Although there are a number of Android PCs on the market, a Kickstarter project is claiming the Remix Mini to be the world’s first “true” Android PC. Developed by Chinese company Jide Tech, the project is seeking $50,000 over the next 44 days. However, it’s already reeled in $99,418 from 1,583 backers as of this article, which indicates that there is plenty of interest in a PC decked out with Android.
According to the specifications, the Remix Mini measures just 1(H) x 4.9(L) x 3.5(W) inches. Packed inside this small form factor casing is a quad-core, 64-bit Allwinner Cortex-A53 SoC clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage.
In addition to those features, the Remix Mini provides two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet 10/100 port, an HDMI 1.4 port, and a microSD card slot. There's also Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and the company’s Android 5.0 “Lollipop”-based Remix OS operating system.
The pricing for this model will be $30 when it finally becomes a product. However, the company also plans to sell a model with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM. The pricing for this model is a mere $50… not too shabby.
“Remix Mini allows you to work and play with the entire Android app ecosystem while taking full advantage of intuitive PC features such as a taskbar, multiple window multi-tasking, mouse and keyboard support, and so much more,” the Kickstarter page reads.
One of the big selling points is that the device uses very little power. Jide Tech explains that while a standard desktop may consume 60 to 240 watts, the Remix Mini only uses 10 watts. Another selling point is that the Android PC has access to over 1.5 million apps, meaning this forked version of Android may have access to Google’s suite of services.
Currently, there are five tiers in this Kickstarter project. For those who pledge $200 or more, they will receive five Remix Minis and five power adapters. Pledge $80 or more and receive two Remix Minis and two power adapters. The other tiers include $60 or more, $40 or more and $20 or more. All tiers reveal that the device is expected to ship in October 2015.
Would Android make a great operating system for a desktop or notebook? Both Lenovo and AOC have produced computers with Google’s OS installed, but they’re not as cheap or as small as the unit Jide Tech is building. Android is mostly used in smartphones and tablets, so it’s interesting to see it used as computer OS.
To get a Remix Mini when it ships this October, potential backers can spend a mere $20 to get the version with 1GB of RAM. Otherwise, the device will cost $30 when it goes “retail” later this year.
Image: Jide Tech via Kickstarter
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