Tiny Computers Take Center Stage | Computing Now - IEEECS

The availability of small components is ushering in a new era of tiny computers.

Tiny Computers Take Center Stage by George Lawton Mini-notebook. Laptop. Desktop. Server. When most people think of computers, they think of an object that has some heft to it. However, a market is starting to emerge for tiny computers, some as small as a flash drive. These mini-machines use small, low-power systems on chip (SoCs) on tiny circuit boards yet still offer surprisingly good performance. The benefits of these machines include their low cost and many potential uses, said Luke Leighton, chief technology officer of tiny-computer vendor Rhombus Tech. For example, the devices offer a small, inexpensive platform for playing low-end games and running other applications that don't consume much energy or require high performance levels. They can also be used as part of bigger systems, such as routers. Because of their size and design, tiny computers could reduce overall...

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