Cotton Candy – Yeah, it does that too!

“I have pre-ordered the FXI Cotton Candy any screen micro computer…. Sweeeeet! But I have questions about how it works….”

One thing is certain, the demand for Cotton Candy has been incredibly high. Some people find the technology and the concept so intriguing that they actually have ordered the device without even looking at the specs – which is also OK with us!

To clarify – this post is aimed at demystifying the product and it’s use in a summarized and clear fashion.

So let’s get started: With physical measurements: 8cm x 2.5cm and only 21 grams, FXI Cotton Candy contains the most processing power per cubic inch of any other computer on the market. To put it further into perspective – the length and size of Cotton Candy is approximately equal to that of an average adult index finger, except for rectangular in design. (I know this because I am an average guy and it matches almost exactly the length of my index finger.)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, however a technical spec is worth 2000 – so we have one here:

1. HDMI
2. Bluetooth connect button
3. Reset button
4. Double-Cap Cover
5. USB 2.0 male
6. Micro SD slot
7. Micro USB 2.0 female

So, we have HDMI with Full HD support for outputting video and audio to any screen.  We also have two magic buttons in our little computer:

1. A quick Bluetooth connect button, which enables the user to connect to a Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard with one press
2. And a “hidden” reset button

Additionally, an elastic double-cap cover protects Cotton Candy, for example, from the hazards of a pocket or handbag or pocket full of keys, lint, pens, coins, gum & mobile phones.

The USB 2.0 male connector has caused some confusion.  It serves two different purposes. The first is to provide power to Cotton Candy, while the other and more unique purpose is to allow interoperability with a PC. In the case of power, Cotton Candy follows the USB 2.0 spec, which means that it will operate correctly provided a minimum of 5V@500mA, something that any device with a standard USB port can provide.

The second use case, however, is made possible through FXI’s patented technology allowing any computer supporting USB storage to function as a client; making it possible to interact directly with Cotton Candy through the computer’s keyboard, mouse and screen, effectively bypassing (or complementing) the CPU, storage and OS of the computer itself.

Here is how it works:

Plug Cotton Candy into the USB port of any Linux, Mac or Windows computer and instantly access either Android or Ubuntu Operating System’s. Use the computer keyboard and mouse to control your Cotton Candy! Have your private and secure computer on any computer, or Multi OS, or all in one media storage and player and so on.

The Cotton Candy micro computer does not have a screen or a keyboard or integrated input device, but peripheral possibilities are expanded with Micro USB. Visualize it as a USB port in any other computer and you’ve got it – plug in webcams, digital cameras, external keyboard and mouse, printer/scanner or even Ethernet to USB adapter. If one port is not enough, the amount of peripherals can be increased with a USB hub or docking station.

It wouldn’t be a computer without storage though, right? Therefore we have a card slot for Micro SD Digital High Capacity (SDHC) v.2.0 supporting up to 64GB of storage. Insert your card and use it as you would in any other computer or mobile phone. But there is more.

Use multiple SD cards to house multiple OS – for instance one Android and one Linux. With Cotton Candy any screen micro computer you can boot from separate Micro SDs.  Not only is this really cool, you get multiple computers from one piece of hardware and two SD cards.

So, you think, Cotton Candy has it all.  Will it make coffee?  Work as a personal Taser?  House a Swiss Army Knife?  Perhaps not.

In summary, as a fully capable computer, Cotton Candy integrates wireless connectivity with Wifi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, again, working in a similar fashion as in any other computer platforms. Multiple OS are supported on different SD cards and the first product will have , 1 GB DRAM, near unlimited peripheral support, an Internet connection, device to device communication – you name it.  The tiny Cotton Candy can nearly do it all, in a tiny little form factor.

NOTE:   Taser functionality, Swiss Army Knife and coffee makers will not be present in the first version of Cotton Candy.   In a future post, we will further examine the uniqueness of Cotton Candy’s patented USB functionality…  Thank you for visiting us!