Intel Sees Big Future in Tiny PCs
Mini and tiny PCs are taking over the enterprise space. Will they find a place in your home?
From Intel's event today, we've learned that all-in-ones are a big focal point, but not the only new form factor that the company is targeting for the future. Born from the NUC effort, the mini or tiny PC is set for a record year and is in Intel's eye a "reinvention of the tower."
Intel VP and GM of Desktop Client Platforms Group, Lisa Graff, expressed confidence in this new segment, saying, "This is growing incredibly fast. What we're seeing here is over 1 million units shipped last year – growing from essentially nothing from 2012 – and we expect more than 50 percent growth this year in 2014."

Small form factors are nothing new, of course. So what is it about this new wave that's making them so successful?
"It's so small, it almost disappears," explains Graff. The small size means that it can be placed out of the way in a convenient spot in unconventional places. Intel uses the example of a mini PC being used for navigation on a boat.
It's another classic tale of miniaturization enabling new use cases for existing technology. Intel used the words "easy embedded" to describe some of these use cases.
Story updated with photos.
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The Gigabyte Brix is pretty sweet. Hoping to get my hands on one soon to replace the family computer.
I initially thought the same, but a look at the pricing leaves me less convinced, especially the international pricing. I'm now much more interested in Sapphire's 4" x 4" motherboards, and any devices that will use them, as AMD's APUs are IMO much better value for money for tiny devices like that. In fact I think some actual units were announced on this site not that long ago but I can't remember who was making them so I can't find a link.
I initially thought the same, but a look at the pricing leaves me less convinced, especially the international pricing. I'm now much more interested in Sapphire's 4" x 4" motherboards, and any devices that will use them, as AMD's APUs are IMO much better value for money for tiny devices like that. In fact I think some actual units were announced on this site not that long ago but I can't remember who was making them so I can't find a link.
There is an AMD APU version of the Brix that I'm definitely interested in.