Intel Compute Stick - <AUTHOR> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-compute-stick.html <comment><USER2> This looks awesome. Finally a piece of tech I actually want, and by Intel of all companies.

The bigger consumer companies have been shuffling their feet, releasing arbitrary, very closed off pieces of tech that I don't really need. I really applaud Intel for making the tiny little PC I've been wanting for media and linux tomfoolery. The Chromecast was a no-go, and now with an apple tv, I'm feeling a little too enclosed; they don't have enough apps to satisfy all my media needs.

I've been watching the mini-pc market, chronically unsatisfied with what's been released up to this point. The Intel compute stick finally looks like the thing I've been looking for, mainly because they balance the size and low price, with just enough power for what I need. To top it off they're offering a Linux version, so I don't have to be worried about buying into a closed off platform.

<comment><USER3> I find that Intel makes quite a few great products and initiatives. They just don't market it as loudly as others. The Intel NUC ([http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/overview.html](http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/overview.html)) is quite a versatile machine - smaller, better performance and value for money than mac minis, and more hacker friendly. It even has a cute unboxing experience (The box plays the intel jingle when you open it)

Then there are initiatives like the Intel Realsense cam (like Kinect), Edison, Moblin( which morphed into Meego and later Sailfish). Intel often doesn't get the credit it deserves - Contributing to open source and open standards, having intervened in the markets when someone (usually Apple or Microsoft) got too dominant or comfortable(That was what Meego, Ultrabooks, NUC was about). They certainly make the market more interesting.

I guess this one is aimed at Android TV, and meant to level the field for Microsoft and Linux-based systems.

<comment><USER4> I got my Dad a NUC for Christmas...He hasn't really been using it yet. I think this might have been a more interesting and simple gift, wish it came out in time. I did get to play with the NUC because I wanted to have it all configured and ready to use. It was interesting to see how they got all of the components packed in and I was impressed by the performance. Main issue I had was graphics support, because I wanted to put Elementary OS on it to see if he'd be interested in trying out Linux. Ended up going with the latest Ubuntu instead (Elementary OS Luna is built on Ubuntu 12.04) which worked fine.

My Dad had gone through a couple of those Shuttle "Mini" computers (the motherboards were Flex-ATX, slightly bigger than Mini-ITX and obviously needed to be smaller than micro-ATX), so I thought the NUC (between Nano-ITX and Pico-ITX [1]) might appeal to him. They both died and he's currently using a standard desktop. I believe one or both of his Shuttle's died due to a PSU failure, so it's nice to have the external power brick on the NUC.

He and my Mom had previously been using a Windows Media Center desktop with a tuner card and Comcast cable, but they're using DirecTV boxes on all the TVs now so not much need for a HTPC. He said he was thinking about trying to use the NUC with Windows 8 and a touch screen somehow...Not really sure how he can accomplish that. Besides introducing him to Linux, I was thinking he could use it on his TV as just an alternate computer and wanted to show him how to use Synergy to control it with his desktop keyboard/mouse. He's currently switching his TV between the DirecTV box and his desktop as a second display.

At the very least it's a backup, and he could potentially take it on trips as a more powerful alternative to a laptop. There's just so many different options for computing these days. It's like information overload, but with hardware.

[1] [http://www.anandtech.com/show/5800/slimming-desktops-down- in...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/5800/slimming-desktops-down-intel- reveals-next-unit-of-computing) (existence of Nano-ITX and Pico-ITX pointed out in the comments)

<comment><USER5> _> There's just so many different options for computing these days. It's like information overload, but with hardware._

Yeah. I have two Dreamplugs lying there unused at the moment, plus a CuBox used as NAS/TimeMachine, and a MicroPython waiting for some free time... so many options, so little time.

They are also getting so powerful, I'm seriously considering a few "enterprise" scenarios. Remember when IT meant mainframes, so individual departments would just bypass them and buy their own PCs? I think we're ready for a new wave of that decentralized approach: between mobile and these little bad boys, there's plenty of power around to run a number of applications that would have required a rack server 5 or 10 years ago. Now John Accountant could just buy a little silent box and put it on his desk, without having to go through hellish rounds of IT approvals.

<comment><USER6> > between mobile and these little bad boys, there's plenty of power around to > run a number of applications that would have required a rack server 5 or 10 > years ago. Now John Accountant could just buy a little silent box and put it > on his desk, without having to go through hellish rounds of IT approvals.

Which would be nice, if we had the hardware of today with the IT practices of a time when enterprises might exert centralized control of departmental server purchases but not exert the same control over individual desktop system purchases and even the software installation on those desktops.

<comment><USER5> Today, I was working at the HQ of a major UK telco. I connected my personal MBP to a random ethernet cable and lo, I could RDP on servers and do everything I wanted, without any prior authorisation. If you think all enterprise networks are as locked down as the ones found in banks, you're sorely mistaken. BYOD is a reality.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Hardware like that makes me yearn for one with no wireless and a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports to use as a firewall and server.

It's fairly interesting to note what it's not: Android or Chrome OS. I suspect Microsoft will do quite well out of this, especially in the digital signage market, anywhere which is reasonably price sensitive but if developer time and cost can be reduced then they get a lot of leeway.

Still, yet another reminder that the cost of computing is collapsing. Most of the cost here is Intel margin and in the case of the more expensive one MS licenses.

<comment><USER8> > Hardware like that makes me yearn for one with no wireless and a pair of > Gigabit Ethernet ports to use as a firewall and server.

Unfortunately, general purpose hardware and operating system needs a fair amount of juice to route and inspect 1gbps of traffic.

Best performance per watt I've found is the Edgerouter Lite but that has dedicated routing acceleration hardware to achieve what it does with the little mips processor it has.

Closest you'll find is Soekris, ALIX or APU for a routing platform. A Beaglebone black makes a nice little box for lightweight serving on its own.

<comment><USER9> +1 for the ERLite; it's a MIPS62r2 Cavium Octeon with 512MB RAM[1]. With the latest firmware, it's running Debian Wheezy, and I've had no trouble with adding the normal Debian repos and adding things like Privoxy to it (though I suspect these would be overwritten in a FW update). With Privoxy loaded and being used as an HTTP proxy for my local net with the EasyList rules, it doesn't break about 5%CPU with 100mbit/sec of inbound traffic and some web browsing going through it (I'm running NAT as well).

Being honest, it's a bit hacky for consumers...you'd be good to know Vyatta (what it uses under the hood) to get the most out of it, since there are still some things the web UI can't do (L2TP VPN being one, or PPTP without a Radius server for auth). However, it's a heck of a lot cheaper, smaller, and more power efficient than my previous P4 box running pfSense with Intel Pro/1000GTs, so I'm pretty happy with it.

I do think it'd be super awesome if Ubiquiti released a pfSense or m0n0wall- based EdgeRouter with the same hardware acceleration...I'd gladly pay $200 or so for that, but the ERLite is damn hard to beat for $100.

1\. [http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/MIPS/ERLite-3](http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/MIPS/ERLite-3)

<comment><USER10> Check out the Intel Atom Avoton and Rangley SOCs. Nice x86 cores, ECC, crypto acceleration, VT-x, passive TDP, and 4x 1/2.5gbe or 1x 10gbe depending on the serdes. I only wish they had VT-d to get sr iov. If you really need more connectivity going the trident + Intel + cumulus white box switch rate has crazy throughput per watt.

[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvermont](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvermont)

<comment><USER11> Can you shed more light/context on "trident + intel + cumulus". I'm familiar with cumulus but not trident.

<comment><USER10> Sure. By "trident" I really mean any merchant silicon switching platform. The Broadcom Trident ASIC/chipset really kicked this market segment off in 2011/2012ish. I mentioned it specifically as products like the Juniper QFX3500 series really opened up the door for things like fat/high radix clos networks that we're seeing in production.

From memory the Trident boxes supported 640gbs of throughput on SFP+ or QSFP ports, about 10,000 prefixes/routes, a couple thousand ACL terms, 1 or 2u, and around 200watts. They cost maybe $20,000 at launch are down to $5-10,000 now depending on volume and vendor. That's great for a TOR or agg switch if you can manage the individual devices (as opposed to a switch chassis like a nexus 7K).

The other thing those really opened up is cheap as chips edge devices. 10,000 routes isnt a lot, but it works if you have limited peers or can do summarization off device like a route reflector. These chipsets, and trident in particular, also work great with things like OpenFlow as you move that expensive route computation off device to a specialized platform.

The trident platform is basically EOL'd, everyones moved on to Trident II for the most part. Trident II is like 100,000 prefixes, 50,000 ACLs, 1 or 2u, 200 to 400 watts, 1.2TBs of forwarding, and SFP+/QSFP ports. Price is $15-25,000 depending on volume and vendor etc. Pushing 640gbs of throughput for ~$20,000 is pretty crazy. It means I could build a single 10kVa server rack that pushes a legit 1tbs of traffic to the internets for about $200,000. Totally insane to think about compared to just a few years ago.

The next big change should be moving from 10/40 serdes to 25/100 in the next year or so. The Broadcom Tomahawk should be like 3tbs in 2u and a couple hundred watts for comparable prices. If you need to convert between 10/40 and 25/100 ("gearbox") cost and complexity will go up a bit.

[http://etherealmind.com/merchant-silicon-vendor-software- ris...](http://etherealmind.com/merchant-silicon-vendor-software-rise-lost- opportunity/) [http://whiteboxswitch.com/collections/10-gigabit-ethernet- sw...](http://whiteboxswitch.com/collections/10-gigabit-ethernet-switches)

edit: and to clarify these platforms usually use Intel CPUs to run the OS/route engines. The OS/RE/HAL, like cumulus provides, is then responsible for pushing updates down to the switching asic.

<comment><USER11> Thanks, that was really helpful.

Any thoughts on the just announced Annapurna purchase? I know it's not apples to apples but would be interested to hear your thoughts.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> $149 for Windows 8.1 version and $89 for Linux version, not bad.

via: [http://techreport.com/news/27619/intel-compute-stick- is-a-14...](http://techreport.com/news/27619/intel-compute-stick- is-a-149-windows-pc-to-go)

<comment><USER13> ... and the Linux version will have half the RAM (1GB instead of 2GB) and a fourth the storage (8GB instead of 32GB).

I think I might pass on this.

<comment><USER14> Linux will probably run fine on those specs, remember Windows has a ton of overhead in terms of RAM and storage.

<comment><USER15> I'm not really concerned about whether Linux will run 'fine' on less hardware, I'd just want to be able to purchase the higher-end (hardware-wise) version.

I'm not going to buy the high-end version if it requires me to buy the prepackaged Windows license however.

<comment><USER14> Yeah, its strange that the OS is preinstalled, whereas with the Intel NUC I believe it comes without an OS and you need to do the setup yourself, which is preferable.

<comment><USER16> It may be preferable to you, but it's certainly not for the intended audience.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> "Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon." this is how product announcements work these days?

Would've been nice to have a bit of actual information.

<comment><USER18> They should at least collect emails, but, I guess, they expect a new wave of PR when it actually launches.

<comment><USER19> Like Edison did. Or didn't. Did that ever launch?

<comment><USER20> Yes, but it's overpriced and the specs are poor (when compared to other embedded-like solutions)

<comment><USER21> I'm quite happy with an edison board for $50. Is that overpriced?

<comment><USER18> Haters gonna hate. Microsoft, Intel, Google - these brands are never cool for some ungrateful as where we are today is in big part thanks to those three.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> "TV sticks" of this form factor have been all the rage on AliExpress, DealExtreme, and the like, although their popularity seems to have waned somewhat compared set-top-boxes (I read somewhere that it was due to trouble managing heat while customers demanded more powerful processors, but I don't know). See [http://www.google.com/cse?q=tv+stick&sa=&cx=partner- pub-8120...](http://www.google.com/cse?q=tv+stick&sa=&cx=partner- pub-8120806476788575%3A3386820028&ie=UTF-8#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=tv%20stick&gsc.page=1) and [http://liliputing.com/?s=tv+stick](http://liliputing.com/?s=tv+stick)

They've mostly run on ARM and Android, with some hobbyists loading more traditional Linux distros on. Probably the most notable exception that I know of is the following: [http://liliputing.com/2014/12/100-bay-trail-pc-stick- can-run...](http://liliputing.com/2014/12/100-bay-trail-pc-stick-can-run- ubuntu-windows.html)

If this is priced well it will be interesting to see how it impacts that landscape.

</comment><comment><USER23> This has already been done by some Chinese manufacturers, [http://www.szapec.com/default.asp?id=1793](http://www.szapec.com/default.asp?id=1793), and the Meegopad ([http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/10/15/meego-t01-hdmi-tv- sti...](http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/10/15/meego-t01-hdmi-tv-stick- supports-android-windows-8-1-and-ubuntulinux/)).

And given that the Intel's Linux version will only have 1GB of RAM, and maybe a slower CPU than a Windows version, these Chinese alternative could get quite a bit more attractive, given that their price will go down in time as well.

</comment><comment><USER24> It's already on sale in Taiwan for 1 or 2 months. (with a different case though) [http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495](http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495) (specs inside)

<comment><USER14> Here's a brief english article about it

[http://focustaiwan.tw/news/ast/201410080025.aspx](http://focustaiwan.tw/news/ast/201410080025.aspx)

Cost is listed as NT$4,990 (US$164) for the Win 8.1 version

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> I was pleasantly surprised to find the Intel NUC ("next unit of computing ", sigh) devices recently - I've bought one and it sits under my TV. Having a full PC instead of a Chromecast/Roku stick/whatever really is awesome. Not only can I use every streaming option out there, I can also browse the web and order food, look up maps, etc. etc.

It'll be interesting to see how these perform, but if they are similar to the NUC units, they'll be worth the extra money. The only complaint I have with mine is actually software based - I can't find a way to make the Windows 8.1 tiles larger (and more suitable for TV viewing distances)

<comment><USER26> This post and comments thread have brought the NUC to my attention for the first time and they look really cool. Curious, though, how did you handle storage? It appears they don't ship with memory? Do you just install your own in its chassis or use external?

I currently "tab cast" from a laptop running Chrome to a Chromecast for viewing non-video web content on the big screen, but these NUCs look really cool. I can totally see the value in having a full blown PC like an NUC or this compute stick as well.

<comment><USER27> The NUC we just got at work to play around with uses standard laptop size RAM in 2 SO-DIMM slots.

For storage, there are two NUC models - a slimmer one has just room for an mSATA SSD, then there is a thicker one the mSATA/mini-PCIe slot with a standard 2.5" mounting tray.

You will still have to get a WiFi adapter if you need WiFi. There are lots of standard half-size mini-PCIe WiFi cards.

Not sure how the video works yet, but if you order one make sure to get a mini-HDMI to HDMI or a mini DisplayPort to regular DisplayPort adapter.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Somewhat similar open-hardware project that'll ship in March: [https://www.crowdsupply.com/inverse-path/usb- armory](https://www.crowdsupply.com/inverse-path/usb-armory) (I'm not involved with the project)

<comment><USER29> There have been so many ARM mini PCs over the last couple of years, this one is vastly different from those and the one you posted in that this one will be x86.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> Fascinatingly in one of the comments sections, someone referred to this product which looks like it's almost exactly the same product, just not directly made by Intel: [http://de.aliexpress.com/item/2014-Original-MeegoPad- Meego-T...](http://de.aliexpress.com/item/2014-Original-MeegoPad- Meego-T01-Mini-PC-Windows-8-1-CPU-64-Bit-intel-Quad- Core/32245105251.html?recommendVersion=1)

</comment><comment><USER31> Why this is interesting to me is that most of the _popular_ hot-dog-on-a-stick devices run some crappy, limited, or proprietary OS (although if you have time to invest, many can be upgraded to Linux). But this one will ship with Linux or Windows.

For some decent background info on this form factor, see: [http://www.stickcomputing.com](http://www.stickcomputing.com)

</comment><comment><USER32> As the power increases beyond Atom processors, I think this will be very compelling.

I'd love to be able to unplug a dongle from my desktop monitor at home, and plug it into a tablet sized device to use on the train, then plug it into my monitor when I get to work, or a hotel rooms tv screen, or the presentation screen in our office conference room, etc. etc.

<comment><USER33> Wouldn't that often just be easier if it were your phone, so you didn't have to carry multiple devices?

<comment><USER32> Yes, phone would be ideal, but I think we're seeing that a phone OS is usually quite stripped down vs a desktop.

Though I haven't tried the Ubuntu Touch stuff, so maybe that is the right solution.

Pluging an HDMI or USB dongle into a display is pretty simple, I suspect pairing with your phone would be more difficult, or would require cables and such.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> Presumably this thing needs a power brick too, though?

As I read it, HDMI as standard only supports +5V at 55mA. Taiwanese versions of this thing linked on this discussion suggest it needs +5V at 2A: [http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495](http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=514&t=4112495)

<comment><USER35> According to [http://techreport.com/news/27619/intel-compute-stick- is-a-14...](http://techreport.com/news/27619/intel-compute-stick- is-a-149-windows-pc-to-go) it's micro usb right now but they're going to make it HDMI only eventually.

<comment><USER34> Do TVs these days come with high current USB ports? 500mA probably isn't enough.

<comment><USER36> Some do

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Cool.

Close, but not what I need. What I want (& maybe others?) is:

Compute on a stick that's a VM. Then, I can plug this into my laptop's HDMI or USB port to work on my project's local data/apps that's inside the VM.

Then I can take the stick when I travel, instead of taking my laptop. I can plug the stick into any laptop for full keyboard/trackpad. Or, I could plug the stick into a TV/monitor & use my phone/tablet's IO (keyboard/touch) over the same wifi. (Yes, the stick would need a minimal host OS to run a VM on a dumb monitor.)

Small local storage (working cache) with the rest in the cloud.

If such a device exists, please educate me/us.

<comment><USER38> This is totally unfeasible unfortunately. Either you support running the VM on the stick inside the host device's OS (supporting every major OS), without requiring root access nor installing anything. Or you boot from the stick and include display, keyboard and mouse/trackpad/touch drivers for every potential device you're going to plug it into. And for your last option (TV/monitor using phone/tablet IO) you'll also need an app for Android, iOS, Windows Mobile etc.

<comment><USER39> Without metric tons of engineering effort for a questionable use-case. The cheaper and more sensible options are: bigger laptop or run the workload elsewhere.

<comment><USER37> I appreciate your inputs, but IMO this use case is kind of inevitable.

Yes, it's hard, and not quite doable today. But, there are millions of people working on making the components of this solution better.

It's so attractive to carry around a computer in our pockets (our "phones") and it's really not much of a stretch to envision a near future where the thing in our pocket is our "local data/projects" that we can plug into any larger display or keyboard /IO on demand.

Before you know it, it's going to seem archaic to have local working data on any other device than the one in your pocket. And it's going to seem archaic that any nice large interface (screen or keyboard) is tied to only 1 device.

<comment><USER40> _> Small local storage (working cache) with the rest in the cloud.

> Before you know it, it's going to seem archaic to have local working data on > any other device than the one in your pocket._

These requirements seem to contradict each other. Do you want a thin/cloud client or offline compute?

Moka5 has an offline compute offering, [http://www.moka5.com/2014/10/21/comparing-moka5-livepc-vs- vm...](http://www.moka5.com/2014/10/21/comparing-moka5-livepc-vs-vmware- horizon-flex/)

<comment><USER39> Does Moka5 have something new eg they're still alive?

Moka5 was basically running apps on packaged VMware hypervisors on Mac and Windows endpoints, but centrally-managed like Citrix Metaframe.

The better approach is simply wrap the app up in a read-only bundle, use an fs driver to redirect writes to a shadow vol and deploy it to endpoints without having N addl VMs to manage (so it can work ThinApp or client-side.). Even the OS minus config should really be a verifiable, read-only archive.

Disclaimer: I've had mtgs with Monica at Stanford. The similar word from both Citrix and Vmware is that that neither could develop sustainable professional relationships for an acquisition event to occur. Sad, but typical.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> My 2c ... I see a problem with it not being able to fit into the HDMI ports on my TV ... due to the design of the TV there is only room for a compact HDMI cable (the port is located in a small recessed section). In this case I'd need to connect it with an HDMI extension cable, and would end up having to mount the dongle itself somewhere.

Its probably better to buy an ultra compact PC such as an Intel NUC or Gigabyte Brix, which come with VESA mounts for mounting onto the back of the TV, and store data on an SSD drive.

<comment><USER41> NUC and Brix are also more powerful. I could almost see myself carrying one of these around like I used to carry around a USB memory stick. Plug it into any monitor or TV and I've got a computer. Not sure what I would do about mouse a keyboard, though.

<comment><USER42> Bluetooth mouse / keyboard

<comment><USER43> Having public places like schools, libraries and even the local Starbucks just have a stack of Bluetooth peripherals and screens whilst you carry your own computer in your pocket would suit so many people.

Laptops are great but clunky and not really solving the issue of computing without lugging it around. Tablets are great but are exceeding difficult to work on at the moment.

This will be a fine middle ground.

<comment><USER44> _Tablets are great but are exceeding difficult to work on at the moment._

How so? Something like a Surface seems fine if you need a tablet for work.

I think the peripherals dock would be a decent solution for certain environments (schools, libraries, maybe hospitals, military bases, cruise ships, and such), but relying on public places to have well-kept and generally available peripherals would be folly.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER45> Is it expectable that this will ship with Intel Management Engine?

And if so why is it that 4 hours after posting there is no mention of this? We should be asking these questions upfront.

<comment><USER40> Do Intel Atom chipsets support an AMT / ME processor? ARK has no mention of AMT: [http://ark.intel.com/products/82116/Intel-Atom- Processor-Z37...](http://ark.intel.com/products/82116/Intel-Atom- Processor-Z3736G-2M-Cache-up-to-2_16-GHz)

[http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2014/intel-adds-encryption- to...](http://www.pymnts.com/in-depth/2014/intel-adds-encryption-to-pos-chip/) says, _" The protocol, code-named Baker Beach, "adds an extra layer of software to protect the payment process .. software resides and runs on the Intel chipset for enhanced security .. tablets with the Intel Atom processor code-named Bay Trail-T and future Intel Atom processors," will also work ...Intel's position is that it's approach is more secure because it is using a security co-processor that appears to the OS as a separate external device"_

That description implies a separate chip is added for use cases where Atom processors need OOB management/security.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> This is a very welcome leap towards a new platform. From the perspective the musical-instrument manufacturers, this now allows us to do something we've wanted to do in synthesizers, effects, digital-audio processing, and so on: build an instrument that can be upgraded.

I imagine a new controller category, akin to the current iOS USB/MIDI controllers that allow music-making with iPads/etc., albeit its a synth workstation with all the knobs you could possibly want, and maybe a little screen.

And of course, a place to stick the 'compute device' of choice. I'll get 3 or 4 of these, put a different pre-configured music-production system on each one, and make a complete suite of instruments that can be easily upgraded in the future.

Very nice to see this happening.

</comment><comment> ryan-allen I bought a i5 NUC [1] which I use for work (in the places I contract where I'm there for a bit longer than a few days). It's such a cool little device, the build took all of 15 minutes, and now Intel release this!

The NUCs come in a few sizes, the cheapest costing around 150 AUD. They make great media, desktop replacements or linux servers!

As soon as this little guy comes out I'm totally buying one (a stick), I like what they're doing with this stuff!

[1] [http://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/nuc/overview.html](http://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/nuc/overview.html)

</comment><comment><USER47> This is fantastic. As a car PC enthusiast, this kind of device is going transform the car PC community once again. Up until now, small form-factor PC's have been somewhat unaffordable.

<comment><USER48> A Dell Venue 8 Pro with Windows 8.1 is about $150-$200 (and is a damned nice machine, surprisingly enough.) I'm having trouble seeing the use case(s) for a headless Intel PC.

<comment><USER47> The headless Intel PC has the benefit of being easier to conceal in the car. I could put this thing in a nice fan enclosure and put it under the passenger seat or equivalent out-of-sight place. Not to mention, the Intel headless PC looks smaller than that of any laptop out there. Each to his own though.

The Dell Venue 8 Pro sadly is $300 here in Australia. Obviously given the low Australian dollar, buying it overseas and shipping it will cost over $300 for me.x

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> Damn! Wonder why Ubuntu Edge didn't get the funding. It was quite similar but much better, why carry a separate stick when your smartphone itself is capable.

</comment><comment><USER14> If they support a keyboard and mouse via USB then wouldn't supplying power to 2 USB ports be an issue? Assuming the stick itself gets its power from HDMI.

<comment><USER50> >Assuming the stick itself gets its power from HDMI.

I wouldn't make that assumption; Chromecast can't do it, and it's a lot less demanding than this.

<comment><USER51> Chromecast doesn't because it doesn't support MHL-HDMI which added a power over HDMI option (HDMI does have power but it something like 50mA). The newest version of MHL-HDMI does 2A. I'm not sure if that's enough to power this Intel stick however.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> Such an elegant name.

<comment><USER53> I look forward to Windows 8.1 Professional Compute Stick Edition

<comment><USER54> Maybe they'll have a special collectors version at launch.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER55> Wait, so, an HDMI stick similar to those ARM/Android ones that we've all been using as media centers since 2012?

<comment> SG- with a real OS this time around and quite a bit more than just a 'media player'.

</comment></comment><comment><USER56> I just love the idea of having the computer being a plug in accessory to my display. Small enough that where ever I go and a display is available I have my computer and data.

Now if it is topped up with good sync software so I can have the truly workhorse computer at work/home and take whatever partition of it I want I will be sold

</comment><comment><USER57> Intel's compute stick strikes me as a vehicle for "Windows 8.1 with Bing", which also appears in cheap laptops. There are already many powerful followons to the Raspberry Pi, with 1-2 GB RAM and up to four ARM cores for $40-$100. Microsoft must have jogged Intel and said, Do something!

</comment><comment><USER58> This could be a direct competitor to the digital signage folks over at Brightsign - [http://www.brightsign.biz/digital-signage- products/overview/](http://www.brightsign.biz/digital-signage- products/overview/)

</comment><comment><USER59> Can you do touch screen over HDMI?

<comment><USER60> I know a tv can send back commands from e.g. the remote control over HDMI, it really is bidirectional communication, but I wouldn't know whether it's good enough for something like touchscreen.

<comment><USER61> Well you can do 100Mbps Ethernet over HDMI 1.4 with a compatible cable, so I don't see why it would be technically impossible. The question is, can this stick do it?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER62> Lately Intel is trying to enter several device markets. Other than their core products they now have at least the following "compute" products:

      - Intel NUC
      - Intel Galileo
      - Intel Edison

Now comes the Compute Stick.

<comment><USER63> The sad thing to me is that none of them are even remotely innovative.

The NUC is just a small form factor PC, exceptionally well executed but nothing new.

Galileo is a Raspberry Pi

Edison is an Arduino (sort of)

Compute Stick is a Fire TV/Android Stick

None of these could be really considered booming markets. ARM is eating Intel's lunch in the mobile market and Intel is shooting for the products that are least likely to turn a profit. If they could get a viable x86 phone on the market (or start making ARM processors) I think they'd be in much better shape.

</comment></comment><comment><USER64> Great concept. I really like the idea of owning cheap computing devices. That way, if I break it I won't feel bad. Nothing feels worse than accidentally spilling water all over your expensive laptop. It would fit me just perfectly.

<comment><USER65> Hold on, who said it will be cheap?

<comment><USER66> Given Intel/Windows tablets cost less than $100 in stores today, there's no reason to think similar hardware minus the touchscreen will cost much more.

<comment><USER65> "Quad core" \+ wireless + storage for 100$.. what is going on here?

<comment><USER66> Intel is selling Bay Trail CPUs for $5. Microsoft is selling Windows 8.1 licenses for low-end devices at $15. Given an Android tablet with all the rest (wireless/storage) can be had for $40, sub-$100 Intel/Windows PCs became feasible.

<comment><USER67> They pre-install the Windows 8.1 with Bing version, which is free.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER68> Now imagine if this were wireless, so that you didn't have to connect it to a TV? And while we're at it, add a screen, so that you can use it when you're not around a monitor.

And... it's a smartphone with chromecast.

<comment><USER40> Compared to a smartphone, this has:

      unlocked bootloader
      open-source graphics driver
      no app store restrictions
      no Java overhead
      no OEM customizations

<comment><USER68> Compared to the smartphones currently on the market, I agree. My argument is that the form factor / functionality of the smartphone is very compelling.

I am not going to buy this Intel product, but I would if it were a smartphone.

<comment><USER40> Intel has spent/lost a lot of money pursuing smartphone design wins, without success. Maybe Project Ara modules will give Intel another shot at smartphones or handheld devices.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER69> Does anyone happen to know whether the quad-core atom mentioned would be sufficiently powerful to handle being a Plex client or Steam streaming client machine? This would make a remarkably cheap living room client PC.

</comment><comment><USER70> Attach a highspeed microSD card reader (or build one in) and this would make a very compelling low power, personal media file server. Although needing to keep the television on to power it might get annoying.

<comment><USER71> I see this device as the perfect next-generation-chromecast. You can download anything you want wirelessly and play it on your HD TV. No need for Chromecast to load youtube and be a "closed garden" of google.

</comment></comment><comment><USER72> Too bad the plug is on the end... my guess is that it's impossible to pick an arrangement that works for every TV, but this seems likely to be a problem for wall-mounted TVs like the one in the picture.

<comment><USER73> I'd have to imagine it probably comes with a short M-F cable or something like for such cases.

<comment><USER29> These ~10cm M-F extension cables are very common for these stick style mini PCs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER74> Consider the use case suggested by the image on the copy i.e; on-screen projection of slides in a business meeting. Can this use case be met with a tablet/smart phone using a VGA adapter?

<comment><USER75> The "business meeting" use case pictured doesn't make a lot of sense. The copy at the bottom says the stick _itself_ is a computer, not a video receiver, so there'd have to be a keyboard/mouse/controller of some kind connected to it, and they'd have to get the slide deck onto it somehow, and open PowerPoint, and that just doesn't seem particularly useful. It's much easier to use some wireless display technology and cast it from a laptop, or plug in a cable.

What they say they're aiming for are simple, self-contained (display-only?) kiosks... which maybe could be useful, for some people. You could also use it as a media center. If it could magically transform a huge TV into a touch screen, on the other hand... that would be amazing.

<comment><USER76> It supports Bluetooth, so you could pair a remote or a smartphone with it, and it's easier to carry than a laptop. Remember there's a full version of MS Office on it, too.

What makes more sense to me, though, would be a phone with an HDMI port (or wireless video capability) that connects directly to the projector. It's one less device to carry. If you don't want to walk over to the phone to advance to the next slide, you could still add a Bluetooth remote or control it from one of those smart watches.

(I'm kind of suprised that Blackberry never tried something like what I just described--it would have been a great way to differentiate themselves in the enterprise sector and keep the iPhone at bay.)

<comment><USER63> Some phones tried the HDMI out (I bought my Droid Razr because of it), but I guess market research has shown that people don't really care. Most phones (including the iPhone) still support the HDMI out over USB in some form, and still next to nobody uses it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER77> Here's hoping they'll offer a version for embedded computing (and support it better than they historically supported their embedded motherboards).

</comment><comment><USER78> Cotton candy [1] has been around for some years. This looks pretty similar.

[1] [http://www.fxitech.com/](http://www.fxitech.com/)

</comment><comment><USER79> I really hope they get a 90 degree adapter for the HDMI.

</comment><comment><USER65> This looks sick.Now all I need is a resizable monitor.

<comment><USER80> I think this will come in the form of an LCD on flexible fabric in a few years. You'll roll it up into a tube and take it with you in your messenger bag.

<comment><USER65> Can't wait to go camping with my 53 inch LCD screen in my backpack LOL.

<comment><USER81> Short throw micro-projector and a [white 'canvas'] tent?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER82> I wonder if you could hook this up to your computer and run it like a VM but it's just a whole computer you can use from your main machine?

<comment><USER44> Well, it has wireless, so you could just use it as a remote desktop.

<comment><USER83> I actually run a Chromebook 14 with a 27 in monitor and wireless mouse and keyboard. It suits my needs. I am presently able to control my two Win7 computers through Chrome remote desktop. It seems that the Compute Stick once set up should be able to be run from any remote desktop with only power to the stick. This gives me a Win8.1 computer inside my Chrome system. I need to maintain a Win computer due to legacy issues, with some of my hobbies. I can combine all of my data from the two Win7's and an XP in one Win8.1 computer and retire a lot of old equipment. I will have to try it when I get the Compute Stick. My needs are simple, and it works for me, I am not a high end user. It will clear a lot of space on my computer desk, and fit in my computer case when I travel.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER84> This is really big. We might now upgrade to the next Roku with Netflix running in Chrome on Linux, fast, now an Intel CPU device, really cool.

</comment><comment><USER85> Off topic: while running Noscript I know I am just begging for broken websites, but this page shouldn't be outright unstyled without JS.

<comment><USER86> I run into lots of sites that won't load at all with scripts off. Just a blank screen. Or image sharing sites (flickr) where the image you want to see won't load at with scripts off.

</comment></comment><comment><USER87> I've been looking for a board like this that has HDMI in and out for real time image processing. It seems nobody makes such an animal.

<comment><USER88> Your dream board would have far to small of a market because no one is going to license a hackable system that can sit between two HDCP devices for HDCP. If the board doesn't have HDCP why would you pay the HDMI royalties. Would be much simpler to use DVI capture card and HDMI->DVI adapters.

<comment><USER87> HDMI is separate from and does not require HDCP. You can have an unencrypted HDMI signal from, for example, an industrial video camera.

Yet, I do agree with you: It's a small market.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER89> So any comments on how is this better than a Raspberry Pi for example? You could all this using an arduino or a pi isn't it?

<comment><USER90> The advantage of this Intel stick compared to RPI is: \- more power

\- x86

\- Run Windows (this might be interesting for lot's of users)

\- Bigger storage

\- Better and compact pack

Disadvantages: \- More power consumption (??? any numbers on this)

\- Expensive compared to RPI

\- I guess it will be hard to beat the RPI community with this product.

\- No GPIO

EDIT:

Add GPIO

</comment></comment><comment><USER91> Can a malicious display install a rootkit on the device? If there's USB access, this seems like an avenue worth exploring...

<comment><USER92> It can via DP (make a DP connection that's actually Thunderbolt, flash the firmware) but that's on OS X - see [http://bgr.com/2014/12/30/mac-os-x- thunderbolt-hack/](http://bgr.com/2014/12/30/mac-os-x-thunderbolt-hack/).

And this DP connection isn't Thunderbolt, it just does DP.

</comment></comment><comment><USER93> "Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon."

Hello, Marketing 101 called, and said, "sign up for Mailchimp."

</comment><comment><USER94> Very cool, but...

I think the future is our compute power in our "phones" that work with ambient peripherals (keyboards, monitors).

<comment><USER33> Could we see people move from a phone to carrying two devices? One which is quite personal (phone, social, camera, etc) and one which is a little more generic (general computing device). I'm thinking about how most people would be reluctant to let their phone out of their sight, while they could also use a general stick that allowed tasks, work, etc.

<comment><USER95> I usually have my phone in my pocket, and my Moto360 watch on my wrist. Two devices. I used to be really reluctant to let my phone out of sight but since getting the smart watch, I no longer mind because it does an absolute fantastic job at notifying me of emails, texts, and other alerts. No longer do I have to pull out my phone to check stuff etc.

I may be in the minority but it's definitely changed my habits. I feel as if it's "easier" for some reason.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER96> "compute-on-a-stick" what a name...

<comment><USER97> I seriously couldn't decide if the copywriter was laughing when he or she wrote "The Intel Compute Stick is a new generation compute-on-a-stick device." (Because x-on-a-stick is an inherently funny phrasing.) But I read the text very carefully and concluded that it was written earnestly, so I didn't leave a comment.

It really is a new generation of compute-on-a-stick device.

<comment><USER98> The code names would all have to come from Something About Mary

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER99> I'm totally thrilled about this ..cant wait to try one,

( ps. i work there, funny i heard about it here first ...big company :) )

</comment><comment><USER100> Wow, very impressive.

But > Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon

Where is email subscription form?

</comment><comment><USER101> I am currently crafting together a new desktop, seeing this makes me feel really silly.

</comment><comment><USER102> The interesting thing would be if you could stack them and cloud compute.

<comment><USER103> Bundle of sticks = Tree computing?

There is another, less-PC, name for a bundle of sticks but I don't think they would go that way.

<comment><USER104> Fasces?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER105> What's the SoC in this NUC? Is this a Broadwell i3 ? Which one ?

</comment><comment><USER106> Any idea whether this will run on 5V or 12V or something else?

</comment><comment><USER107> What are the existing products this will compete with?

<comment><USER108> For the media enthusiasts, likely the Chromecast and I believe Amazon also offers a HDMI stick computer.

<comment><USER109> It doesn't seem like it's really competing with the Chromecast. My impression was that the Compute Stick can actually run software by itself, not requiring a connection to another device.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER110> "Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon."

That made me chuckle. If just there was a technology based in XML that could be used to do that...

</comment><comment><USER111> So long, NUC!

<comment><USER112> The NUC has different niches than what this is going for. The NUC line at the low end will probably be pushed out by this, but a lot of NUCs are sold with things like PCIe ports and the like that this thing almost certainly won't have. The low end has a lot of differentiation, especially in boutique devices where you just need a processor, and some kind of output.

</comment></comment><comment><USER113> They are such idiots for not having the picture of the device in the palm of a hand or something. Marketing fail.

</comment><comment><USER114> what do you need to have besides a tv or monitor to use the Compute Stick?

</comment><comment><USER115> Wow.

I have a feeling this could be a game changer.

I'm more than impressed... I'm stunned.

</comment><comment><USER116> Can one install WinXP, Win7, Win10 or Linux too? Or is the BIOS/Efi locked down?

</comment><comment><USER117> But, it doesn't exist. This will be interesting, when it exists.

</comment><comment><USER118> "Bookmark this page, and then set a reminder to check in soon"?

Intel, you totally fail at social media!

</comment><comment><USER119> I'm anxiously awaiting for Intel to team up with Justin Timberlake and offer us Compute in a Box.

</comment><comment><USER120> Intel offers "... Pre-installed with Windows 8.1* or Linux, ...".

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Mahatma Gandhi

<comment><USER121> Are you talking about Windows 8.1 or Linux?

<comment><USER120> About Intel.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: is the pushdown of TSA backscatter stories algorithmic or manual? - <AUTHOR>

Just curious. I noticed in the last 24 hours that stories with lots of up votes have been getting pushed down the page and off very quickly, way below stories with way lower votes and more time.
Note this is not a criticism if it is editorial judgement. I can see arguments either way for these stories being included on HN. But there are clearly reasonable arguments that this is an interesting issue with a strong technology angle that the community here is expressing interest in.
At the same time no one wants to see the site hijacked.
So my question is out of curiosity rather than complaint. If it is programmatic, it would be interesting to know if HN is modifying based on content topic profile or the karma of up voters or some other system. <comment><USER2> its probably a byproduct of flagging. if enough people flag it, it'll die or it'll get reviewed and get killed. the TSA stuff is more political than hackery.

<comment><USER3> Considering the number of people on HN involved in startups, though, I'd expect a lot of people here regularly have to travel by air, and so the TSA stuff would be of interest.

<comment><USER4> " _To hackers the recent contraction in civil liberties seems especially ominous. That must also mystify outsiders. Why should we care especially about civil liberties? Why programmers, more than dentists or salesmen or landscapers?

Let me put the case in terms a government official would appreciate. Civil liberties are not just an ornament, or a quaint American tradition. Civil liberties make countries rich. If you made a graph of GNP per capita vs. civil liberties, you'd notice a definite trend. Could civil liberties really be a cause, rather than just an effect? I think so. I think a society in which people can do and say what they want will also tend to be one in which the most efficient solutions win, rather than those sponsored by the most influential people. Authoritarian countries become corrupt; corrupt countries become poor; and poor countries are weak. It seems to me there is a Laffer curve for government power, just as for tax revenues. At least, it seems likely enough that it would be stupid to try the experiment and find out. Unlike high tax rates, you can't repeal totalitarianism if it turns out to be a mistake.

This is why hackers worry. The government spying on people doesn't literally make programmers write worse code. It just leads eventually to a world in which bad ideas win. And because this is so important to hackers, they're especially sensitive to it. They can sense totalitarianism approaching from a distance, as animals can sense an approaching thunderstorm.

It would be ironic if, as hackers fear, recent measures intended to protect national security and intellectual property turned out to be a missile aimed right at what makes America successful. But it would not be the first time that measures taken in an atmosphere of panic had the opposite of the intended effect._"

\- from pg's essay: The Word "Hacker".

<http://www.paulgraham.com/gba.html>

It seems to me (as a non-American) that America's default response to terrorism is to deprive itself of ever-more civil liberties. This is why I believe some on HN deem TSA articles HN-worthy material.

EDIT: Link

<comment><USER5> _"It seems to me (as a non-American) that America's default response to terrorism is to deprive itself of ever-more civil liberties. This is why I believe some on HN deem TSA articles HN-worthy material."_

It's not just how America would respond. Almost any country would up security measures and, as a byproduct, deprive itself of civil liberties.

<comment><USER6> _Almost any country would up security measures and, as a byproduct, deprive itself of civil liberties._

That's exactly wrong:

[http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/744199--- israelifi...](http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/744199--- israelification-high-security-little- bother?sms_ss=twitter&at_xt=4ce0361af7973d2e,0)

<comment><USER7> Except that it sure doesn't look like the Israeli system could scale to US traffic volumes.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Was just about to ask something similar. I personally feel that most of those stories did not belong on the front page, but such stories usually end up [dead], not lower on the list than other (older) stories with fewer votes and comments.

</comment><comment><USER9> I could be wrong, but I seem to have noticed that articles with a high comment to upvote ratio fall off the top more quickly. If that's true, it may be the case in those articles.

<comment><AUTHOR> The ratios were highly variable - while on home the couple of stories in question got a lot of up votes quickly, but varying levels of comments. It doesn't appear from that to be the case that the ratio impacted the rate at which they dropped down.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> It appears this will remain a mystery, as this question itself also appears to be about to drop off the home page.

It is one of the great challenges with any ranking system - how to moderate based on topic within a community of interest - so I thought it was worth raising.</comment>


BitArray - A Simple Bit Array/Bit Field Library In Pure JavaScript - <AUTHOR> http://functionn.blogspot.com/2012/03/bitarray-simple-bit-arraybit-field.html#.T29ky3nejr0.hackernews <comment><USER2> What is the trade-off behind having ELEMENT_WIDTH as a configuration parameter? I.e: What would be the downside to hard-coding it to 30?</comment>


Douglas Crockford: The Post JavaScript Apocalypse - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=438&v=W1Lmxg_g_no <comment><AUTHOR> Speaking in Singapore on 17 Feb he applies konmari organization principals to good vs. parts, among other topics.

A little over an hour.

Lots of controversial positions and assertions, as usual!</comment>


A Storm of Stories - <AUTHOR> http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2015/08/a-storm-of-stories---and-what-.html

<comment><USER2> It's probably true that there's an excess of easily accessible quality entertainment. I certainly have backlogs in multiple content categories. But those backlogs just build up, because I'm much more likely to play/read/watch a new release than something a couple of years old.

The reason is that a big part of the value of the content is social. It's a lot more interesting to play a game while a high concentration of other people are playing it too. It's a lot less fun to play it years later, and just read through dusty archives (since the chances of an IRL friend playing through the game at the same time are miniscule).

<comment><AUTHOR> Ah, that's a very interesting point - and I'd agree with it from personal experience, to a certain extent.

My own consumption of media seems to be split between new and old at the moment. I've bought an unusually large number of new games this year, but that number is still, I think, 2.

Of course games have a further problem I didn't have time to get into in this article: the better the game, the longer time most people will spend on it compared to other games. That means that as game quality goes up, the number of games consumed a year will tend to go down.

And if an absolute phenomenon like WoW or Minecraft arrives, it nukes the industry for everyone else for a year...

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Very fascinating read and completely in line with my experience as a gamer. For a while it was ok to look at the "what's new" list on steam every week or so and see if there was something interesting. Nowadays there's 10+ new games per _day_ and it's become impossible to figure out if there's actually anything good in there without considerable time investment.

Interestingly the thing that will inevitably need to happen to solve this problem is something Steam is already doing: Improve the tools to filter out things one doesn't care about. Steam allows hiding games, games have tags, and there's a suggestion queue that feeds partly off the user's preferences and partly off of what's new and popular. This means occasionally one can go through that queue, see a list of new or obscure things one might be interested in, and use the tags to quickly decide whether a game has elements one wants or does not want; and then mark it for later, or hide it.

Whenever i interact with other shops (PSN, GOG, Google Play Store, iTunes, etc.) it is a massive pain point that these do not allow filtering things that i do not care for.

Music and TV stores are even worse in that department, and i've seen my parents look at stuff like Amazon Fire Instant Video, which on paper is an amazing offering, and discard it offhand because the first 20 things it offered were stuff they had no interest in, and there was no way to make them go away.

Fascinatingly, i've already seen the software where this evolution will lead to. It exists in the form of taggable image board like [https://github.com/r888888888/danbooru](https://github.com/r888888888/danbooru) They accept tags from the users and are very liberal in allowing users what tags to apply, with some moderation. On bigger boards the content tends to have astounding amounts of tags in surprising detail. At the same time users can use tags to create lists of things they might like, or directly hide things they might dislike.

Steam is moving in that direction, and as the amount of content, both existing and newly-created, becomes evermore massive it seems inevitable that software will end up in that domain.</comment>