Two-inch-square Space Cube computer gets shown off

The two-inch-square Space Cube computer has apparently been making the rounds in Japan for some time now, but PC Pro has finally managed to sneak one into the UK and, thankfully for us, they've decided to share. This one packs a 300MHz NEC VR5701 processor, 64MB of RAM, a 1GB CompactFlash card, and a special version of Red Hat Linux, along with a single USB port, VGA out, built-in Ethernet and, most importantly for its target market, a SpaceWire port, which is used by the likes of NASA and the European Space Agency. Unfortunately for hobbyists that may have gotten their hopes up, while the price was initially estimated to be a reasonable $325, it now looks like it could be demanding upwards of £1,500 (or over $2,700) but the time it's officially released outside of Japan, although it seems like it will at least actually be sold to the general public.

[Via Slashdot]

[KEROLiUKAS @ Aug 27th 2008 5:59PM]

Pretty damn cool, if it was like 100-200 bux though..

[YesHone @ Aug 27th 2008 6:11PM]

Sounds about like the pricing for the Mac Mini...

[Kiwi616 @ Aug 27th 2008 6:15PM]

It's funny that this contraption has as much or more ports than the MB Air :)

[Flashpoint @ Aug 27th 2008 6:30PM]

We are the Borg.

[OneLove @ Aug 27th 2008 6:31PM]

...but can it play crysis. (I know, I know)

[Jeremy K. @ Aug 27th 2008 6:38PM]

They probably don't want to go through the trouble of making another one.

[thedesolate1 @ Aug 27th 2008 6:42PM]

I bet they will slap a "Windows Vista Capable" sticker on that too...

[Flashpoint @ Aug 27th 2008 6:52PM]

are you kidding me?

Where's the Blu Ray drive.

[Sky @ Aug 27th 2008 7:08PM]

Mmmmm... Hex bolts.

[rcheale @ Aug 27th 2008 7:30PM]

@ flashpoint

does it look like it would fit even a floppy disk?

[ntlam @ Aug 27th 2008 7:40PM]

can it play crisis? yes... but not now... maybe after 5 years a computer with this foot print will.

it's a quite interesting small hardware... for the good mind or bad.... interesting....

[Rubicon @ Aug 27th 2008 7:41PM]

haha the price for this thing looks like the pricing for an EEE pc

[konshuss @ Aug 28th 2008 9:06AM]

who made this thing, MacGuyver?

[)law( @ Aug 27th 2008 6:01PM]

Where is the hot model to pose by it and show it off :-(

[jared @ Aug 27th 2008 6:20PM]

They couldn't find a hot dwarf or midget that wanted to geek out and model next to this computer.

[scott @ Aug 27th 2008 7:58PM]

they ran out of models due to the eee

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 2:54AM]

The first explanation was funnier.

[Saad Rabia @ Aug 27th 2008 6:02PM]

They sell such things in a sexier form and much cheaper prices with almost the exact specs; they are called: Mobile Phones.

[Jon Doe. @ Aug 27th 2008 6:10PM]

Yah because my mobile phone has VGA out, USB in, audio line in, audio line out, Ethernet and is designed to be a dedicated computer for something.

A phone is a phone. This is a designed to be a multipurpose computer, and with SpaceWire with obvious applications.

[Saad Rabia @ Aug 27th 2008 6:41PM]

Well, my mobile phone (which happens to be a 2 weeks old Samsung Omnia) has a USB in and out, WiFi, Video Out & Audio Out, an Audio in (as a mic), a mouse pad and much more hardware juice; I don't see what can stop a geek from turning it into a Linux based mini computer anytime!

Look, I'm not a professional or an expert in this stuff, I have a good understanding in these things, and I can't help but think that sometimes, tech people just run the whole big mile while the answer is always in the start line!

Why couldn't they add WiFi into this thing? Why no GSM card slot? Why isn't there any mini displays for better communication with the device when a monitor is not present?

A Phone is not a phone anymore, a phone is a portable-almost-there mini PC, the type of technology these things have in them is mind boggling.

[Sturmgeist @ Aug 27th 2008 6:52PM]

GSM card slot? Good luck picking up a signal in space.

On an unrelated note, you probably WOULD try that, right...

[allen @ Aug 27th 2008 7:11PM]

It's a development system. That's the appeal. It has a bunch of ports (esp. JTAG to allow for easier debugging) that makes it great for development. Sure, your cellphone has the processing power, but it's not going to be as convenient to develop and hack than this.

[Mark @ Aug 27th 2008 7:28PM]

to those who responded negatively: yes, you're right, phones don't have those plug-ins but that's just cause normal people don't need them. Adding things like a VGA port and such simply doesn't cost $2000

[Jason @ Aug 27th 2008 7:48PM]

Adding things like a VGA port and such simply doesn't cost $2000...at least not until you have to replace 50-100 pairs of pants when the super-sleek VGA port wears through your pocketses.

[Jon Doe. @ Aug 27th 2008 6:04PM]

Now if there was some high cap bus on each side so I could link 4, 26, etc....mmmmm parallel processing goodness, Borg fashion.

[Christian Walters @ Aug 27th 2008 6:36PM]

perhaps via a USB hub that could be accompished? I totally agree though man, get 3 or 4 of these babies, slap some barebones Linux on it, and away we go!

[blue @ Aug 27th 2008 7:29PM]

not a USB hub, but a ethernet switch would work for connecting them, but as far as price / performance you are better off with a single quad core on a micro atx motherboard. It would take up less room than the crap load of these things that would be required get the same performance.

[Jason @ Aug 27th 2008 7:43PM]

Yeah, an ethernet cube with 6 RJ45 connectors, one on each side.....doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot, ....

[Christian Walters @ Aug 27th 2008 10:42PM]

True, it would be wasting space, but it would win with coolness appeal!

[gad get @ Aug 28th 2008 2:56AM]

Talk about a waste of 10 grand though.

[CarrotAndStick @ Aug 27th 2008 6:05PM]

2-inch "square"?


CUBE!!!

[Muhammed @ Aug 27th 2008 6:31PM]

they refer to one face being 2" in diagonal
if they said 2" cube they would be referring to the cube's main diagonal "in 3-D"
a 2-inch cube would actually have a 1.63" face diagonal, so no, it's not the same.

[thedesolate1 @ Aug 27th 2008 6:47PM]

I don't care what you say! Im gonna use this to summon Pinhead and the gang! >=]

[Ken @ Aug 27th 2008 8:25PM]

Since when do people denote cube size by their diagonals?!? Where the hell did you go to school? 2"^3 (aka 2" CUBED) is 2"x2"x2" plain and simple. Go have a machinist make a cubic block with the diagonal as your base dimension and come back here and tell us how you got his shoe out of your ass.

[sinjinn @ Aug 27th 2008 9:01PM]

i totally bpught the "measuring in 3d diagonal"... lol. i did maths at college too.

[hurricane @ Aug 27th 2008 9:23PM]

According to the manufacturer's website, it's 52 mm x 52 mm x 54 mm, which is 2.04724409" x 2.04724409" x 2.12598425" (you can thank Google for the conversion)

Reference:
http://www.shimafuji.co.jp/product/spacecube01.html

[Muhammed @ Aug 27th 2008 10:32PM]

Don't bother Ken, Sorry for the misunderstanding, you are totally right, I got confused between area's and volumes, I actually realized it a while ago but I couldn't erase that stupid comment.

[HAHA122 @ Aug 28th 2008 4:01AM]

i hear u. its funny because its true. hahahaha :) this thing is so crap. and what the hell is space wire????

[Neil @ Aug 27th 2008 6:07PM]

Doesnt sound like the internals are much different than say an HTC Advantage, so why does it cost so much?

[Jon Doe. @ Aug 27th 2008 6:11PM]

My money is on SpaceWire.

[Mycroft @ Aug 27th 2008 6:57PM]

Because it is going to be sold to NASA and the ESA.

[dennis @ Aug 27th 2008 6:25PM]

Because it's a government funded project.
And because of Space Wire.

[Eric Leung @ Aug 27th 2008 11:16PM]

Because this is a cube. The HTC touch is not.
That's why the allspark was a cube. Cube's are powerful.

[Eric Leung @ Aug 27th 2008 11:18PM]

HTC Advantage* (my bad)

[phanbouy @ Aug 27th 2008 6:08PM]

RESISTANCE IS....probably useful

[karts41 @ Aug 28th 2008 1:21AM]

hmm. cant say i know wat it would be gud for.

maybe as a medium for transfering files between devices
or programed to perform tasks on the fly
(ie crop photos, record/transcode audio, other stuff???)

[karts41 @ Aug 28th 2008 1:21AM]

hmm. cant say i know wat it would be gud for.

maybe as a medium for transfering files between devices
or programed to perform tasks on the fly
(ie crop photos, record/transcode audio, other stuff???)

[Mr. Fax Sender @ Aug 27th 2008 6:08PM]

Aww, it's a miniature version of the Borg Cube. How cute.

[DiGiC @ Aug 27th 2008 6:12PM]

300MHz? how old is this thing? Get an ARM9 or ATOM in there & Dual DVI's and we're in bussiness...

[Ryan @ Aug 27th 2008 10:23PM]

ARM9? Psh. How about a Cortex A8? http://www.beagleboard.org