Linux Powers Lilliputian PCs 193
An anonymous reader writes "Gumstix is launching a whole line of dinky little PCs little larger than a Big Red Plenty Pack. The first Netstix model targets server, sniffing, and network simulation. The next model will be USB-powered, followed by models with SD/MMC slots and built-in WiFi. They come with Linux 2.6.17, and lots of room for user applications."
want one^h^h^h 1000 (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice: 200MHz XScale, 64 MB RAM, 16 MB Flash (3MB occupied by OS), 100MBit Ethernet, CF-II slot, 1-3/8 * 4-1/8 inches (35 x 103mm). Even nicer: the next version with integrated WiFi. All done by a company of 26, with no intention to grow, but to automate more if more work has to be done, so prices will fall.
Not so nice: $186.5 for one, $165 in volumes of 1000. I know, this is still very cheap for something in "industrial size", but too much to build one into my door bell, one into each phone, one into each light switch (the joy of being unable to turn of the light due to an 500 error), one into the fish tank, one into the fridge to finally order milk like we have been promised for years.
But give it some years, and I will have a log of how many minutes I brushed my teeth based on the report my eToothBrush send wirelessy to my server.
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Damn, did I just post that from my company computer? (sig in training)
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I *knew* that "embedded linux" sounded a bit strange for some reason . . .
Re:want one^h^h^h 1000 (Score:4, Funny)
ahahahahahaha - i need to wash by brain out
I know what they'll do (Score:2)
http://www.holio.net/dildocam.html [holio.net]
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I probably wouldn't have noticed, though, to be honest
(And to counteract the old chestnut that's bound to crop
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I guess the article's authors were sick that day of elementary school.
Re:want one^h^h^h 1000 (Score:5, Funny)
TFA said "device measures 1-3/8 x 4-1/8 inches (35 x 103cm)".
Centimetres, millimetres; only a pretentious asshole would distinguish between those gay units.
Most of us Americans learned how to convert between various units of measure in elementary school
Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter [cnn.com].
Mod parent up. (Score:2)
I just squished beer through my nose reading this. Excellent reposte. Please mod parent up, as out of mod points.
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I think the pretentious asshole in question may have got his sums wrong.
I suspect he meant to write 35 x 103mm, not cm.
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TFA had cm, not mm, when I read it. It's been corrected since then.
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So, like, geez -- what's the big deal? Hei
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It's a sharp cinnimon [sp?] gum. Likely to be US only, the plenty pack is 20 sticks IIRC.
It's: CINNAMON
What if you cut your toungue on it?
Re:want one^h^h^h 1000 (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course this reminds me of the story about a guy giving a speech at a chipmaker convention reminiscing how 25 years earlier a guy had given a speech at the same hotel saying the microchip industry will never be that big because you don't need a chip in every doorknob.
And here, 25 years later, every doorknob in the hotel had a chip.
Go figure.
great device (Score:2)
I am going to chalk up the price as a "very nice" instead of a "not so nice". Not so nice would be it's limited amount of I/O and that you can't combine multiple expansions on one system (except in only
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Something this small and cheap I don't mind if it only has a single application like a web server, or mail server or home security monitor... so why does it need an OS on the scale of Linux?
I'd rather see an app cartridge, which can access an SD or similar for data, and have loads of the buggers, no mulitasking or SMP overheads, just one program running at full machine speeds.
Can you imagine having a compiler on a stick? You fire code in on U
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I'd prefer a slightly larger device that has power and storage built-in.
If using external power, at least a power brick that stacks with the unit.
Regards,
--
*Art
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Not so nice: $186.5 for one
I know what you mean, I've been looking for relatively cheap systems borads. I mean, with the price of fullblown laptops hitting $600 (with 512MB RAM, 40/60GB HD, etc.), I have a real hard time imagining $200 for something like this.
Does anyone know of a source for embedded boards for development that have ethernet/serial/parallel for around the $100 price range? I know it's possible, because you can rip apart most any "broadband router" and get the same for less than $50, b
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Perfect! (Score:4, Funny)
I figure you'd need Linux for that, right? Java too, probably?
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Well, if you use Java, that's probably bordering on underpowered for either of your suggested applications.
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Re:Perfect! (Score:5, Funny)
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This is enough power for analog control of a house's worth of lighting and monitors, based on where you're standing/sitting.
I mean, remember, it's an ARM. Hz for Hz, they can generally get a little more done than an x86 (Not that they're necessarily better; the whole 'everything on the same bus' thing is a peripheral performance bottleneck).
HTTP Client (Score:4, Funny)
Damn... and I thought lynx was hard core!
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Maybe I should have provided a link [gumstix.org]
Notice where it says "HTTP Client"...
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Thank God (Score:2)
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Well they already make wireless ethernet bridges for that (often used on xboxes so you can have wireless connectivity). You could take that idea and go further though: With the processor and mem you could write up a little app to connect to local access points (autocrack wep keys, keep a database of connections etc). Free internet for the computer challenged. Of cou
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Like this [linksys.com], but at twice the price [google.com]?
Great (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, wait, I get it....
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it's all in the name (Score:4, Funny)
These guys seriously need to take a page out of the book of Apple. Listen guys, it's not "dinky" and "little". You gotta jazz it up a little bit. Throw in some "nano" and a bit of "micro" and "mini" for good measure.
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Pico is already in use [picotux.com] as a name for pre-programmed DigiConnect ME devices (uClinux, busybox, ARM processor...) that are the smaller cousins of the Gumstix. Now, once the USB-based version of the Gumstix comes along in memory-stick size range there will be another member of the "who's smallest" club.
Centimetre conversion is off (Score:5, Informative)
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Linux is powering smaller and smaller devices.
I'm counting the days before Linux Inc can power a single MCU on its own.
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KuroBox (Score:5, Informative)
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hmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
Then again, you could just buy a used desktop from the local computer shop like I did, which is much cheaper, faster, and powerful, but has the disadvantage of size.
How much $$$ ?!?!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
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i dont get it (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:i dont get it (Score:5, Funny)
Your inner geek.
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Obligatory... (Score:2, Funny)
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Pocket PC (Score:2, Interesting)
Dan East
Framebuffer module (Score:5, Interesting)
I want to use these as a very simple display for home automation - hang one on the back of the TV, use a PIN switch video port (or the video input on the TV), run about a 40 by 24 character display - not fancy, but enough for display.
A frame buffer like that could easily be implemented in a small FPGA now-a-days.
Of course, a tiny X server or VNC client would be even better.
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Just *yesterday* I was looking for *exactly* the same thing: a way to hook up a Gumstix to a display. I would like to use it for a home automation project.
If you use one of the appropriate expansion boards, you can interface a Gumstix to a variety of raw LCD panels: there's even X Windows drivers for it. However, there's nothing for TV out (composite, for example), and there is nothing for VGA out.
The cheapest LCD touch screen I could find is $56 bucks [mouser.com]. Then you still have to buy a controller board a
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The early Days of Bubblepack computing (Score:4, Interesting)
Where's it get its power? (Score:2, Insightful)
Does it need a wall-wart, is it powered via power-over-ethernet, or what?
Re:Where's it get its power? (Score:4, Informative)
> The Netstix 200xm-cf is available now, with a 4-Volt wall adapter
Lilliputian? (Score:5, Funny)
"lots of room for user applications." NOT (Score:2)
Maybe they should say "enough room for a web browser... maybe."
...or are you just happy to see me? (Score:2)
With apologies to:
A Good First Application, in-line services. (Score:5, Insightful)
Connect, connect, safe and secure PC. The mass market for these products remains in constructing single, highly specialized but widely sought after features, that require no setup or a completely automated setup. LAMP on a micro-server isn't really that sort of product, even if it would be fun to play with. The market is in daemons on USB, preferably in-line or on its own dedicated node (though that's a bit wasteful, imho) - firewalls, independent shared drives, dns (plug and play opendns via in-line from modem to router), and even time servers (maybe with a little back lit LCD display, and adjustment controls on the outside). These tasks are currently being pushed into virtualization. But moving occasional services into a cheap occasionally used device would be even better.
pcengines WRAP (Score:3, Informative)
Wrigleys Big Red Plenty Pack (Score:2)
Sugar, Gum Base, Corn Syrup, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Glycerol, Acesulfame K, Softeners, Mannitol, Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, BHT (to Preserve Freshness). Would this even be legal in Europe?
music server? (Score:2)
USB (for an external drive)
Ethernet (to hook it up to the house network)
Sound output (soundblaster-era quality is fine enough)
Cost under $100
All I want is a gumstick-sized ultra-low power consumption quiet jukebox. Right now I use an old Pentium II that sucks up way too much power. Sound, internet, USB, low power consumption, low price... it's not a tough combination. But I haven't found any out ther
Only 1 ethernet port? (Score:2)
This is a lot of power (Score:2)
There is every reason to think that this machine could do a lot more than power a bronco, or work inside of a toothbrush, or some other retarded and small task.
In 1997 I learned how to program on a computer that ran on less than 10 mghz and had far less ram and memory than this device. It also didn't have network connectivity or anything like that.
So, what's my point?
Basically, I could use this device to do wordprocessing, browse the internet, perform distributed supercomputing tasks
I know the Gumstices (Score:2, Informative)
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The article mentiones one of the first applications, using 24 of these to simulate a network at a network equipment vendor on his desktop. From there to your cluster is just a tiny step. SETI@desktop.
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What are you talking about? (Score:2, Interesting)
Also keep in mind that a 200
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For example, my WRT54GL has a MIPS-based BCM3302 processor underclocked to 183MHz (to save what miniscule amount of energy that it uses...). Here are the results of running nbench [tux.org] on my router:
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The "problem" is that gumstix
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You are assuming that the ARM chip completes the same number of RISC instructions per cycle as the Pentium completes CISC instructions. This is not likely to be true. One of the big advantages RISC had back in the day was that CISC instructions took several cycles to complete, while RISC instructions took one - and much of the time people were executing CISC instructions to achieve the same thing as RISC instructions and th
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Re:What part of "insecure PC" do you not understan (Score:3, Insightful)
How's this better than Putty? (Score:2)
Think about it: If you carry around a USB key with Putty, an RSA key, and a
Now, if you're carrying around your Gumstick Linux, all they have to do is MITM you --
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Of course, why you'd do it that way, and not use Kate with the fish:// KIOslave (or even run a GUI editor on the server but have it talking to your own desktop's display server), is another ma
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ZZ is 2 keystrokes and even less mnemonic.
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