Everex offers Linux 'MySpace' PC
Social networking the Open Source way.
By Agam Shah, IDG News Service | Published: 08:38, 08 April 2008
If you're a dedicated user of MySpace without a lot of physical space, a compact desktop PC from Everex could help.
Everex has launched MyMiniPC, a compact desktop that provides easy access to MySpace features, making it easier for friends to connect and communicate on the popular social-networking site.
The desktop, roughly the same size as Apple's Mac Mini, runs a flavour of Linux called gOS Space 2.9, which is specially designed to provide direct access to MySpace features including news, photos, videos and music.
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The PC fires up MySpace applications and features three-dimensional special effects in the OS user interface, providing an experience MySpace users have never seen before, said David Liu, founder and CEO of Good OS, which developed gOS for Everex.
"We're targeting a totally dedicated MySpace user, who spends hours on MySpace talking ... and interacting with friends. Never in a way has [MySpace] been introduced with a desktop," Liu said.
As the use of social-networking tools grows, users will want more intuitive access to tools and MyMiniPC is an early look at the way social-networking tools could be integrated into the desktop, Liu said. Social-networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have opened up their programming interfaces, and plenty of development is taking place on tools and visually enticing interfaces that bring the community to the desktop.
"We envision a desktop filled with social-networking applications [in the interface] that allows a user to be more productive independently but also to interact with friends," Liu said.
The gOS Space 2.9 version of Linux is available as an independent download from Good OS' website for other PCs. However Liu warned that the three-dimensional MySpace interface may not work on other PCs as the OS was specially designed with MyMiniPC specifications in mind.
The compact desktop runs on an Intel Pentium dual-core mobile processor at 1.86GHz and includes 512MB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, a DVD re-writeable drive, integrated Intel graphics, Firewire and USB ports, wired networking and multimedia ports including DVI and S-Video ports to connect external display devices. It weighs 2 pounds (0.91 kilograms).
The desktop is priced at $499 and does not include a monitor. It will be available only in the US for now through Everex's website.
