Paul Roberts' Musings

Tuesday January 03, 2006

Weightwatching: Future Thin Clients?

Chandan, a fellow member of the security co-ordination team and Sun-blogger, recently posted some very interesting thoughts on a possible future thin-client (which were also reported by Engadget recently). This delightful (and so far fictional) device, shown in the blog entry with convincing mock-up photos, combines the Sun Ray technology and the smart card that enables it to create the thinnest of thin clients. The card itself is imagined with an E-Ink screen which displays a workspace sent to it directly via a server. As a result, and like the existing Sun Ray technology, all of the processor power and storage belongs to the server, making the All In One Card (as Chandan nicknamed his creation) a flexible low-power high-storage location-independent device. When at home base the card could be plugged into a larger device, presumably connected to a traditional display and keyboard, transferring the session to the larger screen.

As Chandan notes in a follow-on entry to the original post, the developers of the Sun Ray technology have been focussing on greatly reducing the bandwidth that it requires, to the point that it is now possible to comfortably use a Sun Ray over a traditional home broadband connection. With these low bandwidth requirements, the AIO card could be used anywhere that a reasonable wireless Internet connection is available. In the current climate though, that would seem to be the main stumbling block as the wireless culture just isn't mature enough yet such that this device would be useful in the majority locations. However, ubiquitous Internet connectivity is a goal that is looking more and more achievable everyday.