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Meet "Ophelia," Dell's Plan To Reinvent Itself
redletterdave writes "Dell is reportedly working on a project codenamed 'Ophelia,' a USB stick-sized self-contained computer that provides access to virtually every major operating system — from the Mac OS, to Windows, to Google's Chrome OS, to cloud-based solutions from Citrix and Dell — all via the cloud. Powered by Android, Ophelia works just like a USB stick: Just plug it into any flat panel monitor or TV, and boom, you have a computer. Ophelia connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and can connect to keyboards and other peripherals over Bluetooth. Not only is the computer portable and power-efficient, but to make it truly accessible, Dell plans to sell the device for just $50."
PCs are cumbersome, heavy and slow. Ophelia provides a computer experience as typical and fast as any other computer -- again, everything depends on the Internet connection -- but at a fraction of the weight. PCs can’t fit in your pocket; Ophelia can. Heck, you could probably stick anywhere between two to five of those computers into a normal pants pocket.
1.) Talk about hyperbole, batman.
2.) I imagine the lag will be horrendous.
3.) Over wireless?
PS: I don't reply to ACs.
I can't be the only one who's creeped out about this. All my data in "the cloud"... I know, I know, it's been going on for years, but me, I like my data on my own machine away from anyone else. The is just more devolution of the power of the individual & transferring it to others, who may not necessarily have the individual's best interests in mind. Keep your little machine Dell.
Yeah, even if this is useful as just a web browser, this is going to be a market changer.
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
https://dx.com/p/android-4-0-mini-pc-google-tv-player-w-wifi-allwinner-a10-cortex-a8-tf-hdmi-white-4gb-137012
You were saying, anon?
I'm willing to bet very, very many internets that Apple hasn't authorized any Mac OS running from this device.
Not.
Gonna.
Happen.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
The first thing I think of when I hear the name is going insane and dieing in a river
It really is amazing how the IT industry continues to re-invent what was done decades ago.
Dumb(er) Terminal
Not noteable, IMO a rubbish article.
It's a lot less seamless over a celluar Mifi device, but still usable.
I don't see why this device wouldn't be usable.
I'm under the impression that the the cellular data bill (assuming the U.S. market, where Dell and Dice are headquartered) would make it cost prohibitive.
Wireless input devices have become a bit blue in the tooth.
The two biggest roadblocks to Ophelia - besides most LCD's not supporting this type of USB connection - is licensing these multiple OS's on the cloud and the inherent latencies that are going to hound such a small CPU while it tries to handle graphics, WiFi & Bluetooth network stacks and the throughput of data. $50 is a wonderful price for the hardware. What will the services end of this product cost?
Amazon will rent you an entire virtual Win Server 2008 server for around 12 cents/hour - presumably desktop pricing would be lower, but if a typical home user uses their desktop for 4 hours/day, that's around $15/month at 12 cents/hour.
They expect me to do serious "desktop work" via portable high-latency device in the 'cloud' environment using Android?
Why do you care what operating system runs on the device? You're doing your work on the desktop running on the cloud, the Dell box is just the display for that remote cloud desktop. It coudl be Android, IOS, WebOS, or even a new DellOS and it shouldn't make any difference at all to the end user.
Dell's R&D must be working overtime to come up with a clever new idea like that.
Here's another "someday" idea they can pursue: put a 5" crt, two floppy drives, and a Z80 in a suitcase. Call it a "portable" computer!!
I've got the next one up. Mygica a11 I like it a lot. Very fast. I put plex for android on it. 3 USB ports. HDMI port. No sperate audio jack but that's OK. Was half the cost of the apple TV and also has airplay on it.
The summary implies this somehow connects to a USB port on a monitor. I was curious how it would then do video. Answer - it doesn't use USB. It's actually made to connect to an MHL port, which isn't nearly as widespread as either HDMI or USB. MHL doesn't use a specific connector - although it's quite common for it to be provided as an alternative to USB over a micro-USB connector (some smartphones do this). But, it's one or the other - you can't do both at once over a USB connector. MHL ports provide power, where HDMI ones don't (well, 5V@50mA, which ain't much) - which is the reason they're doing it that way. (there are also some proprietary connectors with more pins which will accept a USB plug, or a proprietary plug which allows simultaneous USB and MHL)
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
First Apple doesn't own the VNC technology, so they can't legally enforce that.
Second, although OSX's "remote desktop" software listens on VNC's tcp/5900 for incoming connections, for remote OSX clients it uses Apple's custom Type 35 Diffie-Hellman authentication/private key exchange and then switches to an AES128-encrypted link to run Apple's own RDP protocol. i.e.: it's not even VNC protocol.
If(and it isn't a small if, you run screaming from Dell software for a reason) Dell can get the software working properly, I'll give them that.
As you note, assorted Android-powered 'stick PC' products(the mk802 is sort of the 'kleenex' of the category; but the array of model numbers and knock-offs is frankly rather dizzying) are done to hell and back by now, and cheap too.
The quality of their firmware, however, might charitably be described as 'downmarket'. I'd assume that Dell will manage to clean things up a bit; but it would fail to surprise me if(once you've glommed on some CALs and VM rentals and assorted bullshit-as-a-service stuff, you'll be right back up to where corporate thin clients have always cost, only a bit smaller this time).
I'm guessing $50 gets you the terminal but there will be a monthly charge for the OS and applications cloud.
Why not? "USB-sized" is a meaningless term after all.
Surely a raspberry pi is larger than the tiny USB dongle that does bluetooth plugged into my laptop, but smaller than the USB HDD also plugged into the same laptop.
nstead of $400 towers (which include the Windows license) that last for 5+ years, now I need vSphere licenses, veeam licenses, a very expensive SAN and tons of super expensive server grade hardware to create my own cloud. Then loads of windows server licenses that cost far more than desktop licenses, tons of expensive CALs, very expensive terminal server and/or citrix CALs and so on. It would end up costing more and it would limit us in many ways.
Or a qemu license (free) and cheap craigslist towers now have hardware acceleration in CPU. No 3D acceleration, that's true, so not good for gamers. Personally, I'm not a gamer, so I use exactly zero 3 D applications.
I see it as filling a niche not quite served by tablets (if you want a screen larger than your hand) and not ideally served by desktops.
Sounds like a glorified WebTV device. Dell has been going down the shitter for years turning out trash hardware.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
The real issue is with the companies' data being in the cloud. Especially if Dell insists that you use their cloud with their devices.
Actually, $50 is kind of a ridiculously high price for this. A raspberry pi is $25 and can do more than act as a dumb terminal.
Dell isn't going to reinvent itself by convincing everyone to stop buying $300 laptops from them and start buying $50 USB sticks. They're going to have to charge a decent amount for service.
$41.99 - Rasberry Pi with enclosure
$9.99 - Rasberry Pi Wifi adapbter
$7.99 - Mini bluetooth adapter
Total: $59.97, not including Dell's software.
They're going to have to charge a decent amount for service
Well yeah, that's the point - to get out of selling low-margin laptops and get into a higher margin service business.
"Dude, I'm getting Oph!"
The G
Oops, I got suckered, it's not HDMI. It's MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link).
even if this is useful as just a web browser, this is going to be a market changer.
They've been on the market for a while. I have half a dozen of them, given others to family and friends as Skype terminals.
http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=android+usb+pc&catId=0&manual=y
A lot of SMEs in parts of Asia have started using them as basic office PCs as well. I'd say Dell is trying to get on this wave before it peaks.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
You mean you can not think of this? At $40, postage included?
I pity your cognitive capacity.
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Yeah, even if this is useful as just a web browser, this is going to be a market changer.
So why name it after a crazy chick who's husband and boyfriend were such arseholes they drove her mad till she threw herself into the river?
What's their next project codename? Syphilis?
Everyone's heard of Dell. Only geeks MAY have heard of Raspberry or Sheeva. You don't have to be the first to a market to dominate or change a market - just the one who markets the best.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Everyone's heard of Dell.
Except, for the past seven or eight years, whenever they've heard "Dell" it's been preceded by "piece of sh*t".
#DeleteChrome
It's a bird!
It's a Sun Ray!
It's an X Terminal!
It's... It's... a failure.
-josh
You mean like the MK802 that's been available for quite some time and can be purchased for under $40?
...when you're writing a game...tweak the difficulty of "Easy" to something [your mother] can cope with. -- onion2k
I'm not so sure about that. The article seems to describe yet another thin-client solution, only this time it uses the buzzword "cloud" to describe the servers. The only real difference between it and older thin-client solutions is that it uses the equivalent of a Raspberry Pi in a USB form instead of bulkier old technology built into the monitor itself.
Game changer? I doubt it very much.
Most people who buy internet-enabled TVs don't even use the internet capability for anything more than playing YouTube videos and NetFlix, and some of those have way more processing power than what the article describes, without the inconvenience of having to plug it in.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
You really think Dell will let you use that as a Web Browser? Think again.
It is going to be a dumb terminal that connects to Dell Services. These services will likely have a monthly/usage based fee.
There is no business sense in giving you hardware with low profit margins for your personal use.
sounds catchy
...I obey the laws of physics....
You seem to forget that in the UK the word "unlimited" does not actually mean unlimited when it comes to bandwidth in internet connections. It means "some arbitary amount that we're nto going to tell you about in advance".
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
Ophelia works just like a USB port
Err, does it? A USB port is a slot for plugging USB devices into. This is a teeny tiny computer that you plug into a display.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.