FingerGear said they’ve got a new toy for computer folks to play with now. They call it Computer-On-A-Stick and for $149 that just about what you get.
The little flash drive hooks into a USB2.0 port and comes with a bootable onboard Linux OS and an open source office suite. Sounds pretty keen huh? You betcha.
The diminutive device carries Linux 2.6.x series kernel, Firefox, a PDF creator/viewer and the GAIM instant messaging client that covers Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, IRC and a few others. The OpenOffice productivity suite, an open source office program includes word processing, spreadsheets, vector drawings and slide presentations.
The little device has web, email and remote server or PC access. A variety of capacities are offered starting at 256MB up to 8 gigs. The minimum requirements aren’t bad either. All it needs is a USB port, an X86 CPU, a keyboard and a mouse. It recommends having 128Mb of RAM or more a monitor that can handle 1024×768 resolution.
The device is password protected and will hook into any Windows or Linux and it will work with common Microsoft Office applications. It can story emails, documents, bookmarks and address books.
This device will have a lot of applications. Probably the most significant will be in the education market. High school and college students will be able to make use of all the capacity available on this drive and will easily give them the ability to switch back and forth between computers in the library, at home or in the classroom.
The price point starts at $149 and goes up but easily affordable for most college students. IT workers will also find this useful when they wander around fixing various computers at the office and business owners could find great uses for this too, not having to purchase a lot of expensive software but being able to carry their presentations with them in their pocket.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
