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Introducing the VIA APC – a $49 Android computer

Introducing the VIA APC – a $49 Android computer

APC board article

There has certainly been no shortage of hype around single-board computers of late—between the runaway success of the Raspberry Pi project and the appearance of thumb drive-sized Chinese offerings it was only a matter of time until a major manufacturer took an interest in the area; enter VIA ‘APC 8750’.

The newest addition to their range of small form factor products, the APC is a ‘Neo-ITX’ board based around an ARM WonderMedia SoC clocked in at 800MHz with 512MB DDR3 RAM and 2GB flash storage for the bundled OS, an Android Gingerbread build tweaked for mouse and keyboard input. The Neo-ITX form factor itself is a novelty—rather than produce the APC on a more conventional Nano/Pico-ITX platform VIA have chosen to create what is a essentially a Mini-ITX board cut down the centre—presumably to retain compatibility with Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX cases.

APC Neo-ITX

Form factor aside, the APC features a fairly comprehensive array of connectors with the basic 10/100 Ethernet, VGA, USB and audio in/out supplemented with an integrated microSD slot and HDMI out. Interestingly the board includes front panel/fan headers as well as a 4 pin +12V ‘P4’ connector which would allow it to obtain the 13.5W max (or 4W idle) of power it needs from a conventional ATX PSU or through the power jack on the rear panel.

APC I/O

The APC is an intriguing product and though superficially similar to a certain raspberry-flavoured single board computer, it’s subtly different in its aim. The Raspberry Pi was created as a tool for experimentation and education. Sold without operating system or case, and designed to be powered by a phone charger, the Pi was conceived as a way to inspire creativity in school children, whereas the the APC feels like the same ARM computer concept reworked into a drop-in replacement for a conventional x86 motherboard. Sure, there are some odd design choices—despite the HDMI port, video output is capped at a disappointing 720p, and the use of a microSD slot on a product easily large enough for a full size SD card is just plain strange—but the APC still has the potential to be a cheap, if basic, computer—which is rather the point. Billed as a reinvention of the computer with an awareness of online storage cloud applications, the APC is fundamentally based on the idea that ‘a very low cost computer—with access to the Internet—can be just as valuable as a much more expensive computer’.

Although it remains to be seen whether this philosophy works out for VIA, punters wanting to get their hands on an APC should be able to pre-order on their website soon with the first units expected to ship in July.

Comments

  1. TheAlertHusky
    TheAlertHusky This is awesome. I really want to buy one of these...are they for sale in retailers? Or would I have to buy it online?
  2. MAGIC
    MAGIC I think stuff like this is cool as hell. Makes me want to put computers in every room of my home, and car.
  3. TheAlertHusky
  4. Basil
    Basil
    Are they for sale in retailers? Or would I have to buy it online?
    They aren't quite at the stage of accepting orders but the boards will eventually be available at apc.io where you can sign up to be notified when pre-orders open.
  5. midga
    midga Needs wireless.
  6. Thrax
    Thrax Anyone know what ARM ISA the Wonderwhatever CPU is based on?
  7. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum psssshhh, technical details mean nothing when they are providing us with a bicycle for your mind.
  8. Basil
    Basil Press release makes reference only to a WonderMedia ARM11 SoC.
    I would assume that means it'll be a PRIZM WM8750 (ARM1176JZF) as that's what's in the demo units pictured and it's the only ARM 11 SoC they currently produce but there's no official word yet.
  9. Thrax
    Thrax Alright. An old ISA, the same as RPi, I think.
  10. Basil
    Basil Yep, 100MHz slower clock on the Pi though it could win out on the GPU front.

  11. TheAlertHusky
    TheAlertHusky Actually, would you be able to wipe it and install Pi on it?
  12. Basil
    Basil Website hasn't updated but you can pre-order here.

    Shipping is $38 for North America/Europe, so $87 all in.
    Not sure if I'm willing to risk customs with one but hopefully an EU distributor will import them.
  13. midga
    midga
    Website hasn't updated but you can pre-order here.

    Shipping is $38 for North America/Europe, so $87 all in.
    Not sure if I'm willing to risk customs with one but hopefully an EU distributor will import them.
    I saw that. Was going to be in for one until I saw that I'd be paying 80% cost again in shipping. Makes me start to seriously reconsider a beaglebone or raspberry pi... or, you know, none of them.

    TBH, if I got the APC, I'd almost certainly be using it as a media box and way to play my Android games, and the 720p limitation makes me hesitate. I think this is going to go on the list right under the DSO Nano V2, or the DSO Quad (mostly if it ever gets the nifty wrist-mounted thing going on from the pre-production concept :3 (though the QA100 is tempting, too... )). ...anyway, yeah, this falls below O-Scope now.

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