Intel introduced its Next Unit Computing (NUC) Line of mini PCs in 2012, with a vision of making PC systems that are small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, yet powerful enough to handle day-to-day desktop computing. Although several NUC models are still best-sellers in the market, Intel chose to step away from the business. As disappointing as Intel’s exit from the market is, it’s comforting to know that GEEKOM, a multinational consumer electronics company, promises to keep Intel’s vision of compact computing alive. In fact, GEEKOM’s Mini IT series mini PCs have long been considered as some of the best alternatives to the Intel NUC Pros. The GEEKOM Mini IT12 is similar to the NUC 12 Pro Wall Street Canyon in many ways. The two mini PCs have the same shape and size. But unlike the NUC 12 Pro, which is powered by Core-P processors, GEEKOM […]
Intel kills its NUC business
Intel has just decided to shut down its Next Unit of Compute (NUC) business selling mini PC, PC, boards, and modules directly to customers, as the company told partners they will stop direct investment into that part of their business. We first wrote about Intel NUC in 2014, but the company’s first NUC was launched in 2013, and I can only imagine Intel decided to kill the NUC business in order to focus on its core business which is to sell processors. They won’t directly compete against their customers anymore, although it’s unclear if this was part of the decision… I have mostly read praises about the NUC family over the years, but I’ve had a mixed experience myself. One family member asked for a reliable mini PC, so I recommended a Core-i5 NUC and while it mostly worked fine, we had to purchase a separate USB WiFI dongle as […]
GEEKNUC sells Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Serpent Canyon mini PC for under $1,000 (Sponsored)
GEEKNUC, a reseller of genuine Intel NUC mini PCs, is now offering the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Serpent Canyon for unbeatable prices with the barebone model going for $999 (no coupon code needed), and the models with 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD and 64GB RAM and a 2TB SSD are selling for $1,099 and $1,249 respectively when using the coupon code NUC12SNK50. That’s about $500 cheaper than on Amazon and Walmart, or nearly 30% lower, but the product is genuine with GEEKNUC being an Intel Partner Alliance Titanium Member and official reseller of Intel NUC products. The company also specializes in the marketing of computer tech devices, mainly covering Mini PCs, Barebone PCs, and laptops, and offers professional technical support and after-sales service. Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Serpent Canyon specifications: SoC – Intel Core i7-12700H 14-core/20-thread (6P+8E) Alder Lake-H processor clocked at up to 3.5 GHz (E-cores) / 4.7 […]
Intel NUC 13 Rugged “Bravo Canyon” fanless Alder Lake-N mini PC is designed for 24/7 operation
The Intel NUC 13 Rugged, codenamed “Bravo Canyon, is an upcoming fanless and dust-resistant mini PC powered by an Alder Lake-N processor and designed for 24/7 operation suitable for business and industrial applications, albeit just in a 0°C to 40°C or 50°C temperature range. The rugged computer is offered with either an external or internal heatsink, supports up to 16GB DDR5 memory, comes with 64GB eMMC flash, M.2 sockets for NVMe and/or SATA SSDs, two 4Kp60 capable HDMI 2.1 ports, two 2.5GbE networking interfaces, four USB 3.2/2.0 ports, and optional support for WiFi 6, 4G LTE cellular connectivity, and an internal expansion bay. Intel NUC 13 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Atom x7425E quad-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB L3 cache, Intel UHD Graphics; 12W TDP Intel Atom x7211E dual-core processor up to 3.2 GHz with 6MB L3 cache, Intel UHD Graphics; 6W TDP […]
GEEKOM AS 6 AMD Ryzen 6000 mini PC takes on Intel NUC 13 Pro “Arena Canyon” (Sponsored)
GEEKOM AS 6 is an AMD Ryzen 6000 mini PC developed in collaboration with ASUS that aims to provide a cost-effective alternative to the Intel NUC 13 Arena Canyon mini PC powered by an Intel Core i7-1360P Raptor Lake-P hybrid SoC. The mini PC is equipped with either an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX or Ryzen 7 6800H processor, supports up to 64GB DDR5 memory, three storage options with two NVMe sockets and one 2.5-inch SATA drive bay, and can drive up to four independent displays thanks to two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 output, and two Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 ports. Networking is the same as on the NUC with 2.5GbE, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2. Here’s how GEEKOM AS 6 specifications compare the ones of the Intel NUC 13 Pro “Arena Canyon”. The performance of the selected AMD Ryzen 9 and Intel Raptor Lake processor is comparable, but […]
Ubuntu Core 22 released for IoT devices and embedded systems
Canonical has just released Ubuntu Core 22, a containerized variant of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, optimized for IoT devices and embedded systems and supporting Ubuntu’s new real-time kernel. In Ubuntu Core, everything is a snap, including the kernel, OS, and applications both to improve security to sandbox each package and to enable updates of specific packages from the IoT App Store over-the-air (OTA). If something goes wrong during the update, the system will automatically roll back to the previous version, so the device cannot be bricked. The Snap system also minimizes network traffic through delta updates. Ubuntu Core 22 also provides advanced security features with secure boot, full disk encryption, secure recovery, as well as confinement of the OS and applications as discussed above. Customers also benefit from Canonical’s 10 years (until 2032) of security maintenance of kernel, OS, and application-level code, which can be important for deployments in enterprise and […]
Intel launches NUC 11 Essential mini PC, Kits, and SBC with Jasper Lake SoC
Details about the Intel NUC 11 Essential “Atlas Canyon” mini PCs with Jasper Lake processor were leaked in May 2021, but Intel has now made it official with the “launch” of five NUC 11 Essential SKUs with one Windows 11 mini PC with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, three kits (bare mini PC), and one bare board all listed on Ark Intel. I put “launch” between quotes because it’s only “launched” as stated on Ark Intel, but it does not look like it’s available for sale just yet, but now at least we get confirmation about the specs from the leak that was fairly accurate, except Intel did not launch 10W Jasper Lake J-Series processors, and both 6W and 10W Jasper Lake processors are part of the N-Series. Intel NUC 11 Essential specifications: SoC/memory/storage NUC11ATKC2 Mini PC SoC – Intel Celeron N4505 dual-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz / 2.9 […]
Tiger Canyon Porcoolpine fanless Tiger Lake NUC announced for $679 and up
Simply NUC “Tiger Canyon Porcoolpine” is a fanless Intel NUC offered with a choice of Tiger Lake UP3 processors, notably Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1135G7, and Core i7-1165G7, and equivalent vPro parts when available. The mini PC comes with up to 64GB DDR4, NVMe & SATA storage, a Thunderbolt 4 port, two HDMI 2.0b ports, 2.5 GbE networking, and optional Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, as well as a DB9 serial port for industrial applications, for example, to connect a barcode scanner. Tiger Canyon Porcoolpine (NUC11TF) specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i3-1115G4 dual-core/quad-thread processor @ up to 3.0 / 4.1 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB L3 cache, 48EU Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP Intel Core i5-1135G7 quad-core/octa-thread processor @ up to 2.4 / 4.2 GHz with 8MB L3 cache, 80EU Intel Xe graphics; 28W TDP Intel Core i5-1145G7 (vPro) quad-core/octa-thread processor @ up to 2.6 / 4.4 GHz with […]