Intel’s is expanding its line of Compute Stick mini-PCs in 2016, so I decided to accompany my 2nd-gen Intel Compute Stick review with a state-of-the-stick episode of LPX.
This episode features interviews with Intel’s marketing manager for the lineup and Ian Morrison, an Australian developer who has been working to port Ubuntu and other open source software to run on Intel’s tiny desktop computers.
The Intel Compute Stick is a full-fledged computer, but it looks more like a USB flash drive than a PC. Stick it into the HDMI port of your TV and you can run Windows software on the big screen.
The first PC-on-a-stick devices launched in 2012, but models like the Rikomagic MK802 featured ARM processors and Android software. We started to see models with Intel chips and Windows software in late 2014, and Intel launched its own Compute Sticks in 2015.
This year the company is expanding the lineup with several new models featuring more powerful processors, better WiFi, and other improvements.
It’s not just the hardware that’s changing: Intel offered models with Windows or Ubuntu software in 2015. But the 2016 lineup will be available with Windows 10 or no operating system at all. If you want to install Ubuntu, Android, Chromium, or another operating system, you’ll have to do it yourself.
That’s one of the reasons I wanted to speak with Ian Morrison. He’s put more effort into porting Ubuntu to run on Intel’s stick PCs than anyone else that I’m aware of, and he’s particularly excited about some of the changes coming to the Compute Stick lineup in 2016… although he also wonders whether PC sticks will one day be replaced by smartphones that can connect to your TV.
You can find Morrison’s latest work at his website, Linuxium.com.au, as well as at his Google+ page.
Program Notes
- 0:00 – 1:52 Introduction
- 1:52 – 21:45 Bruce Patterson
- 21:55 – 36:43 Ian Morrison
- 36:48 Preview for episode 3
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:42 — 26.6MB)
Still listening to this episode in my car.
You can safely skip interviewing marketing folks as they mostly speak the same old vague B.S. Opening my car windows saved me from a catastrophic dozing off …..
Intel has a tough ‘row to hoe’ as the x86 is more complex and expensive than its competition. Too bad AMD didn’t ditch the obsolescent parts of the architecture when they went to 64 bits.
I find sticks like this fascinating even though the first guest was a little too terrified of going off script to engage the way your other guests do. To me, whether it’s intel or not, these sticks are the foundation of that computer that follows you everywhere more than say, eoma68. Soemthing that can slowly evolve into a standard rather than the standard itself being enforced top down from inception. WiGig style docking could ease the cabling issues and have your pc stick work as the guts for multiple devices simultaneously (ex.gutless dumb phone and lapdock). Continuum with HP Elite and ARM is like an interesting prototype. Continuum across 4-5 screen types powered by Core M feels like something that actually works.
You know who you should track down for LPX? Steve Perlman at Artemis in re pCell. The core tech is a workaround for bandwidth scarcity that bypasses the old understanding of Shannon’s law by exploiting interference rather than fighting it, and it can work on existing networks (i.e., it can replace LTE but it can also enhance it). One interesting part is that they have hinted that this tech has wireless power delivery potential as well. Most existing coverage happened years ago when this was a proof of concept and I think almost none of it explored the wireless power possibilities beyond mentioning they exist. You might be able to get ahead of the coverage curve on them before they’re hot news again.