Computers Are Almost Free...

The inexorable hardware march toward smaller size, lower cost, higher performance continues apace.  The board pictured at right is an ODROID-U2, half the size of a credit card.  It's powered by an Exynos 4412 1.7 GHz quad-core ARM processor, sports 2 GB of RAM, and includes 10/100 mbps Ethernet, an HDMI 3D accelerated video system, full digital audio, a serial port, an SD card slot, a eMMC socket, and three USB 2.0 ports.  All for $89.  Absolutely awesome!

The list of accessories is intriguing for anyone interested in building custom hardware – amongst the accessories is a board with a PIC 18F45K50-QFN microcontroller, with on-board 10 bit A/D, 5 bit D/A, and all sorts of other I/O capability.  The ODROID-U2 equipped with that board gives you a box roughly 2.5 inches on a side, fanless, that can run Linux and Java and talk to just about anything.  Also interesting: for $12 you can add WiFi to this thing.

Just a few years ago this sort of setup would have set you back over $1,000, and would occupy a large shoebox with a noisy fan.  What do you think it will be a few years from now?  I'm betting smaller than an iPhone, battery powered, and under $50...