14 DAY TRIAL // There used to be a time when $200 (157 Euro) tablets and $50 (39 Euro) gadgets were considered low-cost, but perception has begun to change with the rise of absurdly cheap personal computers.
Rhombus Tech has just announced a product that will give the credit card-sized PC Raspberry Pi a run for its money.
It isn't exactly clear when the so-called Allwinner A10 will be ready, but it should not take overly long, not with the price already known.
In fact, the price is ridiculously low, at only $15 (under 12 Euro).
Things get even more interesting when one realizes that the Raspberry Pi has a price of $25, or about 18.5 Euro, while actually being slower.
Indeed, according to Rhombus, the Pi's 700mhz ARM11 is three times weaker than the 1.5ghz Allwinner A10 ARM Cortex A8.
“Thanks to the low cost of the Allwinner Cortex A8, mass-volume pricing (just for the CPU card, and therefore excluding tax, shipping, profit, a case and a power supply) looks to be on target for around $15: 40% lower than the raspberrypi which is only a 700mhz ARM11 and is therefore at least three times slower in processor speed than the Allwinner A10,” the company says.
One especially noteworthy aspect is that all the hardware is GPL-compatible (General Public License).
The software will be made by the company itself, based on Allwinner GPL Source Code, while Chinese hardware makers will manufacture the physical components.
All in all, this is shaping up to be a very small computer, probably smaller than most smartphones out there.
No word exactly on what video interfaces will be implemented, but mini HDMI, at the very least, should make the cut, perhaps DVI too.
After all, it would not do to have a PC that cannot connect to the most common monitors and HDTVs.
Rhombus Tech is preparing an Android-based tablet as well, with resistive touch support. Its price will probably be on the low side as well.