Android thin clients are coming from both ViewSonic and Dell.

Gabe Knuth and Brian Madden at Synergy.  The running mobile in same plane as remote apps is the big benefit. Viewsonic is committed to the market and hard to say that about Dell who seems to struggle once it leaves the friendly confines of PC world. Android (and Linux) really need to get sanctioned internally on corporate. Do the same thing to MS that it did to IBM...
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by Gabe Knuth  

We've written in the past about how cool Android thin clients would be because we could run mobile apps in the same plane as remote applications, giving us the best of both worlds. We've written even more recently about how the execution of that vision tends to fall short due to the fact that the OS and applications are being written for 5-finger multitouch and a tablet form factor while we're trying to use them in a desktop environment. 

The thin client industry sees this as a solvable problem, though, and at Synergy there were two companies showing off Android thin clients: Dell and ViewSonic. Each of them has a unique take on them, with ViewSonic's message being strictly desktop-oriented business and Dell's being about portable work (with some play involved, too). Both also focus on management via MDM, which is one of the highlights of the solution.

Both companies also indicated that the performance of the HDX SoC and other so-called Zero Clients aren't as good as we'd hoped for, given what they cost. They seem confident that they can deliver a similar or better experience using Android and compatible hardware for less money. Of course, it would be hard to do an apples to apples comparison, that's the gist of the message. 

Dell Project Ophelia

I wrote about Dell's announcement of Project Ophelia right after it was announced at CES in January. Ophelia is essentially an Android Mini-PC designed to plug into (and receive power from) an MHL-enabled HDMI port (MHL is a separate protocol that uses the same ports). The message at the time as that it was a work/play device that you could take with you in place of your laptop and tablet, and use on a touch screen television or with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse (which I'd have to bring with me).

I harpooned that idea, mainly because of the image in my head of sitting on the edge of a hotel bed with my bluetooth keyboard in my lap while trying to get work done, or having my arms get tired as I stood in front of a mythical hotel touchscreen TV touching games or virtual keyboards. I did, however, leave the door open at the end of the article by saying that if a vendor were to tweak the OS perfectly, they could get part of the way to a good solution. The challenge is dealing with the apps, because almost nobody is writing applications for a desktop form factor.

At Synergy, I got a preview of what Dell has been up to with Ophelia, and they have done a lot to make the OS useable in the desktop form factor. The marketing message has also changed a bit. Now they're talking about using Ophelia devices as a thin client, remote access, or kiosk solution. While gaming has been downplayed for the time being, it's only temporary. Dell is working on something that could make using this as a play time device somewhat interesting. We'll have to wait until later in the year to learn about it, though.

See video and read rest of article at Source link on BrianMadden

At the end of the day, there are some interesting aspects for Android thin clients, but I'll wait until Q3 or Q4 to pass a new judgement. Consider me dubious, but open-minded at this point. Perhaps by the end of the year I'll be upgraded to "Cautiously Optimistic" :)

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This page contains a single entry by Staff published on June 9, 2013 12:39 PM.

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