From our President: Newsletter, September 2011

August 2011 was the best month in sales we have ever had. We announced the new Xcore86+ module in June. In July, many new customers tested the Xcore86+ and found that it offered enough performance for their application.

The new Xcore86+ offers 70% more processing power than the original Xcore86 because it has a 32 bit memory bus instead of the previous 16 bit. This allows the Xcore86+ module to work with 1GB RAM as well as providing more processing power without increasing the power draw.

The Xcore86+ module is a complete computer with RAM on a module. Xcore has introduced several products that use this module to create a complete solution. These include:

• EduBook -- an ultra low cost netbook designed for students.
• SurfBoard -- the World's most energy efficient desktop. A complete computer built in a keyboard.
• JrMX -- A small, energy efficient, computer solution that runs standard x86 applications.
• InfoPad -- an example of a custom device built using the same carrier board, module and screen as the EduBook. A low cost tablet/panel PC that runs Windows XP or Linux.

The reason I am writing this newsletter is because of the huge amount of news that came out in the last few weeks and how this news might impact the Xcore.

The first news was that Google had bought the part of Motorola that makes phones. They now not only control Android but now has its own hardware arm to deploy Android applications. Imagine what the managers HTC and Samsung were thinking.

Speaking of Google, not many weeks ago, Logitech announced it was going to reduce the price of its Revue from $279.00 to $99.95. I rushed to Best Buy but they were sold out. Every retailer I went to was sold out. Eventually I was able to get a Logitech Revue for $99.95. I would think that Logitech is loosing money on this sale.

Not many days afterwards, HP announces it is going to discontinue the phones and tablets based on WebOS they had bought from Palm. I have a soft spot for Palm as I bought many different Palm PDAs through the years and always considered their simplicity and product design to be quite elegant. I can remember when Palm OS devices were available from Sony, Palm, Handspring and others. The Palm Treo phones were the original Smart Phones.

When I heard that the HP TouchPad was going to be discontinued, I started looking for closeouts. I read that two hours prior, some retailers were selling the TouchPad for $99.95. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t find an available $99.95 TouchPad. Some reports stated that HP sold 350,000 units in just four hours. Another report said that one retailer on eBay was able to sell nearly 7,000 units at $120.00 in two hours.

The point of this is that there is an amazing amount of demand even for a dead product if the price is right. Six weeks ago, HP introduced their tablet at “iPad” prices. Sales were dismal and they lowered them by $100.00. Still no takers. Then, after announcing the product would be discontinued and that HP would get out of the market completely, at $99.95 there was bottomless demand for the product.

Google TV based products were moving very slowly. Logitech drops the price to 1/3 of the original price and the units fly off the shelf.

What does this have to do with Xcore?

The Xcore86 is designed to be the least expensive platform to run Linux or Windows applications. In quantity, with the right hardware design, the Xcore86+ could be part of a product that sets a price breakthrough for a product that flies off the shelf.

The Xcore86 and Xcore86+ run existing x86 applications. It is possible to use the Xcore86+ to build just about any device that supports Windows or x86 Linux. The SurfBoard and EduBook are two examples of such products. A manufacturer could use the Xcore86 or Xcore86+ device on chip or device on module to create a x86 based computer that would be smaller, cheaper and more energy efficient than any other solution. Most importantly, this manufacturer could make a profit doing this.

It would be possible to build touch screen kiosks, POS devices, computers for kids, computers for moms, thin clients, biometric devices, RFID devices or computer for automobiles that would be lower cost than any other approach.

While the Xcore86 is clearly the low cost and most energy efficient solution to support x86 based applications, “what about ARM?” you might ask. ARM based solutions are also very inexpensive and energy efficient. However, producing hardware around ARM solutions also means creating the entire environment. An x86 platform allows you to choose from a variety of operating systems and install the same environment independent of the hardware vendor.

The Xcore86 CPU shares the advantages of energy efficiency, SoC design and low cost of an ARM based solution but the ease of supporting a x86 environment. Logitech and HP have discovered they are able to sell nearly unlimited numbers of their devices when the lowered the price below $100.00. The problem of course is that both Logitech and HP had to lose money. Xcore believes that there is unlimited demand for the right x86 devices with the right price.

New for 2011Q2: Announcing the immediate availability of Xcore86+

The Xcore86+ is our second generation Device on Chip. The Xcore86+ is nearly twice the speed of the original Xcore86 Device on Chip. It is faster than the VIA C7 CPU used in the MicroClient Sr and faster than AMD's LX800. Even so, the Xcore86+ offers the same energy efficiency as the original Xcore86 which is more integrated and more energy efficient than other x86 processors.

1 GB RAM is now possible with the Xcore86+. The new CPU uses 32bit RAM instead of 16bit RAM that allows the CPU to do more work per clock cycle.

The previous Xcore86 module based products will continue to be available. These products offer excellent value for money in delivering features and benefit at a certain price point. Xcore86+ module based products cost about $30 more, however they offer twice the performance and RAM at the same form factor, consuming the same amount of power.

The Xcore86+ is available as an upgrade to existing Xcore based products to include the JrMX, SurfBoard and EduBook. It is now possible for existing users to double RAM and speed for about $85.00. Users can swap out the Xcore86 modules and replace them with the Xcore86+ modules. The process is easy, quick and do not require any special tools. A Phillips screwdriver is enough.

Xcore is providing support for Micosoft Windows XP, XPe, CE, Debian Linux, Puppy Linux, Slackware, and Ubuntu Linux on the www.deviceonchip.com website.

Over the next few days we will be announcing new variants of our products utilizing the Xcore86+ module. Other features and accessories associated with the products will remain the same.

For additional information, email to info [at] xcore86.com. Xcore products are available at NorhTec website and through other world wide resellers and partners. You can use this contact form as well.

Archived / older news is available here.