Imagine Project Ara being developed for computers, having blocks stacked one above the other, adding to the power – Acer Revo Build is exactly that, with Windows 10 OS. Announced at the IFA 2015, this modular PC shows promises and it allows joining multiple units to the block. The initial PC block is quite small, and stacking of more blocks can be done above it.
Just 12.5cm square is what this PC needs on a table, and the main “block” comes with a Intel Celeron or Pentium processor. A modest 32GB storage is provided initially, and you can choose to have either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive on the top of it, within a case. Alongside this, upto 8GB of RAM, three USB 3.0 ports, SD card slot, HDMI and display port are housed in the main block.
The blocks attack to each other with magnetic coupling and pogo pins. Acer is planning to build external graphics units that can aid the limited internals in the block, and currently, not more than five units can be stacked together, and that is a limitation.
A charging block with wireless power bank, and an audio block with integrated speakers and mic are also in the process, and the good thing about these blocks, is that they will work independently on other PCs.
The Revo Build will be available in Europe, Africa and the Middle East starting at €199, and the sales will begin in October 2015. While the concept looks good, it won’t be as reasonable with the price as the modular smartphone Project Ara is expected to be. Too early to say though, as we haven’t heard about the price of components and independent units.
