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.
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.
The components might meet Android 4 requirements but you often don't have the info needed to write drivers for them
Typically for lower end parts the makers implemented the simplest cheapest thing they could get away with - so buggy limited and out of date drivers - and they have bought in modules from others, so nobody has the complete specs.
For better system the code in the SoC (and GPU especially) is what distinguishes it from other models and competitors so they are very careful about who they give details out to. Otherwise you could buy their $1 SoC and turn on the features in the $5 part.
If you are a Samsung or an Apple you can control the supply chain better and insist on having the info and compliant drivers - but most of these are aimed at mobile phone makers who rely on you having to buy a new model every 18months rather than doing updates.
Cyanogen etc do a very good job of custom kernels but they can rarely insert a much newer driver into an older chipset.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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...
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.
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."
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.
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.
> It wasn't $99 at bestbuy, it was $300 when it was released
It was also $99 at Best Buy. It wasn't successful at that price either. Today's iPhone sales aren't determined by its initial pricing in 2007.
> Also it's still not $99, it's going for $150
That's a 3rd party seller listing because Amazon is sold out. Amazon has it refurbished for $99, which is probably just old stock stores sent back to Logitech, which they sent back out for sale with "Now with Android 3.0" stickers added to the boxes.
Even if it's not, it's essentially the same price as pre-ordering this mystery box, yet comes with and does much more.
The OP of this thread said that a ready-to-go box selling @ $50 would sell like pancakes. You mentioned the Logitech Revue as having already been that, but you are completely wrong, it was never $99 at bestbuy, it was $299, then $249 and then discontinued.
The Logitech Revue never retailed at $99 like you are trying to pass off as being true, sure now that they are discontinued you can find them refurbished on Amazon at that price but it's not the same thing and doesn't rebut the OPs point.
What an asshole. I do not appreciate being called a liar by an egotistical fool passing off his own misinformation as a correction. I have said nothing untrue or dishonest. Yours is one of the most angering posts I've read on HN in 4+ years.
The Revue retailed for $99 new for almost a year, since mid 2011, until stores ran out of stock. Here's the announcement direct from Logitech's VP, Digital Home Group, about the retail price drop to $99 at all stores:
Best Buy carried it at $299, $249, $129, and $99 all in new condition. The $99 price was in early 2011, raised to $129 in November 2011, and dropped back to $99 before going out of stock. You can find these price points in Google through mentions on sites like Slickdeals that tracked the price drops.
Sears carried it for $99. Newegg carried it for $99. I'm sure other stores did too. You can still buy it new for $99 from TigerDirect.
Next time you feel compelled to call someone out as a liar, be damned sure you're actually right about it.
You're right when you say Netflix Canada offers very little in comparsion to Netflix US; but Google TV does not require any accounts that are only available to US customers. That is also wrong. You just need ANY google account. You can make one when you purchase the device.
Ok, they either changed the rules or I misread them.
But it's why an opensource solution is the only thing that would work. Netflix aren't going to have good Youtube support and Amazon aren't going to do a good job of Netflix, neither will do the BBC. And when some online service marginally changes its system - a cheap HW maker like Logitech isn't going to put effort into an update.
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.
Is there something about Android 4.0 that makes it difficult to work with from a hardware perspective?