$35 Raspberry Pi has the crown of being world's smallest and cheapest computer, but this seems not to be the case anymore. C.H.I.P. - a brand new entry to the mini-computing scene has already been successfully crowd-funded at kickstarter, the "100% open-source" product features attractive functionality and power for a price-tag of $9 which includes a 1Ghz A13 Allwinner CPU, 512MB of DDR3 RAM, 4GB NAND storage, USB, Micro USB, Video/Audio/MIC Composite, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wifi 802.11B/G/N.

The tiny C.H.I.P. SOC is designed to run Debian Linux including modern desktop GUI apps like LibreOffice, VLC, or the Firefox or Chrome web browsers. Best of all, CHIP runs mainline Linux, which means it’s easier than ever to keep teaching it new tricks without inheriting a pile of kernel patches. Do watch the introduction video shared by MAKE magazine of this exciting new development for maker's community.

While big brands like LG, Sony and ZTE have plans to release Firefox OS powered devices, Foxconn has already taken the lead by unveiling their first tablet powered by truly open-source and free Firefox OS. Foxconn which is big OEM manufacturer for brands like Apple, Acer and Dell said they are working on atleast 5 devices including a tablet which was showcased in a video (shared below).

Portable computing units are in-vogue and the latest to join the bunch is ODROID-X, a powerful computing unit with PC like performance powered by an ARM Cortex-A9 Quad Core and 1 GB 800 Mhz DDR RAM.

ODROID-X is aimed mainly at android developers and comes with an impressive hardware spec-sheet similar to "Samsung Galaxy SIII", i.e. a 1.4 Ghz quad-core Samsung Exynos 4412 processor, 1GB RAM, Mali-400 GPU, on-board Android 4.0.4 ICS (also supports Ubuntu 12.04), 6 USB 2.0 ports, micro USB port, micro HDMI port with full-hd 1080p video output, standard 3.5mm headphone and microphone jack, 50pin IO expansion port, 100 Mbps Ethernet port and an SD card slot for storage. The best part the board is available (from end of this month) for $129 with free worldwide shipping.

Indian government educational android "Aakash 2" is not only cheap but also sturdy, to prove this here is an droptest video.

The much hyped $35 Indian android education tablet failed miserably due to low-end hardware specs. Now, "Aakash Tablet 2" is all set to launch hoping to change that, this time powered by sufficient hardware power to work smoothly. Featuring a 7 inch screen, Cortex A8 - 800 Mhz CPU, 256MB RAM, 2GB flash storage, 3000 mAh battery, WiFi & GPRS running Android 2.3, the new version of the tablet come in two flavors the one with resistive touch costing Rs.3,499/- ($70) which will be marketed commercially as non-subsidized UbiSlate 7+ and Rs.4,299/- ($85) for UbiSlate 7C which features an Multi-Touch Projective Capacitive Screen.

Complete Aakash 2 specifications, features and video with pre-order links posted below.

The tablet computer war just got interesting, with announcement of cheap Google Nexus Tablet, Phone and Player at ongoing Google I/O 2012 event. While consumers are eagerly waiting for release of recently announced Windows Surface Tablet and expected next-gen iPad announcement with iOS6, Google dropped the nuke with Android 4.1 Jellybean powered tablets with awesome hardware specs at rock-bottom prices.

Google Nexus 7 features an impressive powerful quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 7” 1280x800 HD back-lit IPS display, 1 GB RAM, 6/16 GB internal storage, Scratch-resistant Corning® glass, 1.2MP Front-facing camera, NFC (Android Beam), WiFi, Bluetooth, MicroUSB, Accelerometer, GPS, Magnetometer, Gyroscope with all new Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) at an rock-bottom price of US$199 (8 GB), US$249 (16 GB) only.

The tablet will be made available US only initially and will start shipping this July, Official introduction video and link posted below.

Be it the "Cotton Candy", ultra low-cost "Raspberry Pi" or the Intel Next Unit Of Computing (NUC) device, the concept of low-cost, portable, pluggable computers is definitely in-vogue.

The latest to join the party is APC $49 android powered mini-computer, powered by an 800MHz (VIA WonderMedia ARM 11 SoC) processor, 512MB DDR3 memory, 2GB on-board NAND Flash, support for graphic resolutions up to 720p, HDMI, VGA, 4 x USB, audio out / in, microSD and Ethernet. The computer will be featuring an custom version of Android 2.3 optimized for mouse and keyboard input, the board which is compatible with Mini-ITX and MacroATX form factors will be able to connect to any external display device via VGA/HDMI port for a fully functional desktop PC experience.

High resolution, real-life usage images and pictures of "APC 8750" in action are posted below.

Project "Raspberry Pi" with aim to launch a viable - world's smallest yet cheapest computing platform has a new rival. It seems citing the traction gained by "Raspberry Pi", Intel has now unveiled there own plans to launch a ultra-portable PC hardware - Intel's ultra-small "Next Unit of Computing" (NUC) PC.

Intel's NUC is a complete computer, featuring a Sandy Ivy Bridge Core i3/i5 CPU, Thunderbolt, HDMI, and USB 3.0 ports, two laptop memory slots, two mini PCIe headers - all nicely tucked into a portable 4x4 inches motherboard assembly. Since, this is not a final product and not much is know about it - speculations have that the Intel NUC won't be as cheap as "Raspberry Pi" but should retail at approximately $100-$300 range and is expected to arrive in the second half of the year.

If you liked the Plug and boot USB Stick Computer here is something you would absolutely love - a credit-card sized, ultra-low-cost (~15GBP or 25USD), portable computing device capable of playing 1080p30 H.264 video, audio, OpenGL ES 2.0, HDMI output, USB, SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot, 700MHz Broadcom media processor (having an ARM11 core, Broadcom GPU core, DSP core and support for Package-on-Package (PoP) RAM), 128/256 MB RAM, 100MBit Ethernet, and a number of I/O pins for a serial port and other custom expansion.

A working Raspberry Pi Beta Board video demonstration booting into OS, playing 1080p Video, audio and games while connected to a standard HDMI TV.

Think powerful portable cellphones and tablets are the future of mobile computing?, how about a small usb-stick sized computing powerhouse with dual-core 1.2-GHz CPU, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-out and a microSD card slot having more then enough juice to directly boot into a full-fledged desktop operating system. Codenamed "Cotton Candy" this compact computing powerhouse is already a reality.

Developed by an Norwegian company "FXI Technologies" weighing only 21 grams the tiny PC enables “Any Screen Computing” - the device lets users attach the stick to any HDMI compatible screen and boot into an desktop operating system (currently demoed using preloaded Android 2.3 but specs shows it should support other OS's soon) and let them enjoy full computing including multimedia, computing, phone etc.

Surprisingly Small USB Stick Computer With Dual Core Processor, WiFI, Bluetooth And Card Reader

Operating-system Booted From The Mini Disk