First thought - Really really don't like the black ops 2 advert on the pics, and I would be especially annoyed if I was the manufaturer.

I mean, it's a bit like saying that Black ops 2 is going to destroy it, and it's isn't even in the same market.

For the record, I'm not against adverts on BT, I know they're needed to keep the site up, but overtly intrusive ones like that annoy me.

Agreed; it's really annoying.

The astonishing thing is that it happens even on the game review pages, the Company of Heroes preview has Black Ops adverts on it.
If I were THQ I'd be very upset about that.

There's adverts on the banner and sidebars, all around the articles and on the footer.
Surely that's enough?

Make board based on APQ8064 or something along the lines, not a gimped chip. There is absolutely no reason this thing couldn't replace x86-based PCs in the near future, just make sure to pick top of the line hardware (which doesn't increase the cost prohibitively anyway).

I am nowhere near up to speed on what Rasperry Pi is let alone what this is and how I can integrate this into my current tech usage.

I think the Pi had a bit of a fanfare around it at launch, then all went quiet and next thing I saw was an article in PCPRO on how to program one.

Still none the wiser now.

PS: Wouldn't all these benefit from open source jellybean or ICS, why are people effin around with Gingerbread ffs!!

It's an average start and like PCs in general, I'm sure v2 will improve on this one - it has to. I'm just glad to see VIA sticking around and doing anything PC-related at all.

Originally Posted by NethLyn
I'm just glad to see VIA sticking around and doing anything PC-related at all.

Me too - they've oodles of fighting spirit and even with limited resources, they're innovating and remaining lightweight, I hope they find a killer product that allows them to grow once more.

APC. Allegedly inspired by a quote from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in which he described his company as being in the business of making 'bicycles for the mind,'

I don't get it...

Originally Posted by maverik-sg1
PS: Wouldn't all these benefit from open source jellybean or ICS, why are people effin around with Gingerbread ffs!!

All Android versions later than Gingerbread are built with ARMv7 in mind. It's possible to compile 'em for ARMv6 - like the chip in the APC, and the one in the Raspberry Pi - but you take a serious performance hit.

Originally Posted by mi1ez
I don't get [the Steve Jobs quote]...

Perhaps hearing it from the horse's mouth will help.

People using gingerbread as it runs better than the later versions which require a more modern intruction set

Originally Posted by mi1ez

Quote:

APC. Allegedly inspired by a quote from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in which he described his company as being in the business of making 'bicycles for the mind,'

I don't get it...

Something low cost, easy to learn to use and accessible for almost everybody that makes you (your brain in this case) faster.

Originally Posted by biojellywobbles

Quote:

Originally Posted by mi1ez

Quote:

APC. Allegedly inspired by a quote from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in which he described his company as being in the business of making 'bicycles for the mind,'

I don't get it...

Something low cost, easy to learn to use and accessible for almost everybody that makes you (your brain in this case) faster.

I think he means that the leap from Jobs talking about bicycles for the mind to the initials APC. At least, I assume so, since it doesn't make any sense to me either.

I remember seeing the announcement about these a while back. I'd forgotten about it, and got more than a little stoked when I saw Via and the price tag. Then the disappointment set in. More expensive, bigger, and apparently of lesser performance than the RPi add up to a loser, to my mind.

Now, if they can manage to get this same thing out the door with an x86 processor for the same price, I'd cream myself.

Originally Posted by fluxtatic
I think he means that the leap from Jobs talking about bicycles for the mind to the initials APC. At least, I assume so, since it doesn't make any sense to me either.

Ah, I see - that's my fault for being unclear. I meant that the *project*, not the name, was inspired by the quote. APC may or may not stand for Android Personal Computer - VIA's a bit vague on that subject.

720p max resolution! so not many will be buying for HTPC duties. 4 USB ports, thats about the only positive I see. The android version clearly is not fit for purpose and it suffers from being Arm6 just like the RPi. The difference is the community size. RPi has thousands of active developers, hundres of thousands of shipped boards. A lot of the buyers were people who expected more of a challange and RPi Foundation ensured the RPi was made open exactly for that reason.

As for the TED talk, the chap seems like he has stayed in a little bubble of self importance too long.

I am glad APC has been created, it is never a good idea to have a single solution. But the first gen board fails.

Thank you for the review.

I had seen these and was thinking about one. Now that I've seen the details I might as well have Pi.

I hope the next gen is better. There is a lot of potential here.