- Title: Build-your-own pocket gaming computer
- Date: 21st December 2018
- Summary: CHEPSTOW, WALES, UK (FILE - MARCH 28, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GRANT SINCLAIR, CREATOR OF IRIS TRIKE, STANDING BY TRIKE VARIOUS OF SINCLAIR RIDING TRIKE
- Embargoed: 4th January 2019 10:22
- Keywords: Pocket computer Raspberry Pi Grant Sinclair Sir Clive Sinclair POCO gaming coding
- Location: CHEPSTOW, WALES AND LONDON, ENGLAND UK/UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- City: CHEPSTOW, WALES AND LONDON, ENGLAND UK/UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0069BW23X7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Classic 1980s home computer the Sinclair ZX Spectrum earned British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair a reputation as an innovator in the computer sector. More than three decades later, nephew Grant Sinclair is hoping to replicate his uncle's success with the launch of his build-your-own pocket gaming computer.
The POCO, Pocket Raspberry Pi Gaming Kit, comes unassembled but can be put it together in about 30 minutes. No soldering is required; all the hardware snap-fits together.
"You get everything you need to build a pocket gaming computer straight out the box - it's almost like a puzzle," Sinclair told Reuters, while showing the POCO's components.
"We have a miniature wide-angle camera so it works as a really good action camera. We have a miniature loud speaker, a 2.8 inch touch screen, we have a battery, we have wafer-thin joy-pads. So there's a lot of innovation that's gone into making this a snap-fit kit that you can assemble in a short space of time."
A pre-soldered Raspberry Pi motherboard is included with the POCO kit which also includes all the extra peripherals that aren't supplied with a Raspberry Pi.
"The Raspberry Pi has sold 20 million units which is incredible. But I think a lot of people who are buying the Raspberry Pi are playing games on it, and that's what really gave me the idea to build a little kit computer that you could build in a short space of time and then create your own games," added Sinclair.
Despite its diminutive size - about that of a smartphone - Sinclair says POCO is essentially a fully functional PC that allows users to program animations and games using a drag-and-drop interface. It can also be 'hacked' and modified by users, he added, turning them into devices such as burglar alarms or night vision contraptions.
Britain is keen to encourage the next generation of computer whizzkids, and a group of children from a nearby school were excited to give POCO a try.
"Children love to physically build, it helps them learn a lot, they really get inspired and they feel that they accomplish something," said teacher Emma Williams, who runs the cyber club at Wyedean School in Gloucestershire.
"What I like about this device is the fact that they can build, they can program and then they can share... they can build a game and then somebody else can then develop and build on it further - and that is something quite unique in computing at the moment."
Using POCO, games can be built during a single school lesson using collaboration from different pupils and even different schools.
The POCO costs £149 (190 USD) and the first orders are expected to ship in early 2019.
Sinclair also emulated his uncle's ill-fated electric trike; the much-derided Sinclair C5 which launched in 1985 before being discontinued after minimal sales. Grant Sinclair's three-wheeled Iris eTrike has normal bicycle pedals and eight-speed race bike gearing, combined with a 250-watt electric motor with rechargeable battery pack that starts automatically once pedalling is detected. It currently retails for £4,249 (5769 USD). - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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