Shuttle is set to launch an ION2 nettop at CeBIT

The ultra-compact PC platform is upon us

SHUTTLE DIDN’T HAVE all too much to show at CES last month, but it seems like the company is getting ready to at least unleash something different at CeBIT next week where the company is set to unveil its new XS35 ultra-compact PC.

The XS35 is a 1-litre class system which measures 3.3 cm wide (while standing on its side) and as far as we’re aware, this is the first nettop to be announced with Nvidia’s ION2 GPU, which is also known as the GT218. Shuttle claims that the “graphics card provides streaming 3D and video playback”, although we’re not sure what streaming 3D is. Either which way, we’re sure it’ll offer enough graphics power for the Intel Atom D510 dual core processor upon which Shuttle has based the XS35.

In terms of connectivity, Shuttle has revealed that the XS35 will feature an HDMI port, five USB 2.0 ports, a D-sub connector, an Ethernet port and some type of audio connectors. It also has a slim-line optical drive, a 2.5-inch hard drive and a multi-format card reader. The entire system is meant to be passively cooled, although considering the size we’re expecting it to have a rather large external power brick.

We doubt that Shuttle will be the only company announcing Atom based products with ION2 graphics at CeBIT, especially as Acer has already said that it’s readying a netbook using the ION2 GPU. ION2 is said to double the shader count from the current generation “chipset” ION solution which should see an increase in CUDA performance for those that are looking at using their GPU for more than just graphics. On the other hand, it will most likely drain the battery quicker in netbooks, unless of course all ION2 netbooks supports Nvidia’s Optimus, although there’s also some rumours about Optimus being implemented in desktop solution as a power saving option.S|A

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