VIA Hops on the Low Cost PC Bandwagon with a $49 APC Android System
The vibe Silicon Valley must be getting from the masses is that low cost, pint-sized PCs are the wave of the future, hence why we're seeing so many of them recently. The most popular of the bunch right now is the Raspberry Pi PC, but lo and behold, VIA is jumping in the ring with a $49 APC Android PC.
"APC brings the familiarity and convenience of Android to the PC at a US$49 price point that will open up exciting new markets and applications," said Richard Brown, VP of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Like a bicycle for your mind, APC will enable more people than ever before to explore the vast online universe."
The system consists of a Neo-ITX motherboard that can hooked up to a TV or PC monitor. It measures just 17cm x 8.5cm, can be housed in a standard mini-ITX or micro-ATX chassis, and consumes just 4 watts at idle and 13.5 watts under load. An ARM-based VIA processor clocked at 800MHz does the heavy lifting and is helped by 512MB of DDR3 memory, 2GB of NAND flash storage, and built-in 2D/3D graphics with support for up to 720p. It also has an HDMI port, VGA port, four USB 2.0 ports, audio outputs, a microSD card slot, GbE LAN port, and a custom build of Android 2.3.
APC says it will be accepting pre-orders soon and expects to ship in early July. If you want to be notified when it's released, you can plug in your email address here.
"APC brings the familiarity and convenience of Android to the PC at a US$49 price point that will open up exciting new markets and applications," said Richard Brown, VP of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Like a bicycle for your mind, APC will enable more people than ever before to explore the vast online universe."
The system consists of a Neo-ITX motherboard that can hooked up to a TV or PC monitor. It measures just 17cm x 8.5cm, can be housed in a standard mini-ITX or micro-ATX chassis, and consumes just 4 watts at idle and 13.5 watts under load. An ARM-based VIA processor clocked at 800MHz does the heavy lifting and is helped by 512MB of DDR3 memory, 2GB of NAND flash storage, and built-in 2D/3D graphics with support for up to 720p. It also has an HDMI port, VGA port, four USB 2.0 ports, audio outputs, a microSD card slot, GbE LAN port, and a custom build of Android 2.3.
APC says it will be accepting pre-orders soon and expects to ship in early July. If you want to be notified when it's released, you can plug in your email address here.
