Two-inch-square Space Cube computer gets shown off
By Donald Melanson 
posted Aug 27th 2008 5:57PM
posted Aug 27th 2008 5:57PM
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]
[Via Slashdot]
Pretty damn cool, if it was like 100-200 bux though..
Sounds about like the pricing for the Mac Mini...
It's funny that this contraption has as much or more ports than the MB Air :)
We are the Borg.
...but can it play crysis. (I know, I know)
They probably don't want to go through the trouble of making another one.
I bet they will slap a "Windows Vista Capable" sticker on that too...
are you kidding me?
Where's the Blu Ray drive.
Mmmmm... Hex bolts.
@ flashpoint
does it look like it would fit even a floppy disk?
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....
haha the price for this thing looks like the pricing for an EEE pc
who made this thing, MacGuyver?
Where is the hot model to pose by it and show it off :-(
They couldn't find a hot dwarf or midget that wanted to geek out and model next to this computer.
they ran out of models due to the eee
The first explanation was funnier.
They sell such things in a sexier form and much cheaper prices with almost the exact specs; they are called: Mobile Phones.
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.
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.
GSM card slot? Good luck picking up a signal in space.
On an unrelated note, you probably WOULD try that, right...
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.
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
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.
Now if there was some high cap bus on each side so I could link 4, 26, etc....mmmmm parallel processing goodness, Borg fashion.
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!
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.
Yeah, an ethernet cube with 6 RJ45 connectors, one on each side.....doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot, doodly-doot, ....
True, it would be wasting space, but it would win with coolness appeal!
Talk about a waste of 10 grand though.
2-inch "square"?
CUBE!!!
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.
I don't care what you say! Im gonna use this to summon Pinhead and the gang! >=]
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.
i totally bpught the "measuring in 3d diagonal"... lol. i did maths at college too.
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
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.
i hear u. its funny because its true. hahahaha :) this thing is so crap. and what the hell is space wire????
Doesnt sound like the internals are much different than say an HTC Advantage, so why does it cost so much?
My money is on SpaceWire.
Because it is going to be sold to NASA and the ESA.
Because it's a government funded project.
And because of Space Wire.
Because this is a cube. The HTC touch is not.
That's why the allspark was a cube. Cube's are powerful.
HTC Advantage* (my bad)
RESISTANCE IS....probably useful
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???)
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???)
Aww, it's a miniature version of the Borg Cube. How cute.
300MHz? how old is this thing? Get an ARM9 or ATOM in there & Dual DVI's and we're in bussiness...
ARM9? Psh. How about a Cortex A8? http://www.beagleboard.org