Via-based Everex gPC2
(Credit: Wal-Mart)Intel's low-cost Atom processors will be at the core of inexpensive PCs. And inexpensive computers these days often come with Linux.
How do PC companies shave off the last hundred dollars or so to get to $299 or in some cases $199? Easy. They swap out Windows (pricey) for Linux (free).
Case in point: Home Depot, the home supply store, sells a Mirus-branded desktop with either Windows or Linux. Based on the same hardware, one model sells for $419, the other for $299. Can you guess which one is $299? That's a steep price cut--more than 25 percent--for the system with Linux. Inside the Mirius is a Celeron D 420, which lists for $34, the cheapest chip that Intel currently lists on its pricing Web site.
Linux-based PCs like this are prime real estate for Atom. Especially when reports this week cite the cheapest upcoming Atom processors (due in the second quarter) at below $30.
A likely high-profile candidate for Atom and Linux is the Eee PC. The Linux option allows resellers to keep offerings as cheap as possible. The current Eee PC at Newegg is priced at $349 with Linux and a Celeron M processor (the forerunner--from the standpoint of market positioning--to Atom).
Processors from Via Technologies also match up well with Linux operating systems such as gOS. Wal-Mart sells (online) an Everex gPC2 TC2512 desktop computer with a 1.5GHz Via C7-D Processor and Google-centric gOS for $199.
(Correction: gOS is a Linux distribution from "Good OS LLC.")
The Asus Eee PC is a candidate for the Atom processor.
(Credit: Asus)Though Atom-based computers with Linux will be targeted at emerging markets, the success of the Eee PC in mature markets like the U.S. and Japan means that there is pent-up demand for stripped-down but practical PCs. "In emerging markets it will be a first PC. In mature markets, it will be a second or third PC within a household," said Dean McCarron, founder and principal of Mercury Research. Also, an Atom-based desktop could potentially go on the back of a monitor that is used in point-of-sale applications, McCarron said.
And don't overlook Via's C7 or low-end versions of its upcoming Isaiah processor being paired with low-cost computers with a Linux option. The V7 is slated for HP's upcoming HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and Isaiah is expected to garner a number of design wins in both ultraportable notebooks and desktops.
Though the HP 2133 may not be the best example of a low-cost PC (it is expected to come with Windows Vista Business, hiking the price to almost $750), expect Linux-based "Netbooks" (Intel's self-described category for small, inexpensive notebooks) to be less expensive than this.
Correction, 8:22 a.m. PST: The original version of this article inaccurately reported the timing of the theft. The laptop was stolen several weeks ago.
A laptop containing personal data on about 10,000 Home Depot employees was stolen from the car of a regional manager, Home Depot announced Wednesday.
The laptop was stolen several weeks ago from the car of the regional manager in Massachusetts while it was parked in front of his home, according to Home Depot.
"The Home Depot takes data security seriously and works very diligently to protect its customers' and associates' privacy," said Sarah Molinari, corporate communications manager for Home Depot. "We continually work to upgrade and improve our data security and privacy systems."
While the password-protected computer contained no customer information, the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of the Home Depot employees may have been compromised. Home Depot is providing free credit-monitoring services to the exposed employees as a result.
Atlanta-based Home Depot would not say whether the files containing the employee data were encrypted.
"We continue to cooperate with the authorities in this matter and cannot discuss the specifics of our data protection measures," Molinari said.
As an engineer, I hate to see bad engineering treated like a good idea.
I've written recently about questionable proposals for human power generation, electric vehicle recharging and fuel cells. In some cases, there's nothing really wrong with the underlying technology, but it's being implemented and promoted using bad math and misleading promises.
The latest example of innumeracy comes from Shawn Frayne, an independent inventor here in Silicon Valley. Frayne's Windbelt is a low-cost wind-power generator that uses a fluttering membrane instead of rotating blades to convert wind power into mechanical motion; a simple linear generator turns the motion into electricity.
The Windbelt idea won a "Breakthrough Award" in the November issue of Popular Mechanics, but not because Windbelt is actually useful or innovative. It looks like the magazine was a bit too eager to jump on the alternative-energy bandwagon, so nobody bothered to run through the numbers.
The numbers are awful. According to Frayne's estimates, for "a few dollars" you could make a version of the Windbelt capable of generating 40 milliwatts of power in a 10-mph wind. In a 5-mph wind, if the things works at all, it'll produce less than 5 milliwatts.
In a stronger wind, it's liable to break entirely, since the power of wind varies as the cube of the wind speed. In a 40-mph wind, the Windbelt could potentially extract more than 2.5 watts...but in practice, the membrane would simply tear. This failure is exactly what caused the famous 1940 failure of the Tacoma Narrows bridge in Washington.
Frayne wants the Windbelt to power LED lighting, replacing kerosene lamps in Haitian homes, but that's not going to happen. I did some simple research through Google--the kind of research the staff of Popular Mechanics should have done--and the numbers just don't work out. It would take at least 5 watts of power to produce enough LED light to replace a kerosene lamp. Generating that much power would require 125 of Frayne's small Windbelt generators.
Current Windbelt prototypes are small, so one might suppose they can simply scale up to produce more power. Unfortunately, they can't scale very far because of limits to how strong the membrane can be. There's an inherent conflict between making the membrane thin to maximize flutter and making it strong so it can tolerate more fluttering.
Conventional propeller-bladed wind turbines are not commonly made with outputs below about 50 watts, but there's no reason that can't be done. It isn't done because it isn't worthwhile. For low-power applications--especially in sunny places like Haiti--the appropriate technology is solar power. Solar panels have no moving parts, require little maintenance and when properly protected, are pretty much immune to high wind.
And there's nothing to be developed for this situation. Home Depot sells truckloads of solar-powered lighting equipment. I checked the company's Web site just now, and for a mere $26.97, you can get a solar-powered LED floodlight that includes the solar panel, a battery and a three-LED lamp. Such a product would require some repackaging for the home-lighting market, but all the parts are there.
I suspect someone's already done that work, but I didn't turn up any commercial products intended for this kind of use in my brief search. If you're aware of such products, add a comment! Thanks.
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