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posted by janrinok on Saturday January 14 2017, @09:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the now,-where-have-I-put-my-computer? dept.

Intel announced the Intel Compute Card at CES 2017. The devices are slightly larger than a credit card and are intended for release in mid-2017. Actual dimensions are 94.5 mm × 55 mm × 5 mm (compare to 85.60 mm × 53.98 mm for an ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 credit card):

The Intel Compute Card has been designed to be a universal computing platform for different kinds of devices, including those that do not exist yet. The ultimate goal is to simplify the way companies develop equipment, use, maintain, repair, and upgrade it. Creators of actual devices have to design a standard Intel Compute Card slot into their product and then choose an Intel Compute Card that meets their requirements in terms of feature-set and price. For example, PC makers could create systems in all-in-one or clamshell form-factors and then use Compute Cards instead of motherboards. For corporate customers that need to provide a lot of flexibility (and, perhaps, solve some security concerns too) - every employee has a card and can switch between PCs. In other markets such as automated retail kiosks, vendors can easily provide upgrades to deliver better functionality as Intel releases new Compute Cards in the future.

From a technology standpoint, Intel's Compute Card resembles the company's Compute Stick PC. However, its purpose is much wider: it is a small device that packs an Intel SoC or SiP (including Kaby Lake-based Core processors with vPro and other technologies), DRAM, NAND flash storage, a wireless module and so on into a small enclosure. Nonetheless, there are a number of important differences between the Compute Card and the Compute Stick. The Compute Card is a sealed system with "flexible I/O" in the form of a USB Type-C and an extension connector. The "flexible I/O" is not Thunderbolt (obviously, due to power consumption concerns), but it handles USB, PCIe, HDMI, DisplayPort connectivity and has some extra pins for future/proprietary use. Intel is currently working with a number of partners to enable the Compute Cards ecosystem. The list of global players includes Dell, HP, Lenovo and Sharp. There are also regional partners interested in the new form-factor, including Seneca Data, InFocus, DTx, TabletKiosk and Pasuntech.

Wait a second, it's just a smartphone without the screen and cellular connectivity!

Intel's existing Compute Stick line is not being updated with Kaby Lake processors (although given the similarity between Skylake and Kaby Lake performance, that may not say much about the future of Compute Stick).


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  • (Score: 2) by Foobar Bazbot on Saturday January 14 2017, @10:55PM

    by Foobar Bazbot (37) on Saturday January 14 2017, @10:55PM (#453943) Journal

    This is a (disturbingly) similar concept to EOMA68, which we discussed a few months ago [soylentnews.org], but more Intel's style. So it's got higher-end interfaces like PCIe and DP (which sounds good, but means a lot of low-cost SoCs can't be used, or require a fleet of extra ICs to support those interfaces) and it's an Intel/x86 monoculture. Don't know whether it's possible for third parties to make functional Compute Cards or not (e.g. if the cards must have Intel signatures), but it sure doesn't seem like Intel is encouraging it. (And why would they, when the ARM SoCs continually outperform Intel's low-end x86s on a per-watt basis? They're in this to make profits, not to improve the world.)

    But I don't want more x86 lock-in in my life -- I'm typing this on a net^H^H^Hchromebook with an RK3288, and it's all the performance I need or want in a laptop, at wonderfully low power consumption. (Yeah, I ssh to a real computer for anything too heavy for it.) I'll keep waiting for EOMA68, TYVM.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 14 2017, @11:07PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday January 14 2017, @11:07PM (#453947) Journal

    Lock-in? Who really cares? This and Compute Stick are probably useful. What's not useful is the pricing. Compute Stick was overpriced, and this thing looks business-centric so it might be priced the same way.

    Intel/x86 monoculture will be just x86 monoculture if AMD Ryzen succeeds in March.

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    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by edIII on Sunday January 15 2017, @12:12AM

      by edIII (791) on Sunday January 15 2017, @12:12AM (#453965)

      I care more about binary/blob free so that trust can be established from the hardware up. At the moment, that doesn't actually exist and the moment it does.... I will be "locked-in" to that manufacturer.

      At this point, it doesn't matter if the device gives the best blowjobs in the universe (known or otherwise) when it's impossible to trust the manufacturers, government, corporations, or intelligence communities. We desperately need hardware we can trust, and that comes before we can create software we can trust.

      In other words, I can't wait till I can compute on my very own without government/corporate chaperones.

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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 15 2017, @07:42PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 15 2017, @07:42PM (#454145)

        Its not too far off I think, but you'll have to make do with larger and less powerful devices.