for MP3 etc. Having worked on a few WinCE and Linux projects at the OS level, I'd say WinCE isn't as efficient as Linux in raw kernel terms. The WinCE GUI side is reasonably fast though, so long as you don't use MFC. I have never used a Zarius so can't make any comparisons.

            It would be nice to think that at some stage we'll see a trend back towards lighter-weight software. There might seem littl

            • Re:TRON (Score:3, Insightful)

              by RevAaron ( 125240 )
              Just working with something that is raw calculations, I wouldn't doubt that Linux can squeeze out a percent or two more than WinCE. What does this matter when the applications and libraries written on top of this perform poorly? No, the blame can't go to Linux, but as far as the majority of folks are concerned, it's irrelevant.

              But when it comes down to actually using the thing, the whole WinCE package *feels* a ton faster (even using MFC, provided it's a newer machine) than using Linux/Qtopia or Linux/X11

  • A little scary... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mr_mischief ( 456295 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:56PM (#7726867) Journal
    I know that it's a pain for the Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, et cetera speaking people in the world to use systems mainly built by and for people who speak English, French, and German.

    It's a little scary, though, that the east Asian countries are developing their own track of OSes with which we in the west may have to learn to deal. It's also a scary thought that having a group of OSes for one set of people and another set of OSes for another set of people may slow or even reverse the growing commonality of international communication.

    Of course, this is coming from an American spoiled by the fact that most of the world is willing to learn my native language. I know enough of two other languages to make do, and enough of a fourth to find a taxi, hospital, restaurant, toilet, and hotel -- enough to travel in a pinch I guess. So I'm not the average Anglophonic snob. But still, it's a bit scary.

    Hopefully all the multi-byte character support and such built into the systems such as this can improve the same on other OSes. It' be a shame if we were to be separated by both language and platform from a substantial part of the world.
    • > It's a little scary, though, that the east Asian countries are developing their own track of OSes
      > with which we in the west may have to learn to deal.

      Man, that's a good thing. It's the competition microsoft always pays lip service to but never really deals with.

      I think if a powerful OS started filtering into the states from the east, nothing better could happen to our "western" systems. If the new system truly is an improvement, it will force us to adapt or die.
    • > So I'm not the average Anglophonic snob

      People like to slam American because they only know english, and frankly I am getting tired of it. Do you know how much learning another language would help me? Very little, see American is a pretty big place, and everyone(almost) speaks English.
      So the investment in time for most Americans to learn a language doesn't pay off. And even if I did what language should I learn?
      Spanish maybe, but every other language is a crapshoot.
      So lay off the "American are arrogan

    • No, actually, it's a good thing.

      Homogenous systems tend to force everyone to adhere to the same standard, no matter what that standard is. With the substantial rise of non-Wintel platforms, Microsoft will lose their ability to shut competitors out of the market with proprietary file formats and protocols.

      Because the only truly portable documents are composed of byte streams, Microsoft will have to adopt fully open and standardized formats, or risk their customers losing connectivity with the rest o

  • Is it, or does it Emulate X86?

    can't tell from the since it's slashdotted.
    • does it really matter? did you read the blurb?

      the part conserning the t-engine os. you're not going to be running windows on it if that's what you're asking.

    • No it isn't x86. It's a NEC VR5701, which is a MIPS CPU, running a 400 MHz. Uhh, sure it could emulate x86- you could port bochs and run Linux or Windows that way. haha, that'd suck.



      hahahahaha. bochs. yeah right.

      • No it isn't x86. It's a NEC VR5701, which is a MIPS CPU, running a 400 MHz. Uhh, sure it could emulate x86- you could port bochs and run Linux or Windows that way. haha, that'd suck.

        Not really, Debian has you covered. [debian.org] Native Linux, probably ready to go.

        • Yes, Linux, NetBSD and others support MIPS. But this isn't a standard x86 PC; support chips and other factors vary so widely that it isn't a matter of putting in some standard bootable CD/floppy/CF card and letting the install fly. Folks without any embedded experience often don't appreciate this. (not saying you don't, so don't freak out) One MIPS machine can be entirely and totally different from another, even when the CPU is identical; but since there are about a million and one MIPS variants, that too i

  • All things considered (Score:5, Funny)

    by Joe the Lesser ( 533425 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:58PM (#7726878) Homepage Journal
    Right now I'd rather have an orange.

  • alternatively (Score:5, Informative)

    by Bram Stolk ( 24781 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @01:59PM (#7726890) Homepage
    Alternatively, you could get a cerfcube,
    which *does* run linux, and is smaller.

    see:
    http://www.intrinsyc.com/products/cerfcube /

    tcube site is slashdotted, but I suspect
    that the cerfcube consumes less power as
    well.
    • The T-Cube and CerfCube would use very similar amounts of power. Why would you assume the CerfCube uses less? PDA CPUs being used in both. Unless you're running on battery- which you're not by default, but still not likely in both these cases- the difference in power is negligable. We're not comparing a CerfCube and a laptop here.

      I imagine any difference in power has a lot to do with the functionality that the CerfCube lacks- no display out or input in. There's ethernet and CF. Not very useful as some

  • Watermelons (Score:5, Funny)

    by The_Rippa ( 181699 ) * on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:01PM (#7726921)
    Now if the Japanese could only make cube-shaped watermelons...

    oh wait.

  • Exactly how big? (Score:5, Funny)

    by SlowDancing ( 687920 ) * on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:05PM (#7726964)
    Is that an African or a European orange?
  • I can't get to the site... What are the specs on this little thing? How much of a hard drive and RAM are we talking?
    • Specs for the cube [personal-media.co.jp]

      Looks like standard PDA type hardware except for the resolution out. But then of course it doesn't have a display of its own.

      BTW looking at the larger pics. Doesn't the design seem awfully open? I can see inside through several large holes. In my pocket that would not survive long. And yes my pocket is large enough to fit it though the corners may be a bit much.

  • Wouldn't you just love to build a super computer out of these tiny cubes ? Get a dozen, pop them in an old gutted VCR case and you just built a clustered TiVo.
  • So, is it the size of an orange, or of an apple?

  • more pictures (Score:3, Informative)

    by morcheeba ( 260908 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:13PM (#7727045) Journal
    USB and CRT ports [beareyes.com.cn]
    pictures of ports [beareyes.com.cn]
    inside board stack [beareyes.com.cn] (looks like it's 3 boards total)

  • better picture (Score:3, Informative)

    by paradesign ( 561561 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:19PM (#7727099) Homepage
    better picture here [personal-media.co.jp] .

    it comes in many colors!

  • These are cute, (Score:3, Insightful)

    by webwench_72 ( 541358 ) <webwench_72@yaho o . c om> on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:20PM (#7727102) Homepage
    very cute [personal-media.co.jp]. But, I'm not seeing anything here besides citeness to sell these little things.

    They're portable: but so are PDAs. And unlike the tcube, PDAs come with an integrated screen and some means for inputting data. These don't, so they're of limited use on the road. Even for telecommuters, you might as well stick with your laptop.

    I suppose if you wanted to transport an entire data center to the other side of the floor, or even across town, these could be carried in a crate rather tna shipped on a truck. But, honestly, how often is this a consideration when choosing hardware?

    I suppose they could come in handy for a home network or informal hosting operation out of your basement. But unless they're cheap, I doubt people would choose them over the eight too-obolete-for-gaming-but-perfectly-good-for-any- other-purpose desktops they already have in their basements.

    What is the target market for these? People who like cute little multicolored boxes?

  • Potential Form Factors...Geekbook? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by hirschma ( 187820 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:22PM (#7727118)
    The "motherboard" on this must be super tiny. I'm guessing that it uses very little electricity, too.

    I'd love to see it in a clamshell handheld configuration - 800x480, wide format screen, perhaps 7" diagonal, minimal psion like keyboard, and a big old battery, something off the shelf, perhaps a pair of cell phone batteries. Trackpad eraser would be nice, too.

    Offer it with no memory (but with a SO-DIMM slot), cf slot (two better), ethernet, serial.

    Hardware only warranty, and let the user or vars populate the memory, storage device (flash or CF hard drive), memory. That way, it could be offered as cheaply as possible. Use a standard boot method, too.

    Then let the community decide on what OS to port to it - NetBSD, Linux, whatever. You'd end up with one device that spans from a very stripped PDA like config (minimal flash, memory), to something that could be a mini-notebook (lots of memory and up to 4 gigs of rotating storage), and everything in between.

    It could be a portable serial terminal for sysadmins, a mobile web/internet platform, a portable media player, or a total notebook replacement. Whatever you want it to be.

    I'd love one, and would pay near-notebook prices to get one. At under $600, it'd be a killer. Anyone else?

    Jonathan
  • Its a little smaller then PC/104 and lacks the customization options that PC/104 has. How is this at all interesting?

  • T-Engine to Linux (Score:3, Informative)

    by mekkab ( 133181 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:27PM (#7727174) Homepage Journal
    Just to bring this to reality for you geeks out there, Some info on the embedded OS word [linuxdevices.com].

    See? It all comes back to Linux! ;)

  • Tron, The Most Popular OS in the World (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fuck_this_shit ( 727749 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:30PM (#7727193)
    It's running tron judging by the screenshots.

    What is the world's most widely used operating system? It's not Windows , Unix or Linux, but ITRON, a Japanese real-time kernel for small-scale embedded systems. ITRON runs on mobile phones , digital cameras, CD players and countless other electronic devices.

    ITRON emerged as an ambitious Japanese initiative known as The Real-time Operating system Nucleus (TRON). Launched in 1984, TRON was designed to replace disparate computer systems with a unified, open architecture for a "total computer environment."

    [...]

    The ITRON specification is a standard real-time OS kernel that can be tailored to any embedded system. ITRON already has been ported to a wide range of microprocessor architectures and has quickly become Japan's de facto standard for embedded systems. Today, the specification is used in an estimated 3 billion microprocessors.

    http://www.linuxinsider.com/perl/story/31855.html

  • bigger than it looks. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jonhuang ( 598538 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:31PM (#7727203) Homepage
    Note that the power supply isn't shown. Chances are, they'll use a commercial wallwart which will increase the size 25 to 100%

    that said, neato. looks way too much like a gamecube.

  • When combined, these cubes can form various deadly weapons [fab1.net]!!

    Be afraid!
  • You could put a ton of those in a two-rack-space case... probably 16 or 20, right? I wonder how the heat dissapation is, because that would beat the rack density of just about everyone!

  • Cube? Or Sphere? (Score:4, Funny)

    by fishbowl ( 7759 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:39PM (#7727272)
    A cube the size of an orange, Would that be the average of Riemann sums of the cube inside the orange versus the cube that contains the orange?

    There is a pretty big difference in size between a cube that would fit inside an orange, versus a cube that an orange would just barely fit inside.

    Isn't there some cubic object that would have made a better analogy? The only thing I see on my desk is the rubik's cube. I'm sure I could do better but I'm in a hurry.

  • Camera (Score:3, Interesting)

    by penguinoid ( 724646 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @02:49PM (#7727368) Homepage Journal
    Can I use my digital camera as a screen for one of these? Heh, nothing like having a few GB of hard drive for storing pictures.
  • The thing looks almost exactly like the red-headed bastard child of a Telebit Qblazer modem, although I can't find a pic...
  • They stole my design!

    I am planning a nano-itx box, with a laptop DVD and hard drives, in a tiny case, either cube-shaped or the size of a medium sized paperback book.

    I can't move forward until the nano-itx boards come out in the spring.

    Of course, I'm planning on making mine black, not hideous orange...

  • The world rarely needs more than 2-3 operating systems. Windows, Linux, and MacOS more than fill this market.

  • Buy Two (Score:3, Funny)

    by PingPongBoy ( 303994 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @03:20PM (#7727681)
    When you put them in your shirt pockets you look like you have breast implants.
  • I've thought for a while (ever since the G4 Cube) that cubes make for a more effiecient use of space. Unfortunately, 'efficient' here means more internal volume for less surface area. That tends to lead to heat problems, but that shouldn't be a problem here.

    What I'd really like to see is a 'cluster' appliance that looks something like this, but can 'stacked' via some kind of edge connector on the sides.

    Lego computing!

  • !=orange (Score:2, Interesting)

    by not_anne ( 203907 )
    The pictures show tangerines, not oranges. Tangerines are smaller, flattened at the poles, fatter at the equator, and darker orange.

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