Intel's Super Portable Compute Card Could Be Your Real Pocket PC (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader writes (edited and condensed for length): Smartphones are already computers in our pockets, but Intel's new Compute Card turns an actual PC into something you can take with you wherever you go. Equipped with a range of processor options -- including an ultra-efficient Celeron, and notebook-class Core i5s, this slap that looks like a USB backup battery is attracting a range of interest from Intel OEM partners hoping to use it for everything from smart signage to modular notebooks. The Intel Compute Card, which was originally revealed at CES earlier this year, will come in a range of configurations that include up to 4GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage, as well as built-in AC 8265 wireless networking and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, the company said today at Computex. Intel also announced availability of the Compute Card Device Design Kit today, which will let OEM partners create devices that work with the modular computing core. LG Display, Sharp, Dell, HP and Lenovo are already working on accessory solutions for Compute Card, Intel said.

Comments

The PC Appliance

[WheezyJoe]

I am personally not excited.

Me neither. The Stick is much more like your own personal pocket-carried PC, as at least it comes with an HDMI plug and a power supply. This thing doesn't appear to be able even to power up without help from a dock or some new wave of appliance, which appers to be what Intel's after.

Seems like insane overkill to slap in whole PC's just for kiosks, window signage, grocery-store displays, door-openers and soap-dispensers, but if Intel keeps making PC's smaller then I guess that's where we're headed. It's just sick to think this might mean a complete copy of copy of Windows 10 on damn near everything because... it can. Perhaps Red Hat can package and market a Linux for tiny business PC's, packaged with signage or kiosk application software, and break this potential Microsoft stranglehold, please?

Re:Another proprietary interface

[TWX]

That's because for the moment it is a dream. This device was not designed with you in mind. It was designed to replace devices that have historically been serial controlled such that a full-featured computer can be used in their stead. HVAC controllers, lighting controllers, digital signboards, point of sale registers, kiosks, etc. Raw computing power is not the goal, having a computer at all is; expanding the Internet of Things.

My concern is that after-the-sale support will be scant to nonexistent, and we will have even more unpatched IoT things live in the wild, but now we're adding more and more computing power to the mix. I could see these being co-opted for illcit cryptocurrency mining, or as part of botnets set up as parallel-distributed computing to try to break crypto passwords from stolen hashes in a brute-force technique, or any number of other nefarious uses where computing power would help.