APC, $49 Android computer, now accepting pre-orders

by techietim • 14 years ago

44 46 14 years ago

ukdm• 14 years ago

Carries a $38 shipping charge for US/Canada/Europe

moystard2• 14 years ago

They just announced the preorder, might be worth waiting for suppliers to sell them on their behalf in the rest of the world.

excuse-me9• 14 years ago

It might be one of those under $49 for headline and customs (tax+duty)but we make the money on the $50 shipping.

But since you can buy 7" resistive tablets for <$70 inc shipping from all the online chinese stores this shouldn't be too difficult to bring in a screen and battery-less device at this price.

zabuni• 14 years ago

For close to that, you could easily get an ICS device from dealextreme.

For a $100 with no shipping cost you can get something with an A9.

http://dx.com/p/google-android-4-0-hdmi-tv-box-w-4gb-wifi-rj...

short_circut• 14 years ago

It probably doesn't actually cost $49 dollars is why.

joelhaasnoot• 14 years ago

They're email has bad wording then: "APC can be shipped worldwide at a price of $49."

I tried peordering just after I got the email but they were already out of stock supposedly.

astrodust2• 14 years ago

Yet another brand-new Android 2.3 device.

Is there something about Android 4.0 that makes it difficult to work with from a hardware perspective?

excuse-me9• 14 years ago

Probably more a supply chain isssue.

Every component on this thing is bargain basement, so you use whatever driver the maker of the SoC core supplied. They are also bargain basement so have used whatever driver the GPU maker supplied.

So you are really using components that were 'new' a couple of years ago. The makers of this would have to put considerable time/money into making 4.0 drivers for components that are supplied through a chain of subcontractors none of who have the technical ability to help.

It is one of the big ironies of opensource Android that in a way it's a lot less open than a regular PC.

astrodust2• 14 years ago

So is it impossible or impractical because of the components not meeting Android 4.0 requirements, or is it because of software and driver issues?

I've never really seen a clear answer. Whatever the Cyanogen Mod team is up to, it must be damned tricky.

moystard2• 14 years ago

In my opinion, they have started working on that before the release of ICS..

I am curious about the user experience of this product. I am excited to see such a cheap PC, I have never been impressed by the usage of mouse/keyboard as inputs for Android. Android-x86 was a pain to use, and not only because it was buggy.

christiangenco• 14 years ago

I'm getting a 404 on apc.io.

89a• 14 years ago

http://apc.io/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/apc-screenshots/s...

Come on guys, get serious.

lsaferite• 14 years ago

Seems like they are hiding part of the cost in shipping. They are even charging $30 to deliver to Asia.

kno• 14 years ago

I don't actually see an Image of the device itself on the site.

runako• 14 years ago

Images are at http://apc.io/ at the top of the page.

Based on the description, I don't think it comes with a case:

"APC integrates memory, storage, and a full set of consumer I/O features in a small footprint Neo-ITX motherboard that can be connected to a TV or monitor."

gamdang• 14 years ago

You're right; no case.

"APC includes the system (with O/S) and a 13.5W, 9V/1.5A power adaptor. Case is not included."

http://apc.io/faq/what-is-included-in-apc/

xxiao• 14 years ago

to call a low-end x86 box with 2GB NAND a PC?

mrbill• 14 years ago

It's not x86. ARM11.

mtgx2• 14 years ago

"Chip VIA 800MHz Processor"

I'm confused by this. Is it a "VIA processor" or an ARM processor, made by VIA? I hope they didn't change the CPU mid-way with one of their own.

Edit: In their PR they say it's a "VIA WonderMedia ARM 11 SoC".

http://apc.io/files/2012/05/PR120522-APC-Final.pdf

excuse-me9• 14 years ago

ARM is a core design, there are no processors made by ARM - they only sell the IP. You can have an Apple ARM or a Samsung ARM or in this case a VIA ARM

This entire machine is made by VIA who also make the CPU. VIA are more famous for making low power x86 clones but that's nothing to do with this.

berdon• 14 years ago

I can't remember why I bookmarked and signed up for their pre-order alert... Why do I want to spend ~$100 on a dumbed down *nix device? Note: I am a mobile developer too but...my Asus Transformer was only moderately more expensive...

mtgx2• 14 years ago

The only useful application for this I'd say is if something in your old PC died, and instead of buying parts for it, you could buy this, and make it live longer.

izak30• 14 years ago

That's not a computer that's a cardboard box. It would probably be more effective to show a rendering + screen shots. They're not selling a box they're selling a computer.

excuse-me9• 14 years ago

It does a roll over into views of the PCB then the ports etc but they are being slashdotted by news.y... at the moment so it takes a while to change

Jagat• 14 years ago

http://apc.io/about/

There you go.

K2h• 14 years ago

besides small form factor, I care about power consumption:

[1] consumes 4 watts when operating at idle power and 13.5 watts at maximum load.

[1] http://apc.io/faq/what-is-the-power-consumption-of-apc/

excuse-me9• 14 years ago

The first company that made something like this which worked 'out of the box' with YouTube, Netflix, BBC, Skype and sold for $50 (ie $100 at Worst Buy) would do very well.

There are a lot of TV shows being watched on iPads because hooking up the big screen TV to a computer is too much effort / inconvenient for 'normal' people.

bornhuetter• 14 years ago

I think you can buy a cheap blu-ray player with internet access for not much more than that. No keyboard, but you can still watch YouTube, Netflix etc with basically no set up required.

dangrossman5• 14 years ago

What you just described is Google TV (Logitech Revue). It's Android 3.0, works "out of the box" with YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Video apps preinstalled and most every streaming site other than Hulu. No Skype but it did include its own video chat app. And it was $99 at Best Buy.

The product was a commercial failure. Logitech discontinued it last year. It's still available in some stores and online but once the stock is gone, it's gone.

excuse-me9• 14 years ago

And like most of the systems it only worked in the US

joenathan2• 14 years ago

It wasn't $99 at bestbuy, it was $300 when it was released, which is a big part of why it failed. http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/08/logitech-revue-with-googl...

Also it's still not $99, it's going for $150 new http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Companion-Google-Keyboard-Con...

thechut• 14 years ago

I was going to order until I realized it was actually going to be $87 not $49. This is only the first of many of these devices that should be coming soon

grandalf2• 14 years ago

I did the same. There's something odd about shipping costing 40% of the price.

utopkara• 14 years ago

The box hints at the size of the power brick. Yuck.

dangrossman5• 14 years ago

For $10 more (when you include shipping), you can get a Logitech Revue on Amazon.

* Google TV/Android 3.0 instead of Android 2.3

* Access to Google Play market, which this doesn't have

* 802.11b/g/n wifi, which this doesn't have

* A really nice wireless keyboard+touchpad controller

* Essentially identical power profile

* Logitech Harmony software built in; it can control just about every TV, receiver, DVD player, etc. in existence

grandalf2• 14 years ago

I think really nice is a bit of an exaggeration about the keyboard.

dangrossman5• 14 years ago

It's the best living room keyboard I've ever used. People have been buying them separately from the Revue just to use them with their other HTPC setups.

mattwdelong3• 14 years ago

Anyone aware of an inexpensive place to pick up a small touchscreen LCD?

APC, paired with a small touchscreen would be very useful in many situations.

APC, $49 Android computer, now accepting pre-orders

Related Stories