“We’re producing an experience where content and services come directly to the screen in an unfragmented way,” says Cristian Parrino, VP of Mobile at Canonical. “It makes for a much richer and faster user experience
Tag Archives: thin client
Dropbox wants to replace your hard disk
With up to 500 developers expected for the inaugural developer conference in San Francisco, the company is bullish about its future prospects. “We are replacing the hard drive,” said Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, according to a report on Wired. “I don’t mean that you’re going to unscrew your MacBook and find a Dropbox inside, but the spiritual successor to the hard drive is what we’re launching.”
via Dropbox wants to replace your hard disk | News | PC Pro.
Good luck with that!
DRBL – About
DRBL (Diskless Remote Boot in Linux) is free software, open source solution to managing the deployment of the GNU/Linux operating system across many clients. Imagine the time required to install GNU/Linux on 40, 30, or even 10 client machines individually! DRBL allows for the configuration all of your client computers by installing just one server (remember, not just any virtual private server) machine
via DRBL – About.
DRBL uses PXE/etherboot, NFS, and NIS to provide services to client machines so that it is not necessary to install GNU/Linux on the client hard drives individually. Once the server is ready to be a DRBL server, the client machines can boot via PXE/etherboot (diskless). “DRBL” does NOT touch the client hard drives, therefore, other operating systems (e.g. MS Windows) installed on the client machines will be unaffected. This could be useful in, for example, during a phased deployment of GNU/Linux where users still want to have the option of booting to Windows and running some applications only available on MS windows. DRBL allows great flexibility in the deployment of GNU/Linux.
The Eternal Mainframe
The Internet and web applications have been enablers for these server farms, for these mainracks, if you will. People use these web apps on smartphones, on notebooks, on tablets, and on the fading desktop. The client paints pixels while the server farm — the mainrack — does the backend work. More than a dozen iterations of Moore’s Law later, and the Wheel of Reincarnation has returned us to terminals connected to Big Iron.
And there’s the rub. The movement to replace the mainframe has re-invented not only the mainframe, but also the reason why people wanted to get rid of mainframes in the first place.
Windows: It’s over
Perhaps most of our computing will move to the cloud, but you know what device we’ll still be using for most of our interactions? It will be a PC, simply because it’s easier to enter data with a real keyboard than any other interface.
Thinstuff: Products
Thinstuff develops a range of server based computing software for the small business as well as for the enterprise market which allows you to securely publish windows applications to any device on any network by utilizing the de-facto standard RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)!
via Thinstuff: Products.
I’m not a big fan of RDP or VNC — especially for day to day activities.
HP Gives Thin-client Treatment to Passport Internet Monitor
Hewlett-Packard has given a twist to the traditional all-in-one PC design with a new thin client it calls an “Internet monitor” that started shipping on Thursday and is designed to access services on the Internet.
via HP Gives Thin-client Treatment to Passport Internet Monitor | PCWorld Business Center.
The Passport has no internal storage or high-end processor, limiting its use to Internet access. The Linux-based operating system is locked down, so users cannot upload or install programs. The device has a Texas Instruments OMAP4430 smartphone chip, five USB ports, a media card reader and an Ethernet port. The monitor displays images at a 1366-by-768-pixel resolution.
It’s priced at $259.
Google I/O Day Two
Today’s first big theme: Chrome. Tim reports: “Brian Rakowski VP for (and inventor of) Chrome, shows device transferability among devices of tabs, bookmarks, with a multi-part contrived story, looking at his opened tabs from home and work, etc. from a phone running Chrome. Not only can open tabs from there, but (and this is cool), ‘we’ve made sure the back button works as well.’ So you can open a page from a different computer, and have the browsing history of that tab as well. This Chrome syncing affects settings, bookmarks, etc. Also, for those transferred tab pages, pre-loading! So when you click on a tab, it’s been loading and now should be read, BAM.” As before we’ll be updating the story live (below the fold) with his updates as they stream in.
HP unveils Ethernet-powered thin client
HP has unveiled an all-in-one thin client capable of being powered by an Ethernet cable. HP claims the t410 AiO is the first all-in-one thin client that supports the 802.3at Type 1 Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard, which means it is capable of drawing its power from a network connection.
Dell’s acquisition a Wyse one, analysts say
Dell’s announcement on Monday that it had finalized an agreement to acquire thin client maker Wyse allows the company to fill a portfolio gap that had been exploited by competitors such as HP, according to industry experts.
via Dell’s acquisition a Wyse one, analysts say.
What’s more, given the positions of Wyse and HP as No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the thin client market, he says the move could put HP under considerable pressure.