Oh come on! This is such a Mac Mini rip-off! Still, it would give PC users some of the size advantages of this form factor without having to settle for a Shuttle PC, I suppose.

Taiwanese computer maker AOpen is scheduled to release two versions of its Pandora desktop just in time for the holiday shopping season, the company said Thursday. The company said Apple Computer’s Mac Mini inspired its latest desktop PC. Pandora is one of several 2-inch-tall computers being sold as home entertainment PCs.

A Linux-based version of the mini tower is expected to retail for $399, while the Windows XP-based box will go for $499, the company said. Both are expected to be sold in the United States through an AOpen reseller.

The squarish metallic box, part of AOpen’s XC Cube product line, is based on a prototype of the miniature desktop computer shown at the Computex trade show in May. [Read the rest]