A pocket PC for $ 25

Do you know David Braben? Maybe I should do if you say it is the head of Frontier Developments, a British study after games like Rollercoaster Tycoon, Thrilville, Lost Winds and Kinectimals. There will go down by any of them, for his latest creation far outweighs any gains playable implicit to such works.

Braben has been proposed to promote computer literacy in schools. Not talking about basic office knowledge, but more technical: What parts make a computer? What type of architecture unites them? The answer would be given by a tiny hardware that students could not only break but also used in basic programming tasks, for example.

When it comes to tiny hardware we mean neither more nor less than a computer, contained in the space occupied by all USB and a manufacturing cost under $ 25, which would allow free distribution in the classroom, that is, full access technology.

This PC has an HDMI port on one end and USB on the other. Simply connect any monitor with HDMI and USB keyboard and have a basic computer capable of running Linux, equipped with an ARM11 processor at 700MHz with 128MB of RAM and supports OpenGL ES 2.0 (graphics support up to 1080p). Even implements a port for SD cards, only one of the many possibilities for expansion, annexing several modules can most notably a 12MP camera.

What can? Allows web browsing, office programs and boot full multimedia playback. Who can think and in pocket music players when there are as impressive as it digests? If it surprised us how a simple smartphone can replace a whole team that we fit a computer in your pocket lets us directly bowlegged.

Its distribution is expected within a maximum period of one year by Pi Raspberry Foundation, charitable foundation responsible for promoting computer studies in schools. Be seen now if a company is interested in the invention and if it just out of the UK. It would be a more optimal solution to the massive distribution of netbooks that some governments promised to their classrooms.

A pocket PC for $ 25 written on ALT1040 on 6 May, 2011 by José Carlos Castillo
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