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Is Dell's 'Project Ophelia' the Future of Computing? By Barry Levine January 16, 2013 11:22AM     The Dell Wyse Project Ophelia "points toward a future where the big computing box disappears," said analyst Roger Kay. While Dell's Project Ophelia technology "may be a little early" for market acceptance, Kay said Dell's kind of thin-client computing could be useful for "task workers, although not for power workers."   Related Topics Dell Wyse Project Ophelia Cloud Citrix Microsoft VMware Thin Client Top Tech News Latest News What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? Reality TV's New Stars: Small Biz Soundbars Up the Ante on TV Sound Google Glass Raises Privacy Concerns Pentagon Gives iOS 6 Security OK When you're on the road, do you need to have a smartphone, tablet or laptop to access your computing resources? Dell doesn't think you should, and has developed a new, thin-client product that packs computing power into a device about the size of a USB memory stick. The computer maker recently unveiled its compact, Wi-Fi -enabled portable device that takes advantage of personalized cloud client computing to reduce hardware to its smallest essential. Called the Dell Wyse "Project Ophelia," the product is a bit larger than a USB memory stick and allows a user to convert any accessible display screen into what the company called a "functioning interactive personal display device," with Bluetooth connection to a keyboard/mouse. The Android 4-based device uses Wyse software that Dell acquired when it bought that company in April of last year. Wyse Technology was a provider of thin clients and desktop virtualization products. Managed via Cloud The company said that use cases include consumers who want access to cloud-based games but don't have their laptop or tablet handy, mobile users who want to utilize an available large display, and carriers who might want to offer such a device as part of their Internet/wireless service. While the device is Android-based, Dell notes that it could allow a user to connect to Windows desktops and applications that are running on such infrastructure providers as Citrix, Microsoft and VMware. The device gets its power from the attached display through a Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) interface to the monitor's MHL port, or through its own USB interface, so no batteries are involved. The MHL port is not widely available, however. Individual users can establish and save their own settings, meaning that the device can be passed around. It can also be managed by the Dell Wyse Cloud Client Manager software-as-a-service, allowing IT departments to manage the device with control over permissions and access to apps or content. Since all storage is in the cloud and the device can be disabled remotely by IT, it poses little risk in the event that a user forgets it on the sink in the hotel bathroom. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  Next Page >   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Roger Jennings: Posted: 2013-02-08 @ 1:40pm PT Re: At least for the near future, he said, this kind of small-device computing is "dependent on the cloud" for its storage and access to applications. You can plug a USB memory stick or disk drive into the USB port. There's no need for cloud storage unless you prefer it. Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com

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Network Security Spotlight

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Financial Times The Financial Times is the latest victim of the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.K.-based newspaper said a blog and its Twitter accounts were hacked.   Patch Tuesday Hyper Focuses on IE 8 Microsoft on Tuesday issued 10 security bulletins that fix 33 vulnerabilities. These updates include MS13-038, which will address the Internet Explorer 8 issue described in Security Advisory 2847140.   Surge of Venture Capital Buoys Tech Security Sector With companies and governments spending billions to repel cyberthreats, a surge of venture capital is pouring into companies developing cybersecurity technologies, the front line of the conflict.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

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Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? There's been talk recently that Apple's products are beginning to coast on their glorious past. So, with Apple's big Worldwide Developers Conference opening next month, speculation about iOS 7 is heating up.   Google Glass Raises Congressional Privacy Concerns The buzz around Google Glass continues, but it's not all good. Some in Congress have questions. "We are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of average Americans," their letter to Google says.   Windows Phone Now No. 3 in Market, BlackBerry No. 4 Has Microsoft Phone moved into a coveted though distant third place for smartphone platforms behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS? A new report says yes, while BlackBerry has slipped to No. 4.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

U.S. Could Use Cyberattack on Syrian Air Defenses The Pentagon has cyberattack capabilities that allow the U.S. military to help blind Syrian air defenses without firing a shot -- abilities central to a debate over whether to intervene in the 2-year-old civil war.   HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.   Cloud Computing Gains Another Competitor with Google Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure now have a full-on rival in Google, with its I/O announcement that it is opening its hosted Compute Engine environment for virtual machines to all comers.

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