FXI Puts A Powerful Cloud Client in Your Pocket with Cotton Candy

[btarunr]

Norwegian company FXI aims to grab some attention with its latest creation, the Cotton Candy. Simply put, this is a thumb drive-sized device that either plugs into a PC/notebook using USB, or a TV/display using HDMI, and works as a cloud-client computer. In its tiny form of 8 x 2.5 cm (L x W), this cloud-client packs an ARM Cortex-A9 1.20 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, ARM Mali-400MP quad-core GPU, a micro-SDHC card reader, and connectivity that includes Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, WiFi b/g/n, and USB; stuff high-end smartphones are made of.

You can simply plug this to your HDTV, connect wireless keyboard and mouse that support Bluetooth or WiFi, and end up with a cloud-ready desktop powered by either Android or Ubuntu. You can even connect your Android smartphone to it and use its touchscreen as an input device. With your more powerful desktop or notebook, you can simply plug Cotton Candy to a USB port and boot from it (like you'd boot from a flash drive). The OS loads up, and you have your cloud desktop ready to go. Besides its compact form, Cotton Candy weighs as little as 21 grams. It is expected to be priced under US $200.



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[Inceptor]

A vision of the future, I think.
10-15 years from now.

 

[de.das.dude]

awesome!

 

[NC37]

Heh, computer on a stick.

BUT CAN IT PLAY DOOM?!!!

 

[btarunr]

Heh, computer on a stick.

BUT CAN IT PLAY DOOM?!!!

Sure, there are plenty of Doom launchers for Linux and Android, if you have the .wad files.

The question you should be asking is "can it run Quake 3 Arena?". The answer is tilting in favour of yes.

 

[theJesus]

I'm not sure how this qualifies as "cloud." What cloud is it supposed to be connecting to?

Heh, computer on a stick.

BUT CAN IT PLAY DOOM?!!!

Dude, my MP3-player from ~8 years ago could play doom. And all that had was a couple of ARM processors at 80mhz.

 

[Per Hansson]

Sure, there are plenty of Doom launchers for Linux and Android, if you have the .wad files.

The question you should be asking is "can it run Quake 3 Arena?". The answer is tilting in favour of yes.

My 4 years old Nokia N82 can play Quake3 just fine

http://koti.mbnet.fi/hinkka/Download.html

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Dude, my MP3-player from ~8 years ago could play doom. And all that had was a couple of ARM processors at 80mhz.

+1

I had a Sandisk Sansa E280 with rockbox installed that could play doom - or at least wolfenstein3D.

good times.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Where does the cloud come into it or am I just being silly, it's an tiny PC on a stick, there is no cloud anything afaics

 

[cmberry20]

Sod Doom & Quake 3..... It plays Angry Birds!!!

NEED ONE NOW!!!

 

[Sasqui]

Where does the cloud come into it or am I just being silly, it's an tiny PC on a stick, there is no cloud anything afaics

Same thought here, cloud typically uses a local cache storage for content (that can be HUGE). It's got WiFi, so the connection is there, but where's the storage? NAS???

In any event, this is way cool. I suspect that Apple TV will be something along the same lines, but a complete solution, including an overpriced TV.

 

[de.das.dude]

Sod Doom & Quake 3..... It plays Angry Birds!!!

NEED ONE NOW!!!

I can play angry birds on my phone. touch screens are way better than mice.

 

[TiN]

Where to order? I'll take two right now. ARM FTW.

 

[WarraWarra]

Yes it should run quake3 same as firefox that runs quake3 using webgl.
Not sure if anyone tried quake3 arena should run the same.

Just google for " webgl quake3 " and get the firefox4+ and nokia webcl files http://webcl.nokiaresearch.com/ , you might then want to re-test peacekeeper browser test again to see your new 1000+ score.

Damn nice idea and size FXI, price is a bit high but should come down to (cost + profit) total retail of USD$38.00. I wonder why they did not use the quad core with mali 8core gpu for this FXI expensive sales prices.

You can get this all in a dual core, quad band mobile phone with dual sim and tv tuner included for $78 to $128 "iPhone 7" replacement delivered to your door so this FXI prices is too high.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

You can get this all in a dual core, quad band mobile phone with dual sim and tv tuner included for $78 to $128 "iPhone 7" replacement delivered to your door so this FXI prices is too high.

Not the size of a USB stick you can't so stop comparing apples to oranges and making bananas!

 

[WarraWarra]

Where does the cloud come into it or am I just being silly, it's an tiny PC on a stick, there is no cloud anything afaics

+1 yup was wondering the same, can see there is a use for the extra power or maybe they are trying to suggest you boot form this FXI to linux and then use the distcc or use your FXI + laptop as a node in a DrQueue cluster render but then you still need another pc as server.

Not sure how many of these you can plug into the limited usb slots on a laptop , maybe more on a desktop and then do DrQueue then it would make sense ie: 2x xeon EVGA sr-2/3 quad sli + 8 FXI that should do something for number crunching and save on electricity vs 12 pc's doing something similar.

 

[1freedude]

i think the cloud idea comes from rdp or vnc. besides web, that is the most used app on my android devices. and if you can do that, you can stream (with media player of some sort) anything if it will play/display. this also overcomes limitations of android...i can't edit google docs on my galaxy s, but if i vnc into my pc, i can do it, anywhere.


...the cloud

 

[hhumas]

awesome gadget

 

[Irony]

Heh, computer on a stick.

BUT CAN IT PLAY DOOM?!!!

No no no, look at the picture; IT CAN PLAY ANGRY BIRDS!!! ANGRY BIRDS RIO at that!!!!

Now, since it has $27.36 worth of parts, the price should be lowered to $50 bucks.

 

[de.das.dude]

No no no, look at the picture; IT CAN PLAY ANGRY BIRDS!!! ANGRY BIRDS RIO at that!!!!

Now, since it has $27.36 worth of parts, the price should be lowered to $50 bucks.

the irony in that comment LOL.

 

[Wile E]

How does it get power when connected over HDMI?

 

[Irony]

How does it get power when connected over HDMI?

Don't underestimate the power of an angry bird.

 

[1freedude]

How does it get power when connected over HDMI?

You need a connection to the usb at the same time (mass storage, hub, etc.). Just for power. For example, my tv has a usb slot for jpegs and mp3...run an extension from that to the Cotton Candy plugged into HDMI.

I wanna know which version of android it will run...

 

[Jstn7477]

Nice stick (best specs I have seen for one of these). Maybe I didn't catch it, but is the OS stored locally or in "the cloud?" If the latter, then it will probably be sluggish.

 

[WarraWarra]

It should be part of the firmware same as most android phones so you can root and load what ever version of android on it, well after you build it for the specific hardware or used a generic version and modded some files.
You should also be able to mod the boot loader and dual boot to some on board storage and load ubuntu from there if not default os or any other linux or remote storage using the kernel cmd line option.
Ah see the micro sd card slot, should be the same as on our phones and dual booting.