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Linux Computer in USB Key Form-Factor
PMBjornerud writes "A start-up located in the French Alps near Grenoble is readying a tiny ARM-based Linux single-board computer (SBC) in a USB key form-factor. Calao's USB-9260 USB key-sized SBC measures 3.3 x 1.4 inches (85 x 36 mm). It is based on an Atmel AT91SAM9260 processor, an SoC (system-on-chip) powered by an ARM926EJ-S core clocked at 190MHz. The SoC targets "advanced applications such as GPS application processors," according to Atmel. Here is a Spec sheet PDF. With a 10/100 Ethernet port, firewall usage springs to mind. Other interfaces are 2 USB host ports and room for an expansion card. Which should allow some creative uses. "
This seems like the ultimate in upgradable technology -- just unplug an old one and plug in a new one. Put this in a car as the on-board computer, then you could pull it out and plug it into another machine to perform diagnostics or upgrade software. This seems extremely useful to me.
21st-Century-Citizen
With Ethernet on one end, USB2 on the other and stacks of ARM9 power?
I bet that security researchers turn it into some kind of network analysis tool before I can say "whippit".
And then the hackers get their hands on it.....
I bet your there are waaay more uses for a sexy little gizmo like this then the manufacturers realize.
I disagree. I presume the device can run with only power (ie standalone). If so, and if it was cheap enough, stick one of these inside a Linksys WRT54GL case, attach it to an ethernet port, and you have a very nice parental filter dansguardian box. The Linksys itself isn't powerful enough to run dansguardian (not enough ram), but this device has sufficient ram. Or it could be used to augment the capabilities of linksys itself, like to do a PBX, or something.
Saw one at a trade show a couple years back - using one of the dime-sized disks for memory.
Appears as a drive to the system and launches a full-screen window displaying its own X server's screen buffer when plugged in (to a Windows, BSD, or Linux box).
Has enough power storage in a capacitor to automatically save state when suddenly unplugged - so you can just pull it out, take it somewhere else, plug it into another box (perhaps with a different underlying op system), and pick up right where you left off (cursor position, keystroke, and all).
Was intended to be licensed to manufacturers and to sell for $100 for kids to carry between school, library, and home. I think they eventually got a model to market for $125 with a flash drive.
Don't recall the name right now (a somewhat simian word) but there have been a number of stories about it on Slashdot.
The one in THIS article isn't it. Doesn't seem to have any mass storage onboard.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way