RS Components and Allied Electronics have started sending Raspberry Pi boards to customers as of today. The earliest customers in the order queue received e-mails over the weekend with a voucher code and a link to a dedicated page to order their micro-PC. However, the site had issues with crashing from others wanting to order without receiving their code.
Raspberry Pi customers have started to receive e-mails alerting them to the imminent shipment of the repeatedly delayed home theatre hobbyists’ micro-PC. However, while this is good news for customers eager to get their hands on the sold out Model B version of the device, some users have reported difficulties using their e-mailed voucher codes. Apparently, the weight of demand of customers rushing to complete their order is causing the website server to crash.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has explained a new and unanticipated delay ahead of the anticipated arrival of its hacker and enthusiast friendly Raspberry Pi micro-computer. The UK distributors of the Linux-based home theatre PC, RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell, have told the foundation that they are not prepared to ship the devices until they receive CE certification. Raspbery Pi, although arguing that their micro-PCs don’t constitute a ‘finished end product,’ have said that they will respect the decision of its partners.
Raspberry Pi has announced that its $25 Linux-based microPC for home theatre buffs has been delayed due to a manufacturing glitch. The foundation reports that its manufacturer sourced incorrect Ethernet jacks without integrated magnetics as had been specified. Instead, non-magnetic jacks were soldered meaning that the micro-PCs will not connect to a network.
ASUS recently unveiled the M50 notebook, a multimedia-styled computer that blends a Blu-Ray player with Altec Lansing speakers and Dolby Home Theatre. The embedded touchpad doubles as a multimedia control panel, giving users control over both music and video without moving the cursor. The M50 also features an HDMI port to connect to home theatre setups. ASUS has not given pricing or availability, but the M50 is expected to ship next week.
Gefen today announced a new line of electronics products geared towards home theatre enthusiasts, which it is dubbing Gefen TV, leading off the line with the Gefen TV Switcher. The Switcher is capable of sharing one HDMI v1.3 port to four separate devices. In addition to being able to manually switch between devices, the Gefen TV Switcher can automatically detect recently powered devices and switch the signal accordingly. Gefen is selling the switch through its website for $200.
Day one of CES 2008 draws to a close; earlier in the day, Intel formally announced its 45-nanometer Core 2 platform, based on the previously-announced Penryn architecture. The new chips offer a host of new features, such as SSE4, and up to 6MB of Level 2 Cache. Intel will release the new mobile-centric processors by the end of January, and will be available from a number of different PC vendors, such as Gateway and Sony. Intel's booth presence at CES 2008 is large, with several different areas dedicated to the manufacturing process, mobile applications, home theatre integration, and plenty of hands-on activity.
