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The PC Display has Left the Building

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the now-thats-an-idea dept.

Makarand writes "A new class of PC displays, called Smart Displays, that will use Wi-Fi to effectively decouple themselves from the PC will be unveiled next week at Comdex. Special software from Microsoft ( code-named 'Mira') will be at the heart of these displays allowing them to communicate with any PC running Windows XP within Wi-Fi range ( typically several hundred feet ). The surface of a Smart Display will be touch sensitive allowing you to interact using a finger or a stylus."

9 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. RDP has the option to be encrypted... by Kunta+Kinte · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...so using WiFi encryption would have your session doubley encrypted I guess.

    If you haven't played around with RDP, checkout rdesktop ( http://www.rdesktop.org/ )

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  3. Innovation???? by VON-MAN · · Score: 2, Informative

    Come on! It is nothing more than VNC over Wi-Fi! One calls this "embrace and extend" and this time VNC is the victim.

  4. Re:You picture will be crap at any decent resoluti by MindStalker · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is windows XP (and higher) only. Windows XP already comes with a VNC client server setup that works quite nicely. I can log in as any user and it operates at pretty decent speeds. Just wish multiple logons were possible. Either way, this is what they are using I'm sure. Infact if you bought a tablet PC with wifi you could probably do this right now, but hopefully as these will be dedicated towards VNC they will be significantly cheaper.

  5. Already done and reported? by Kr3m3Puff · · Score: 3, Informative

    Didn't Viewsonic already do this? Slashdot Article

    Basically an RDP session to the dekstop. Cool for certain applications, and could easily be applied to a X-Windows session too...

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  6. Re:You picture will be crap at any decent resoluti by jarnot · · Score: 3, Informative

    XP does not come with VNC preinstalled. You are probably thinking of Remote Desktop, which comes with XP Professional. While VNC xfers bitmaps of the screen, Remote Desktop xfers low-level Windows API calls. This makes it much more efficient and very fast, even on a low speed connection.

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  7. Re:Probably just Remote Desktop ... by gnuadam · · Score: 2, Informative

    Install vncserver on the winxp box. Install vncclient on the iBook. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

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  8. Re:problems by LarsG · · Score: 2, Informative

    You have a couple of problems with touch screens and standard applications.

    1. The resolution of a touch screen is reduced because fingers (or stylus) are much fatter than mouse pointers.
    2. It takes some adjustment to use since with some technologies you can't leave your finger lightly touching the screen, as with a keyboard or mouse.

    3. Shoulder strain and muscle cramps. That's the reason why touch-sensitive monitors didn't take off at the same time as the original IBM PC.

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  9. Re:Gaining access to others medical information.. by Snafoo · · Score: 3, Informative

    That really starts to turn it into a "Tablet PC" instead of a "Smart Display".

    Not really. A smart display would probably only require symmetric encryption to be secure. According to my crypto prof, you can pick up high-speed 3-DES silicon for cents on the dollar. Toss in one of those spiffy 300mhz PICs and your work is done.
    This would not make the monitor into anything approaching a PC, unless you also consider, eg. your car stereo to be a 'dashboard PC' and your calculator wristwatch to be a 'wrist PC'. (Although the latter case might be fun to assert around fine arts majors...)

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