When is a computer a computer? I am not going to go into a long geeky discussion, so it is safe to carry on reading. Just think about it, most modern cellphones (and I’m not even referring to smartphones) have as much computing power as early Personal Computers.

The smallest computer I have owned was a Palm-OS based PDA watch, which had a 66 MHz Processor, 8 MB RAM and a touchscreen interface.

Of course, the latest generation gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 are really powerful computers.

For a different take on a computer, there is an add-on to the GP2X gaming console. The GP2X is a Linux-based GP2X gaming console, and its latest iteration includes a touch screen. It is not really much of a competitor to the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS Lite, but more of a platform to play open source games. You can also listen to music or watch videos on the GP2X, and it comes with an Software Development Kit. The thing which really makes it even more versatile is the “Gp2x Commercial Interface Board Cradle”, basically a cradle which supplies several ports, including four USB ports.

That way you can plug in a USB keyboard, for example the Kensington Comfort Type USB Keyboard, and a mouse and you can call it a computer.

Posted on December 11th, 2007 by mervyn