Xi3's Piston modular PC launching November 29th for $1,000

As if shelling out $900 this holiday to snag the two next-gen game consoles weren't enough, Xi3's Piston modular gaming PC is arriving on November 29th for $1,000. Should money be no object to you, the adorable little box is available for pre-order right this minute, and that'll lock in an earlier arrival by two weeks. Included in today's news of the Piston's launch date is word that internal storage capacity was upped by another SSD connector; Xi3 says up to 1TB of SSD storage is now supported.

In a hilarious nod to Valve's Steam Machines news last week, Xi3 notes, "By adding a second SSD to their Pistons, users will be able to load a second operating system onto their machines, including the newly announced

On Xi3's homepage, the Piston is positioned with a wireless, Piston-branded gamepad (seen above). It's unclear if it ships with the system later this year, so we've reached out to Xi3 for more info.

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Xi3 Taps "Black Friday" (Nov. 29, 2013) as General Availability Date for its PISTON Console;

Pre-ordered PISTONs will Arrive Two Weeks Earlier, On or Before November 15

Xi3 Founder, President & CEO Jason A. Sullivan claims "the bar has been raised" and

calls PISTON the "first step in what we believe will be a transformative technology

revolution for the Living Room." Xi3 also unveils new PISTON details, such as

doubled storage capacity, optimized gaming traffic and pack-in games.

SALT LAKE CITY - September 30, 2013 - Xi3Corporation today announced that its

PISTON™ Console will be available for purchase beginning on Black Friday: November 29, 2013.

Xi3 customers who pre-ordered a PISTON Console during or before the SXSW 2013 Gaming

Expo will receive their PISTON Consoles on or before November 15, 2013.

"The PISTON Console is just Xi3's first step in what we believe will be a transformative

technology revolution for the Living Room," said Jason A. Sullivan, Xi3's founder, president and

CEO. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you what I know is coming because it's not time to tell you. But I

will say this: the bar has been raised. PISTON is smaller, lighter, and will last longer, provide

more gaming options and be more powerful than any other gaming console on the planet. The

reason I feel confident in saying this is because we started with a clean slate, unlike competing

manufacturers. And that Tabula Rasa approach is what sets PISTON apart from other gaming

systems today and what will set us apart tomorrow.

"That's why I've decided we'll provide the first public preview of production PISTON Consoles at

the Interop New York trade show this week at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Journalists

and Interop attendees are invited to come by booth #401 on either Wednesday or Thursday (Oct.

2-3) to try out PISTON for themselves."

PISTON Storage Capacity Doubled, Optimized Gaming Traffic & Pack-in Titles Coming

As part of today's PISTON General Availability announcement, Xi3 also revealed today additional

information about its PISTON Consoles. Specifically, storage capacity for PISTON Consoles has

been doubled; PISTON's Ethernet controller has been optimized for gameplay traffic, and

PISTONs will ship with pre-loaded "Pack-in" titles. Xi3 also released today a separate PISTON

Questions & Answers document to address other topics related to PISTON.

Previously, Xi3 announced that PISTON utilizes internal solid-state SSD storage and that PISTON

Consoles will ship standard with 128GB of SSD storage. Xi3 further revealed today that it has

been able to double the potential SSD storage capacity of the PISTON Console by adding a

second SSD connector within its PISTON design, as well as a separate, internal microSD slot.

This second SSD connector gives PISTONs the capability of more than 1TB of super-fast

(6Gbps) solid-state storage.

Xi3 also revealed today that it has designed the PISTON's Ethernet controller to recognize and

prioritize computer gaming data to the top of PISTON's network queue. Such data traffic

prioritization will further speed-up response times for PISTON gameplay. Additional details about

optimized gameplay data traffic will be revealed at a future date.

"With the latest and greatest games-whether played solo, against your buddy, or in online MMO titles-those extra milliseconds provided by PISTON's optimized gaming traffic can mean

the difference between victory or death," Sullivan explained. "PISTON's solid-state drives also

mean you'll be able to load games faster than ever before, making your overall experience even

better. In addition, by adding a second SSD to their PISTONs, users will be able to load a

second operating system onto their machines, including the newly announced SteamOS."

Xi3 also revealed today that the company will ship PISTON Consoles with "pack-in" gaming titles

pre-loaded onto its PISTONs. Details about publisher and developer partnerships, as well as a

list of pack-in titles, will be released before Black Friday.

"Our goal is to set a new standard for the gaming world with the PISTON Console," Sullivan said.

"It's so small and lightweight, it can easily fit in the palm of your hand. The PISTON has also

been designed to be modular from the ground up, which means we've built it so it can be easily

updated and upgraded-no other gaming console manufacturer has ever done that.

"Additionally, PISTON was built for super-fast gaming by utilizing SSD storage and prioritizing

gameplay traffic. PISTON also gives you 3 Ways to Play-at your desk, in your living room, or via

a Virtual Reality setup. And you can still play with a controller or via keyboard and mouse, you

decide. And naturally, we'll ship PISTONs pre-loaded with pack-in games. The bottom line is I

can't wait to get this into the hands of gamers everywhere 'cause I know they're gonna love it."

Built on the modular and patented Xi3 Computer Architecture, the PISTON Console is housed in

a grapefruit-sized, matte black aluminum chassis with chrome trim. The PISTON Console comes

equipped with a quad-core x86-based 64-bit processor integrated with 384 programmable

discrete class graphics cores capable of running the most popular games. PISTON further

supports up to 4K-resolution (4096x2160 pixels) and provides users with the ability to run three

high-definition monitors or displays simultaneously to provide a fully immersive gaming

experience.

PISTON Consoles are available for pre-order today at $999.00 at http://xi3.com/buy_nowpiston.php. Additional PISTON details will be released between now and Nov. 29.

About Xi3 Corporation

Formed in 2010 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Xi3 Corporation utilizes "The Power

of X" to bring its building block approach to the world of computing and computer gaming, an

approach Xi3 applies internally and externally to hardware solutions and software applications.

# # #

The shape of the three-sided single piece casing, the end plate, and the overall shape of the

PISTON Console, as well as Xi3, PISTON, and "The Power of X" are trademarks and unique

trade dress of Xi3 Corporation.

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