January 30th, 2008HP lunched Thin Client Disguised as a Laptop
In an attempt to push mobility into thin clients, Hewlett-Packard (HP) is addition a laptop with minimal storage and wireless networking features to its lineup. The HP Compaq 6720T Mobile Thin Client has 1G byte of internal flash storage and will be more of a terminal than a full-blown PC, with data storage and system organization handled from a remote server, the company said Thursday. The laptop boots off Windows XP Embedded OS in the flash module.
Because data isn’t stored on the laptop, there is less risk of a company losing data, said Thai Nguyen, HP worldwide product marketing manager for thin clients. The thin-client laptop is also manage from a server, moving back organization challenges such as issuing software updates, Nguyen said. Along with better security and easier scheme management, thin-client architecture uses less power than traditional PCs, said Klaus Besier, vice leader for thin clients at HP. The thin-client laptop does not have a fan or moving parts such as a hard drive.
The product is under attack at vertical industries such as health care and insurance, Nguyen said. Weighing 5.4 pounds (2.45 kilograms), the laptop is motorized by an Intel Celeron M processor. It includes 802.11a/b/g wireless networking, wired networking, integrated graphics, three USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports and two PC Card slots. It includes a DVD-ROM drive and stereo speakers.
The laptop comes with terminal software including HP Session Allocation Manager, which establishes a secure network connection to remote servers. Priced starting at US$725, the 6720t thin client will be available in North America and Japan later this month.
Users may not be inclined toward the HP thin-client laptop, said analyst Roger Kay, founder and president of Endpoint Technologies Associates. Terminal users such as monetary brokers prefer powerful thin clients that support multiple monitors and mobile workers want something like Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, he said.
The biggest problem with the HP thin customer could be its lack of mobility. “You don’t want a situation where you can’t use it unless you are connected,” Kay said. With negligible storage and no network friendship, it would be ineffective on an airplane, for example. HP could be trial or representing the processor as a new concept to the thin-client market and as a precursor to future HP products, Kay suggested. “It’s an odd product. It won’t be all that successful,” Kay said.
However, the thin-client laptop isn’t meant at “mobile warriors” who use a lot of time on the road, said Tad Bodeman, director cutting edge PC and thin client solutions at HP. “We’re not trying to replace every laptop PC,” he said.
The laptop works improved in environments like hospitals, where nurses walk approximately with laptops on carts wirelessly pulling patient data from a central server, he said, adding that it may also be useful within an office environment. The laptop diminishes the risk of data loss related to theft and gives corporations a device so as to be low in cost to hold up and maintain. Bodeman declined to observation about HP’s plans for future thin-client products. HP competes with IBM and Clear Cube skill in the thin-client hardware and software space
