HP, Lenovo and LG Gain New IGEL Thinclients

IGEL thinclients

IGEL Ends Production of IGEL-branded Hardware, Partners with Leading Device Manufacturers to Expand Global Software Reach

 IGEL teams with HP, Lenovo, and LG to deliver its managed endpoint operating system, enabling partners and customer to derive more value from their investments in Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware VDI, DaaS and SaaS solutions

 UK, Reading. November 17, 2022 – IGEL today announced it is ending production of IGEL-branded hardware and is partnering with leading device manufacturers HP, Lenovo and LG, to deliver its managed endpoint operating system for the modern workplace.

 “We believe that the timing couldn’t be better to become singularly focused on the delivery of a software platform that improves security and manageability at the endpoint, enhances productivity, and optimizes the employee experience,” said Jed Ayres, CEO, IGEL. “Through our alliances with HP, Lenovo and LG, we are also expanding our global reach and doubling-down on innovation that enables our partners and customers to derive more value from the investments they are making in Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware VDI, DaaS and SaaS solutions.”

 After nearly 20 years of market leadership as the No. 1 thin client manufacturer in Germany and one of the top three globally, IGEL began its pivot in 2016 to a software-focused company. “Expanding the global adoption of our endpoint operating system was the right decision, especially at a time when there is more demand than ever for a more secure, manageable, cost-effective and rich Windows experience across a growing array of endpoint devices that support today’s hybrid work environments,” added Ayres. “We would like to thank Arrow Electronics and their Intelligent Solutions Group for their guidance and support in helping us successfully make this transition.”

Kristin Russell, President, Global Enterprise Computing Solutions at Arrow Electronics, said, “Arrow is proud of the strong relationship we have with IGEL, not only as a value-add distributor, but as the provider of global integration and supply chain services that served as a catalyst in helping them successfully exit the hardware business. We are excited to see IGEL complete this strategic pivot and become a leading provider and innovator in the EUC space with the delivery of a managed endpoint operating system that is tailored to meet the needs of today’s VDI, DaaS and SaaS-driven workplaces.” To view the Arrow Electronics case study “How IGEL successfully transitioned to a software-centric business model,” click here: https://www.arrow.com/ais/stories/how-igel-successfully-transitioned-to-a-software-centric-business-model

 HP, Lenovo, and LG are all members of IGEL Ready, an extensive partner ecosystem featuring more than 120 providers of software, hardware, and peripheral solutions that have been validated for integration with IGEL OS. IGEL Ready gives technology partners the ability to reach more than three million IGEL OS-powered endpoints, more than 17,000 IGEL customers, and thousands of resellers who are addressing a variety of end-user use cases and environments.

 

IGEL also hosts an active and growing EUC community with more than 10,000 members.

 

Integrated endpoint devices from HP, Lenovo, and LG, that are IGEL OS certified and supported are showcased on dedicated pages demonstrating the transition partners and customers can make in the delivery of IGEL OS through these partners. A limited supply of IGEL-branded hardware is still available from authorized distributors and resellers with promotional programs running through Q1’23, or until inventory has been depleted. IGEL will continue to support its five-year warranty for new and previously purchased hardware systems.

 

Supporting Quotes

“IGEL and LG have built a very productive partnership so far, and with IGEL’s strategic decision to focus on the software platform, our partnership will grow stronger with LG offering competitive endpoint devices powered by IGEL’s platform. The availability of IGEL OS on LG’s All-in-One, Desktop, and Mobile Thin Clients will provide enhanced end-customer benefits and employee experience for a broad range of vertical markets including healthcare, financial services, education, and the public sector.” ~ Young Jae Seo, Senior Vice President of IT Business Unit, LG Electronics.

 

“Our collaboration with IGEL provides hybrid workforces with superior options for digital workspaces. Available on a range of HP’s industry-leading thin client platforms, IGEL delivers a rich user experience that is secure, easy to manage, and cost-effective.” ~ said Alex Thatcher, Sr. Director, HP Cloud Clients.

 

“The shift to hybrid work has challenged many organizations that must now manage widespread VDI, DaaS and SaaS deployments. IGEL provides a simple, more secure, and cost-effective way to deliver these applications, and when combined with Lenovo’s end user computing solutions for the modern workplace, gives any business, from SMBs to global enterprises, the ability to enable more secure, productive hybrid work while reducing the cost and complexity of managing desktops and users.” ~ Andy Nieto, Senior Solutions Manager, Lenovo.

 

“Citrix and IGEL have been working together for many years to deliver secure solutions that provide end users the freedom to work securely, from anywhere, on their device of choice. By teaming up with leading hardware manufacturers HP, Lenovo, and LG to deliver IGEL OS, our mutual customers will benefit tremendously from greater flexibility in selecting the right hardware platform, delivering VDI and DaaS infrastructure in a way that optimizes the employee experience.” ~ Calvin Hsu, Vice President, Product Management and Product Marketing, Citrix, a business unit of Cloud Software Group.

 

“Our clients rely on CPC to source, configure, and deliver end-to-end technology solutions that are reliable, easy, and powerful. The alignment of IGEL with HP, Lenovo, and LG creates an incredible opportunity for us to grow our IGEL business because of IGEL’s huge ecosystem of solutions that we know and trust.” ~ Bruce Poor, President, Computer Products Corp.

 

“IGEL’s alliances with three of the leading hardware manufacturers – HP, Lenovo, and LG – is exciting news for us and for our clients. We pride ourselves on working with our clients to select the best solutions for solving the unique business and technology challenges they face, and this now gives us greater flexibility of choice when it comes to selecting the right endpoint hardware for the delivery of IGEL within our clients’ Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware environments.” ~ Mike Strohl, CEO, e360.

 

“ADN has had a long-standing relationship with IGEL in helping it become the No. 1 thin client in Germany. We look forward to continuing supporting IGEL in this transition to a 100% software-driven model as it offers us greater flexibility of choice on existing or new hardware for the delivery of IGEL OS within our clients’ Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware environments.” ~ Hermann Ramacher, Founder & Managing Director, ADN Group.

 

“IGEL’s alliances with three of the leading hardware manufacturers and long-term strategic partners of Bechtle, HP, Lenovo, and LG, is exciting news for both us and our clients. We are working with our clients to select the best possible solution for solving the unique business and technology challenges they face, and this now gives us desired flexibility in selecting the right endpoint hardware for the delivery of IGEL within our clients VDI, DaaS or SaaS environments.” ~ Ralf Beck, Director Software Product Management, Bechtle Logistic & Service GmbH.

 

“Our clients rely on Cancom to recommend solutions that are reliable, easy to use and sustainable. The possibility to reuse existing hardware and the alignment between IGEL and HP, Lenovo, and LG creates an incredible opportunity for us to grow our IGEL business by providing access to a larger ecosystem of solutions.” ~ Carsten Pavlovits, Director Competence Center Enterprise Workplace, CANCOM.

 

“Getech has been delivering IGEL OS on a variety of third-party hardware offering, including LG, for over a year and this announcement further validates that customers who chose to secure their system with IGEL OS have the freedom to reuse or replace their existing hardware.” ~ Guy Watts, Managing Director, Getech.

 

Register Now for the 2023 DISRUPT EUC Forum

IGEL brings this active EUC industry together every year at the DISRUPT End User Computing (EUC) Forum, the ultimate EUC event. IGEL is the only company in the world to host global events focused solely on the EUC space. DISRUPT EUC will return in 2023 as two large, multi-day events featuring industry innovators and thought leaders, a technical bootcamp, and an expo with hands-on demonstrations from IGEL ecosystem partners.

 

The 2023 DISRUPT EUC Forum will take place in Munich, February 14-16, 2023, followed by the North America event in Nashville, Tenn., April 3-5, 2023. Now through December 31, 2022, discounted registration is available for $199 per person using the code EARLYBIRD. After December 31, 2022, registration will be $399 per person. To register, visit: www.disruptEUC.com.

 

IGEL on Social Media

Twitter: www.twitter.com/IGEL_Technology

Facebook: www.facebook.com/igel.technology

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/igel-technology

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IGELTechnologyTV

IGEL Community: www.igel.com/community

 

About IGEL

IGEL offers the leading platform for endpoints to deliver a rich end user computing experience that’s secure, manageable, and cost effective, across VDI, DaaS and SaaS. The company has a growing ecosystem of more than 120 IGEL Ready technology partners. IGEL unlocks a productive digital workspace experience for leading enterprises in healthcare, finance, retail, manufacturing, higher education, and government. With offices in Europe and the United States, IGEL is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL and to download IGEL software, or request a certified endpoint, visit www.igel.com.

 

###

 

IGEL Media Contact:                                              

Tom Herbst

Tel: +44 (0)7768 145571

Email: [email protected]

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LG Thin Client Options

Thinclient by LG

Thin Client Computing from LG

It’s a business for LG (what isn’t…). Here are the featured products

 

 

Popular Products

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Orphan Posts Find It

Assisting Google

 

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Chrome Flex OS Review – The Negatives

ChromeOS Flex thin client

Chrome Flex OS Review – August 21, 2022

Video below from Hackaday

In Brief — To us, Google Flex seems to be an answer for corporate environments trying desperately to milk their old Celerons, i3s and i5s for one last cycle.  Upgrading to Windows 11 isn’t free but it does come with the usual domain management that most IT departments are addicted to.  The cost of Flex is about on par with Windows except that now IT has two OS’s to support. They already get bothered by the Apple devotees (with high position in hierarchy) but those are the exceptions. Windows terminal manager gives the zero client for the most part.

It is making a play for digital signage media players but that is a limited market too and they have no robust CMS to dovetail into that. Hard to imagine digital signage networks running off old PCs but who knows. Another segment proposed is kiosks but there any new kiosks are more likely to come with Dell computers preloaded with Windows.  Kiosks in the field that could use Flex is just informational web-based kiosks (wayfinding e.g.). Any transactional kiosks (with myriad of devices) are not going to be candidates.  Major kiosk installations running LTSB are even less likely as the horrors of patch management have been mitigated (mostly).

For the most part it appears to be Google’s attempt to monetize its acquisition a few years ago and provide a surrogate OS for the old generation computers that are not Chromebooks but basically can be. To date it is mostly motto-based. We checked on a quote from resellers such as Synnex and they seem unprepared to provide configuration quotes.  Mostly it seems to be a big excuse to have that endless “tell me about your situation” user dump. And once you go enterprise with monitoring, the costs even out for the first + you have new recurring monitoring cost + you have to manage some with this and some with that. Hopefully that power supply, memory or hard drive that is 5 years old doesn’t crap out on you.

There are some early success stories such as hotels converting their windows pcs. We would not be surprised to see banks and financial institutions which are historically tight budget, try to convert.  The security is a good selling point and managing Windows patches is as close to hell as you can come.

The video goes thru a lot of the problems you may run into and it is always good to get point of view from both sides of the aisle so to speak.

For more information email [email protected]

Excerpt:

You’ve probably heard about Google Chromebooks. Like Android, Chrome OS is based on some variant of Linux, but it is targeted at the “cloud first” strategy so Chromebooks typically don’t have a huge amount of storage or compute power. If you have a real Chromebook, you can also use it to run certain other kinds of programs via virtualization. However, Google has recently pushed out Chrome OS Flex which is meant to install on a spare laptop you might happen to have hanging around. Seems attractive to take that only Windows 7 laptop and repurpose it to run Chrome OS, especially if you can run Linux apps on it. Unfortunately, Chrome OS Flex has a very different use case and I would only recommend installing it if you meet the exact use case it addresses.

The other option, of course, is to just install Linux on that old hardware. There are several distributions that are made for that purpose and, honestly, even most of the major distributions will work fine on older hardware with a little tweaking to turn off some of the more resource-costly features. That assumes you know how to install, tweak, and maintain Linux.

THAT’S WHAT IT IS FOR

That is, in fact, the exact use case for Chrome OS Flex. If you want to give Grandpa your old laptop, putting Linux on it can be very challenging, unless Grandpa is pretty tech-savvy. Even people who are pretty comfortable with Windows or the Mac can find the number of options, log files, and command lines daunting for Linux. Some distributions are better than others, but in the end, if you are having a bad day, you really need to know something about the system or be willing to learn it.

Chrome OS deliberately doesn’t give you much choice. The installation is painless but inflexible. You have to create a USB drive on a working computer and the installer gives you no options to, say, install as a secondary operating system. You can boot from the USB and either try the OS in live mode or install it, wiping out your hard drive. That’s it.

If all you want to do is surf the web and use Chrome-based applications, that’s great! The system works well and is pretty snappy. But what about running apps from other systems? Unlike real Chrome OS, you can’t run Android apps or much of anything else. You can, maybe, run Linux applications, but there are a few catches.

TechHut
Wanna see the text version of this video?? https://techhut.tv/chrome-os-flex-is-a-nightmare/

 

caneprints
I would say that e-waste is the real nightmare here and that Flex, with its limitations and drawbacks, is at least a potential solution. For the sake of the planet, we need to change the mindset that says we should just throw away perfectly good hardware because it no longer gets updates. I realize that Flex is only a drop in the bucket, but anything that keeps older hardware out of landfills gets my vote.
James Stacey
I feel like this video didn’t really go over Chrome OS Flex. It seems to be more about Chrome OS having issues installing Linux and running programs that are extremely resource heavy that would have a hard time running anyway.
That Linux Dude Dominic Hayes (and more)
Pyro-Moloch
When used as intended (on chromebooks and mainly for web-browsing), Chrome OS is actually a pretty great system.
Jason Gray
I put Flex on my daughter’s $150 mini desktop and it works just as good as Xubuntu 22.04 maybe even a little better. YouTube video playback is certainly better, and basically that’s the most demanding thing she does with it anyway. I think if you keep your expectations reasonable it’s a decent OS. The main selling point for me is that I don’t have to really do anything as far as maintenance.
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Thin Client News August 20

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Thin Client News this month

From our Flipboard channel.

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OS Neutral Payment Devices – Cloud-based POS devices

Cloud payment

OS-Neutral Payment Devices

The next generation payment devices really don’t care what OS you are running. You could be running Flex, Linux, Android or Windows for that matter.  You do need an Ethernet or Bluetooth connection though.  Cloud payment systems have come a long way from Avalara and website e-commerce.  Now cloud-based payment unifies mobile pay devices which are increasing ever faster and using the web to handle the transaction.

Another consideration is that within a restaurant or POS location, while it may have kiosks equipped with these devices, an establishment can extend other modern digital wallet payment methods to customers at the counter. Maybe I want to pay using my Paypal account. Why not?

McDonalds and printers is a good example of just buying one kind of printer, when in fact they really have two usage models. One is a simple receipt and the other is being able to print stickers for merchandise thru the drive thru window.  They purchase the upscale model in large quantities and get a discounted price. They only have to worry maintenance wise about one single device.

The latest payment product from datacap systems, inc. shows how payment is now a simple http/https post. The payment device in this case is a PAX Android IM30 or Ingenico Telium TETRA device.  For more information contact datacap or email [email protected]

DC Direct embeds payments logic into the Ingenico Group Telium TETRA and Pax Android line of pads to facilitate a direct communication between the device and NETePay Hosted – no Datacap hardware or software is necessary.

George Hurdock with datacap — All of our middleware lives on the card entry device, and communicates directly to our NETePay Hosted gateway architecture, so as long as the POS developer can perform an http/https post, it doesn’t matter which OS they are communicating from.

The IM30, from Pax, is a standalone contact and contactless Android reader for self-service payments. It accepts all transaction types and is ideal for vending machines, kiosks or any unattended payment terminal. The IM30 connects via Ethernet or Bluetooth.

API Developer Support

Omnichannel Payment Processing with Datacap

Our Developer Portal is designed to help developers rapidly integrate payment processing using Datacap’s hardware and processor-agnostic payment interfaces.

Including Full API documentation for:

  • dsiEMVUS®
  • EasyCheckout™
  • dsiPDCX®
  • Pay API™
  • DC Direct™
  • dsiEMVApple™
  • dsiEMVAndroid™
  • DSIEMVClientX®
  • TranCloud™

IM30 Info

  • PAXBiz® Powered by Android™
  • 5″ Color Touchscreen
  • IP55 | IK08 Physical Protection
  • 1D/2D QR Code Scanning

The IM30 is an all-in-one unattended payment terminal that is designed to handle all payment methods including EMV®, MSR, and NFC contactless, QR code, as well as NFC-enabled mobile wallets. Built to last in any environment, it offers added conveniences and security like push-to-talk, picture surveillance, and automated customer identification. The IM30 performs best in all kinds of indoor and outdoor self-service environments with high transaction volumes, such as vending machines, ticketing machines, on-street and off-street parking, petrol forecourts, car-washes and store kiosks, self-service checkouts, and more.

Background

Digital wallets

A digital wallet is a virtual version of your everyday wallet. It stores a user’s various payment types–credit cards, debit cards, bank account information, loyalty cards, and more–on an app or browser that can be accessed easily and quickly online or in-store to make a payment. Businesses can accept digital wallets online and in person through a wide variety of point-of-sale solutions.

• An estimated 4.4 billion global consumers will shop with a digital wallet by 2023, accounting for 52% of ecommerce payments globally.
• 1.6 billion global consumers will pay by digital wallets at the point of sale (POS) in 2023, accounting for 30% of POS payments.

“With the increased acceptance of digital transactions, coupled with consumer preference, there’s going to be an acceleration in [digital wallet] usage, even more than there already has been,” said Dave Duncan, EVP, chief product officer at Global Payments.

Mobile Revenue

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mobile payment

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EV Charging Infrastructure – Will It Be Ready?

EV charging infrastructure

From EV-Charging-Stations.org

EV Charging Infrastructure – Will It Be Ready?

July 2022 By Mike Harris, ELATEC Inc.

The California Air Resources Board recently announced a new goal of tripling electric vehicle (EV) sales over the next four years, reaching 35 percent of all new vehicle sales in the state by 2026. An executive order is already in place dictating that zero-emission vehicles will be 100 percent of all new vehicle sales in California by 2035. Electric vehicles only represent about 1 percent of the 250 million vehicles on U.S. roads today, but that is quickly changing. In addition to the California mandates, there are many other state and federal goals, along with automaker electrification plans, contributing to a rapid rise in EV sales nationwide. General Motors, for example, plans to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035, and the Biden administration has a stated goal of 50 percent ZEV sales by 2030. Multiple estimates put the number of EVs on U.S. roads by 2030 at 22 to 25 million.

Significant investment is needed to develop the EV charging infrastructure required to keep pace with the rapid growth in EV adoption. There are three basic types of EV chargers, also known as Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE) – Level 1, Level 2, and DC fast charging. Capabilities vary, but in general, L1 charging, which is your basic AC outlet, can provide about 4 miles of range per hour, L2 (240V AC) can provide ten range miles in an hour, and DCFC can provide an 80% charge from empty in about 30 minutes (for a standard range EV). The bulk of the EVSE needed will be L2 and DCFC, but the mix of each and where and how this will happen is still uncertain, as I will explain below.

Understanding the current state of public and shared private EVSE infrastructure can get muddy. Different sources sometimes use the terms EV charger and charging station interchangeably, which isn't always accurate. An EV charging station can have one or more chargers, and a single charger will typically have either one or two ports, which is the number of vehicles that can be simultaneously charged. According to the California Energy Commission, there are about 36,000 public EV charging stations in the state.

Per the US Department of Energy, there are about 47,000 public charging stations in the country. These numbers need to increase dramatically to support the expected number of EVs over the next several years. It's well understood that most drivers will rarely need additional public chargers, provided they can charge at home or work. Federal Highway Administration data from 2019 showed that the average American commuter drives about 40 miles per day. So, for those living in single-family homes with the ability to install an L2 residential charger, their needs would be covered mainly by plugging in overnight (excluding occasional road trips). But what about people living in apartments, townhomes, condominiums, and mixed-use dwellings? About 31 percent of the overall population lives in these types of residences. In large urban areas, it's often higher – a recent survey by Plug In America indicated that 70 percent of Los Angeles residents lived in multi-unit spaces. There are many federal and state incentives to help defray the costs of adding EVSE to multi-family structures, and more funds are becoming available with the new infrastructure bill. Still, additional obstacles to making charge-at-home more prevalent for apartment dwellers. Many pre-existing properties and parking garages can't support the power requirements for more than a small percentage of spaces to have even L2 chargers. And tapping into the grid for extra capacity is extremely and usually prohibitively expensive. Load balancing can help boost the number of EVSE systems that can be supported, but we're still talking about small numbers of chargers relative to the number of tenants. Many states are amending their building codes to require some number or percent of spaces to have EV chargers for new residential and commercial construction, which will further help expand our EVSE infrastructure. However, grid capacity is still a major roadblock to rapid EVSE deployment. A recent article by McKinsey and Company estimates that the power demand for charging the number of anticipated EVs in 2030 would equal 5 percent of all U.S. power generation today. Other models have put that number as high as 25 percent. Either way, the message is clear, we need a lot more grid capacity to enable the transition to electric vehicles.

Parallel to the development of EVSE infrastructure, new wind, solar, and other renewable energy installations will be needed to set up Smart Grids capable of handling future charging demands. Where and how much energy is required also depends on the type and location of EVSE. Most of the media buzz around EV charging is centered on expensive DCFC installations and superhubs that mimic something closer to traditional refueling stations. Still, most public and semi-private EVSE will likely be L2. A DC fast charger's total install cost is around 10x – 20x that of an L2, and having many vehicles plugged into DCFCs in one area can put enormous demands on the local grid.

For the  interstate system, DCFCs are needed, and establishing strategic Alternative Fuel Corridors with EVSE located every 50 miles is the top priority for the $5B allocated to EV charging deployment in the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. However, in cities and urban areas, the high cost and grid demand of DCFCs make L2 chargers the clear choice in most situations, with some exceptions, including DCFCs to support future electrified ride-share vehicles and fleets.

Just exactly how the future deployment of EVSE and grid expansions will play out is complicated, and there are a lot of smart technology companies working on different aspects of the solution and from different perspectives. Still, the number of market variables makes it difficult to predict what the EV charging landscape in the U.S. will look like. While there are a lot of good federal and state incentives for multi-family structures and businesses to add EV charging capacity, the up-front costs have to be weighed against short-term ROI and long-term futureproofing. For example, California requires public EV chargers to accept credit card payments via chip card to ensure
potential consumers' greatest level of access. Apartments and workplaces can restrict their EVSE access to tenants and employees and maintain private status under California law. This enables them to avoid the additional initial cost of an EV charger that accepts EMV-certified card payments, but then they miss out on future monetization opportunities.

In some cases, attracting new residents or employees may be the only ROI for adding EVSE that is needed. Another model for supporting EV adoption among renters who don't have access to charging where they live is called power-sipping or snacking. In this model, drivers top up their batteries as they go about their business at grocery stores, shopping malls, big-box stores, movie theaters, etc. It's been well studied that EV charger usage can significantly increase dwell time at shopping locations, translating into real dollars. Additionally, big box stores and large retail chains have more resources to add EVSE infrastructure. They will likely be a large part of the EV charging solution as internal combustion engine vehicles become scarcer. It's interesting to note the complementary trends in brick-and-mortar retail – increasing foot traffic and dwell time is the primary benefit of adding EV charging capacity. Still, physical retail also continues to compete with online sales by offering services like BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store) and enhanced delivery services like Walmart's new In-your-fridge grocery delivery service.

The U.S. lags well behind Europe and China in EVSE infrastructure and needs to accelerate quickly to meet the anticipated goals of EV adoption. Government incentives, public-private partnerships, and utility investments will be required to deploy chargers and expand the grid. In theory, drivers only need to charge at home, work, or along the highway for longer trips – but the reality of developing charging infrastructure is much more complex as we have seen, and it will undoubtedly be interesting to see how the charging market develops.

Mike Harris is responsible for ELATEC Inc's business development efforts in the Americas, focusing on strategic verticals including EV charging, Industry 4.0, and access control. He has more than 20 years of experience in product management, engineering management and R&D. Mike can be reached at [email protected] or 772-210-2263.
Mike Harris, Head of Business Development for ELATEC Inc.

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Linux Digital Signage and Linux Kiosks

linux thin client kiosk

Linux Digital Signage OS and Media Player

Pretty interesting option by LinuxTop ($189 Euro) for complete media player and OS for digital signage or kiosks.

-Memory:1 GB RAM & 16 GB internal flash
-Quad Core 900Mhz (ARM)
-OS Linutop OS XS preinstalled
-Size 9x6x2,4 cm (3.6×2.4×1 in) Weight: 92g (3oz)
-Power: 4W (100-240 AC adapter)
Use: Digital signage player (video hd,PDF, …) -Includes: US, UK, Europe and Australia power plugs
-1 HDMI, 4 USB2, 1 Ethernet
-Software: Epiphany, Libre Office, VNC, Linutop Kiosk, VLC
-Silent
Full featured Digital Signage Player

Comments

  • The kiosk versions supports either Firefox or Chromium engines and available for Raspberry Pi.
  • Libre Office (MS Office compatible) is supported
  • Kiosk is euphemism for controlled browser with no external device support – that’s a little disappointing and only informational “kiosk”

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Support

Technical Documentation

– Linutop OS – Operating system
– Linutop Kiosk – Signage Player and Kiosk
– Linutop TV – Digital Signage

 linutop_developers.jpg

WIKI – Help for advanced users

Support contact – Access the form

Marketing Documentation

 Brochure Linutop OS
 Brochure Linutop XS
 Brochure Linutop 6
 Brochure Linutop.TV
 Quick user guide for Linutop 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Linux Kiosk FAQs

Table of Contents1. About Linutop-Kiosk

Overview
Getting started with the configuration

2. Secure Web Browser

Web Kiosk browser tab
Parameters
Interface
Using an external browser
Restrictions
Web Kiosk browser Security tips
Using the browser

3. Digital Signage Player

Playlist and Formats
Playlist management
Multimedia Formats Compatibility
Playlist source configuration
Screen formats
Linutop TV Server (WEB or Private)
Local playlist (and shared folder)
Updated by USB key
Display settings
Player settings
Other options
Local remote control
Activation
Connection
Using Linutop remote control
Direct display
Direct template
Direct template example
Sample Template

4. Digital Signage with Linutop TV5. Network settings

Proxy settings
Linutop Kiosk Network configuration

6. FAQ & Advanced configuration

FAQ
How the Kiosk application works
Mini-server of automatic diffusion of the media on local network
External applications
Type of slideshow items
Hooks
Prestart script
DBus interface
Scheduler (Advanced use)
Loops
Date and time
Example
Adding a font to the system
Prevent thunar network access

7. Quick configuration- Tutorials

Secure kiosk
View a web page
Display a share drive content
Use the Linutop TV service
Linutop TV service configuration
Linutop TV private server configuration
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Thin Client News Recommended – June 22

Thin client Computer

Thin Client News June 22, 2022

We monitor and quick blog thin client and cloud related recommended news on Flip.it — here is sampling of latest

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Avatar - The Industry Group
The Industry Group
Raspberry Pi Measures Distance with a Webcam and Open CV

Raspberry Pi Measures Distance with a Webcam and Open CV

tomshardware.com

Freedom Tech is using a Raspberry Pi to measure distance using a webcam and OpenCV — forgoing the use of a distance sensor.

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Chrome OS – Google Kiosks & Digital Signage Lead Interview by Sixteen-Nine

Chrome OS Thin Client

Google Chrome OS Product Lead Interview

Dave Haynes of Sixteen-Nine had Naveen Viswanatha of Google on a recent podcast to talk about Google Kiosks and Digital Signage. Here is the website and podcast link. (Screenfeed was sponsor).

Editors Note: Kiosk partners closest is MeldCX and they use kiosks from American Kiosks. They are at Hitec next week in Orlando and they will have a kiosk there with Chrome OS computer and MeldCX.  The demo will show AI based check-in, identity verification, object recognition, secure payments, and other operational efficiencies to improve the customer experience. For more information or arrange a demo at the show email [email protected]

In Brief

  • Chrome Enterprise Recommended
    • ensures security and data safety
    • reduce maintenance times
    • Monitor, control and manage stations
    • end to end integrated solution
    • Nine digital signage software (aka cloud) partners
  • Google trial ballooned this back in 2015
  • Recently has “beefed up” the kiosk and digital signage solution area
  • The huge increase since pandemic has been in education. We can vouch for that.
  • The return to work since pandemic has energized the work environment
  • Recently, Google sees additional trends lined up with ChromeOS so Google is investing in kiosks and digital signage (again)
  • End to end solution – four components –
    • capabilities of OS which includes Security, APIs, core functionality
    • management
  • Appleistic validation and regression testing of solution partners (nine of them)
  • Partners typically develop web-based apps that are lightweight, robust and work well on Chrome as a web-based operating system.
  • Bluescreens are bad (poke at MS)
  • Zero ransomware attacks ever reported on Chrome OS
  • Security is baked into the OS, not a bolt-on
  • Flex lets you repurpose old PCs into cloud-PCs (or thin clients)
  • ChromeOS good for fixed-point kiosk. Android might be better (ie tablet iteration) for mobile.
  • Pricing – $25 per device per year gets ChromeOS (not sure about Flex)

Comments

  • Kiosk partners. Really don’t see any. Closest is MeldCX and they use kiosks from American Kiosks. They are at Hitec next week in Orlando and they will have a kiosk there with Chrome OS computer and MeldCX.  The demo will show AI based check-in, identity verification, object recognition, secure payments, and other operational efficiencies to improve the customer experience.
  • Something to be said for generational incubation.  Used to be we all shopped as adults at stores our parents took us shopping to as kids.  Later in life those grown up kids tend to shop at that same stores.  Or convincing kids that smoking or vaping is cool and proves you are grown up. Now the schools enable the students, the kids adopt and learn the computer (Chromebook) and in many cases migrate that preference to their parents. For sure Google won the Education segment hands-down. Microsoft tried but failed.
  • Linux – that’s complicated isn’t it?  Though worth noting the these days MS is liberally borrowing from Linux the desktop and widgets along with streamlining patch/system updates. Linux is a lot like Android (cloud driven) but Linux is more reliable than Android and supports any number of devices
  • What OS is ChromeOS derived from (Android and IoS are Linux)
  • Not a single word about Privacy. I wonder if smart city kiosks might be ideal for Chrome-based kiosks.  Generally those units are offered for free (Houston, Tampa, NYC, etc) and selling data would seem to be their only corresponding revenue play.
  • The word “device” is used 39 times but there isn’t a single mention of an actual device (barcode scanner, camera, POS terminal). Device is used instead of “station” or endpoint or terminal or PC with a screen.
  • No mention of touchscreens
  • Pricing – $25 per device per year gets ChromeOS — Its been awhile since we reviewed the MS pricing for IoT Devices but last I checked it was $34 for the lower processor tier Celeron Win10 Ent LTSB (which lets you turn off updates and manage them yourself)
  • We actually are a certified reseller for Chrome for Education and Workplace and had to go thru training and certification at Google.  Its fairly involved administering Chromebooks and the depth of granular control is impressive (and can be daunting at times). For school children you definitely want that depth of control. For kiosks, one only needs to administer via a mature kiosk remote control agent like Sitekiosk or KioWare or Nanonation or 22miles and its day and night difference on what elements are focused for alerts and configs.
  • We wonder about filtering. There is no porn filter?  What about hacksites?
  • What about different layouts, templates, zones?
  • What about screen readers and assistive technology?
  • What about WCAG?
  • Many in-house administrators have tried to configure Windows, and failed in one way or another.
  • Related links

 

Excerpt

You mentioned a new SKU. What is that? 

Naveen Viswanatha: Yeah we’re very excited about that. The new SKU is called the kiosk and signage upgrade, and what it does is it unlocks all of the signage capabilities that an organization wants, but none of anything else that you need. And what I mean by that is that Chrome OS is an operating system that serves end user computing, as well as signage. On the end user computing side, you need capabilities to manage users, user profiles, logins, different types of login modalities. But on the signage side, you don’t really need that, right? Even if there’s end user interaction, there’s a lot of user modes and user capabilities that are not part of that overall management…

Because it’s a dumb end point in a hell of a lot of cases? 

Naveen Viswanatha: I wouldn’t use the word dumb, but because it’s a highly focused endpoint, and as a result of that, we tailored a SKU which is $25 per device per year. So that’s half off, two bucks a month basically, enterprise SKU, and for that, you get this 50% off SKU and very focused functionality, still gives you all the security, all the device controls, cloud management, reporting and insights. You just don’t get the user controls that you get with the Chrome enterprise upgrade SKU, and that’s the full SKU.

But if you did want those user controls, for whatever reason it may be, could you use those? And could you run a blended network with both kinds of licenses? 

Naveen Viswanatha: Absolutely and we have a lot of customers that that, that are doing exactly

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10ZiG Thin Client and Zero Client Solutions in UK and Ireland

10ZiG Thin Client

10ZiG Technology Adds New UK & Ireland Distributor for Their Thin Client and Zero Client Solutions for VDI, DaaS and SaaS

LEICESTER, UK – 10ZiG Technology are pleased to announce that they have entered into a distribution agreement with UX Distribution (UXD). With immediate effect, UXD are an active 10ZiG Accredited Distributor for their full range of Thin Client and Zero Client solutions for VDI, DaaS and SaaS in the UK & Ireland market.

UXD is a fast-growing digital workplace focused distributor with a wealth of knowledge around End User Computer (EUC), DaaS and SaaS marketplace and are perfectly positioned to onboard and support specialist reseller partners and MSPs who focus in this area. Their specialist digital workplace knowledge and years of industry experience will significantly help support and reinforce the 10ZiG message “We offer customer driven solutions, making our devices fit your customer’s environment and not the other way round.”

Andy Gonzalez, UK & Ireland Channel Manager – “With UX Distribution, we have an excellent partner who can help 10ZiG reach new resellers and markets. As one of the top focused cloud and digital workplace distributors in the UK, UX Distribution will bring additional benefits to our customers and partners, and I am looking forward to working with them.”

Partners in the UK & Ireland can discuss their Thin & Zero Client endpoint requirements with Paul Hathorn, UK Sales and Partner Manager of UXD and their team of sales and technical experts.

“We are delighted to bring a leading vendor like 10ZiG into our portfolio which underpins why we are the leading cloud and digital workplace distributor. With the 10ZiG range of Thin & Zero Client hardware and software solutions, our partners can go one step further in providing their clients a total solution”, said Hathorn.

About 10ZiG

10ZiG Technology is a world-market leader in Thin & Zero Client endpoint devices for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), DaaS and SaaS. We provide leading Intel and AMD based Dual and Quad Core Thin & Zero Clients for Citrix, Citrix Cloud (DaaS), Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Microsoft (Azure Virtual Desktops (AVD), Microsoft RDP, Windows 365 (Cloud PC), VMware Horizon, VMware On-Premises and VMware Public/Private Cloud environments, in addition to a full range of Teradici PCoIP Zero Clients. Free, no-obligation demo devices, US & EMEA based Tech Support, and the free “The 10ZiG Manager™” software solution with Cloud capabilities and unlimited user licenses, gives us our cutting edge.

About UX Distribution

UX Distribution (UXD) is a specialist Cloud and Digital Workplace distributor focused on the cloud and hybrid workplace, covering Cloud, Security, Management, Endpoint and Networking. UX Distribution is unique in providing a ‘complete solutions’ stack’, from the edge to the data centre/cloud helping their partners transform their customers to a cloud first digital organisation.

Contact Us

To learn more about 10ZiG, or to arrange for a free Thin or Zero Client demonstration device, please contact 10ZiG below.

Corporate Headquarters, US

10ZiG Technology Inc.

23309 N. 17th Drive #100

Phoenix, AZ 85027, USA

  1. +1 (866) 865-5250 | Email:[email protected]| Web: www.10ZiG.com

EMEA Headquarters

10ZiG Technology Ltd.

7 Highcliffe Road

Leicester LE5 1TY, UK

  1. +44 (0) 116 2148650 | Email:[email protected]| Web: www.10ZiG.com

Contact: Tom Dodds

10ZiG Technology Ltd.

www.10ZiG.com

+44 (0) 116 214 8650

 

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Raspberry Thin Client News — Industrial Raspberry PI Released – Onlogic

raspberry thin client onlogic

Raspberry Thin Client News

Nice post from Sixteen-Nine on Industrial Raspberry PI– interesting too that the upcoming unit will come with 2.7″ touchscreen for unit status. First of its kind.

Excerpt

The folks at OnLogic have evidently looked at the volume of Raspberry Pi boards going to industrial and commercial applications and determined it’s a viable market, making industrialized, rugged versions of the company’s signature orange products built around the latest Pi – the Pi 4 compute module. The company says its new Factor 201 Raspberry Pi-powered device is available for pre-order and a Factor 202 version is also coming.

“We’re delighted that OnLogic has chosen to develop the Factor 201 around Raspberry Pi. Using Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with their custom-designed carrier boards and industrial enclosure has allowed OnLogic to offer their customers flexible and reliable solutions, and we see Raspberry Pi hardware being increasingly widely adopted in industry with products like this one,” says Gordon Hollingworth, Chief Product Officer at Raspberry Pi Ltd.

“OnLogic has been designing computers for industrial applications for nearly two decades, so the CM4 was a natural fit for us to develop a new device around,” says  Maxx Garrison, Product Manager at OnLogic. “When Raspberry Pi unveiled the CM4, they mentioned that over half of the Raspberry Pi computers sold were being used for industrial and commercial applications. The Raspberry Pi community already has a huge wealth of experience building Industry 4.0, SCADA, and IoT solutions using Raspberry Pi. Our goal with the Factor 200 Series is to provide them with new tools to continue to innovate, no matter where they may need to install these systems.”

Available for pre-order starting today, the Factor 201 is a compact, passively cooled computing device intended for use as an industrial gateway, automation controller or edge computer. In addition to the Raspberry Pi CM4, the system features an operating temperature range of -20 to 60°C, options for DIN Rail or wall mounting, and 12-24V power input. The device can also be powered via an ethernet cord utilizing PoE Power Delivery (PoE-PD), enabling single cable installation to provide both network access and power to the device.

The upcoming Factor 202 is being developed specifically with industrial control in mind. In addition to all of the features of the Factor 201, the Factor 202 adds digital and analog inputs and outputs. A 2.7 inch capacitive touchscreen will provide status updates and system control. OnLogic expects the Factor 202 to be available later this year.

More information about both models in the Factor 200 Series is available here: www.onlogic.com/factor200.

Raspberry Pi 400 as Thin Client – Test Review

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Convert PC to Thin Client – Get early access to Chrome OS Flex

ChromeOS Flex thin client

Chrome OS Flex Available for PCs and Macs

Writeup on sixteen-nine.net

An interesting development in reducing implementation costs for companies and extend digital signage endpoints into education and more.

Excerpt

Google has kinda sorta a little got back into the digital signage and interactive display business – having announced an evolution of the Chrome operating system that can now run on new and existing Windows and Mac devices.

Previously, using Chrome OS was limited to dedicated hardware like the Chromeboxes, all-in-one screens and even sticks a small set of manufacturers were putting out.

The pitch for Chrome OS Flex is that it makes PCs and Macs secure, fast, auto-updated and managed from the cloud. Devices, and now not just ones with Chrome in the name, are all managed via the Chrome device management console.

The Flex license is free and I assume Google and its resellers make money though the management software.

The German firm Invidis has an interesting take on this development, including the observation that the real interest with this – for Google – is with the business data generated by activity.

Recommend reading full Writeup on sixteen-nine.net

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PoE Signage or AV-over-IP as some call it

PoE signage

AV-Over-IP Digital Signage

First noted on Sixteen:Nine — The solution is as much or more about things like big displays for control rooms and ops centers, but more conventional workplace digital signage would be another type of endpoint.

Editors Note: Generally, AV-over-IP is the long version of PoE. Big deal in thinclient world. Advantages are: Cat5 already in place, much greater distance than traditional baseband, really no limit on devices that can be connected. Only requirements are Cat5/6 and a modern router.

Announcement from Userful

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Jan. 31, 2022 – LG Business Solutions USA and Canadian software company Userful are introducing an end-to-end, software-defined AV-over-IP solution that combines Userful’s Visual Networking Platform and LG’s webOS Signage™ platform to optimize display networks for control rooms, digital signage networks, corporate signage and video walls. This announcement is the latest in LG’s continued efforts to build strong relationships within its partner ecosystem to deliver next generation solutions for the customer.

As a result of the Userful-LG collaboration, digitally-integrated enterprises in key markets around the world can now deploy IT-managed services from virtually any source to webOS displays with advanced streaming capabilities, flexibility in deployment and NIST-caliber security. Whether it’s providing immediate video and data through real-time streaming protocols (RTSP) for control rooms or managing 8K content across hundreds of displays, integrators and end-users can expect to enjoy a powerful, streamlined display network management experience with the Userful platform and LG displays.

According to Gianni Restaino, LG Business Solutions USA’s vice president of engineering, the alliance will deliver the future of display network management just in time to help integrators and enterprise businesses capitalize on the exponential growth forecasted for AV-over-IP in the next five years. “Together, LG and Userful have created a digital display network management platform that can both simplify and empower LG installations to enable security, content delivery speed, and flexibility in content delivery and display deployment,” he said.

“With the acceleration of new services and digital transformation, there is a clear need for a centralized platform to manage visual services in combination with data, IoT and AI,” Restaino added. “Userful’s software-defined platform uniquely integrates all of these, and delivers them through private/public cloud servers to webOS signage displays optimized for the network, enabling AV services across an entire organization.”

The companies jointly recognized the growth potential of AV-over-IP in 2019 and began developing a custom, lightweight software solution that runs on top of LG’s webOS Signage platform for flat-panel and direct-view LED displays, focusing on simplicity, reliability, flexibility and security. According to Userful, the resulting platform is expected to deliver significant hardware and energy cost savings while helping to reduce carbon footprints.

The potential market growth is enormous, with applications ranging from mission critical displays and enterprise-wide digital signage networks to corporate lobby video walls and large conference room displays. In fact, according to Maia Research, the AV-over-IP market is poised to grow from $3 billion today to $51 billion in 2027, with 85 percent of growth expected in the corporate, government and education sectors, positioning the LG-Userful solution to meet the demand for display network improvements and enhanced capabilities.

Userful CEO John Marshall praised the hard work of both companies and noted that other display manufacturers have been unable to match LG’s level of software integration, making this alliance even more valuable and unique.

“The industry underestimates the difficulty of optimizing traditional AV products for an IT environment, especially with network distribution challenges and demanding enterprise applications,” Marshall said. “The AV industry has historically worked with NAB codecs and AV standards, focusing on the highest-quality AV over cabled HDMI technology – the addition of multi-protocol-driven networks is an entirely new challenge. That LG was able to integrate such IT protocols into its core firmware, at the very heart of its media pipeline, is beyond impressive. Simply put, this solution simplifies the job of IT and can reduce installation and maintenance complexity.”

In addition to LG, Userful worked with other display manufacturers “who proceeded to fail at such sophisticated integration of IT standards in their firmware,” Marshall said. “Such developments highlighted the difference between low-cost display manufacturers and modernized IT-ready displays that suit the needs of the modern enterprise. We’re proud to work together to lead the way forward for the industry and deliver new solutions to improve enterprise business operations.”

About Userful
Userful is a leading platform-as-a-service provider in the Enterprise AV-over-IP market—the fastest-growing segment of the IT industry. Userful’s Visual Networking Platform is disrupting the market with a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model that allows customers to choose from a suite of highly-integrated AV applications (SaaS offerings, secure, SSO, integrated UI) to support modern service needs across the enterprise. From corporate signage to control room solutions to streaming platforms and data metrics, Userful’s solutions enable modernized business operations for IT leaders and the functional departments they support. Userful helps organizations advance the way they work, learn and govern with secure, scalable and centrally managed solutions for employee and customer engagement worldwide.

About LG Business Solutions USA
The LG Electronics USA Business Solutions division serves commercial display customers in the U.S. digital signage, lodging and hospitality, systems integration, healthcare, education, government and industrial markets. Based in Lincolnshire, Ill., with its dedicated engineering and customer support team, LG Business Solutions USA delivers business-to-business technology solutions tailored to the particular needs of business environments. LG Electronics USA is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics Inc., a $56 billion global force in consumer electronics, home appliances and air solutions. www.LGSolutions.com.

 

For further press information, media assets or to schedule interviews, please contact:
Danielle Alfaro, PR & Communications Manager
Userful Corporation
E: [email protected]

Nice article on AV-over-IP Benefits

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10ZiG NOS™ Zero Client Series with Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PC Support

10Zig Thin Client NOS

A leading provider in endpoints and management software for VDI and Cloud, 10ZiG recently enhanced its exclusive NOS™ line of Zero Clients for yet another Microsoft solution.

10ZiG Technology’s NOS-M Zero Client Series has been powered to support capabilities for Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PC across several endpoint devices.

LEICESTER, UK – In case you don’t know 10ZiG, we pride ourselves on not just what we do, but how we do it. A leading provider in endpoints and management software for VDI and Cloud, 10ZiG recently enhanced its exclusive NOS™ line of Zero Clients for yet another Microsoft solution.

NOS™, or Next-to-No Operating System (OS), is the exclusive platform in which 10ZiG customizes its Zero Clients with extremely lightweight and extremely secure OS, for accessing Microsoft solutions – including AVD, RDS, and now Windows 365 Cloud PC. With the 10ZiG NOS™ platform, you experience lightning-fast boot-up times, very low power consumption, and simple and intuitive configuration locally or via Cloud with The 10ZiG Manager™ – our free endpoint management software. The NOS™ Zero Client lineup provides a solution for all user types, from simpler task workers to more demanding power users.

Andy Martin, 10ZiG COO, “It’s not enough that 10ZiG works diligently to leverage our NOS™ Zero Clients, or any of our client endpoints for that matter, with the latest Microsoft Solutions and others – we know what we do is our best. It’s also how we do it. We deliver cutting-edge custom hardware that is supportive of all these advances, with people who care, and offerings that truly help IT professionals. We deliver great products, great technology, great service, and the 10ZiG guarantee – we customize our products to work in the customer’s computing environments, and not the other way around.”

This latest 10ZiG Microsoft support feature enhances NOS™ Zero Clients 4648qm, 5948qm, 6048qm, and 6148m – task to knowledge to power workers – in that order. Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PC securely streams the Windows experience to any 10ZiG endpoint device including personalized apps, data, and settings. It reduces security risks by storing information in the Cloud, and not on devices. It allows end users the flexibility to work where and when they choose to, with Windows in the Azure Cloud. For today’s remote and hybrid work situations, end users are enabled to access a full Windows PC virtually.

###

 About 10ZiG

10ZiG Technology is a world-market leader in Thin & Zero Client endpoint devices for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and Cloud. We provide leading Intel and AMD based Dual and Quad Core Thin & Zero Clients for VMware, Citrix, Microsoft, etc., environments, in addition to a full range of Teradici PCoIP Zero Clients. Free, no-obligation demo devices, US & EMEA based Tech Support, and the free “The 10ZiG Manager™” software solution with Cloud capabilities and unlimited user licenses, gives us our cutting edge.

Contact Us

To learn more about 10ZiG, or to arrange for a free Thin or Zero Client demonstration device, please contact 10ZiG below.

Corporate Headquarters, US

10ZiG Technology Inc.

23309 N. 17th Drive #100

Phoenix, AZ 85027, USA

  1. +1 (866) 865-5250 | Email:[email protected]| Web: www.10ZiG.com

EMEA Headquarters

10ZiG Technology Ltd.

7 Highcliffe Road

Leicester LE5 1TY, UK

  1. +44 (0) 116 2148650 | Email:[email protected]| Web: www.10ZiG.com

Contact: Tom Dodds

10ZiG Technology Ltd.

www.10ZiG.com

 +44 (0) 116 214 8650

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Raspberry Pi 400 as Thin Client – Test Review

raspberry pi personal computer thin client

Raspberry Pi 4 Thin Client

raspberry pi personal computer thin client

raspberry pi personal computer thin client

Raspberry Pi was very nice and sent us one of their Raspberry Pi 400 Personal Computer Kits. Featuring a quad-core 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, wireless networking, dual-display output, and 4K video playback, as well as a 40-pin GPIO header, Raspberry Pi 400 is a powerful, easy-to-use computer built into a neat and portable keyboard.  Available on Amazon for $99 (just add a monitor).

We unboxed it and set it up in 10 minutes

  • plugged in mouse
  • hooked up internet
  • plugged in HDMI to the 32″ monitor
  • connected power

We ran two sets of tests.  The first was just 10 minutes of “typical usage” to see if any “slowness”.  The kind of lag you might experience with one of the old Celeron or J1900 (or lord forbid an Atom) compared to the typical Windows i5 desktop with Intel graphics.

  • Typical baseline for us is a Linux laptop with 4Ghz i7-8750H with Intel 630. 16GB RAM. (We recommend System76!)
  • Typical monitor is BenQ EW3270L.
  • The linux desktop ran at 1920 resolution.
  • The Raspberry PI ran at 2560 just to make it tougher

Outcome: Couldn’t tell the difference…No discernible difference browsing, viewing big images or playing multiple videos on Vimeo.

Second test we used Loadninja. The usual graphics performance tests historically started with Norton SI way back when and progressed to a Windows (or Android these days) download app. That works for local performance benchmarks but not really for a thin client (given consistent network connection). We didn’t test over WiFi (yet) but we will see if 5Ghz supported and test it later.

For this test you record a macro and then play it back. We used kioskindustry.org (a very fast site at 400ms) and did a typical 6 screen navigation scrolling and clicking. We’ll speak with the Loadninja people next week to get their recommendations.  You also select the number of Virtual Users and we took the default 10.

Run 1 Scenario2 = typical linux workstation

Click for full size

Test run comparison

Other Test Conditions

Desktop Comparison Client Used

Pop!_OS 18.04 LTS (64-bit) with full-disk encryption
15.6″ Matte 1080p LED Backlit Display
4.1 GHz i7-8750H (2.2 up to 4.1 GHz – 9MB Cache – 6 Cores – 12 Threads)
Intel® HD Graphics 630
16 GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2400MHz (2× 8 GB)
United States Keyboard
120 GB M.2 SSD

Video Parameters

BenQ EW3270ZL 32 inch 2560 x 1440 Monitor, 10 Bit, 3000:1, 4ms, Brightness Intelligence Technology, HDMI
2560×1440 for Raspberry test (59 Hz)
1920×1080 (23.98 Hz refresh) for Gazelle

Internet

Hard Ethernet via gigabit switch – Internet — 425 Mb (google) and 470 Mb Ookla

Chart for Raspberry

click for full size

click for full size

 

Power Considerations

  • Nice writeup by Helmut Neikirchen comparing Pi to Intel J4105
  • The Raspberry Pi 4 consumed idle 3.8 W to 4.0 W. With 1 core being busy, it consumes 4.5 W. With 2 cores being busy, it consumes 5.0 W. With 3 cores being busy, it consumes between 5.4 W and 5.5 W.
  • Another link PIDRamble

Conclusions

  • For internet browsing you would be hard-pressed to name which is which
  • We have an older generation HP Chromebook and will run the same tests on it to see the comparison
  • Add a lockdown and you have an internet station.
  • The keyboard is surprisingly nice to use though in a public-facing context it might be better as a service keyboard
  • All said there are two spare USB ports + an extra micro-HDMI for second monitor. I suppose I could test that too.
  • Totally pleased with the unit and setup and documentation. Nice to see user friendly doc.  It comes in a nice book.
  • Lots of kiosk projects are using these and I suspect thin client environments as well as digital signage projects.  Fair to predict use in robotics given the extremely low price.
  • Nice review on Toms Hardware
  • Another unit that is good for kids is this Arm unit the Pinebook Pro though this is Chromebook alternate
  • Here is another Raspberry Pi unit for kids that looks great and has great reviews.

Here is desktop image

raspberry pi thin client

click for full size — raspberry pi thin client

More on Raspberry Pi 4 Power Consumption

Excerpt from review above with numbers

Intel J4105 measurements

As I did not install Linux yet, it was running Windows 10 and idle refers to having only the built-in task manager running in foreground (to display clock frequency) and all the background services that Windows 10 has by default. CPU load was generated using a batch file containing an endless loop.

The J4105 clocks down to 0.78 GHz when idle and the power consumption of the whole system (with one mSATA and one SATA SSD) is then 3.8 W.

With 1 core being busy, it still clocks up to 2.4 GHz and consumes 7.2 W.

With 2 cores being busy, it still clocks up to 2.4 GHz and consumes 10.3 W.

With 3 cores being busy, it clocks up to 2.35 GHz and consumes between 11.8 W and 12.1 W.

With 4 cores being busy, it clocks up to 2.19 GHz and consumes between 11.4 W and 12.0 W. (So it seems the reduced clock saves power).

I did run it with 4 cores being busy for an hour, and the measurements did not change, e.g. no thermal throttling seems to have occurred (nor did the case get hot, so a really good passive cooling — or the contact between CPU and case is bad, but then thermal throttling could have been expected).

Raspberry Pi 4 measurements

I had OSMC with KODI running, but nothing else, i.e. the KODI UI being idle, but all the background services running. The latest firmware as of 4. June 2021 was used, storage was SDHC card only. CPU load was generated using the stress command.

The Raspberry Pi 4 consumed idle 3.8 W to 4.0 W.

With 1 core being busy, it consumes 4.5 W.

With 2 cores being busy, it consumes 5.0 W.

With 3 cores being busy, it consumes between 5.4 W and 5.5 W.

With 4 cores being busy, it consumes 6.0 W.

Temperature with the cooling case from https://www.coolingcases.com/ was approx. 52° C (so it prevented thermal throttling that would start at 80° C). Surprisingly, even in idle mode, the temperature was 40-42° (the tiny case does feel much warmer than the bigger case of the Intel system — so, it seems: size matters).

Conclusions

In summary, the idle power consumption of both systems is comparable and while the busy consumption is lower with Raspberry Pi 4, it is of course less powerful than the J4105 system. For the J4105, I never observed the full 2.5 GHz burst clock rate (but 2.4 GHz). Even though the CPU TDP is 10 W, the whole system consumed up to 12.1 W (e.g. the RAM, the two SSDs, WiFi, HDMI output, external power supply, etc. probably also to add their share — during boot, I even saw 14.8 W).

Note that others suggest 2.7 W idle for the Raspi 4 (but seems to require switching off a lot of I/O, e.g., HDMI etc. — which I did not do, nor did I minimise background processes) or even as low as 2.1 W. On the other hand, many other report that they neither (with either a fan or a heatsink) get the system cooler than 42° in idle, so getting the Raspy warmer than the touch of your hand seems to be normal, but the J4105 system with the bigger case was considerably cooler.

 

Raspberry Thin Client News — Industrial Raspberry PI Released – Onlogic

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Raspberry Pi 10.1 Inch Touchscreen Display – Recommended Pi

Raspberry PI thin client

Raspberry Pi Thin Client News

Raspberry Pi Kiosk Logo

Raspberry Pi Kiosk Logo

One of the developers for Raspberry Pi, Linucleus, sent us this from Amazon.

  • ALL-IN-ONE RASPBERRY PI MONITOR — EVICIV 10.1″ touchscreen monitor with durable& hard -wearing case to protect improves its appearance while keeping the board neatly tucked away behind it. It comes with Pi3 Side Panel and Pi4 Side Panel to meet different needs. EVICIV Raspberry Pi 4 Screen with a built-in cooling fan to guarantee heat dissipation.
  • 10-POINTS CAPACITIVE ACCURATE TOUCH — Raspberry pi display adopted capacitive (PCAP) touch technology allows you to swipe, scroll, select, zoom in, zoom out, and move a cursor in 3-5 ms. What’s more, EVICIV adopted touch rotation technology to solve touch inaccurate problem for portrait orientation.
  • PLUG and PLAY FEATURE — EVICIV touch screen monitor has an impressive feature of plug and play that doesn’t require any driver installation. This LCD monitor not only works with raspberry pi devices as well as computers with HDMI interface, phones with Type-C 3.1 ports, supporting Raspbian/ Raspberry Pi 400/ Linux/ Win10/8/7 OS.
  • HD VISUAL ENJOYMENT — The raspberry pi 3 screen with HD 1920×1200 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio gives high color restore the display. Features a 16:9 aspect ratio. IPS 178° full wide viewing angle gives you a crystal-clear viewing experience of all your content.
  • OSD MENU FUNCTION AND THREE STAND WAYS — You can manage the color/image adjustment, language setting for this portable monitor via OSD Menu Button. It is with Foldable stand/VESA hole /Wall-mountable hole, You can choose the most comfortable use way as you like.

Raspberry Thin Client News — Industrial Raspberry PI Released – Onlogic

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Hotel chain converts Windows PCs to Chrome OS

Chrome OS Google

Chrome OS Google

Ransomware is a modern cost factor and that means recovering from. For this hotel chain converting to Chromebooks solved that logistical nightmare– From 9to5Google —

In Brief

  • Hotel chain laptops victimized by ransomware attack
  • 2000 laptops is problematic
  • Instead the Lenovo ThinkPads were converted with CloudReady
  • final count now stands at 3,500 machines, while the company opted to clean 250 Windows laptops.

Excerpt

At the end of 2020, Google acquired a company that offers software to convert old PCs into Chrome OS-like devices. In one high-profile example, a Norwegian hotel chain turned to CloudReady to convert several thousand ransomware-locked Windows laptops into Chromebooks.

Nordic Choice Hotels is a large chain in Scandinavia, Finland, and the Baltics with 200 properties. It suffered a ransomware attack in December, as E24 reports, that encrypted device files and required IT staff to take down their internet/network. This straightforward hack demanded the hotel group pay a ransom to get the files (employee records but not guest information) back and prevent leaks.

In terms of impact, staff had to resort to pen and paper (or rather, marker and whiteboard), while downed key card systems required employees to “lock in all guests with a master key card.”

Instead of spending several hours removing the virus from each device, Nordic Choice decided to speed up a Chrome migration project that was previously already underway. In all, 2,000 Windows laptops, which look to be Lenovo ThinkPads, were converted with CloudReady to a Chromebook-like experience in 48 hours. Google appears to have aided this by letting them “jump in the queue to get the project up and running.”

Post Views: 438

Chromebook of the Year 2021

acer chromebook android police

Acer Chromebook

As selected by Android Police

Highlights

  • 3.5″ 2256×1504 display with a 3:2 aspect ratio
  • NOT the older 16:9 or 16:10 display
  • $530 for the i5 configuration

Excerpt

Over the last two years, Chromebooks have dominated laptop sales around the world. As a low-cost way to access the internet — and the perfect device for remote learning or working — it’s no surprise that Google’s web-based OS is more prevalent than ever. With endless choices to pick between, shopping for a new laptop can be a stressful experience. Allow us to make it a little easier for you: the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 has earned the Editor’s Choice pick as our 2021 Chromebook of the year.

Our review of Acer’s latest premium Chrome OS laptop says it all: this is the best Chromebook you can buy this year. Although $700 isn’t quite in the “budget” range, it’s a steal compared to other high-end offerings from Asus and Samsung. With an 11th gen Intel Core-i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of NVMe storage, this machine offers some killer specs for the price.

Read full article by Android Police

 

Post Views: 451

12th Gen Alder Lake Chromebooks by HP

chromebook aldre lake

HP Chromebooks

So much for CES 2022 but HP is targeting its share in Chromebook world. See quick snapshot of some Chromebook RFPs from SLED market after excerpt.  Link on ChromeUnboxed

Excerpt

As CES 2022 approaches, so does the beginning of the year and the requisite hopes for new Chromebook hardware. So many great things are coming in 2022, including devices with the higher-powered MediaTek Kompanio 1000 and 800 series, Snapdragon 7c+ Gen 3, and 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake chipsets inside. While we’ll see these releases scattered throughout the year, CES generally coaxes a few out right at the beginning.

We don’t know exactly which of the boards that we’re tracking will end up being announced at CES or later in the year, but we do have a good hunch that at least 4 of the Alder Lake-powered Chromebooks will be coming from HP. Yep, that’s right: at least four next-gen Intel-powered Chromebooks are on the way from HP this year.

Read full article on ChromeUnboxed

Here is a quick look at SLED opps

chromebook rfps

click for full size chromebook rfps

Post Views: 469

Linux Developer for Kiosks – Raspberry PI developer for Kiosks

linux kiosk developer

Linux Developer for Kiosks – Raspberry PI developer for Kiosks

Simple, clean, transparent, efficient, fast, robust. They are terms that define us.

We don’t need a super responsive super mega cool website. We are not spaceX, we work for the results and it is our clients who recommend us to other clients.

Our clients and their projects are confidential, we cannot publish anything about it so this website is more than we need.

We don’t need the hideous and annoying cookie dialog because we won’t track anything from you.

We do not need SSL or SEOs or CEOs or unsustainable mega-buildings in Barcelona.

We compete with large companies in what we can: “provide a better solution, a better price and move quickly”. We do not compete in infrastructure.

Linux embedded, Kernel, C/C++, QT, QML y GTK
Más sobre nosotros: https://www.linkedin.com/company/linucleus

Contacto: [email protected]     +34 637 367 156

 

Videos — https://www.linkedin.com/company/linucleus/videos/

 

OS Neutral Payment Devices – Cloud-based POS devices

Post Views: 481

California RFP 2021 “PC Goods”

California RFP

Big RFP from State of California. PC Goods Desktops, Laptops, and Monitors Event ID 0000020273

Includes 43 different schedules and docs.

If you have questions we can help with then email [email protected]

Scope

The Scope of this RFP includes PC Goods as defined in Section 3.1.1, Proposed Products, including core configurations, monitors (if applicable), options/upgrades, and value-added services (VAS). The State reserves the right to eliminate any specific line item from the final award.

The State intends that the selected Bidder(s) will work in cooperation with the State to furnish quality products at the lowest price available in a timely and efficient manner. The selected Bidder(s) will be the primary point of contact for warehousing, customer service, data collection, reporting, and distribution.

Award(s) will be made by category in each Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)/Open silo to the compliant Bidder who scores the highest number of points as described in Section 6, Evaluation. Bidders must propose all line items within an OEM/Open silo category to be evaluated for award. Bidders are not required to submit proposals for all silos/categories listed to participate.

The term of the contracts resulting from this RFP will be three (3) years. The contracts will also contain options to extend for two (2) additional one (1) year periods or portion thereof. If a mutual agreement cannot be met the contract may be terminated at the end of the current contract term and/or contract extension. All terms and conditions will remain the same for the entire contract period including any extension periods.

The use of these contracts shall be mandatory for all State departments except in cases of emergency as defined in Public Contract Code (PCC), Section 1102.

All equipment offered must be new and the latest model in current production. Used, shopworn, refurbished, demonstrator, prototype or discontinued models are not acceptable.

Proposal Submittal E-mail: [email protected]

*Spend reflects the State’s implementation of teleworking policies due to the Covid 19 Pandemic.

The RFP includes the following silos:

  • Apple

  • Dell

  • Durabook

  • Getac

  • HP Inc.

  • Lenovo

  • Microsoft

  • Panasonic

  • Samsung

  • Open (open to other OEM PC Good product not listed above)

The seven (7) categories that may be included in a silo are:

  • Category 1 – Desktop Computers w/Monitors

  • Category 2 – Thin/Zero Client Desktop Computers w/Monitors

  • Category 3 – Laptop Computers

  • Category 4 – Thin-Client Laptop Computers

  • Category 5 – Rugged Laptops

  • Category 6 – Chromebooks

  • Category 7 – Monitors

Each category will contain at least three (3) of the following four (4) groups:

  • Core Configurations

  • Monitors (where applicable)

  • Options/Upgrades

  • Value-Added Services (VAS)

 

        1. Monitors (M)

Exhibit 4I, Monitor Specifications contain three (3) types of monitors: Widescreen, Touchscreen, and Curved. For the OEM silos, available reference product is listed in Exhibits 1A-1I, Cost Workbooks. For the Open silo, Exhibit 1J, Cost Workbook, Bidders shall propose an available OEM monitor-type which meets or exceeds the specifications. Additional available monitor types which meet or exceed the specification will be added after contract award.

      1. Accessibility Compliance (M)

Requirements for accessibility based on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) are relevant for this procurement.

Bidder shall submit, per 36 CFR part 1194, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) that includes the following:  

  • Subpart B, Bidders shall submit a VPAT describing how their proposed products meet this requirement.

  • Subpart C, Bidders shall submit a VPAT describing how their proposed Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) products meet applicable functional performance criteria.

  • Subpart D, Bidders shall submit a VPAT describing how the information, documentation, and support for proposed products meet applicable information, documentation, and support requirements.

The VPAT responses above will be used to determine technical compliance to the Section 508 Accessibility Standard requirements and is requested to be submitted with the Bidder’s proposal.

The Bidder’s VPAT shall be submitted with the proposal or within five (5) days after notification from the State.

Additionally, the awarded Contractor shall include similar VPAT document with delivery at the State’s request.

Post Views: 419

Esper – Android Cloud Solutions

Android Solutions Esper

Android Cloud Solutions by Esper

Esper Android Solution Logo

Esper Android Solution Logo

Esper exists because developers and engineers need a smart platform for Android DevOps innovation. Digital transformation is accelerating the adoption of intelligent edge devices across industries and each new use case requires better software automation. We deliver operational excellence and a stable, flexible infrastructure to help you quickly deploy your application experiences at scale.
‍
Esper’s business is about helping you take control and automating the entire Android lifecycle so that your team can focus on what matters most: Creating experiences that set your business apart.

Esper empowers engineers, developers, and operations teams with tools crafted for company-owned Android devices. Our full-stack platform covers the building, deploying, managing, and maintaining – to move beyond MDM to Android DevOps.

Solutions

Esper Enhanced Android
The leading commercial Android build for x86 and ARM hardware
Building an Android fleet is hard. Esper Enhanced Android (EEA) is easy. Whether you’re starting with bare metal or already managing an Android device fleet in the hundreds of thousands, EEA is ready to meet you at your scale and your needs. https://www.esper.io/esper-enhanced-android

Esper Enhanced Android x86

Esper Enhanced Android x86–EEA x86–is the world’s most customizable, secure, and proven Android x86 platform to build, deploy, and manage large fleets of dedicated x86-based devices.

Leading brands rely on EEA to drive digital transformation by smartly applying the x86 hardware ecosystem for a modern DevOps approach to solution management and operations. Device Makers delight in EEA extending the market viability of existing x86 designs to save NRE. Esper Enhanced Android x86 opens more resources for innovative new designs on the latest processors by removing the burden of Android OS development and adaptation from internal teams and the supply chain.

Esper
3600 136th Pl SE # 210,
Bellevue, WA 98006
More Posts
Post Views: 456

Azure Thin Client Considerations for Virtual Desktop

Microsoft Azure Thin Client

Microsoft Azure Thin Client

From Channel Futures Sep 27 — When adopting or adjusting virtual desktop solutions and services, many managed service providers seek advice on what brands, and types of clients, to invest in to accompany deployments. And given the evolution of desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) and the recent general availability of Windows 365, a new set of criteria have emerged when it comes to selecting the right hardware to efficiently operate virtual desktop environments.

In Brief

  • It will need to support AVD (Azure Virtual Desktop)
  • No known zero clients support AVD or Windows 365
  • Pros and Cons of a Zero Client are listed
  • Thin Client typically boot into Windows 10 IoT environment
  • Thin client more expensive but more flexible
  • Windows or Linux? Do you use MS Teams?
  • The linux vendors are very creative and resourceful though
  • Recommendations – Igel, 10ZiG and NComputing, to name a few

Excerpt:

Choosing between a Windows and a Linux thin client also has its implications. If you want the latest and greatest features that the Microsoft Remote Desktop client has to offer, picking a Windows-based thin client could be a wise choice. As of this writing, only Windows-based thin clients support Microsoft Teams video and audio optimization when making video or voice calls. This offloads the audio and video to be processed by the thin client, taking a heavy load off the AVD/Windows 365 virtual machine and gives the end user a great experience. This technique is also supported when using Zoom virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) – a Zoom client optimized for use with Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. Microsoft also announced in public preview a Chromium-based browser extension called Multimedia Redirection that offloads video to be processed on the local thin client as well, which allows you to fit a higher user density per session host.

Useful Links

Videos


 

Post Views: 1,053

Severn Trent Selects IGEL OS secure end-user computing solution

thin client endpoint

UK, Reading. September 15, 2021 – IGEL, provider of the next gen edge OS for cloud workspaces, announces today that Severn Trent has implemented IGEL OS to manage and secure an estate of 6,000 desktop devices spread over 110 locations, support the business with its cloud migration strategy and adoption of Microsoft Office 365.

Severn Trent is a FTSE100 company employing around 7,000 staff. It provides clean water and wastewater services to more than 4.6 million households and businesses in the Midlands and Wales, as well as developing renewal energy solutions such as anaerobic digestion, hydropower, solar and wind turbines. It supplies 2 billion litres of clean water every day – that’s over 83 million litres every hour – whilst treating 3.1 billion litres of wastewater.

The company first implemented thin client computing in 2010 when it moved into a custom-built head office in the centre of Coventry. The technology was installed to lower desktop power consumption and boost energy efficiency thereby eliminating the need for air conditioning throughout the building.

Mark Challis, Severn Trent’s technical specialist for end-user computing (EUC), explains, “Running our legacy thin client environment over the years has been incredibly difficult verging on the impossible. The management software has been hard to use such that we couldn’t easily update or patch the 6,000 endpoints we have across the business. Device security had become a major issue, too.”

In addition, the incumbent hardware couldn’t support Severn Trent’s cloud migration journey. The business operates two UK-based data centres – one in Solihull, the other in Wokingham. The adoption of cloud services wholesale across the company has been driven by the need to vacate the Solihull site – the building lease was due to expire – rather than incur the huge cost of investing again in a physical location.

Working closely with Microsoft and Cognizant, all compute and storage platforms have been migrated to Microsoft Azure, with Office 365 now adopted across the business.

In tandem, Severn Trent has shifted end-user computing from an on-premise Citrix virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment to a Citrix Cloud service hosted on the new Microsoft Azure platform.

Challis adds, “The legacy thin client terminals had an old version of Internet Explorer ‘baked’ into the firmware which doesn’t work with the version of Citrix Storefront we use for our VDA connections. This meant we couldn’t move forward with our Citrix estate upgrade, so it was absolutely crucial to change the endpoints as well as deploy a solution to enhance management.”

Challis continues, “In terms of selecting a new partner, our enterprise architect has a good relationship with Microsoft who recommended we speak to IGEL given they are dynamic vendor and are ahead of the curve when it comes to EUC digital workspaces.”

Severn Trent has purchased 6,000 IGEL OS licenses along with IGEL’s management software, the Universal Management Suite (UMS), to seamlessly manage the whole environment. This enables the EUC team to create profiles and distribute them quickly to each endpoint device. Challis explains, “The IGEL OS is lightweight at 1 GB. We can push a whole image out in minutes and have full visibility of each endpoint in real-time. It’s the speed we can update each endpoint which is impressive, along with the usability of UMS. This is of paramount importance given the number of locations we have.”

In addition, IGEL OS is fully optimized to work flawlessly with Office 365 including modern communications software like Teams. The previous solution could not.

Endpoint hardware updated with IGEL OS installed

As part of the project, the decision was made to update endpoint hardware and install IGEL OS on this. Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny-in-One (TIO) 24-inch monitors have been purchased which enable a ThinkCentre M625 thin client terminal to be docked within it. It is a neat and elegant solution requiring only one power socket – not multiple messy cables – and means ugly monitor arms can be avoided for each desktop. The TIO monitors come with a 1080p webcam and built-in speaker bar for video communications.

The business is currently in the implementation process. Around 2,400 devices have been installed at the Coventry HQ, chairman’s office in London and Severn Trent’s main call centre in Derby. Over time, the roll out will cover all 110 locations to include water treatment and sewage works, two other call centres and a disaster recovery site. Here existing thin client hardware will be converted using the IGEL OS rather than new equipment being bought. The business is also looking at how it can utilise IGEL’s UD Pocket to provide third party contractors secure access to its systems.

Simon Townsend, IGEL’s chief marketing officer says, “The use of VDI and IGEL OS in a company like Severn Trent is ideal where you have thousands of employees across many sites. Staff can work from home, on location or in the office as they like. And the management of these geographically disperse endpoints is made far easier. This reduces costs and boosts efficiency which is key given Severn Trent is Ofwat regulated and Asset Management Plans and spending are scrutinized heavily.”

For images to accompany this press release, click on the link below

https://www.severntrent.com/media/media-library/

IGEL on Social Media

Twitter: www.twitter.com/IGEL_Technology

Facebook: www.facebook.com/igel.technology

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/igel-technology

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IGELTechnologyTV

IGEL Community: www.igel.com/community

About IGEL

IGEL provides the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company’s world-leading software products include IGEL OS™, IGEL UD Pocket™ (UDP) and IGEL Universal Management Suite™ (UMS). These solutions comprise a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management and control platform across nearly any x86-64 device. Easily acquired via just two feature-rich software offerings, — Workspace Edition and Enterprise Management Pack — IGEL software presents outstanding value per investment. Additionally, IGEL’s German engineered endpoint solutions deliver the industry’s best hardware warranty (5 years), software maintenance (3 years after end of life) and management functionality. IGEL enables enterprises to save vast amounts of money by extending the useful life of their existing endpoint devices while precisely controlling all devices running IGEL OS from a single dashboard interface. IGEL has offices worldwide and is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL, visit www.igel.com.

IGEL Media Contact:

Tom Herbst

Tel: +44 (0)7768 145571

Email: [email protected]

Post Views: 370

Pico-ITX Thin Client – Very Small Thin Clients (which are very powerful)

Pico-ITX Thin Client

From ZDNet July 2021

A little bigger than the Raspberry Pi, but a lot more powerful (and expensive!)

Most of the time, the Raspberry Pi is enough, but there are times when you need a lot more power.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for Hardware 2.0 |  | Topic: Hardware

The Raspberry Pi has created a whole ecosystem of SBCs (Single Board Computers), and while the Pi — especially the new Pi 4 B — is more than enough for most applications, sometimes you want something that’s more powerful.

Sometimes a lot more powerful.

The Aaeon PICO-TGU4 offers just that.

Must read: Best Raspberry Pi alternatives in 2021

At 3.94″ x 2.84″ (100mm x 72mm), this board is a bit bigger than a Raspberry Pi 4 (3.37″ x 2.22″/86mm x 56mm), but it does come equipped with an 11th-gen Intel Core — and you can choose between an i3 or i5 to suit your power needs (and budget).

Read more at ZDnet

Overview

The PICO-TGU4 compact PICO-ITX board is powered by the 11th Generation Intel® Core™ G processors (formerly Tiger Lake). By leveraging AAEON’s expertise and the cutting-edge technologies offered with this latest generation of processors, the PICO-TGU4 delivers performance and flexibility to power the next generation of AI Edge applications.

The 11th Generation Intel Core processors (formerly Tiger Lake) are the third generation of Intel’s 10nm microarchitecture, delivering up to 15~20% better performance than the previous generation processors. The PICO-TGU4 offers users the choice of Intel Core G i3/i5/i7 or Intel Celeron® processors to power their projects. These processors support a range of technologies including on-board TPM 2.0 and in-band ECC. The board features 32GB of on-board LPDDR4x memory, and SATA III (6.0 Gbps) storage.

One of the core features of the PICO-TGU4 are its two expansion slots; the M.2 2280 slot (PCIe 4.0) which supports next generation AI accelerators; and the full-sized Mini Card slot which supports extra storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and more. The PICO-TGU4 also features dual LAN ports, one Intel i225 2.5 Gbps port for ultra-fast LAN connectivity, and on Intel i219 port with support for Intel vPro, enabling remote system monitoring.

The PICO-TGU4 offers a broad I/O layout to connect with a wide range of sensors and easily integrate with projects. The board features a total of eight USB connections, with two USB3.2 Gen 2 type A ports, two USB3.2 Gen 1 headers and four USB2.0 headers. The board also includes two serial port headers, as well as 8-bit GPIO and I2C/SMBUS connectors, allowing connections to an even wider range of devices. Additionally, the PICO-TGU4 includes eDP and HDMI 2.0 delivering brilliant 4K 60Hz resolution.

✦ Shop Online (Orders dispatched in 3 working days)

Features

  • 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3/Celeron Processor SoC
  • LPDDR4x on board memory, Max. 32 GB
  • 2.5GbE Intel i225 + 1GbE Intel i219
  • HDMI2.0b x 1, 4Kx2K + eDP, up to HBR3 8K
  • M.2 2280 M key(PCIE by4 GEN4/SATA) x 1
  • SATA 6.0 Gb/s x 1
  • Full size mPCIe/mSATA x 1
  • 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4 x USB 2.0
  • RS-232/422/485 x 2
  • Line-in/Line-out/MIC
  • DIO 8 bit
Post Views: 473

Cloud Computing For Health — AWS for Health Rolls Out Amazon HealthLake

AWS Logo

From FierceHealth Jul-2021

Amazon rolls out AWS For Health cloud services for healthcare, genomics and biopharma

Amazon’s cloud division has rolled out AWS for Health, a set of services and partner solutions for healthcare, genomics and biopharma.

Amazon says the portfolio of solutions will help to accelerate innovation from “benchtop to bedside” as the tech giant pushes further into the healthcare and life sciences markets.

AWS for Health provides “proven and easily accessible capabilities” that help organizations increase the pace of innovation, unlock the potential of health data, and develop more personalized approaches to therapeutic development and care, Patrick Combes, director, head of technology – healthcare and life sciences at Amazon Web Services (AWS), wrote in a blog post.

The services within AWS for Health can help healthcare customers create holistic electronic health records to help clinicians make data-driven care plans and power population genomic initiatives to expand precision medicine accessibility, as two examples, Combes wrote.

Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are all pushing deeper into healthcare in a battle to provide cloud computing and data storage technology to hospitals.

RELATED: Amazon launches new tool to help healthcare organizations standardize data

Read full article From FierceHealth Jul-2021

About Amazon HealthLake

Amazon HealthLake is a HIPAA-eligible service enabling healthcare and life sciences companies to securely store, transform, query, and analyze health data at scale. With HealthLake, you pay as you go with no upfront costs. You are billed from the time you create your Data Store, which helps you index all your information in the FHIR format so it can be easily queried, to the time you delete it. You are charged by the hour for your Data Store, which includes data import up to 10 GB of data storage, and the first 3,500 queries per hour across all of your Data Stores. The Data Store is always running, offering you the ability to query the information anytime with FHIR query operations.

With integrated medical NLP, you can automatically extract entities (e.g., medical procedures, medications), entity relationships (e.g., a medication and its dosage), entity traits (e.g., positive or negative test result, time of procedure), and Protected Health Information (PHI) data from your medical text. You can also export FHIR data from HealthLake to Amazon S3 where data can be used in further downstream applications.

To get started with Amazon HealthLake, from 7/15/2021 – 9/30/2021 customers will be charged only for their active Data Stores at $0.27 per data store hour. Data Store size will be fixed at 500GB. There are no additional charges for storage, FHIR queries, integrated NLP, and FHIR data export. Starting 10/01/2021, charges as described in the pricing page will apply.

Pricing details

Data Store

The Data Store helps you index all your information in the FHIR format for easy querying. Data import and your first 10 GB of storage are included across all of your Data Stores. The Data Store is always running, offering you the ability to query the information anytime, so you are charged by the hour. You are charged $0.27 per Data Store hour. Amazon HealthLake monitors your data consumption and allocates additional searchable data storage to meet your needs. Durable primary storage and index scaling are included in this price. For additional data storage above the 10 GB included across your Data Stores, you are charged $0.25 per GB stored per month, rounded up to the nearest GB in addition to the per hour charge. For example, if you stored 10.5 GB, you are charged for 1 additional GB since 10 GB is included.

Query

HealthLake supports FHIR query operations. You can query records by creating an operation, such as adding new patients and their medication information. You can also read, update, or delete a previously created record. As per the FHIR specification, deleted data is only hidden from analysis and results; it is not deleted from the service, only versioned. You can also search with predefined filters to find all patient information. The first 3,500 queries per hour are included across your Data Stores. For any additional query capacity, you are charged $0.015 per 10,000 queries per hour, rounded up to the nearest 10,000.

Post Views: 472

Cloud Computing Healthcare – Hospital Implement IGEL OS and UD3 Endpoints

cloud computing healthcare

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust invests £5m to upgrade IT infrastructure, refreshing its EUC estate using IGEL

…The use of IGEL OS results in the Trust saving £500k not buying new desktops…

UK, Reading. July 20, 2021 – IGEL, provider of the next gen edge OS for cloud workspaces, announces today that Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has updated its end-user computing (EUC) environment, implementing IGEL OS and UD3 endpoints throughout the organization.

This is part of a £5 million investment the Trust is making to replace and refresh its entire IT infrastructure including compute, storage, WAN/LAN network and thin client platforms. This significant upgrade project is putting in place modern, class-leading technology to support the Trust, provide high quality clinical care and services for around 820,000 local residents.

Located in the Northeast of Manchester, Pennine Acute Hospitals serves the communities of Bury, Rochdale and Oldham along with surrounding towns and villages. Employing 10,000 staff, it operates four hospitals: Fairfield General Hospital, North Manchester General Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary.

As part of the overall project, the necessity to change the EUC platform was pressing. Pennine Acute Hospital’s existing thin client solution was already a decade old, over 2,000 hardware devices were end-of-life and no longer supported; and it had a requirement to expand the use of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and thin clients across the organisation. To complicate matters, the devices couldn’t be centrally or easily controlled because the server-based management software was not up-to-date.

Jav Yaqub, the Trust’s head of infrastructure, explains, “The upshot was we were consuming a huge amount of time trying to maintain and run our thin client desktops, with major platform mismatches hindering our ability to roll out new operating systems like Windows 10 or deploy Office 365, which was crucial as NHS Digital has mandated that Windows 7 be removed from all desktops.”

After a successful trial, the decision was made to select IGEL for the new EUC solution. In tandem, the Trust updated its entire compute systems in its datacentre installing a Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure platform as well as Dell EMC network attached Isilon, Data Domain and ECS storage.

The new VxRail compute platform is also used to host VMware Horizon – the Trust’s VDI solution – with 3,000 IGEL OS licenses and 500 new IGEL UD3 endpoints purchased, along with IGEL’s management software, the Universal Management Suite (UMS). IGEL Cloud Gateway was acquired to centrally manage endpoints not on the corporate network. Furthermore, NVIDIA virtual GPU technology is being trailed within the VxRail environment to share graphics power and capability across the VDI estate.

IGEL OS deliver significant operational and financial advantages

The move to IGEL OS and UD3 thin client endpoints is already delivering substantial benefits:

  • Budget saved. £500,000 has been saved as the Trust has avoided buying 2,000 new thin client devices for the organisation. Despite being told they were end-of-life, many of the old endpoints from the previous incumbent supplier have been recycled – converted using the IGEL OS into centrally controlled devices. Yaqub says, “For the flexibility and portability the IGEL OS offers which is a key reason for our purchase, the costs are reasonable and IGEL are competitive with their pricing.”
  • Reliability improved. Most thin client devices at the Trust are used at workstations in hospital wards and on 100 laptop trollies which nurses and other health professionals use in various clinical settings. IGEL OS has vastly improved the reliability and performance of these trolly machines given that IGEL OS is much ‘lighter’ – at 1GB – rather than the Windows OS which is typically 16 GB in size.
  • Implementation simple. Roll out was easy and fast with the Trust supported by third party consultants who helped install IGEL OS and convert devices – a re-flashing process which took just minutes. Yaqub says, “It was very much a non-event. It was easy, with no significant problems, as IGEL support has been excellent.”
  • Management straightforward. Using IGEL’s Universal Management Suite (UMS) makes the day-to-day management of the whole estate of 2,000 thin clients located across four geographically dispersed hospital sites really straightforward. Just one person now handles this for the whole organisation as part of their overall job role. IGEL specific training was provided allowing policies and security settings to be created and pushed out automatically to all devices.
  • The local care ecosystem joined up. The Trust has also connected five local community care providers to its VDI environment. They use an IGEL-OS powered endpoint to view its electronic patient records (EPR) system. Partners access the EPR via VMware Horizon – with IGEL Cloud Gateway used to manage remote devices – so that patient care is available anywhere across the local community.
  • Remote work capability delivered quickly in light of Covid. The Trust has been able to easily ramp up remote access capability to empower staff to work from home during the Coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, 600-700 staff did so but this was increased to 3,000 in just three weeks. Staff login to their VDI session via a standard browser which takes them to their Trust branded Windows 10 desktop. Imprivata is used to enabled single sign-on to specific applications.

Yaqub says, “The infrastructure update project has been hard work. We’ve done about four years work in just two with staff now commenting that they’ve seen big improvements in system performance, speed, flexibility and the IT teams’ ability to deliver. This makes all the graft worthwhile and rewarding, and IGEL has played an important part in enabling this.”

Moving forward, Pennine Acute Trust is reviewing how it can increase the scope of VDI and thin client usage within the organisation. Using the IGEL OS, the goal is to convert more desktop devices in other departments like estates and finance into locked down, centrally controlled and secure endpoints.

The IT team is also working on a proof of concept within the radiology specialty to capitalise on the graphics capability of the new backend infrastructure. This could allow radiologists working internationally to access its systems using VDI and powerful multimedia IGEL endpoints – rather than expensive laptops being provided – to review and study MRI and X-ray scans to aid with patient illness diagnosis and treatment.

Simon Townsend, IGEL’s chief marketing officer says, “Ultimately technology in the health service is all about delivering better patient care. As an IT provider, we have our part to play in this so that clinicians and other health professionals have high performance, reliable desktop solutions offering them the very best user experience. That’s what the IGEL OS running on any endpoint hardware is designed to do.”

IGEL on Social Media

Twitter: www.twitter.com/IGEL_Technology

Facebook: www.facebook.com/igel.technology

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/igel-technology

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IGELTechnologyTV

IGEL Community: www.igel.com/community

About IGEL

IGEL provides the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company’s world-leading software products include IGEL OS™, IGEL UD Pocket™ (UDP) and IGEL Universal Management Suite™ (UMS). These solutions comprise a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management and control platform across nearly any x86-64 device. Easily acquired via just two feature-rich software offerings, — Workspace Edition and Enterprise Management Pack — IGEL software presents outstanding value per investment. Additionally, IGEL’s German engineered endpoint solutions deliver the industry’s best hardware warranty (5 years), software maintenance (3 years after end of life) and management functionality. IGEL enables enterprises to save vast amounts of money by extending the useful life of their existing endpoint devices while precisely controlling all devices running IGEL OS from a single dashboard interface. IGEL has offices worldwide and is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL, visit www.igel.com.

IGEL Media Contact:

Tom Herbst

Tel: +44 (0)7768 145571

Email: [email protected]

 

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Cloud PC – Did the Thin Client Market Just Increase by Factor of 1000?

Desktop As A Service

Microsoft Cloud PC

Microsoft Cloud PC

Nice article on ZDnet —  For almost 30 years, the number one reason Windows users have given for not running Linux is they couldn’t run their programs on it. Now that Windows 365 Cloud PC is almost here that excuse has just been blown to bits.

In Brief

  • Maybe we have Chromebooks to thank for this development?
  • This is a big bet on Azure Cloud. Google expanded its full suite to all.  AWS?  Nothing yet.
  • Wouldn’t it be nice if all those physical device drivers turned into virtual cloud drivers…
  • See Silicon Angle — Microsoft Corp. will launch a new virtual machine service next month called Windows 365 that will enable business workers to access “Cloud PCs” from any web browser.

Excerpt from ZDNet:

By for Linux and Open Source |  | Topic: Enterprise Software

Microsoft has just announced the release of Windows 365 and Cloud PC. This new service, built on top of Azure Virtual Desktop, enables you to bring their Windows 10 and eventually Windows 11, desktop, apps, tools, data, and settings to your personal and work devices, including Windows PCs (naturally!) but Macs, iPads, Linux, and Android devices as well.

Let me repeat that: Windows 365 will enable you to run your Windows desktop, apps, data, etc., etc. on Linux. That’s the Linux desktop they’re talking about.

Read full article on ZDnet

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Credit Card Thin Client — Raspberry Pi Rockchip

credit-card-PC

credit-card-PC

From Tom’s Hardware (no surprise there) July 2021 with credit to Embedded System News by CNX

Excerpt:

There’s small, and then there’s small. The Station M2 is an RK3566 powered board, spotted by CNX Software, is limited in terms of thickness by its Ethernet port, but manages to squeeze a lot of functionality into a case only slightly larger than a credit card.

Inside the Station M2 there’s a Rockchip RK3566 SoC, at the heart of which is a quad-core Cortex-A55 64-bit processor running at up to 1.8GHz. This is the successor to the A53 chip used in the Raspberry Pi 3B+, Nintendo Switch, and some Amazon Fire HD tablets. You also get up to 8GB of LPDDR4, and up to 128GB of eMMC storage. As the name alludes, there’s an M.2 socket for NVMe SSDs, with read and write speeds up to 400MB/s and 392MB/s respectively. The Micro SD slot provides additional low cost storage.

There’s also an HDMI 2.0 port with support for 4k HDR at 60fps, a smattering of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports including one Type-C OTG that’s also used to power the unit, and a gigabit Ethernet port to complement the onboard Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. The 3.69 x 2.55 x 0.62 inch (93.8 x 65 x 15.8 mm) aluminum alloy case acts as a heat sink for the RK3566 SoC while keeping the unit neat and tidy.

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