Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Meet VoCore2 Lite, a $4 Coin-Sized, Open Source Linux Computer (zdnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the miniature-computers dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report on ZDNet:Four bucks buys a lot of hardware these days, and nothing highlights this more than a project like the VoCore2 Lite. VoCore2 is an open source Linux computer and a fully-functional wireless router that is smaller than a coin. It can also act as a VPN gateway for a network, an AirPlay station to play lossless music, a private cloud to store your photos, video, and code, and much more. The Lite version of the VoCore2 features a 580MHz MT7688AN MediaTek system on chip (SoC), 64MB of DDR2 RAM, 8MB of NOR storage, and a single antenna slot for Wi-Fi that supports 150Mbps. Spend $12 and go for the full VoCore2 option and you get the same SoC, but you get 128MB of DDR2 RAM, 16MB of NOR storage, two antenna slots supporting 300Mbps, an on-board antenna, and PCIe 1.1 support.

4 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. "Private cloud"? by pla · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why the hell do people insist on calling an on-prem NAS a "private cloud"?

    "Can I have a glass of water, please?" "Sure, would you like to see our menu of premium bottled rain, or is water from our private indoor river okay?"

  2. how's the software? by AnAlchemist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's so much hardware out there... you got Arduino's, lots of clones, Raspberry Pi's, C.H.I.P, etc.

    What they don't tell you is how the software is. Is it up to date, or does it still run Linux 3.x? What Linux distros does it run? Can you run stock Ubuntu, or do you need some guy's custom build that's two years old and you can't apt-get upgrade?

    My specific beef: It looks like the VoCore2 rans OpenWrt. Which version? Custom build that's updated every six months?

    And, thanks to Indiegogo, you can't post a comment (to ask a question) without contributing. What a bunch of bull.

  3. storage? by c · · Score: 4, Insightful

    a private cloud to store your photos, video, and code

    Who is going to waste a coin-sized computer by tethering it to a storage device and power brick?

    There's definitely applications for tiny devices like this and I think the design is nifty, but using it in situations where its size (and price) is going to be dwarfed by its peripherals is a bit of a waste.

    --
    Log in or piss off.
  4. Re:How big is a $4 coin? by fyngyrz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You mean, "punctuation is overrated, period." :)

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.