Computers gets smaller thanks to Intel

Technology has gotten smaller over the years. Intel’s latest product, Compute Stick, is a 4-inch dongle that turns a big screen into a computer. Intel plans to launch the product on April 24th. Image by Max Fritzhand

Compute Stick is a device that turns big displays into Windows or Linux computer.  Intel introduced the device in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The device weighs less than two ounces – four inches long by half an inch thick. The Compute Stick plugs into a TV or display’s HDMI input.

 

The four inch dongle is packed with lots of goodies. It has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other specs on board: a quad-core Intel Atom processor, 2 Gigabytes of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a micro SD card slot for additional storage.

 

“Compute Stick has some good specs for being small,” senior Ben Cohen said.

 

The stick comes up in 2 models: Windows and Linux. Windows is priced at $149 for the Windows 8.1 model and $89 for the Linux model. The product will be available on April 24th, same day Apple releases their iWatch. Major Apple and Intel users are likely to camp days prior to the release of the both products. This ensures that the user will get the product, before it gets sold out.

 

“I got the iPhone 6 Plus the first day it came out. I camped for a day and a half right outside the Verizon store,” junior Austin Dick said.

 

Having a pocket size computer is a great to have. If you are ever in the need to go on the computer just plug the device into any display available and you have an instant computer. The Compute Stick is business friendly. It delivers ultra-portability.

 

This device is perfect for consumers. The stick has plenty of storage and performance needed for light productivity, social networking, web browsing, and streaming media, such as Netflix, Hulu, or games.

 

“I like how it’s really portable and you can do as much on it as a laptop,” said sophomore Matt Miller said.