Articles
Kangaroo is a portable, phone-sized Windows 10 desktop | Engadget
From the horse’s mouth
InFocus
My Comments
InFocus, associated with value-priced projectors, has stepped out further with a US$99 Windows 10 desktop computer that is as big as one of today’s smartphones or a small USB hard disk. The idea is picking up from the “Intel Compute Stick” idea with computers as big as a Chromecast and plug directly in to a display’s HDMI port.
The Kangaroo has the same computing power as an entry-level netbook therefor can do some basic computer tasks. This would be in the form of an Intel Atom x5 processor, 2Gb RAM and 32Gb flash storage. There is also a microSD card slot for storage expansion along with a fingerprint reader for improved data security courtesy of Windows 10 Hello.
But the Kangaroo comes with a clip-on expansion module that has an HDMI display connection along with 2 USB ports with one being a USB 2.0 port and one being a USB 3.0 port. It has 802.11ac Wi-FI and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and can run on its own battery for 4 hours.
A feature that was of interest was for a user to connect the Kangaroo to an Apple iPad and use the iPad as the mobile desktop’s user interface. This is facilitated with the iPad and Kangaroo hooked up using the standard Lightning-USB charge / data cable and both devices running OSLinx remote-access software. But I would like to see the OSLinx software also made available for “via-USB” connection to tablets based on other platforms.
It is one of these highly-pocketable computers that may be talked of as a “general purpose” desktop that may be rolled out as an alternative to a low-end Windows notebook or Chromebook. Because it runs on Windows, it could appeal to schools and businesses who want it as part of a standard operating environment for essential computing tasks. This would also include point-of-sale terminals and the like where a small footprint is highly desired.
Other users may also see it as part of one or more special-purpose computing projects like automotive or marine computing applications or simply this computer could serve as a personal sidekick to a tablet like an iPad.
