$99 doesn’t buy you much in the realm of full-fledged PCs. However, as FanlessTech reports, that happens to be the starting price of the Utilite, an ARM-powered mini-PC that’s coming out next month. The Utilite runs either Android or Ubuntu Linux and is packed to the gills with connectivity.
Inside its 5.3" x 3.9" x 0.8" chassis lurks a Freescale i.MX6 processor with up to four ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked as high as 1.2GHz. (It looks like the default config is single-core, though.) There’s also room for up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 512GB of mSATA solid-state storage, and an additional 128GB of capacity via a Micro-SD slot.
On the connectivity front, the Utilite serves up dual HDMI outputs, dual Gigabit Ethernet, dual RS232 mini serial ports, four USB 2.0 ports, a micro USB connector, and dual 3.5" jacks. Want to connect wirelessly? No problem. 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 are also on the menu.
Oh, and power consumption is a microscopic 3-8W, "depending on system configuration and load." That explains the apparent lack of fan exhausts on the machine.
There’s no word on pricing for a maxed-out config with a quad-core processor, but this thing looks like a solid bargain regardless. I can definitely see it as a custom router-and-HTPC combo—especially since the Freescale processor inside is supposed to decode 1080p H.264 and VC1 video in hardware.