The world's smallest Linux-based computer up for pre-order

FXI Technologies showcased its Usb-drive-sized computer dubbed 'Cotton Candy' at CES 2012. The company has now said that Cotton Candy is available for pre-order. The retail price of the 'world's smallest computer' is $199 excluding taxes. The computer is expected to ship sometime in March 2012. The USB stick-sized computing device runs Android 4.0 and Ubuntu. The device is reportedly technically capable of running Windows 8 as well, since ARM is a supported architecture. The Cotton Candy provides users with a single, secure point of access to all personal cloud services and apps through their favourite operating system, while delivering a consistent experience on any screen.

This powerful device will support a slew of devices and platforms. The Cotton Candy USB stick will serve as a companion to smartphones, tablets, notebooks and Macs. It will let you add smart capabilities to existing displays, TVS, set-top boxes and other media that supports USB mass storage.

This tiny computer has a small form factor but offers relatively high specs, which makes it a compelling choice for Linux enthusiasts. The Cotton Candy comes equipped with an ARM Cortex-a9 (1GHZ) CPU from Samsung, an ARM Mali-400 MP (Quad-core, 1.2GHZ) GPU, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and HDMI output. The power-packed stick decodes MPEG-4, H.264 and other video formats, and displays HD graphics on any HDMIequipped screen. Users can control content via smartphones, keyboards, mice and other USB peripherals.