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New Chip Offers Virtual Windows Desktops, On TVs
angry tapir writes "Ncomputing on Friday announced a chip that could turn devices like TVs or set-top boxes into virtual desktops through which users can run Windows applications or access the Internet. The Numo chip contains a dual-core processor based on an ARM design that will allow devices to run Windows multimedia applications when connected to a host machine like a desktop or server. The setup uses the company's Vspace software on host machines to set up remote devices as virtual desktops."
Virtual first post. Most newer TVs can already play networked media files, show sport scores, weather and some can even do light browsing - all from either a ethernet or wireless network connection. This seems a bit ad-centric, maybe for light kiosks or informational displays.
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Actually, it looks to be potentially more useful than WebTV ever was but only time will tell. There are quite a few of my home user clients that would probably prefer something like this to a full blown system.
Wonder how long it'l take to actually see in a live product and how much it'll really cost. The numbers in the article appear to be a manufacturer's cost.
You know the thing about UDP jokes? I don't care if you get it or not.
I guess TVs have been reliable for so long someone got bored and asked "how can we totally through a wrench in this?", and the answer was "I know -- let's bring the misery of windows to the TV!". Losers.
The real killer application for a chip like this would be in a tablet. If you can drive the cost of a tablet down by making it little more than display+battery+wifi, a whole new market could be opened up.
Think about that scene in Avatar when the technician was monitoring Sully's brain scan. He dragged the live scan image from his desktop machine onto a tablet, so he could watch it while he walked around the lab. I think there's a market for a tablet that acts as a portable display (+touchscreen) for a bigger machine nearby, as long as the price was low enough.
"A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
Most computers have tv-out, newer tvs have vga or dvi or hdmi inputs, why do i need another gadget to go between the two? And what about the starving hollywood executives? This looks like a way of intercepting the precious bluray pixels and selling them to support terrorism!! OMG!!!
They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
I don't need Windows on TV. I've already got gnu/linux there doing everything I want. What I need is a wireless keyboard with a built in touchpad and good range <$100.
Looking at ncomputing's site, I have hard time believing they can run 30 computers with XP, playing video, etc. from one HP slimline.
This is more of a thinclient for running as a VM client. Much more interesting than simply running Windows I think. The real question is if the CPU costs $20 and $10 more in parts are needed then how much extra would it cost to make this into a stand-alone thinclient that can run as a VM client? $100 per seat would be a pretty good price for businesses.
Better yet, I'd love to see it built into monitors so you could plug network, keyboard, and mouse into the monitor with the actual computer being optional.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
So now my personal microcomputer is becoming a time-shared minicomputer again...? Should I dig out my corduroy bell-bottom pants, too?
But imagine a BSOD at 1080p! Hi-def kernel panics!
We're entering into a new era of error processing!
I see no mention of why anyone would want to run Windows remotely on their HDTV ... then again I'm not sure why they'd want to run it on a PC either.
vSpace is not VNC; NComputing claim their communication protocol UXB can handle USB as well (presumably devices you connect to the thin client) and they mention multimedia also. And the other piece of it is their Windows tinkering so that the TV desktop can be running a different account than the PC desktop, which is useful if the kids want to play Sims from the TV while you're doing taxes.
This is software NComputing claims to have developed for 12 years. It's a nice adjunct to their $20 ARM set-top chip. That chip runs Linux or Android, but vSpace lets you access your existing Windows apps and games remotely.
What is the computer you hook up to your TV? is a billion dollar question, with multiple answers. Its chip is a minor issue; how much storage, whether it has its own display, whether it has a remote, and whether you take it with you are far bigger issues. A smartphone with 64GB that you plug in over HDMI and a fixed PS3 with a wireless remote feel like the two big winners.
=S
...does it run Linux?
(seriously)
Open source software (VNC) pioneers this and then it gets progressively turned into ever more proprietary protocols.
> The Numo chip contains a dual-core processor based on an ARM design that will allow devices to run Windows multimedia applications when connected to a host machine like a desktop or server ..
Is it also technically possible to run Linux or Apple applications in a similar setup?
I remember in the late 90's as the internet exploded into the mainstream, there was constant hype about "internet enabled" televisions - televisions that would allow you to "surf the net" via your remote control.
While this discussion centers more on the use of a specific OS on a TV, I think that market forces have already shown that people are willing to have their televisions and computers SEPARATE. Especially in the era of $500 laptops and, well, $1000+ televisions (if you want them). I don't think that "running Windows" is suddenly going to turn everything upside down. The consumer has already decided - asking again will just get you the same answer. It's sort of like the family car car that runs on railroad tracks - there was something the manufacturer just didn't get...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
I'd be impressed if it did window overlay instead.
TV in background, browsing window (able to be resized / moved around screen) overlayed. Windows 7 does it with XP Mode (VM runs as a background to the app window, essentially having the whole VM invisible behind the one app window). That would be impressive.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
....in El Dorado Hills, CA. That technology got sold to Philips, and became "Ambi" before the rest got sold to Cirrus Logic. It was the beginning of the dot com bust, from my reality. The product got buried but the idea was to use the home PC as a wireless server to a standard TV which had its own windows desktop in low res, and which could be used for standard windows games and apps. It worked pretty good for 1998 too!
Site being slashdotted already...
"how can we totally through a wrench in this?"
I think AC is a Microsoft programmer, which explains all the bugs in Windows.
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Think Deeply.
I actually read the article. The key difference between this chip and traditional thin clients or terminals is that the chip will allow multimedia playback locally on the TV. RemotFX allows for a better multimedia experience through a Terminal server desktop or application by re-directing the video/audio to the TV or device that initiates the remote session without requiring the application locally. With a regular RDP connection the Video/Audio plays in the remote session on the remote host and the output is piped through the RDP client. Which is why it is choppy and low quality even on a LAN connection.
The whole reason Microsoft has RemotFX is because multimedia content is one of the things Terminal server doesn't do well. Citrix has it own method for redirecting audio and video to the local PC. But that still requires the application to be on the local device which isn't always the case with thin-clients. RemoteFX won't require the application that plays the content to be on the local PC or TV.
Wasn't "numo" also the name air rifles were called on the original Battlestar Galactica? One could kill a lupus within ten metrons if you hit it just right.
Cylon Centurion: I cannot be destroyed by a numo. Many have tried.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?