Nikkei Electronics Asia -- December 2008
Reports
ThinLinX Readies US$99 PC for Cloud Computing

Ahead of Microsoft's recent unveiling of its Windows Azure cloud services operating system, Australia's ThinLinX Pty Ltd has announced that it will now bring forward production of its US$99 computer, the Hot-e TLX400.

ThinLinX's TLX400 is designed for the cloud computing environment as a substitute for a standard PC. Apart from its diminutive size, this 5V equipment also boasts what is claimed to be the lowest power consumption of any PC on the market, since the main processing and data storage duties are carried out by remote servers accessed via the Internet.

 Cloud Computing Surges

The cloud computing concept has surged in popularity over recent years. The "cloud" is a metaphor for the Internet and cloud computing is a concept which incorporates software and other technologies, in which the common theme is that of relying on the Internet to satisfy the computing needs of users.

For the past five years ThinLinX's research and development has been backed by over A$100,000 in Australian Government grants as the company worked towards its goal of creating a high-tech, thin-client computer at the right price for the international market.

The company's TLX400 provides the same user experience as a traditional standalone PC, but at a fraction of the purchase, maintenance and support cost. The TLX400 is also a very low-power device, consuming only approximately 3.5W of power, as well as being totally silent and generates negligible heat.

John Nicholls, CEO of ThinLinX said, "Unlike conventional PCs our Hot-e computer boots over a network or from local Flash memory and therefore eliminates concerns such as security, reliability and support issues for the user. The initial target market segments are small to medium businesses and schools." 

ThinLinX believes that its thin-client product will be particularly useful in developing countries where fully-featured PCs are considered too expensive, impractical or use up too much power.

Thin-Client Advantage

Thin-client technology utilizes the smallest possible boot images, meaning that a full operating system is not required on the device. This strategy also allows a much simpler implementation, while infrastructure management can be maintained more easily, resulting in lower hardware cost. In addition, with no (or very limited) application data residing on the devices, they are more secure. 

Thin-clients also offer the advantage of a simple hardware upgrade path. Instead of replacing an entire workstation when additional resources are required, it is a simple process to add another rack (power, processing, storage) to a blade server. Existing thin-client devices are therefore not affected by upgrades.

Production Brought Forward

According to Nicholls, a growing global interest in thin-client technology, facilitated by the higher broadband speeds now available to users, has encouraged ThinLinX to bring forward its plans for high volume production of the TLX400. 

"Volume production is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year."

by Neil Munro

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