• Ataribox preorders and crowdfunding campaign open on December 14

  Atari will start taking preorders for its Ataribox game console starting December 14. The New York company will also start its crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo at that time.

  In an email blast, Atari said, “We at Atari are thrilled to introduce you to our first new gaming hardware in over 20 years. Welcome to Ataribox. Preorders will officially open on December 14, 2017. Our community is the absolute backbone of Atari, and we’d like to offer our earliest supporters a chance to grab Ataribox at an exclusive discount. Keep an eye on that inbox for your chance to order yours.”

• Chromebooks and Office 365 together will challenge Windows laptops

  It's no secret that I'm not a Windows fan. I'm beginning to wonder if Microsoft isn't either.

  Hear me out. On Nov. 27, Chromebook users discovered that Office 365 would run on some of their laptops. To be exact, we now know you can download and run Office 365 on Samsung Chromebook Pro, Pixelbook, Acer Chromebook 15, and the Acer C771.

• With Ataribox, the Legend Returns -- Powered by Linux

  Available to pre-order on Thursday for a special price via an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, the Ataribox is shaping up to be an amalgam of retro gaming console and living room PC. Details are mostly sketchy at this point, but we do know that it will be powered by some variant of Linux OS and will include over 100 Atari classic games pre-installed.

• Atari plans to open preorders for its Ataribox home console this Thursday

  Preorders for the Ataribox, the classic game company’s take on a NES Classic retro console, are slated to go live this Thursday, according to a report from CNET citing an email from Atari sent out today to interested consumers. The Ataribox was first teased back at E3 in June and then in a more formal unveiling in July, in which the Atari 2600-inspired PC was shown in two customization options: a wood-like finish or a more modern and sleek black and red look.

• Rugged in-vehicle PC line includes Kaby Lake and Bay Trail models

  Ibase’s rugged MPT V-Series in-vehicle computers offer 7th/6th Gen Core or Bay Trail CPUs, plus 2x mini-PCIe, 3x M.2, and optional CAN or OBD-II links.

  Ibase announced a new line of fanless MPT V-Series computers for IoT applications, starting with two rugged, in-vehicle models: the MPT-7000V with Intel’s 7th (“Kaby Lake”) or 6th (“Skylake”) Generation Core processors and the MPT-3000V with a quad-core, 1.91GHz Atom E3845 from the Bay Trail generation with 10W TDP. The systems support Windows 7/10 or Linux with kernel 3.8.0. In both cases, 64-bit implementations are required in order to use the driver for the supplied G-sensor, which appears to be necessary for shock resistance.

• Apollo Lake based IoT gateway and embedded controller runs Ubuntu

  Adlink’s rugged “MXE-210” gateway offers Atom x7-E3950 or x5-E3930 SoCs, industrial protocol support, and mini-PCIe wireless and storage options.

  The Intel Apollo Lake based MXE-210 adds to a line of rugged Adlink MXE computers such as the Bay Trail Atom based MXE-200i. The compact, 140 x 110 x 58mm MXE-210 is an “IIoT-ready combination embedded controller and IoT gateway” designed for rugged industrial automation, transportation, agriculture/aquaculture, and smart city applications, says Adlink.

• Raspberry Pi alternatives: 10 single-board computers for IT pros

• New Product in stock MOD-WIFI-AR9271 libre drivers and firmware WiFi dongle

  AR9721 chipset is the only one on the market with completely open source linux drivers and firmware, this make it WiFi chipset of choice for people who respect their freedom.

• Latest LattePanda SBC runs Linux or Win 10 on Kaby Lake or Gemini Lake

The growth of open hardware is undeniable and we’ve had high-profile smartphone projects appearing such as Purism’s security- and privacy-focused Librem 5 smartphone.

The ZeroPhone project led by Arsenijs Picugins is no less ambitious but much less expensive. As we started this interview we noted, with some irony, his apologies for the intermittent mobile connection as he’s taking a break away from his home city of Riga to enjoy the countryside of neighbouring Lithuania.

While you’ll be able to make calls and send SMS with Picugin’s ZeroPhone, it isn’t as cutting edge as Purism’s smartphone. Instead, it sits firmly in the middle of the makery and hacking spirit that powers the big budget open hardware projects.