This and the monitor, plus the lack of M2 slot (more below) make me think they have a cheap-o student laptop in the works.
- monitor can be powered from the pi 500 at 60%
- has built in speakers, plus some hdmi stuff to strip the audio line to a line out on the monitor for headphones/speaker
- there's gonna be a 16GB model
- add the M2 slot back as a "premium" feature
- the existing PCB will fit pretty nicely into a laptop case
plow all this into a laptop-like case with a touchpad and you have a ~$300-400 laptop with workable, real-world performance perfect for impulse purchases, kids, and hobbies. With market differentiators of
- low power
- low cost
- good software/hardware ecosystem
- gpio built-in
They're really only one or two steps away from this. I'd bet by next Christmas.
- monitor can be powered from the pi 500 at 60% - has built in speakers, plus some hdmi stuff to strip the audio line to a line out on the monitor for headphones/speaker - there's gonna be a 16GB model - add the M2 slot back as a "premium" feature - the existing PCB will fit pretty nicely into a laptop case
plow all this into a laptop-like case with a touchpad and you have a ~$300-400 laptop with workable, real-world performance perfect for impulse purchases, kids, and hobbies. With market differentiators of
- low power - low cost - good software/hardware ecosystem - gpio built-in
They're really only one or two steps away from this. I'd bet by next Christmas.