Dual-Core Android PC Now Comes On a USB Stick

absolut.evil writes "FXI Technologies has taken a dual core smartphone-esque computer and put it into a little USB stick. Neat. This allows you to plug into anything with a screen, USB port, and input device and run your own instance of Android. It weighs 21 grams and contains 'a dual-core 1.2-GHz Samsung Exynos ARM CPU (same as in the Galaxy S II), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-out and a microSD card slot for memory.'"

Comments

!Now

[pushing-robot]

Consumer pricing has not yet been established, but product is expected to be available in volumes the second half of 2012.

Re:!Now

[s0litaire]

If it's over $25 then it's a no go...

Re:!Now

[ksd1337]

Well, the specs are better than Raspberry Pi. It really depends on the target audience.

Re:!Now

[jduhls]

Wired says it will be less than $200:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/android-cotton-candy-fxi/

Re:!Now

[jmorris42]

Exactly. Why do we have to have a post about a press release for a product that may or may not actually come into existence next year?

A year is a very long time in this game, things will be very different, those specs will be obsolete for one thing.

If it ships, then we can discuss it, the usual suspects can troll, folks can point out it is pointless for reasons a, b and c. And so on.

Re:!Now

[Nyder]

Wired says it will be less than $200:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/android-cotton-candy-fxi/

I think I'll stick with the $25 Pi, thanks.

Re:!Now

[hairyfeet]

I'd say even then its kinda pointless unless you are developing Android apps. I mean what is the point of firing up an entire computer only to run ANOTHER full computer in a USB form factor? talk about "Yo Dawg, i heard you like computing so I put a computer in your computer so you can compute while you compute"!

I still think the better way to go is Expressgate/SplashTop. you have a single chip that plugs into a USB port on the motherboard and you have an instant dual boot that works at the BIOS level. no extra CPU, no extra RAM, just use what the machine has on it to run a fast stripped down web environment.

The fact that they are running dual core and only say "it is expected to run under $200" makes me think this thing will be $199 PLUS the cost of whatever device you run it on. hell at that price you could just buy a real Android device!

Re:!Now

[amiga3D]

I'm going for the $35 dollar one with twice the ram. The raspberry pi seems cooler to me. I don't really want android as a computer operating system.

Re:!Now

[ozmanjusri]

I mean what is the point of firing up an entire computer only to run ANOTHER full computer in a USB form factor?

I'm beginning to understand why you seem to be trolling all the time. It might help if you slowed down a little and read TFA (yeah, I know...)

Here, this might help:

"When connected to an HDTV, it uses the HDMI port for video, the USB for power, and Bluetooth to connect to a keyboard, mouse, or tablet for controlling the operating system."

Just slow down a little, understand what you're commenting on, and you'll come across as a much nicer person. I'm sure you're a good bloke at heart.

Personally, I'm looking at these things and thinking Amarino. If MIT can get it's act together and make it possible to include Amarino events in App Inventor, toys like this could really fire up home robotics. Imagine being able to use the voice control and face recognition in Ice Cream Sandwich to control real interactions!

These things are very cool, and they'll only get cheaper.

Re:!Now

[Thing 1]

Hmm, perhaps FXI is a division of Microsoft? Embracing the Rasbperry Pi; Extending the pricing; Extinguishing the hobbyist.

Re:!Now

[rtb61]

All the hacking power you will ever need in a readily concealable device, everyone lock up your USB ports, right now.

Re:!Now

[optimism]

I mean what is the point of firing up an entire computer only to run ANOTHER full computer in a USB form factor?

I'm beginning to understand why you seem to be trolling all the time. It might help if you slowed down a little and read TFA

First - I think that most smart folks here realize that this thing is vaporware, unlikely to ever be produced.

That said, I assume the GP was reacting to these parts of TFA's:

When you plug the Cotton Candy into a Mac or PC, the Windows or OS X operating system recognizes it as a USB drive. You can then launch the software and run the Cotton Candy’s Android environment in a secure window while you use your desktop OS outside the window.

Next, they unplugged Cotton Candy from the TV and connected it via USB to a Windows and then a Mac laptop to play Angry Birds on the Android OS.

It is quite clear that they are talking about "firing up" another computer to run this stick in these cases.

Also worth considering for the HDTV use case: How many consumers have a female USB cable, to power a device with a male USB jack. Yeah, OK, they could include the power cable and AC-DC power adapter with this hypothetical gadget. But then it is larger than a smartphone, and you have to ask, why would I use this gadget instead of my smartphone? Answer: You wouldn't.

Re:!Now

[Phoghat]

And it will be just in time for holiday shoppers in 2012.

Re:!Now

[Phoghat]

FTFA: "HDTVs, monitors, and computers are just the tip of the iceberg for the Cotton Candy. Borgar told us the device will be able to connect to tablets, smartphones, and even set top boxes via USB or Bluetooth. He says that he expects the device to be able to turn even an iPhone or an iPad into a terminal for its environment. Imagine an iPhone running Android!" Do you think that Joe Consumer is going to buy a computer to run on his computer? He's going to plug it into his TV or a monitor to turn it INTO a web enabled TV. Read my sig

Re:!Now

[Jafafa Hots]

"How many consumers have a female USB cable, to power a device with a male USB jack. Yeah, OK, they could include the power cable and AC-DC power adapter with this hypothetical gadget. But then it is larger than a smartphone, and you have to ask, why would I use this gadget instead of my smartphone? Answer: You wouldn't.

Or, you could spend the dollar to GET a USB cable with a female end. Or they could package the thing with a small 25 cent adapter.

But who would buy a cable? I mean how likely are the kind of geek hobbyists who would want to use this device to have or buy a cable?

Not a chance! No computer geek *I* know would ever buy a cable. Too technical.

Re:!Now

[optimism]

Whoosh. You completely missed the point of my post.

A USB adapter is not sufficient when the device is plugged into the HDMI port of an HDTV.

You still need a USB power adapter, pluys a cable to that adapter, and then the entire package is both larger and more complicated than a "smartphone" android/ios device. And it has less capability.

So why not just use the device that is already in your pocket?

Re:!Now

[Anonymous Coward]

So y'all need to hide your USBs, hide your HDMIs, hide your bluetooth, cause they hackin' errybody out here!

Re:!Now

[Required Snark]

This device raises an interesting question: can the Raspberry Pi be used as an Android host? It seems inevitable that someone will try that out.

Re:!Now

[ozmanjusri]

Whoosh. You completely missed the point of my post.

I think you're the one missing everybody else's point.

Maybe it's different in the US, but virtually every HDTV sold over here already has at least one USB port. This thing would turn those TVs into a usable computer.

Re:!Now

[Nursie]

So you entirely missed the part about plugging it into an HDTV via the HDMI connector? You know, the primary usage scenario?

Well done.

Re:!Now

[drinkypoo]

This device raises an interesting question: can the Raspberry Pi be used as an Android host? It seems inevitable that someone will try that out.

It certainly has sufficient hardware, and it obviously runs Linux, so if it doesn't run on it now, it will soon. I indeed am planning to use Raspberry Pi for a media player and general STB.

Re:!Now

[asdf7890]

These are quite different devices though: they have a much more powerful CPU and GPU, much more RAM (1024M instead of 128 for the $25 RP or 256 on the $35 model) and it has 802.11b/g and bluetooth built-in which the RP will of course support but only via extra devices plugged in. And it might be less than $200 - they might be padding the expected price a little to avoid the moaning if they've misjudged and it comes out more expensive (like the laptop-per-child machines did), better to surprise your target market in a good way than a bad one.

For what I want the RP looks like the no-brainer buy (I'll be getting at least one of the $35 models when they arrive), but if you need the extra power for something then this device might be more up your street. What you would need the power for I don't know, given the RP is claimed to play 1080p h264 encoded video at 30fps just fine (which is one of my intended uses), but no doubt some people out there have ideas of what it can be put to use for.

Re:!Now

[hairyfeet]

And did YOU miss the point that without storage its a VERY expensive Android development platform? what EXACTLY are you gonna do with it plugged into an HDMI, hmmm? Run angry birds? You sure aren't gonna surf with it because there is NO way to put a decent wireless keyboard and mouse or wireless remote because of drivers, again storage is gonna be a serious issue, so lets hear EXACTLY what this miracle HDMI plug is gonna do for you friend, and please remember we are talking $199 which at that price one can get a C-60 laptop with HDMI that does a hell of a lot more.

So instead of just being a smarmy smartass how about putting your money where your mouth and explaining EXACTLY what makes this worth $199?

Re:!Now

[yacc143]

You mean like the $99 phone? You mean like an Archos media player tablet that comes with an Android app for your phone to remote control the Tablet if you want to use it via the HDMI connector? Basically Android is mobile/tablet operating system, and does that rather well (certainly better than say iOS? *g*). But for a general purpose desktop it's not very well suited. Add to this the price and you get a business failure?

(Philosophically a general purpose Linux computer with say Debian with 16-32GB speedy SSD onboard, Presenting a mass storage device that contains the necessary programs to interact with it from the host system (e.g. keyboard, mouse, display, and network, would be interesting if there are USB network devices where the driver comes with common OSes) would have a bigger audience. (As in people that have to be mobile from time to time, but usually happen to end up in a place with a PC))

Re:!Now

[mikael]

Sun Microsystems once embedded a Windows PC into their workstations, just so that CAD engineers could read their E-mail from Microsoft Exchange and other apps. It would open up as a seperate window.

VMware does the same - using virtualization, you can run Windows XP on a Linux distribution.

Maybe the PC is a laptop that has a high resolution screen (1280x1024 upwards) but a slow or old GPU. This would seem a great way of upgrading the latter.
The price is going to be the big issue, with the upper limit being the price of a new graphics card or desktop PC. A new gaming PC is around 600 pounds, while a new laptop is around 1200 pounds.

Re:!Now

[nobaloney]

Not anymore than plugging any other user computer into your TV will turn your TV into a usable computer.

Re:!Now

[optimism]

Maybe it's different in the US, but virtually every HDTV sold over here already has at least one USB port. This thing would turn those TVs into a usable computer.

No, they do not; and no, it would not.

This "thing" (which is unlikely to ever exist as a real product), plus a cable, and a keyboard, and a mouse, and a 5V power adapter (sorry, but fewer than 10% of installed HDTVs worldwide have a USB port)...that collection of components would effectively make your TV a computer monitor. Connected to a very slow, limited, non-standard computer.

In your own home or office, you can simply plug a laptop into your TV. A laptop is smaller, cheaper, lighter, faster, more standardized, and more flexible. You can run full-fledged Linux, Windows, OSX. There is no reason to use a pocketable gizmo that requires a backpack full of other parts to work.

In other folks' homes or offices, you can just plug in your smartphone. Heck, if they have an AppleTV and you have a recent iphone, you don't even need to plug it in. You can video-mirror wirelessly.

This USB-stick android computer is almost as dumb as your replies. ;)

Re:!Now

[CapuchinSeven]

Maybe it's different in the US, but virtually every HDTV sold over here already has at least one USB port.

No idea how you got voted informative because that's just basically wrong. And this really wouldn't be anything like plugging a computer into your TV.

Re:!Now

[Nursie]

Please point to where I made any of the above claims you criticise.

Can't? How strange... could be because I didn't say any of that stuff, asshat.

Re:!Now

[Nursie]

No, I mean an HDMI connector, exactly like it says in the article. I made no claims about it being better than other solutions, I was merely replying to the assertion that it required a laptop to operate.

Might want to work on your reading comprehension there skippy.

Re:!Now

[hairyfeet]

You said it isn't an android development toy, I have just pointed out that is EXACTLY what it is. Now back up your assertion that HDMI makes it something other than what it is or please accept your giant fail and go fuck off.

donotwant

[Anonymous Coward]

"The laptop use case shows how with FXI’s patent protected Any Screen Virtualization Protocol"

Re:donotwant

[blair1q]

Well, okay, but the non-luddites are going to be playing Angry Birds on every flat-panel TV in town without you.

Re:donotwant

[Bradmont]

I will never understand why companies like this feel the need to reinvent the wheel instead of using established, open tech (like any of the millions of VNC variants). Not only do you spend a whole bunch of extra time building it, you make it less compatible with existing platforms!

Re:donotwant

[MightyMartian]

But how else do you patent "remote control of a computer" and sue everyone out of business if not by first introducing your own product which you can claim is being harmed by those conniving thieves out there.

Re:donotwant

[Desler]

Because compatibility isn't their goal?

Re:donotwant

[causality]

Because compatibility isn't their goal?

Yes, that's what he said he doesn't understand.

Really, it's okay to infer something on your own.

Re:donotwant

[Desler]

What's to not understand? They don't want to be compatible because then they have no leverage over the tech. On the other hand they can, as in this case, patent the tech and lock you in.

Re:donotwant

[causality]

What's to not understand? They don't want to be compatible because then they have no leverage over the tech. On the other hand they can, as in this case, patent the tech and lock you in.

I'm not the one who questioned it. Pretending that I am is another fail.

My point in the initial response to you was that you either failed to comprehend or chose to trivialize the question the other poster was asking. Both are useless.

Anyway, as that other poster implies, not using a proprietary technology and being more compatible may increase the usefulness of the device. That, in turn, might be another way to increase sales. I suppose he was wondering what reason they have to believe that proprietary lock-in is more profitable than this.

Isn't that more useful than restating the obvious by saying "it's not one of their goals"? Clearly it is not, or else they would act accordingly. The constructive thing to do then is to move past the obvious that we can all observe and look into why it is that way and whether it could be done differently and how viable that would be.

Angry Birds

[ForestGrump]

Good. Now I can play Angry Birds on my computer at work.

Re:Angry Birds

[blair1q]

If you can get the Chrome browser on your work computer, you can do that already.

Re:Angry Birds

[Guy Harris]

If you can get the Chrome browser on your work computer, you can do that already.

Hell, if you have Windows, Mac OS X, or {fill in your other x86 UN*X}+Wine on your work computer, you can do that already. I think the person to whom you were responding may have known that and just tossed in a bit of snark.

Re:Angry Birds

[Anonymous Coward]

done even need chrome
nav to http://chrome.angrybirds.com/

even works in firefox 8

Re:Angry Birds

[wisty]

What if your work standardizes on IE6?

Re:Angry Birds

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

What if your work standardizes on IE6?

Then it is time to find a new job. :)

Re:Angry Birds

[mollymoo]

My work computers run Windows XP, IE6 and Firefox 3.5 - no Flash in either browser. How can I run Angry Birds on that shitheap?

Re:Angry Birds

[Guy Harris]

My work computers run Windows XP, IE6 and Firefox 3.5 - no Flash in either browser. How can I run Angry Birds on that shitheap?

By going to Rovio's Angry Birds shop's page for Angry Birds PC Version and paying USD 4.95 or whatever the local price is for you? There's nothing there to indicate that it runs in a Web browser as a Flash game.

Re:Angry Birds

[mollymoo]

Do you think my work computer would be running IE6 and Firefox 3.5 if I could install my own software? Shit, I can't even fire up Task Manager to kill an errant app.

Re:Angry Birds

[dna_(c)(tm)(r)]

Do you think my work computer would be running IE6 and Firefox 3.5 if I could install my own software? Shit, I can't even fire up Task Manager to kill an errant app.

You might have bigger problems than not being able to play Angry Birds...

Fingertop!

[aglider]

After floortop, desktop and laptop finally we have a really new formfactor.
Neat and cool!
It'a pity it's useless witout a properly powered screen!

Re:Fingertop!

[blair1q]

Portable, luggable, wearable...ingestible?

Re:Fingertop!

[TeknoHog]

The leading Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat had a competition to suggest a native name for a tablet computer. The winner was "sormitietokone" or "finger computer". Apparently, the logic was that it is a computer that you use with your fingers.

Re:Fingertop!

[Daniel Phillips]

Portable, luggable, wearable...ingestible?

...inhalable. (See Diamond Age.)

Re:Fingertop!

[fahrbot-bot]

Portable, luggable, wearable...ingestible?

I think the word for which you're looking, especially given the subject "Fingertop!", is insertable.
Remember: Gloves and lube are your friends...

Developers

[bjb_admin]

I can understand developers would like this, since the android emulator in the SDK is slower than molasses in (northern) December. I suppose ICS would not be an issue to get on this for the future.

But $200 seems a little steep since a real tablet can be purchased for that price range (although with perhaps with less CPU/RAM). $50-$100 would probably be the sweet point.

Actually this reminds me of something I thought of when Siri came out. How long is it going to take for someone to come out with a screenless / keypadless phone that is pure voice recognition (built into a headset like a BT headset??)? Same thing for GPS units (rather than being distracted by a map you just have to listen to the directions, much like having a person reading you directions "like in the old days"). That would extend battery life, reduce costs, although would also reduce it to the basic functionality (sorry no angry birds).

Re:Developers

[jeffmeden]

I can understand developers would like this, since the android emulator in the SDK is slower than molasses in (northern) December.

I suppose ICS would not be an issue to get on this for the future.

But $200 seems a little steep since a real tablet can be purchased for that price range (although with perhaps with less CPU/RAM). $50-$100 would probably be the sweet point.

It appears that this is not to be thought of as some sort of substitute phone (or other mobile device) but a way to take the effort into mobile development (Angry Birds, ultra low power graphics, etc.) and plaster it on a big screen. $200 might be a little steep for a set-side box (as we can see with the trouble Google TV and Apple TV have had) but if the price comes down or if there is a particularly killer app (portability is already a wow factor) then this might be a popular little gadget. I can picture a streamlined version (skip BT, right size the CPU/GPU) and you could have a highly portable media player that can be remotely controlled via a smartphone app. It would be nice to have a highly portable content streamer that was like a smartphone but wasnt actually a smartphone (having to stop your movie to take a call is a deal breaker.)

Re:Developers

[SkimTony]

I'm not sure that would stop them. Can you imagine all the people on the train playing angry birds by voice command!?

It's a good thing my headphones are sound isolating. I'd hate to have to listen to that.

Re:Developers

[Gilmoure]

You could wear it on your chest and make a cool gold symbol...

Re:Developers

[Anonymous Coward]

no angry birds

"You are standing at the end of a road before a large slingshot.
Around you is a forest. A small flock of birds is sitting besides the slingshot, looking towards the pig castle."

I'm calling it. We've come full circle!

Re:Developers

[martin-boundary]

Can you imagine all the people on the train playing angry birds by voice command!?

Large metropolis, 7:30 Monday morning, a train heading towards the CBD:

Commuter1: "Caw"
Commuter2: "Caw-caw"
Commuter3: "Caw-caw, caw-caw"
Commuter1: "Caw-ca-caw-caw"
Commuter3: "Caw-caw-caw-caw"
Commuter1: "Caw-caw, Damn, hey Commuter3, keep it down will you? I'm in the middle of a game!"
Commuter3: "Shut up Commuter1, you stupid loser, Caw-caw-caw-caw-caw-caw....caw!"
Commuter2: "Hey guys, stop arguing, it's interfering with my game"
Commuter1: "Fuck you Commuter2, I just lost the high score, want me to come over there and help you? Caw-Caw! How d'you like them birds?"

???

News at 11: "This morning's tragedy in the commuter train will be remembered for a long time..."

Re:Developers

[optimism]

$200 seems a little steep since a real tablet can be purchased for that price range

Similarly, $1/GB seems steep for a USB flash drive, since hard-drive space can be purchased for less than $0.05/GB.
Size and convenience do, in fact, matter.
However, it's a moot point since the gizmo in TFA is vaporware, unlikey to be produced in any mass-marketable quantity.

How long is it going to take for someone to come out with a screenless / keypadless phone that is pure voice recognition (built into a headset like a BT headset??)? Same thing for GPS units (rather than being distracted by a map you just have to listen to the directions, much like having a person reading you directions "like in the old days"). That would extend battery life, reduce costs, although would also reduce it to the basic functionality (sorry no angry birds).

I doubt you'll ever see this device.

Voice recognition & response are horribly inefficient compared to visual input & output. We've had the ability to do it in consumer products for about 15 years, but it hasn't caught on for this very reason.

Voice support is extremely helpful when your eyes are busy doing something more important. For most folks, that means driving.

But for most purposes, a smartphone with tactile input and visual output (e.g. a touchscreen) is much more useful, so you carry it anyway. If you want to go voice-only to save battery life, you can just turn off the screen. So...why would you carry a smartphone with a display (for most usage) AND a voice-only device (for a subset of the stuff that the smartphone can already do).

The only answer I can think of is: for ultra-minimal carrying. Same as carrying a tiny money-clip, instead of your larger wallet, when you go out on the town. But the economics still aren't there. This voice-only device would have to cost less than $50 (and work with the same account as your everyday smartphone) before it would make sense for many people.

Re:Developers

[coredog64]

Where did I put that Z-machine compiler again...?

Re:Developers

[georgesdev]

Here is my dream: I go for a one hour walk each day in nature before starting my work day, and could use a voice system through my headphones:
listen to email, do short replies, flag some emails for later action, etc ...
I would then start the day with probably 20 times less items in my inbox which would be great!
As long as it does not eat up 100% of the free time I have...

Do you need to be admin for usb part in a system

[Joe_Dragon]

TO work as if they be plugged in to any system and just start being able to use the systems video out, keyboard and mouse makes it seem a good hackers tool.

Website /.ed

[Archangel Michael]

Already.

Re:Website /.ed

[metalgamer84]

I got into the site right has the story was posted, it was sluggish. You can still get into it, its just very slow now. Site hasn't totally crashed though.

Re:Website /.ed

[OakDragon]

Perhaps they're using the device as the server?

Re:Website /.ed

[blair1q]

And if you find out they're serving it from one of these computers, will you say that with the same attitude?

Compare to RDP or VNC over emulated Ethernet

[tepples]

I'd like to see how this patented process differs from, say, RDP or VNC over an emulated Ethernet adapter.

Why Android?

[lucian1900]

This device could be much more useful if it shipped with a desktop linux distro, like Ubuntu or Fedora.

Re:Why Android?

[Microlith]

And if the vendor is forthcoming and supportive, it could readily be made to run a regular Linux distro. If they're worthless like most handset/tablet vendors, then they'll not help and possibly set up security to hinder your ability to do so.

Re:Why Android?

[metalgamer84]

Though the current prototype runs Android 2.3, Borgar told us that the ARM-based hardware can run Ubuntu Linux currently and future versions should be able to run the ARM version of Windows 8.

With Ubuntu installed, the Cotton Candy can even be turned into a mobile file or web server!

RTFA next time.

Re:Why Android?

[Shatrat]

Apps > apt-get for most people.

Re:Why Android?

[Microlith]

That may be, but why is it always implied that silly access to apps is mutually exclusive to having a nice back end infrastructure with access to a repository? Not that this is the kind of thing that your average Android user is going to buy.

Certainly it's mutually exclusive with Android, as Google has worked hard to fail to include any of that.

Re:Why Android?

[LynnwoodRooster]

Though the current prototype runs Android 2.3, Borgar told us that the ARM-based hardware can run Ubuntu Linux currently and future versions should be able to run the ARM version of Windows 8.

With Ubuntu installed, the Cotton Candy can even be turned into a mobile file or web server!

RTFA next time.

RTFA? RTFA?!?!?!

THIS - IS - SLASHDOT!

Re:America kicks your ass!

[DanTheStone]

You're missing John Barrow (D), Karen Bass (D), John Conyers (D), Howard Berman (D), Ted Deutch (D), Ben Lujan (D), Adam Schiff (D), William Owens (D), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), and Melvin Watt (D). Surely if we're going to support the (R) candidates we should support the (D) candidates with the same beliefs.

"Any" is not "Any"

[markdavis]

>"plug into anything with a screen, USB port, and input device and run your own instance of Android"

*WRONG*

The word "anything" could not be more WRONG. It specifically says in the article that you have to run "special software" that is MS-Windows or MacOS *only*. That is not "anything" with a screen. Exactly how would plugging that FXI "computer usb stick" into my Mandriva Linux desktop machine, Xoom Android tablet, my Fedora Linux laptop, or my RHEL server going to give the FXI access to my keyboard, mouse, network, and monitor without very specialized and deeply-rooted software to support it?

Then, even if it is an MS-Windows or MacOS machine, that doesn't mean it will be able to or allowed to run such alien software.

The article says it has WiFi, Bluetooth, and HDMI on the FXI, so it has a LOT of possibilities, is fascinating, and really cool. I don't know why the article and the summary have to step out of bounds with such sensationalist stuff like "anything with a monitor".

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[shutdown -p now]

The word "anything" could not be more WRONG. It specifically says in the article that you have to run "special software" that is MS-Windows or MacOS *only*. That is not "anything" with a screen. Exactly how would plugging that FXI "computer usb stick" into my Mandriva Linux desktop machine, Xoom Android tablet, my Fedora Linux laptop, or my RHEL server going to give the FXI access to my keyboard, mouse, network, and monitor without very specialized and deeply-rooted software to support it?

The special software in question is only used when you want to run this (and see the output) on top of an already running OS, in a window. It's basically like VNC or RDP. However, they also support standalone operation - from TFA:

"When connected to an HDTV, it uses the HDMI port for video, the USB for power, and Bluetooth to connect to a keyboard, mouse, or tablet for controlling the operating system. "

Which basically means that you need to also have an HDMI cable handy.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[murdocj]

From TFA: "FXI demonstrated Cotton Candy for the first time by connecting it via HDMI to a 42” HDTV running Android and displaying YouTube videos and 3D games."

Just what part of the TV was running MS Windows?

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[markdavis]

True that. But it still pre-assumes that the particular "network adapter" it emulates is understood and compatible with the host machine. And that the user even has the rights to add a network controller.

It could use its built-in wifi, but then that assumes the computer it is connected to *has* wifi.

There are lots of possibilities, but none can provide a situation where "anything with a screen" is supported, as claimed by the article and summary.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[markdavis]

From the summary: "plug into anything with a screen, USB port, and input device "

How does the FXI connect to and use the input device that was on the HDMI 42" HDTV? Perhaps they connected to a bluetooth keyboard or something, but that is *NOT* using the input device of what was used with the device they plugged it into.

From FTA: "the worldâ(TM)s first any screen, connected computing USB device."

And if what if your "screen" has no HDMI port? How is that "any screen"?

Again, it is a cool device, but saying "anything" or "any screen" or "any device" is just not true.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[cheeks5965]

you're a hair-splitting ninja, my friend. black belt. hi-YA!

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[markdavis]

:) Sorry, it just irks me when articles and such use incorrect absolutes. It pimps features that do not exist. And/or it ignores everything they didn't consider "main stream" which can be insulting.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[murdocj]

The parent I replied to said that it only worked with Windows or Mac. Just because it can't turn a TV into a keyboard, I'm still not seeing the Windows / Mac requirement. Sounds like it works as advertised.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

The special software in question is only used when you want to run this (and see the output) on top of an already running OS, in a window. It's basically like VNC or RDP.

If they were really clever they would make the USB device act like a nic on a private network with the android system the only other device on the network. Then they really could just use bog-standard RDP and it would work with practically anything.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[mikael]

Some mobile phones can be plugged into the USB port (ZTE), emulate a USB file system and will use the auto-run feature to change the network routing tables so that all data traffic is routed through the phone.

At least for a Windows PC. With linux it just seems to slow down if not block the wi-fi service altogether.

Re:"Any" is not "Any"

[Hognoxious]

"When connected to an HDTV, it uses the HDMI port for video, the USB for power, and Bluetooth to connect to a keyboard, mouse, or tablet for controlling the operating system. "

Which basically means that you need to also have an HDMI cable handy.

And a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, neither of which I own.

We're getting quite a long way from "anything with a usb port", aren't we?

HDMI, how quaint!

[Thud457]

Why no wireless DTV transmitter?!! I mean, really, been the twentyfirst century! for like, a decade, now! Why the hell do I need to hook things up with wires or plug them in except for matters of security or power?!!

you benighted savages disgust me.

Re:HDMI, how quaint!

[Miamicanes]

Because you'd have to transform the display into a MPEG-2 data stream with maximum bitrate of 19.2mbit/sec, then modulate it onto an 8-VSB carrier (to work in the US) and COFDM (to work in most other places). It's nontrivial. 8-VSB, in particular, is a bitch to do. The wireless video modulator ALONE would have added a MINIMUM of $50 to the manufacturing cost, and THAT'S if they dusted off the Zenith chipset DirecTV was planning to use before the MAFIAA killed their plans for using 8VSB for whole-house HD video distribution over existing 75-ohm cable to keep the development costs down to a minimum.

Furthermore, 19.2mbit/sec MPEG-2 would utterly suck for high-contrast "computer-type" applications where you're displaying things like windows and rendered text at high resolution and framerates. If you buffered it to take advantage of predictive frames to increase the effective bandwidth, you'd end up with annoying lag. If you tried to do the whole thing with I-frames, your text would be a fuzzy macroblock-ridden mess.

Re:HDMI, how quaint!

[Miamicanes]

He's not talking about HDMI. He's talking about wireless. Unless you're talking about a $800+ wireless HDMI system, that basically means broadcast 8VSB or COFDM, which means 19.2mbit/sec MPEG-2.

Re:HDMI, how quaint!

[Jonner]

Why no wireless DTV transmitter?!! I mean, really, been the twentyfirst century! for like, a decade, now! Why the hell do I need to hook things up with wires or plug them in except for matters of security or power?!!

  you benighted savages disgust me.

Rant against the powers that be who define display connection technologies like VESA, not this device. There are no technologies in common use now which can replace DVI/HDMI with something wireless, let alone ten years ago. Wireless DisplayPort is supposed to be coming eventually, but updating modern displays at 60Hz or higher takes a large bitrate, making it much more difficult to design than LAN or WAN speed network connections. If by "wireless DTV transmitter" you mean something like ATSC or DVB, it's certainly not practical for display connection. Those standards are based on lossy video compression which results in poor quality for sharp images like text and introduces significant latency.

Re:America kicks your ass!

[poetmatt]

absolutely. This is a bipartisan rape of people's rights, it's not specific to republican or democrat. It should also be noted that Tea party and libertarians were in full support of SOPA via various political figures too.

Who has the patents registered?

[bogaboga]

I wonder who has the patents on this [idea] registered. Anyone?

Re:America kicks your ass!

[vlad30]

I'll support the (R)(R)(R)'s because I like pirates and I consider a bunch of (D)'s a monumental failure that send us down a grade or two

21 grams

[TeknoHog]

or about the mass of a human soul.

Article say *not* Android-only

[devleopard]

Running Android for now, but plans are to offer an Ubuntu version, as well as Windows 8

... the ARM-based hardware can run Ubuntu Linux currently and future versions should be able to run the ARM version of Windows 8

Re:Article say *not* Android-only

[Microlith]

Yes, I can't wait to install Windows 8 on my device and artificially restrict my sources of software to the Microsoft web store.

overpriced and not even priced yet

[frovingslosh]

FXI hasn’t set pricing yet for the Cotton Candy, but expects it to cost considerably less than $200 per unit.

So it might be less than $200, but maybe not. At anywhere near that price it would make a lot more sense to just buy a low end Android device that you can carry with you than to try to make this thing work with other devices. And I don't believe the claim that you can just plug this into anything with a USB port and somehow magically take it over. Might work on a few Windows boxes, but there is no way that they can design it to take over everything with a USB port on it.

Re:overpriced and not even priced yet

[fluffy99]

FXI hasn’t set pricing yet for the Cotton Candy, but expects it to cost considerably less than $200 per unit.

So it might be less than $200, but maybe not. At anywhere near that price it would make a lot more sense to just buy a low end Android device that you can carry with you than to try to make this thing work with other devices. And I don't believe the claim that you can just plug this into anything with a USB port and somehow magically take it over. Might work on a few Windows boxes, but there is no way that they can design it to take over everything with a USB port on it.

If it had a firewire port which allows a connected device DMA access to memory, then I would think it could potentially take over. Actually this would make one heck of a keylogger if it had firewire. You could read anything in memory at any time.

Re:overpriced and not even priced yet

[Daniel Phillips]

there is no way that they can design it to take over everything with a USB port on it

More like "anything that can boot from USB or alternatively, install the host side usb driver"

Re:overpriced and not even priced yet

[amiga3D]

With firewire you could connect it to a mac with the mac in "target disk mode." That would be neat.

Scandinavians again.

[unity100]

Again scandinavians with an innovation. after first osmosis power plant, wood chip power plant, and many more. not to mention software (linux).

behold how social democracy (Called socialism in u.s.), govt. funded education, social security etc leaves a nation behind in development and innovation.

............ not. that is despite compared to u.s. and the resources, riches and population it has, scandinavia is not even comparable. in total they dont even amount to good 10 mil+ population. resources - almost none. colonies and satellite nations - none. nothing. nada.

Re:Scandinavians again.

[Tumbleweed]

http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Swedish_meatballs

"Swedish meatballs, an Earth ground meat delicacy that is something of an interstellar mystery. Every spacefaring race is known to have a food identical to Swedish meatballs, be it Narn Breen or Centauri Prime's Roopo balls. Even races as diverse as the Abbai, Drazi and even the Gaim all have an equivalent dish, though the Centauri are the only ones with the audacity to claim they are the ones who invented it."

Re:Scandinavians again.

[citizenr]

Again scandinavians with an innovation.

look, a RETARDED person posting on slashdot

http://armdevices.net/2011/05/06/25-arm-powered-desktop-presented-by-raspberry-pi-foundation/

behold how social democracy (Called socialism in u.s.), govt. funded education, social security etc leaves a nation behind in development and that is despite compared to u.s.

and that retard is from US, what a surprise

Re:Scandinavians again.

[Andtalath]

Sweden has got 9 million.
Norway and denmark a bit over 5 each.
So almost 20 million.

Re:Scandinavians again.

[jones_supa]

It could be as well that he is just observing things and doesn't have any particular opinion about them.

Re:Scandinavians again.

[Hognoxious]

Again scandinavians with an innovation. after first osmosis power plant, wood chip power plant, and many more. not to mention software (linux).

What has Scandinavia got to do with Linux?

Re:Scandinavians again.

[lars_stefan_axelsson]

What has Scandinavia got to do with Linux?

Linus is a native speaker of Swedish. In fact, one of the nice things about Linux back in the day was that I didn't have to fiddle with keyboard settings, it came with the Swedish layout as a default. :-) And Sweden is very much part of Scandinavia.

(For the humour impared, for these purposes I think it's OK to include Finland in "Scandinavia" as USians often confuse it with "Norden" of which Finland is definately a part. And it's fitting here since socio-economically/politically and structurally Finland is very much part of the Nordic tradition.)

Re:Scandinavians again.

[coredog64]

Meh, Douglas Adams has 'em beat:

It is a curious fact, and one to which no one knows quite how much importance to attach, that something like 85% of all known worlds in the Galaxy, be they primitive or highly advanced, have invented a drink called jynnan tonnyx, or gee-N'N-T'N-ix, or jinond-o-nicks, or any one of a thousand or more variations on the same phonetic theme. The drinks themselves are not the same, and vary between the Sivolvian 'chinanto/mnigs' which is ordinary water served at slightly above room temperature, and the Gagrakackan 'tzjin-anthony-ks' which kill cows at a hundred paces; and in fact the one common factor between all of them, beyond the fact that the names sound the same, is that they were all invented and named before the worlds concerned made contact with any other worlds.

Re:Scandinavians again.

[Jonner]

Be careful about implying that Finland is part of Scandinavia. Some say it is, but others are adamant it's not. More importantly, the US has had government funded education and social security for a very long time as well, regardless of whether you call that "Socialism" or not.

Even if something about Scandinavian (and/or Finnish) governance encourages innovation more than other approaches, Linux is hardly a good example of that. Linus was inspired by and depended on technologies of foreign origin including Minix (Dutch), an 80386 PC (American), Unix (American) and GNU (American). By far most of his work on Linux has been done since he moved to the US.

Similarly, this project depends on technologies of foreign origin like the Samsung (Korean) chip based on the ARM (originally British) architecture, Android (American) and Ubuntu (American/South African/British). What the origin of these projects say to me is that government policies may not have that much to do with where and how innovation happens any more. Broken patent systems and other bad government policies can stifle innovation, but all that's required for it to succeed is to not be impeded.

Re:Scandinavians again.

[Jonner]

I expect Babylon 5 Swedish meat balls were inspired by jynnan tonnyx, but they are distinct concepts. Adams's idea was that all the drinks were named the same, but totally different, while Babylon 5's was that the dishes were the same, but named differently.

Re:Scandinavians again.

[unity100]

the US has had government funded education and social security for a very long time as well, regardless of whether you call that "Socialism" or not.

us govt basically funds private teaching institutions, not students. students are just intermediaries for private corporations for making money off of government. in a country where education is privatized to that extent, education quality declines.

i wont even talk about 'social security' in america.

Even if something about Scandinavian (and/or Finnish) governance encourages innovation more than other approaches, Linux is hardly a good example of that. Linus was inspired by and depended on technologies of foreign origin including Minix (Dutch), an 80386 PC (American), Unix (American) and GNU (American). By far most of his work on Linux has been done since he moved to the US.

illogical approach. every single scientist and engineer up to date, worked on the innovations others have created up till their time, all around the globe. the ratio of innovations made, is what matters.

Nvidia patent

[Anonymous Coward]

The Nvidia Patent seems to cover the Cotton Candy device pretty well, though it seems pretty much a load od b***ocks.

Anything with a USB? like my PSP???

[Wingfat]

I was driving into work this morning thinking it would be awesome to have Android on my PSP for have fun with Apps and playing more games with a controller.. (Yes i do have the Xperia Play, but I am tall, and have large hands and would like to have the same experiance on a larger screen and larger game pad. )

Re:Size of a cigarette lighter??

[Wingfat]

no one that smokes? wow, you must not work in San Francisco ;-) or you go to a middle school. Even my new 2010 car has a real working cig lighter.

nope

[Chirs]

It looks like it's got a male usb connector on one end and a male hdmi connector on the other. Just stick it into the hdmi port on the TV/monitor.

Re:nope

[shutdown -p now]

My understanding is that you still need to plug the USB end somewhere to power it. So you need either a USB extension cable, or an HDMI extension cable.

Re:nope

[KnowledgeKeeper]

My understanding is that you still need to plug the USB end somewhere to power it. So you need either a USB extension cable, or an HDMI extension cable.

Or something like this :)

Slim Silent HTPC Anyone?

[Zrako]

If this thing can really handle 1080p video, has Bluetooth and wifi and can run when plugged directly into an HDTV why not use it as a perfectly silent HTPC. Have your files stored on a network hard drive that you access via wifi and use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you are good to go. For a good chunk of the general public all they would want with a HTPC is to watch movies, listen to music and go on the web which this thing should be able to do no problem.

Since nobody else has said it...

[ebh]

Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!

vapourware?

[pbjones]

c'mon people, how many articles and devices have we read about but have never actually been commercially available? tons, just add another item to the list. It'll have to be Less than $100 or it doesn't compete with similar, all be it larger, TV boxes.

Shite summary strikes again

[Hognoxious]

"When connected to an HDTV, it uses the HDMI port for video, the USB for power, and Bluetooth to connect to a keyboard, mouse, or tablet for controlling the operating system."

Rather contradicts the summary, which says

This allows you to plug into anything with a screen, USB port, and input device and run your own instance of Android."

My interpretation of that was the same as Hairyfeet's. I was rather wondering how it could take over the host machine via a USB port that's designed to connect to peripherals (not as one), or whether it was actually just an emulator or whatever.

The laptop I'm typing this on has a screen, input device and usb ports but it has no video input so it clearly wouldn't work with this setup. Another case of shite summaryitis.

Re:Shite summary strikes again

[Hognoxious]

I can read better than you can write, that's for sure.

Re:Shite summary strikes again

[Hognoxious]

if not, i can go in to windows, and there is a little batch file, which fires of qemu or something.

I think I did mention emulators, but in any case that isn't what the slashvertisement, ummm, summary claimed.

plug it into a usb port without data lines (just +5v) and it boots the same image on its own processor

Again, how would it access the screen, keyboard etc. of the device it's plugged into? That is what the summary claimed.
.

Expensive, unnecessarily overpowered

[pond0123]

This isn't a new idea, it's a "me too". What, suddenly nobody on /. has heard of Raspberry Pi?

http://slashdot.org/index2.pl?fhfilter=raspberry+pi
http://www.raspberrypi.org/

A 1.2GHz dual core CPU is all very nice, but you can run full-on Desktop Linux with considerably more frugal resources and produce a device that's considerably cheaper as a result. It seems bizarre to have over-specified the hardware and under-specified the software stack.

what'd be really cool....

[nblender]

No HDMI output. Simply rasterize the video into an .mkv container... Plug the stick into the USB port, use the TV's onscreen menu to navigate to 'playme.mkv' (or whatever container these TV's support) and the movie is your video output.

Thanks for springing the trap I set for unity100!

[Hognoxious]

For the humour impared, for these purposes I think it's OK to include Finland in "Scandinavia" as USians often confuse it with "Norden" of which Finland is definately a part.

I doubt most Finns would agree with you, somehow.

You couldn't have chosen a worse authority to cite on matters geographical; they confuse England and Britain (to the chagrin of the orange haired people we have to share our islands with) and arrive in Vienna and go looking for kangaroos and wombats.

I'll take one

[avm]

... Or two. It might not be for everyone, but it's something I'd like to use for a few random ideas.

my money, you can has it

[K_Bomb]

OMG OMG OMG.... daddy wants!

Dear FXI, WTF?

[sgt scrub]

Use info from Cherry Pi for hardware, snag an OS from the open source world, then attach a bullshit proprietary interface "FXI’s patent protected Any Screen Virtualization Protocol"? Interesting.

Re:Dear FXI, WTF?

[sgt scrub]

LOL. Note to self. Self, never listen to Runaways while posting.

Hardware info from Raspberry Pi was what I meant to write.

I think this would be classified

[Stan92057]

I think this would be classified "For the Geek who has everything category" lol

Smartphone Revolution

[sonicmerlin]

I wonder... does anyone else realize this could be used to create upgradeable smartphones? You would have a phone with touchscreen and battery, with a recessed USB port. Then just slide this device in, and in a couple years when you want to upgrade buy a new usb stick PC. If they could fit the baseband radio in this device that would be truly revolutionary.