Eggcyte is demoing its redesigned, handheld “The Egg” personal server device, which runs Tizen Linux on a quad-core Atom, and offers up to 256GB of storage.



On Oct. 29, 2014, Eggcyte cancelled its Kickstarter project for its somewhat ovoid shaped personal server device, dubbed The Egg. The project had only nipped at the edges of its half million dollar funding goal. When we contacted the company for our Dec. 31 checkup on the fate of crowdfunded gizmos in 2014, the company told us it was planning to re-launch a campaign in mid-January.







The Egg

(click images to enlarge)



Today at the Intel Developers Forum 2015, Eggcyte is finally unveiling the latest version of The Egg, which still features a 2.4-inch touchscreen, and is demonstrating a working, pre-production unit.

There’s a redesigned mainboard, which continues to use an Intel Atom processor, but it’s now a quad-core Bay Trail model, as explained in this July 23 Eggcyte blog post. The device still runs Tizen Linux, according to the spec sheet on the Eggcyte website, but the company no longer trumpets that fact.







The Egg’s redesigned PCB with quad-core Atom

(click image to enlarge)



Otherwise, the new private cloud server device looks to be almost identical to the original model, which had been intended to ship this July. That includes the price, which is the same as the original Kickstarter packages: $199 with 64GB of eMMC flash, $299 with 128GB, or $399 with 256GB. You can now apply a pre-order down payment of $10 to get $50 off these prices before shipment in October.

As before, The Egg is touted as a personal, self-configuring web server that lets you share password-protected personal videos, photos, music, and other files over the Internet without using social media or cloud based services. With this completely closed loop system, there’s no potential snooping or harvesting of personal information, says Eggcyte.







The Egg screen displays

(click image to enlarge)



The Egg includes a WiFi hotspot and a 10-12 hour battery for streaming content even when not connected to the Internet. You can configure the device to exchange encrypted media with a select set of friends and family. Android, iOS, and web apps are available to control it.

You can also use The Egg as a backup drive for mobile devices and cameras. The device automatically imports photos, videos and other content from any device hooked up to its micro-USB port including iPhones, Android phones, and SLR and GoPro cameras, says Eggcyte. Apps can be designed using HTML, Javascript, PHP, SQLite, and similar programs.







The top of The Egg (left) and mobile apps



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The Egg has a 2.4-inch, 320 x 240-pixel touchscreen, as well as a speaker, vibrating haptics, and sensors. Its curvy, ovoidal design predated the somewhat similar looking Firefox OS -based Runcible phone. The Egg is available in dark stone, egg shell, robin blue solid, and robin speckle coloring.

Specifications listed for The Egg include:

Processor — quad-core, Bay Trail Intel Atom

Memory /storage — 1GB RAM; 64/128/256GB eMMC flash

Wireless — WiFi a/b/g/n with hotspot; Bluetooth 4.0

Display — 2.4-inch, 320 x 240 multitouch capacitive; 262K colors

Other I/O — Micro-USB 2.0 type-AB with charging

Other features – Speaker; vibra motor (haptics + silent ringtones); accelerometer, compass, ambient light

Power — 4.35V; 910mAh Li-Ion battery (10 to 12 hours)

Operating system — Tizen Linux with Nginx web server, SQLite, Webkit, HTML5, Javascript, JQuery, PHP

“The Egg gives you control of your own content, and it fits right in the palm of your hand,” stated Barry Solomon, Vice President of Marketing and Sales. “We’re excited to be to part of Intel’s big show to help introduce The Egg to the world.”



Further information

Pre-order reservations for The Egg are available for $10, which gives you $50 off the retail prices that will kick in when the device ships in October: $199 with 64GB of eMMC flash, $299 with 128GB, or $399 with 256GB. (It’s unclear whether the $10 is refundable.) The Egg will be demonstrated at the Ultimate MakerSpace at IDF 2015 in San Francisco’s Moscone West Convention Center through Aug. 20. More information may be found at the Eggcyte website.

