Stick Computer May Set Stage For Next Gen Computing

Stick Computer May Set Stage For Next Gen Computing

This sounds like science fiction come to life.

A tiny computer, about the size of a BIC Lighter, that features a dual-core 1.2-GHz processor, 1GB RAM, a USB port, and HDMI port, a microSD port for attaching storage, and WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

It’s developer, a Norwegian company called FXI Technologies, has named the little computer ‘Cotton Candy’.

Cotton-Candy[3]FXI explains the name in a blog post they posted on their site yesterday, saying that cotton candy “… was the most similar existing object that describes somewhat what it is doing: a stick connecting a cloud to your hand!”

Cotton Candy runs on Android OS, and when plugged into a desktop computer’s usb port, Android will appear in a virtualized window on the screen. But being able to use Android on a PC is just the start. Cotton Candy is designed to run Android on any laptop, HDTV, phone, set-top box or tablet. One possible use would be to plug it into the HDMI port of an HDTV, turning the HDTV a monitor. Then a Bluetooth enabled keyboard, mouse or tablet can be used to input data and control the system. Users would be able to run apps, manage documents, and save files to a cloud. Basically it can make any TV with an HDMI port a smart TV. It seem to us that this would be very useful for presentations.

Other possible uses, according to FXI, would be: making PC’s dual OS bootable; displaying a smartphone display onto a larger screen, monitor or HDTV through WiFi; turning old monitors into a computer; or giving new life an old/outdated computer by plugging in Cotton Candy.

Cotton Candy is expected to debut on the market in 2012, for “considerably less than $200”, according to FXI.


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Author Profile: Consumer Expert Jimmy Borough

Jimmy is an assistant editor and a writer here at News For Shoppers. He has more than two decades of experience in the shopping industry, having worked in sales and marketing in both the technology and fashion industries.

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