Marvell’s Plug Computing expands with no end in sight

A few new Plug Computing applications were just announced and they include: WebTVPlug, Eyecon and TonidoPlug.

WebTVPlug connects to WebTView (a video search service) to make WebTView videos accessible to a DLNA/uPNP home device. For example, your PlayStation 3 could access WebTView, even if there’s no WebTView application for PS3. This is pretty cool.

Eyecon also relies on DLNA/uPNP to give you access to a virtual library of all the media content that the Plug can find in your home. The virtual library can also contain media files hosted elsewhere on the web. Users can access the library from (select) smartphones to play the content. The idea is to give a single view to many media sources.

TonidoPlug was discussed by its creators on the web last week, but it’s basically a tiny home server that lets you share data (photo, music, media, calendar…) with other users inside your home or on the internet. The user access management seems well-built and should keep you in control over who’s accessing what. The best part is that TonidoPlug will feature an app store where users will be able to get additional upgrades.

If you missed it, Plug Computing is based on an Open Development Platform originally built by Marvell and based on the ARM ultra-low power architecture. The software development kit (SDK) is available for $99 and so far, developers have been prolific and ingenious. PogoPlug was the application that generated a lot of buzz earlier this year. At full load, the Plug consumes only 1Watt and in idle mode, the consumption goes down dramatically. This is pretty amazing for a computer equipped with a 1.2Ghz processor, 512MB of RAM and 512MB of flash.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Computers, Top Stories
Tags: ARM, linux, marvell, plug, pogoplug