First two weeks of February are usually quiet (due to CNY), but this year Minix took on the spotlight with their much expected Minix NGC-1 Mini PC.

Minix NGC-1 is one of the devices we announced a while ago as being part of the Minix Z line.

"NGC" stands for "Next Generation Computing", a phrase that describes the device perfectly: NGC-1 is a next-generation device as it doesn't match anything else done by Minix so far in terms of processing power: the Intel Braswell fanless Mini PC comes with a strong CPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD.

Minix NGC-1 full specs

• CPU: quad-core Intel® Celeron® N3150 (64-bit)
• GPU: Intel® HD Graphics (12 Execution Units)
• RAM: 4GB DDR3 (Samsung)
• ROM: 128GB M.2 SSD (Toshiba)
• LAN: Gigabit
• Wi-fi: 802.11ac dual-band (Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165)
• USB: 3 x USB 3.0 host
• Audio/Video: Mini DisplayPort, HDMI 1.4, 3.5mm Stereo (L/R), Optical output
• OS: Windows 10 and Ubuntu

Pricing will be officially announced on Friday, but according to our sources the recommended retail price will be US$399.90 for US/Canada, 399.90€ for mainland Europe and 299.90GBP in the UK.
Right about now your eyebrow is raising and you're thinking that the price is quite high. And it is. But giving the fact that more than 1/4th of the price is the SoC's value (MSRP $107) and the fact that the device has an 128GB Toshiba MLC SSD (and not a series of tiny eMMC chips soldered on, but an actual SSD on an M.2 slot, which means capacity could be upgraded later), the fanless metallic design (they use the same supplier as Apple for their MacBooks!), I guess everything adds up.
Not to mention the Windows 10 license, which is US$85 or around 20% off the price.

Another interesting update that most other commenters left out is the Bluetooth 4.2 (same as the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge +), which brings direct access to the Internet over IPv6 and 6LoWPAN (think IoT), up to 2.5 times faster transfer rates and increased capacity for the data packets.

The device has a Kensington Security Slot, which is appropriate since as you probably remember a prototype for the Minix Z line got stolen at IFA 2015 :-)

As I mentioned above, Minix NGC-1 is the first from a line of PC's that move Minix further away from the mid-range Android Mini PC's into a more select market, currently dominated by Intel NUC.
Minix NGC-1 dows not come as a barebone PC, as most devices in this category do, but fully equipped and ready to use.
Minix does have an history of manufacturing computer components, so they know what the're doing - their parent company,J&W Technology, has been around for 22 years manufacturing motherboards as a strategic partner for nVidia, Intel or AMD.