14 DAY TRIAL // Mini PCs and Micro PCs used to be interchangeable terms, then the latter began to define PCs that are even smaller than mini ones. Now, a new type of system seems to have emerged, the Micro-Mini PC.
According to Intel, the Micro-Mini PC is one of the few segments of the PC industry that are still growing from a marketing standpoint.
The NUC (next unit of computing) is Intel's main “face” in this area, but the company ultimately doesn't have much to offer in terms of looks and style. It's a processor maker, primarily, not a case developer. So it needs to team up with others.
Xi3 has agreed to team up with Intel for this, to make NUC cases (not that there already aren't a few out there), and help create a newer, different form factor as well.
That means that, in theory, we could see the emergence of a new sort of small form factor PC in a few months' time. The case would be made by Xi3 and Intel's hardware would probably be tailored to fit it.
Alas, Intel and Xi3 have not elaborated on the nature of their partnership, so whatever they're planning with the NUC or its possible successors remains unknown.