Virgin Webplayer
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| Developer | Virgin |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Acer |
| Type | Internet appliance |
| Retail availability | until November 15, 2000 |
| Media | n/a |
| Operating system | QNX-based |
| CPU | 200 MHz Geode |
| Display | 10 in 800 × 600 SVGA screen |
| Input | trackball, keyboard |
| Camera | n/a |
| Touchpad | n/a |
| Connectivity | modem, USB |
| Power | AC adapter |
The Virgin Webplayer is a discontinued Internet appliance from Virgin Group. The device was intended as a standalone Internet access device, running a specialized operating system which limited it to the Virgin Connect ISP. It was discontinued on November 15, 2000. The remaining Webplayer hardware was liquidated and embraced by the hardware hacker community. Hacked Webplayers remain in use today.
The Virgin Connect service was innovative — for $50, a user would get the Webplayer and unlimited dial-up Internet access (provided through Prodigy) for three years. However, the Webplayer displayed advertisements while the user was online.
The Webplayer is essentially a compact x86 PC and was manufactured by Acer under contract by Boundless Technologies and is also known as the Boundless iBrow. Input came through an infrared keyboard with an integrated trackball, and the webplayer came with a modem for connecting to the Internet.
The Webplayer is powered by a 200 MHz Geode GXLV-200 CPU, 64 MB of SO-DIMM RAM, and a 48 MB M-Systems Disk-On-Chip 2000 for storage. It included two USB ports and contained a Mini PCI Type IIIB slot and 44-pin IDE header inside. CompactFlash, VGA, and PS/2 keyboard and mouse headers are present on the motherboard, but the physical connector is not included.
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