Shivaranjan.com

Asus has launched P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard that features a embedded Linux distro a.k.a Splashtop which comes with Firefox and Skype installed. When you use this motherboard you are given a option to boot using the embedded Linux operating which boots within 15 seconds and you would be able to access Firefox and Skype or the operating system of your choice. This means that you would be able to browse, chat and call your friends or families in within a few seconds of switching on your computer

Features of Asus P5E3 Deluxe / WiFi-AP:

• LGA775 Intel Core 2 Processor Ready and supports next generation 45nm Multi-Core Core 2 microarchitecture CPU
• Intel X38 Chipset that supports support 8GB of dual-channel DDR3 1333/1066/800 architecture, 1333/1066/800 FSB (Front Side Bus), Dual PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics and multi-core CPUs.
• Support for DDR3 1800 high speed RAM
• Wi-Fi access point built in motherboard that is capable of working with IEEE 802.11n draft standards.
• Embedded Splashtop Linux distribution.

You can also see this motherboard in action: (RSS readers open this post in web browser to watch the video)

The motherboard would sell for USD $350 (INR 14,400) which is pretty costly but I would say it is worth that much with the specifications it has got.

Shivaranjan.com’s take on this:

Now question that comes to my mind is how are the consumers like you and me going to update the software as Firefox and Skype get frequents updates. I guess this would be done by the flashing the ROM that holds the embedded operating system.

Dell offers somewhat similar feature in its laptop which is also called Dell Media Direct which boots Windows quickly from the hard disk drive and you can watch movies and even access your office documents but you cannot browse the Internet. Well I may opt for this motherboard if it comes to India not for the embedded Linux that it offers rather for the other features that this motherboard offers.

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