Xi3 Modular Computer | from US$849 | www.xi3.org
just when we thought computer couldn’t go any smaller, Xi3 unveiled a small cube-like computer, dubbed the Xi3 Modular Computer. measuring less than 4-inches (101.6mm) per side, the Xi3 base model is being powered by AMD Athlon Dual Core 3400E 22W processor, 2GB DDR2 RAM and comes with a 8GB SSD flash drive.
in order to keep the size to the minimum, the classic motherboard is separated into three boards. the first board house the processors and RAM, and the other two are the I/O boards, handling all connectivity and input/output requirements. the Xi3 is designed in a way that the boards can be quickly removed, modified and/or replaced.
accordingly to Jason A. Sullivan, President and CEO of Xi3 Corporation, the concept behind the Xi3 is the “believe that computers should be upgradeable and up-dateable over and over and over again” and the Xi3 is “potentially the last computer you ever need to buy.”
the Xi3 is suited for both office and home use and with the sleek aluminum casing of Xi3 serving as a heat sink for the computer. together with the aluminum casing, a flow-through design and the placement of the processors play a part in “mitigating and dissipate heat blooms inside the enclosure itself.”
aside from being petite in size, less than 20 watts is required to power the Xi3. the Xi3 is available in limited quantities today for evaluation and proofs-of-concepts purposes. the standard model comes in gray but for an additional US$15 to US$30, you can choose from nine other different colors. the Xi3 will be slated for the mass market in early 2011.
personally, i thought this is one computer that i wouldn’t want to miss. frankly, i am rather tired of conventional computer with bulky casing. the Xi3 could means an awesome space-saving solution for our work desk and aesthetically pleasing too. place this on your work desk and people will be asking ‘wooo…. hey what’s that?’
(photo credit: xi3.org)