New Chip Offers Virtual Windows Desktops, On TVs 99
angry tapir writes "Ncomputing on Friday announced a chip that could turn devices like TVs or set-top boxes into virtual desktops through which users can run Windows applications or access the Internet. The Numo chip contains a dual-core processor based on an ARM design that will allow devices to run Windows multimedia applications when connected to a host machine like a desktop or server. The setup uses the company's Vspace software on host machines to set up remote devices as virtual desktops."
Forget TVs (Score:4, Insightful)
The real killer application for a chip like this would be in a tablet. If you can drive the cost of a tablet down by making it little more than display+battery+wifi, a whole new market could be opened up.
Think about that scene in Avatar when the technician was monitoring Sully's brain scan. He dragged the live scan image from his desktop machine onto a tablet, so he could watch it while he walked around the lab. I think there's a market for a tablet that acts as a portable display (+touchscreen) for a bigger machine nearby, as long as the price was low enough.
Windows on TV? (Score:1, Insightful)
Looking at ncomputing's site, I have hard time believing they can run 30 computers with XP, playing video, etc. from one HP slimline.
Re:Forget TVs (Score:2, Insightful)
That chip has probably the same processing power the iPad has.
And ... (Score:3, Insightful)
I see no mention of why anyone would want to run Windows remotely on their HDTV ... then again I'm not sure why they'd want to run it on a PC either.