Intel's SD card-sized computer may not be so tiny after all
Back at
CES, Intel made a
big deal
of the fact that it could squeeze a Linux-based PC with Bluetooth and
WiFi into the size and shape of an SD card. However, with just a few
months to go before the launch of these miniscule Edison development
boards, it looks like the chip-maker has changed tack. Instead of being
based on the
Quark SoC,
which was specifically designed for wearables and the Internet of
Things, the first Edison products will actually rely on a more
traditional Atom chip -- in other words, the same sort used in many
current Windows tablets and hybrids. An Edison PC based on Atom should
deliver more grunt and connectivity options compared to Quark, and for
less money, but it'd be too chubby to ever get accidentally jammed in an
SD slot. That's why Intel has been forced to admit that, while it
continues to work on Quark, the Edison devices coming this summer will
be "slightly larger" than was first claimed
