FXI’s Cotton Candy: it’s a dual-core Android PC on a USB stick (hands-on pictures)

While BlueStacks is putting Android on PCs through software and Google still forges on with Android with Google TV, FXI’s got an entirely different idea of how to get Android running across non-phone and tablet devices. The Cotton Candy might look like just a regular USB stick, but inside it dwells the parts of an Android phone or tablet — a 1.2GHz Samsung Exynos ARM CPU, ARM Mali-400 MP quad-core GPU, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro SD card slot for storage, and a HDMI jack on the opposite end. So, what’s the point? When you plug it into a computer (Mac or PC) via USB or a TV via HDMI you’ve got Android 2.3 in all its glory. The idea is that you can convert your TV or laptop into an Android device, but since it isn’t a sanctioned Google device it doesn’t have Market Access.

We got a look at the powerful little USB stick this evening, and it’s a fairly interesting device. When plugged into the MacBook Air’s USB port, Android 2.3 launched in a separate window and we were able to play Angry Birds using the touchpad. The set up makes it quite easy to jump back and forth between Android and OS X. We didn’t get too much of a demo of it plugged into a TV, but we saw the founder of the company navigating Android on the big screen using a Bluetooth keyboard and it looked fairly smooth. Obviously, apps are the big issue, and while FXI’s working to get a third-party app store on the device, you can sideload them right now. FXI seems more interested in teaming up with other companies to bring the Cotton Candy to market, but they anticipate it will cost “well under $200” in the second half of 2012. More pictures below!

Ross Miller contributed to this report. T.C. Sottek and Dante D’Orazio contributed to this headline — seriously.