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AOpen's miniPC—essentially an Intel Centrino platform squashed into the footprint of a CD-ROM drive—could be all that. But consumers, as it turns out, are going to have to wait in line. While AOpen originally viewed the slick-looking miniPC as a product with untested potential in the consumer market, the company's system builder channel had other ideas, eagerly snapping up initial inventory for deployment in a variety of niches. "We cannot fulfill demand right now," said Chris Liu, vice president of product marketing for AOpen America, San Jose, Calif. "The demand is so strong, and it's mostly coming from the VAR." With initial sales exceeding expectations, AOpen is now ramping up to sell an anticipated 1 million mini form-factor systems globally this year, Liu said, with the lion’s share going to U.S.-based solution providers for deployment in various commercial applications. The systems will be used in digital signage, kiosks, digital health care, POS, Media Centers, in-car systems and assorted other special applications—anywhere there is a desire to handle digital content in a small form factor. "They used to design with industrial-design motherboards, which was very high cost and also, technologywise, it was behind two or three years,” Liu said. "But we use the latest 915 and 945 chipsets with dual-core processors so that you’ve got the latest technology and will be able to deliver right now with a small form factor." For custom system builders, this comes as no surprise. A handful of companies have produced various "mini PC" motherboards over the last four or five years and fashioned a number of hybrid systems out of desktop and notebook components. In 2001, Via Technologies—by most accounts, the market leader in this category—introduced its Mini-ITX design, measuring 6.7 inches square, for use with its low-wattage processors and chipsets. Other companies such as Kontron, Commell Systems, DFI-ACP and BOLData adapted the Mini-ITX standard to Intel and AMD technologies.  But now, the stage may be set for a "mini boom," partly driven by lower costs, improved performance and the growing availability of mobile computing components in the channel. The arrival of low-wattage mobile dual-core processors and enhanced integrated graphics promises to open up yet more new markets, including Media Center applications, for the mini PC.While there are smaller PC-on-a-board standards popular in the embedded market, such as PC/104, the generic mini PC is a complete system, spanning across embedded, single-use computing and vertical market applications. Fusion Microsystems, a system builder and solution provider in Centennial, Colo., has been looking at mini-PC systems for three years, but until now has found the platform too expensive and not beefy enough for its purposes. For its aviation industry applications, Fusion needed a fanless system with integrated power supply and graphics card. Now that the price of fanless power supplies has come down, the company recently began rolling out its first mini-PC systems for use in airports to control flight arrival and departure displays. "Three years ago you didn’t have the technology you have today," said Joe Stopski, vice president of business relations for Fusion. "You couldn't get the processing power. It's not just the embedded board; it's the video display." |
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