

An Android-x86 powered Gaming Console - mariuz
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/soul-the-smart-compute-device

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Nekorosu
Everything on the campaign page is so poorly executed it looks like scam. And
the goal is... $1,490,000. Is it some kind of a joke?

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unwind
The cheapest funding level which actually gives you the hardware is $149, and
they say their factory requires a minimum order of 10,000 units. That seems to
be the $1,490,000 right there. :)

Also, the title here is kind of misleading, it's not very powerfully branded
as a "gaming console", it's just a "computing device". Also known, I guess, as
"a computer".

No idea how big Android is for x86, are most apps even available cross-
compiled?

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James_Duval
> The cheapest funding level which actually gives you the hardware is $149,
> and they say their factory requires a minimum order of 10,000 units. That
> seems to be the $1,490,000 right there.

That seems tight.

How do you think they are they covering the 4-7% (9-12% if you don't reach
goal) cut taken by indiegogo and credit card companies?

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unwind
I am of course just guessing, but those numbers kind of stood up. Perhaps
they're hoping for enough takers on the other funding levels to make up for
the overhead. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But I haven't had my
afternoon coffee yet, so it's a bit "numbers, schmumbers" at this point.

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zokier
HN title policy continues to confuse. I'd argue that the title "An Android-x86
powered Gaming Console" is bit misleading as the device is not really marketed
as gaming console.

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kabdib
It's a PC. Serious ho-hum.

If this has anything to do with gaming, it sure escapes me. Where's the
controller (do NOT tell me you're going to use a cell phone...).

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jamesjguthrie
I don't know if I missed something but what's the point in this? Couldn't I
just build a little x86 machine and stick x86 Android on it, for cheaper than
the reward levels in this listing?

Maybe it's not intended to be unique and it's just a system builder using
indiegogo to get some orders.

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zokier
$149 for the base model seems quite affordable. I seriously doubt you could
build something comparable yourself for less. The quoted MSRP are bit on the
high side, but on the other hand the casework looks nice and compact, so I
wouldn't call them unreasonable either.

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DanBC
The motherboard seems to be a Wibtek device.

([http://www.wibtek.com/products/MotherBoard/show/?pid=1000077](http://www.wibtek.com/products/MotherBoard/show/?pid=1000077))

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zokier
I believe that this is the exact model:

[http://www.wibtek.com/products/MotherBoard/show/?pid=1000113](http://www.wibtek.com/products/MotherBoard/show/?pid=1000113)

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ahnda
ARM Android consoles are already barren enough, content-wise. Making an x86
variant specifically targeting an ndk-heavy sector of the app store seems... a
strange choice.

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lucian1900
Meh. It would make a lot more sense if it had a Wine port, perhaps even ship
with support from Crossovers or similar.

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ParadisoShlee
I want one.... but looks too good to be true.

We will see.

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marcelocamanho
Come on, didn't people learn from the OUYA fiasco?

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egeozcan
What's its selling point, price\performance?

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rwg
Size? The motherboard appears to be smaller than Mini-ITX.

I'm also guessing it's based on one of Intel's upcoming "Silvermont" Atom
CPUs. That makes me very unlikely to support this project since I'd imagine
the market's going to be flooded with similar products well before this
project's estimated ship date.

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zokier
It's almost certainly "Celeron J1850". The specs line up perfectly (10W TDP,
2.0 GHz clockspeed, 4 cores).

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sireat
That chip is about $80 in quantity pricing if the early price leaks are to be
believed.

That is not much leeway for the rest of the device.

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ma2xd
Why have VGA?

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jamesjguthrie
Lots of people still have VGA monitors + they're cheap as second monitors.

