The Utilite is an ARM-based $100 Ubuntu PC

There’s a new player in the less-than-$100 price range computer game—Compulab. According to FanlessTech, the company has unveiled its ARM-based Linux box, dubbed the Utilite. The box will essentially act as a computer and users can plug it into any display and start using it. Out of the box, the Utilite runs on Ubuntu, but since this is a Linux machine, we’re guessing that users will be able to easily replace Ubuntu with any other Linux distro.

The Utilite will be equipped with a Freescale i.MX6 MPCore processor, based on ARM’s Cortex-A9. Users can pick between single-core, dual-core or quad-core setups. Along with this, the Utilite will have 4GB of RAM and an mSATA SSD. On the connectivity side of things, the Utilite will have Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. It will have HDMI and DVI-D outputs, four USB 2.0 ports, a micro USB port, standard 3.5 mm audio jacks, a microSD XD card slot and two ultra-mini RS232 interfaces.

The Utilite has quite a bit of horsepower in a tiny box

The box will use 3-8W by using 10-16V supply. Thanks to some form of witchcraft, all of this has been fit into a box measuring 5.3 x 3.9 x 0.8 inches.

Thanks to the beefy hardware, the Utilite can decode H.264 1080p multi-stream videos. It is because of this capability that one of the most ideal uses for the Utilite is as a media box, perhaps with XBMC running on it. The Utilite is set to cost $100 for the base model and will be hitting store shelves next month. The price point puts it in direct competition to some opponents, such as the much-hyped Ouya, which is an Android box, designed specifically to play games.

Compulab’s other products include the MintBox, Fit-PC and the Tegra-based Trim Slice.