Managers fed up with the costly hassle of personal computers are looking at the thin client device in any of a variety of forms for relief. Despite the weaknesses of the network computer (NC), thin client setbacks such as the collapse of the NetPC, and the general lack of support for thin client technology, organizations continue to hang their hopes of desktop cost savings on the thin client.The latest hope is Microsoft’s Terminal Server, formerly codenamed Hydra, a multiuser version of Windows NT intended to be used with Windows-based clients, thin or not. With Terminal Server, which incorporates WinFrame NT multiuser technology from Citrix Systems Inc. (Ft Lauderdale, Fla.), a Windows NT server will be able to run Windows NT applications for multiple concurrent users. Sitting at a thin client, probably a stripped-down and locked-down PC running any of several flavors of Windows, a user can log onto the NT server and run Windows applications there as if the applications were running locally. But the only thing actually going over the network will be the client keystrokes and the client display.

For system managers, Terminal Server will eliminate the need to install and maintain Windows applications on every desktop, which has proved to be a costly nightmare. Even with electronic software distribution and remote system management, organizations have not effectively cut the cost of maintaining desktop PCs because of the variety of desktop configurations found in organizations. With thin clients, there will be no software to load and maintain on client devices, nothing for users to fool around with. All software is loaded, run and maintained centrally, which should result in significant cost savings.

The Gartner Group, a Stamford, Conn.-based consulting group, in a series of widely publicized and often disputed studies, pegs the annual cost of owning a PC at $11,900. Only about 20 percent of that cost is the capital cost of the PC. The rest of the costs are soft costs related to the administration and support of the devices, including the cost of the time users spend fiddling around with their machines, a debatable figure that Gartner dubs the futz factor.

Thin client vendors tout savings of 39 percent for users running thin clients rather than fully configured Windows PCs, which, based on the Gartner study, translates into $17,000 per desktop over 5 years. Multiply the savings by hundreds or even thousands of desktops, and the results can be staggering. Dismissing the skeptics who challenge the Gartner numbers, Michael Kantrowitz, executive vice president, Neoware Systems Inc. (King of Prussia, Pa.), argues: "Even if the savings are half of that, or even a third, it still comes out to a lot of money."

One early adopter of Windows NT multiuser computing claims savings of $500,000 a year. Jin Kim, principal of Computing Solutions (Denver), a systems integrator, used the Windows NT multiuser solution from Exodus Technologies Inc. (Bellevue, Wash.), called NTerprise, for a company running a collection of Macintosh, Windows and OS/2 desktops as thin clients and eliminated a host of costs just around access to e-mail and Office 97 applications. "You can run Windows NT applications without having to upgrade your desktops to Pentiums. You can run the latest applications on old desktops. That’s a huge savings just in upgrades," says Kim.

Although early adopters report success, thin client critics ridicule the devices, and even its supporters see it as a throwback to the days of dumb terminals attached to minicomputers and mainframes. "With [Terminal Server], NT servers are becoming like mini-computers a decade ago," observes Greg Blatnik, vice president, Zona Research Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.).

With Terminal Server, Windows NT also becomes a lot more like UNIX, which has long supported thin client, multiuser computing, giving UNIX added appeal in large organizations that take a centralized approach to end-user computing. In the case of UNIX, the thin client is the X terminal, a network-connected terminal just smart enough to display color graphics. Today, some Windows NT multiuser third-party vendors, such as Insignia Solutions Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) and Exodus, provide Windows NT support for X terminals.

NC: The Thin Client’s Father

The thin client, mainly in the form of the NC, was heralded as the cure for all that ailed PC management and administration a year and a half ago. Led by Oracle Corp., the proponents argued that the NC would eliminate the need to purchase and continually upgrade desktop hardware. Support costs at the desktop would drop to zero as clients plugged the devices into the wall and accessed all their applications and data on the server across the network. Nothing could go wrong on the desktop because nothing resided there. Users had nothing to install and configure. Any management and administration could be handled over the network.

It includes an Intersil Medium Access Control (MAC) chip, an advanced IC that interfaces between the radio portion (called the physical layer or PHY) and the host computer. Many of this solution’s performance and feature-set improvements come from the latest advanced IC design and the use of the silicon germanium (SIGe) process technology for three of the four latest chips in the PHY.

As with the previous PRISM chip set, the company is said to offer extensive design support tools - a complete PRISM II reference design, hardware evaluation kit, software drivers, a complete high rate 802.11 MAC firmware and evaluation boards for individual IC.

Top data rate is 11Mbit/s and the chip set complies to IEEE802.11 high rate standard. Other features built into the chip set provide advanced performance features, one being an increase in delay spread (at the same data rate), which can significantly increase range. PRISM II can also downshift to slower data rates (5.5, 2 or 1Mbit/s) when necessary for maintaining link integrity or when operating with legacy 802.11- compliant 1 or 2Mbit/s.

The PRISM II chip set’s five ICs implement a complete data comms radio operating in the 2.4Ghz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band at speeds up to 11Mbit/s.

IntersilTel: 01344 350250Fax: 01344 488045Enquiry Number 560

COPYRIGHT 1999 Miller Freeman UK Ltd
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

The company went out in the field, listened to customer comments, and worked closely with the Fujitsu LCD division to develop the innovative Reflective front light display technology, allowing clear viewing both indoors and outside. Available only on the Fujitsu Stylistic ST Series Tablet PC, the Reflective front light display enhances the 10.4-inch screen so applications can be clearly seen in a wide variety of light environments.

Under direct sunlight, the display gets even brighter rather than becoming washed out. In low light conditions, the display’s front light can be adjusted to cut through the darkness and enhance viewability. This adaptive feature gives users the freedom to carry their Fujitsu Tablet PC wherever work or play takes them. Together with a high capacity battery and Wi-Fi capabilities, users can be more productive throughout their day, whether they are on campus or in the field. The optional nine-cell high capacity battery provides up to an impressive seven hours(l) of battery life.

Weighing a mere 3.2 pounds and measuring an ultra-slim 0.88 inches thin, the Stylistic ST Series Tablet PC is small enough to be comfortably carried, yet powerful enough to be used as one’s primary PC. The latest generation features an Ultra Low Voltage Intel Pentium III Processor 933MHz - M and can be equipped with up to 768MB of system memory and a massive 60GB hard drive. Users can complement their Tablet PC with a keyboard in the Fujitsu attache case or place it on their desk in the optional tablet dock. The tablet dock has all the ports users need to connect desktop peripherals, as well as a modular bay to accommodate an optical device such as a DVD/CD-RW combination drive. A quick release mechanism, combined with the unit’s tight integration with the operating system, allows for instant removal of the unit from its dock, allowing users to take their Tablet PC with them at a moment’s notice. In addition to pen or keyboard entry, the Fujitsu Tablet PC was designed with several application buttons unique t o Tablet PCs, allowing the user to intuitively launch key applications and navigate through documents and application and file menus with the touch of a button.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Information Gatekeepers, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

Wildcat is based on the latest Intel 440BX chip set and supports Pentium III processors in a PPGA370 socket. It supports error checking and correction using two standard 168pin dimm sockets which offer up to 512Mbyte of SDRAM disk on chip plug-in modules.

The latest chips and technologies 69030 video controller supports CRT and LCDs simultaenously.

Blue Chip TechnologyTel: 01829 772000Fax: 01829 772001Enquiry Number 523

Copyright: United Business Media Ltd.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Miller Freeman UK Ltd
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

Together with industry-leading partners, AMD enables a best-in-class ecosystem of open industry-standard technologies, helping PC manufacturers to deliver feature-rich systems that satisfy the variety of ways in which people use their notebooks.

"By embracing a broad partner community and industry standards, AMD is both providing choice and stimulating innovation," said Roger Kay, vice president of Client Computing at IDC.

"We have unleashed 64-bit mobile performance, allowing business professionals and on-the-go consumers to explore the freedom of mobile productivity with AMD Turion 64 mobile technology," said Marty Seyer, corporate vice president and general manager, Microprocessor Business Unit, Computation Products Group, AMD. "This is just the first of many innovations that we are planning to pioneer with this new product family made for mobility, choice and best-in-class notebook designs."

Leading global manufacturers, hardware vendors and software suppliers have expressed support for AMD Turion 64 mobile technology. "Fujitsu welcomes AMD Turion 64 mobile technology innovation, and we congratulate AMD on their success," said Mr. Kazuhiro Igarashi, general manager, Mobile PC Division, Personal Business Group for Fujitsu Limited.

Business professionals and consumers worldwide can expect to see notebooks based on AMD Turion 64 mobile technology starting later this month in retail stores and through commercial distribution channels. The first systems are expected from Acer worldwide and Fujitsu Siemens Computers throughout Europe.

"We have had a great deal of success with our Ferrari branded notebooks based on AMD64 technology," said Walter Deppeler, senior corporate vice president, Acer Inc. "We look forward to continued success with our forthcoming notebook designs based on AMD Turion 64 mobile technology."

"As the leading European IT provider, we offer our customers world-class computing technology," said Herbert Schonebeck, Vice President Business Unit Consumer, Fujitsu Siemens Computers. "We are introducing innovative consumer notebook PCs based on AMD Turion 64 mobile technology to provide our customers efficient platforms to connect from virtually anywhere."

In addition, ASUS, Averatec, BenQ, MSI and Packard Bell are among the leading, global computer manufacturers who have indicated they will support AMD Turion 64 mobile technology.

AMD Turion 64 mobile technology models ML-37, ML-34, ML-32, ML-30, MT-34, MT-32, and MT-30 are available immediately worldwide.

In order to help consumers and business professionals simplify their notebook purchasing decisions, AMD Turion 64 mobile technology uses a new series of model numbers designed to provide a simple designation of both relative performance and degree of mobility within the processor family. The two letters of this model number indicate processor class, with the second letter designating increasing degree of mobility, as measured by power consumption.(a) As the second letter approaches the end of the alphabet, "higher" letters indicate greater mobility. The numbers indicate relative performance within the processor class. Higher numbers indicate higher relative performance among the AMD Turion 64 mobile technology family.

AMD Turion 64 mobile technology models ML-37, ML-34, ML-32, ML-30, MT-34, MT-32, and MT-30 are priced at $354, $263, $220, $184, $268, $225 and $189 respectively, in 1,000-unit quantities.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Millin Publishing, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

Equipped with Intel’s newly released notebook processors, Centrino, Samsung X10 provide the most advanced technologies such as wireless Internet access function and powerful computing ability.