Knowledge
What do we know here? Not an awful lot. We're aware that the NIC is a
$199.99 retail Internet-enabled device which as of August 1st is in some customers' hands. We'll keep you up to date with reviews and articles on the device.
Its specs:
266MHz Cyrix (x86-compatible) CPU
64MB RAM
4MB EEPROM (flash disk)
24X CD-ROM drive (note: this is locked while the NIC is in use, as its
operating system runs from CD.)
2 USB ports
56k modem
10/100Base-T Ethernet adapter
Keyboard
Mouse
Speakers
The NIC runs the Linux operating system (kernel 2.2.15) from a CD-ROM which also contains Netscape Navigator 4.73, RealPlayer, and a Citrix WinFrame client for connecting to application servers.
(1 August 2000) In addition to these files, there is also access to telnet and SSH for logging in to other hosts; an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) program; the Perl scripting language (version 5.005.03); Java 1.1.8; and 8 games, including freecell and solitaire.
A complete listing of the contents of the CD is here. (Thanks to Seth Cohn.)
The display resolution is 800x600 with 65,536 (16-bit) colors. The device comes with a VGA output, unlike WebTV and AOL TV, which use the television as their display.
Internet service on the NIC is provided in one of three ways:
- NetZero provides free dialup service to most users in the United States. This is the default.
- Users who are with an existing ISP, with the exception of more proprietary clients such as AOL, can configure the NIC to use their own provider, via dialup or the built-in Ethernet.
- Bamnet provides dialup service to customers in rural areas at the rate of 6.5 cents a minute.