It doesn’t take much to build a usable computer these days. Android and other light-weight operating systems can run on devices with relatively low-power processors and a little RAM and storage. And that means you can get a machine that lets you surf the web, edit documents, play games, or stream internet video for $100 or less.

We’ve seen an awful lot of these machines in the past year, ranging from the Linux-powered Raspberry Pi to Chinese TV sticks like the MK802.

Now a group called ZeroDesktop wants to offer a $99 mini-computer called the MiiPC. It looks like a tiny desktop computer (because that’s what it is), and ZeroDesktop is positioning it as a PC for kids.

MiiPC

The group is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise at least $50,000 to finish the project.

Right now there’s a working prototype of a MiiPC mini-computer, but the team still needs to finalize the software/

The idea is to provide both a little computer and a companion mobile app for parents. Connect a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and the MiiPC basically functions as an Android-powered computer. It supports multiple user accounts, internet video, and should come with bundled apps including Kingsoft Office and Splashtop2.

Use the mobile app and you can block your kid’s access to certain apps or websites and even monitor exactly what they’re doing in real-time.

The MiiPC isn’t the most powerful mini-PC. But it should have enough oomph for most basic tasks thanks to a 1.2 GHz Marvell Armada dual-core ARMv7 processor and 1GB of RAM.

The machine also has 4GB of built-in storage, an SD card slot for extra storage, and built-in 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0.

It has 2 USB 2.0 ports, speaker and mic jacks, and HDMI and Ethernet ports.

via Engadget

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11 replies on “MiiPC wants to build a $99 Android PC for kids (Kickstarter)”

  1. DUAL 8 CORE 64 GIGS MEMORY 6 TERABYTES OF SSD HARDRIVES DUAL R9 GRAPHIX AND A POWER SUPPLY THAT MAKES THE STREET LIGHTS DIM WHEN I START IT UP!nah seriously their are tablets and netbooks that run the web and play some pretty cheesy fun games if you want seed money go big otherwise let OLPC handle the poor kid stuff,,,terrorists love those charity XO laptops they make coordinating attacks really easy!

  2. If ARM hardware gets even a little more powerful than it is right now, I could see the MiiPC and other Android-based PC’s become the main computers for a lot of people, especially as Android turns into a more mature operating system.

  3. If this will support 1000M network speed – I’ll certanly buy at least one, for home NAS

  4. Oh, the mean dad blocks Angry Birds. 🙁 LOL

    When are these companies going to stop thinking that they have something “unique” or “special” to offer just because they bundle certain software with their device?

    How about making it run cool and quiet. That would make it truly unique and special and worth considering.

      1. If it has no moving parts, that’s good.

        I believe Android 4.2 already support multi-user, so parents could set up separate accounts for their kids.

        I also think that parents should control what their kids are doing the old-fashioned way, by parenting. Not by using a remote control iPhone app.

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