Marvell SheevaPlug Tiny Plug PC with Linux For $ 99

[jacky]

Marvell has just cut the grass under the feet of nettops and other small consumer PCs and low prices with SheevaPlug, a tiny machine to connect directly on the wall, like a connector CPL. It enters the air plug Computing.

This PC is focused on a Sheeva PXA168 ARM processor to 1.2 GHz with 512 MB RAM DDR2 533 MHz and 512 MB of flash memory. It also provides Gigabit Ethernet ports and USB 2.0. The processor is homemade, including through the acquisition of the Intel XScale in 2006, whose engineers have contributed to the development of Sheeva. The chip in question includes an entire system onto a single chip: USB 2.0, PCI-Express, the AC97 circuit, power management, operating the circuit graph WUXGA 24-bit, etc.. Windows CE is managed, as well as the Flash and Flash Lite, and the most common codecs, but not equipment. All details in this document at Marvell.

All Linux kernel 2.6 and compiled for ARM processors are compatible announced. The idea is obviously to reduce the size of the machine as well as its price: $ 99 for this model, and the Wall Street Journal says that Marvell wants to compress term prices to 49 dollars.

[Simond]

Hello, Jacky Read the Official Press release Here

Marvell today announced its Plug Computing initiative to make high-performance, always on, always connected, and environmentally friendly computing readily available for developers and end-users. A Plug Computer is small enough to plug directly into a wall socket and is designed to draw so little power that it can be left on all of the time. Unlike other embedded devices in the home, it contains a gigahertz class processor to offer PC class performance. This makes it a viable alternative to a PC for any software service.

“There is no doubt that home networks need to become more intelligent and easier to use by offering value added services for the consumer,” said Dr. Simon Milner, Vice President and General Manager of the Enterprise Business Unit, Consumer and Communications Business Group at Marvell Semiconductor. “We have created an open computing platform for developers in a consumer and eco-friendly form factor. Marvell’s goal is to accelerate the development and availability of innovative software and services in the home.”

The SheevaPlug development platform uses a Marvell Kirkwood processor based on an embedded 1.2GHz Sheeva CPU equipped with 512 Mbytes of FLASH and 512 Mbytes of DRAM. Connection to the home network is via Gigabit Ethernet. Peripherals such as direct attached storage can be connected using a USB 2.0 port. Multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions are supported on the SheevaPlug development platform enabling rapid application development. The enclosure is designed to plug directly into a standard wall socket and is designed to draw less than one tenth of the power of a typical PC being used as a home server.

“Plug computing is a logical evolution for the digital home in the same way enterprise applications moved from servers to network appliances,” Mr. Hajime Nakai, Director, Member of the Board, BUFFALO INC. “Marvell is probably the only company that can pack so much processor performance into such a compact form factor.”

"Marvell is a leader in designing high-performance, power-efficient CPUs," commented Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group. "SheevaPlug leverages this capability to deliver an impressive amount of compute performance in an innovative form factor. As a silicon provider, Marvell is providing a flexible platform for a wide variety of applications that serves both consumers and service providers.”

Early adopters of plug computing began to launch Marvell based products at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2009. These include:

Axentra: HipServ software running on a SheevaPlug is a complete home server platform and applications suite that allows OEMs and service providers to quickly go to market with branded home server solutions. This highly secure and stable software platform allows users to easily store, manage, share, view, or listen to digital media content in the home or remotely.

Cloud Engines, Inc.: Cloud Engines launched the Pogoplug, a new device which connects your external hard drive to the internet so you can easily share and access your files from anywhere. The $99 device won accolades at CES, and the company is taking discounted pre-orders now at

CTERA Networks: The CTERA CloudPlug, a Cloud Attached Storage appliance, converts any USB drive into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device with integrated secure offsite backup. CTERA aims the device at service providers seeking to provide online backup services to consumers and small businesses.

Eyecon Technologies, Inc.: Eyecon’s media companion empowers the consumer to use their mobile internet device, such as the iPhone, to manage their connected digital lifestyle. With the SheevaPlug, Eyecon allows the user to discover content from any source including the internet, DVRs, PCs and Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices and direct it to any connected media device in the home. This delivers a complete, unified media control experience from the palm of the user’s hand.

Availability and Pricing
The SheevaPlug development kit is available now for $99 . All the design details and the software needed to develop applications for the SheevaPlug platform are available through the Marvell website.

[jacky]

PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Marvell 'S SheevaPlug is a plug computer - an embedded computer that plugs into the wall socket and can run network - based services that normally require a dedicated personal computer. Featuring a 1.2GHz Marvell Sheeva CPU with 512MB of flash memory and 512MB of DDR2 memory, the SheevaPlug provides ample processing power and resources to run any embedded computing application. Network connectivity is via Gigabit Ethernet; peripheral devices can be connected using USB2.0. Software for the SheevaPlug includes multiple Linux distributions and follows the open-source model, making the SheevaPlug an ideal platform on which to develop or port any application. SheevaPlug The development kit contains the SheevaPlug as well as all of the software tools needed to develop applications for the platform.

FEATURES & BENEFITS

• End-product form factor
  
  • Professional demonstration of new applications
  • Suitable for initial trials
  • Shorter time to production
  
  
  
• Open platform
  
  • Available at low cost to any interested developer
  • Readily available Linux distributions
  • Community support
  
  
  
• High performance with low power
  
  • Ideal for always-on computing tasks
  • Easier to port existing software without modifcation
  • Run multiple applications concurrently
  
  
  
• GHz class processor
  
  • Wirespeed packet processing
  • Fast response for interactive applications
  • High speed access to USB 2.0 connected storage
  
  
  
• Built-in debug support
  
  • Direct connect to a PC via mini USB cable
  • JTAG access
  • Serial console interface

[jacky]

APPLICATIONS
Plug in the computing model, network-based software services that are normally run from a desktop or laptop computer are instead delivered from a more efficient device that can be left on all of the time and at 10 percent of the cost. Basic examples of network-based services include web, email, and virtual private networks that are run on servers hosted in homes and small offices. A rapid increase in the amount and variety of digital content and network-connected devices in the home is creating even more opportunities, as increasing numbers of software services are needed to locate, manage, secure, and share this data. Unlike hosted Web 2.0 services that use central servers on the Internet to store copies of data, the plug computing approach distributes computing power to every home. A plug computer can take advantage of peer-to-peer connectivity over the Internet, as well as the latest network protocols-such as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)-that only work between devices in the home. In some scenarios, a hybrid approach, which combines hosted services with an in-home computing resource, can reduce deployment costs and make services easier to use.

[jacky]

Marvell SheevaPlug Development Kit
Developers can create native applications for the SheevaPlug on the open-source Linux platform. Marvell has also created Raindrop, an open-source API framework that makes it effortless to deploy third-party applications onto the SheevaPlug securely and in a resource-defined manner. Finally, the SheevaPlug supports a Java Virtual Machine and an OSGi stack, allowing for the rapid deployment of third-party OSGI services

PACKAGE CONTENTS

• SheevaPlug, USB cable, ethernet cable, CD containing software and documentation