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New Chip Offers Virtual Windows Desktops, On TVs

Posted by timothy on from the and-nothin'-on dept.

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."

8 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting Idea by errgh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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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    1. Re:Interesting Idea by davester666 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Um, you really need a dual-core ARM chip to be able to Windows Remote Desktop?

      Cuz that seems to be what the summary says, that the Windows app runs on a real desktop, and this CPU only does the remote job.

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      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. Windows apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

    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.

  3. Forget TVs by Zouden · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

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    "A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
    1. Re:Forget TVs by gbjbaanb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The real killer app for this is Google's settop box. Android linux providing: TV recording, TV guides, internet-streamed video, internet-streamed games/apps, video jukebox (hopefully from local or LAN storage), plus connectivity to remote services too.

      Add a keyboard and a trackpad and most people would not need a PC at all - and that means they wouldn't need Windows at all. Hmmmm.

  4. Micro == mini!? by macraig · · Score: 3, Funny

    So now my personal microcomputer is becoming a time-shared minicomputer again...? Should I dig out my corduroy bell-bottom pants, too?

  5. Re:Herr Kontroller in Redmond... by bami · · Score: 3, Funny

    But imagine a BSOD at 1080p! Hi-def kernel panics!

    We're entering into a new era of error processing!

  6. And ... by sgunhouse · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.