Newton is the first MIPS-based mini-computer for wearables
A Chinese company has released a computer about the size of an SD card that can run a full version of Android and should make it easier to build wearable devices. — Called the Newton, the computer was developed …
Context & Ripple Effects
Wearable computing platforms had already been explored by WIMM Labs' tiny wearable platform in 2011. Newton brings the format closer to a component choice for device builders by pairing SD-card-scale hardware with a full Android implementation.
The launch follows Intel's SD-card-sized Edison announcement in January, which paired its small form factor with Linux, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Newton matters as a MIPS-based alternative in a wearable-compute category where Android on ARM was described in the corpus as the de facto platform for connected electronics.
First-order effects
- Wearable-device builders gain a compact Newton module capable of running full Android, reducing the need to assemble a complete computing platform from separate components.
- MIPS gains a visible Android-based reference point for wearables, while Intel's Edison is an immediate small-module alternative for the same builders.
Second-order effects
- Intel and other module suppliers face competition on the surrounding platform features—such as operating-system support and built-in connectivity—not form factor alone.
- Android developers and device makers must weigh the value of a familiar software platform against the added work of supporting a non-ARM hardware target.
Third-order effects
- If compact Android-capable modules proliferate across processor architectures, wearable hardware differentiation shifts toward integration and power constraints while software compatibility becomes a more important gatekeeper.
- The category is moving from purpose-built wearable computers toward reusable embedded compute modules that can underpin multiple device designs.
The trend: Wearable computing is becoming a contest to package familiar software platforms into ever-smaller, reusable hardware modules.