Wyse Unveils New Product Line Up Highlighting Zero Client Computing Vision
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New Strategy and Products Deliver Innovation Around Provisioning, Management and User Experience Enrichment to Spur Next Wave of Thin Computing Growth
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 10 / / -- Responding to the need for yet smaller, cheaper, and easier to manage thin clients, Wyse Technology, today announced its zero client computing vision and initial product line-up that supports it. This breakthrough product vision addresses needs for reduced hardware costs, "greener", more flexible desktop/mobile thin devices, a richer user experience, and simplified IT management.
Zero client computing achieves these objectives by offering a simpler client device, one that does not store an operating system, applications or configuration settings. Instead, this information is stored on a secure server, and provisioned securely via the network when the device is powered on. This simpler client has less circuitry, so it costs less and uses about 90 percent less energy than PC alternatives.
As a result, Wyse today is introducing several products including new thin clients, a mobile thin client notebook, and multimedia software that integrates with Citrix, Microsoft and VMware desktop virtualization solutions. All these products extend what's currently possible on thin clients and make the technology more accessible to a mainstream audience. These new products which leverage the zero client computing model include:
o Wyse X90 and X90e thin notebooks: The first mobile thin clients to
support multimedia video playback capability, integrated Bluetooth(TM)
2.0 and built-in smart card support, 802.11b/802.11g, optional 3G
wireless capabilities and a 12.1-inch LCD wide screen. These thin
notebooks extend the key benefits of thin computing such as greater
security, flexibility and overall lower operating costs, to mobile
users. Powered by a VIA C7-M ULV 1.2 GHz processor, the X90 and X90e
utilize the latest version of Microsoft Windows XP embedded to deliver
applications to users, via Microsoft Windows Terminal Services, Citrix
Applications Delivery, or VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
datacenter architectures.
o Wyse V class LE thin computer: Powered by a VIA Eden(R) C7 processor
running at 1.2GHz, this thin client delivers excellent speed and
multimedia performance while enabling users to take advantage of
desktop virtualization environments. The Wyse V class LE ships in a
zero client configuration for use with Wyse provisioning software, or
with a minimum of 128MB Flash, 128MB DDR2 RAM to support a local
operating system. Other enhancements include DVI-I video, support for
two displays, serial, parallel and USB expansion ports providing
flexible peripheral support.
o Wyse TCX Multimedia for Citrix: This software enables select new and
existing thin clients to display rich multimedia, utilizing the
strengths of the Citrix application delivery platform. Wyse TCX
Multimedia works with Citrix Presentation Server(TM), Citrix Desktop
Server(TM) and Citrix Access Essentials(TM) to intelligently utilize
the thin client's video processing power so server performance is
maximized. By adding these new capabilities the user experience gap
between a thin client and PC is dramatically narrowed.
o Wyse TCX Multimedia for VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: Wyse
multimedia software extensions are integrated with VMware
Infrastructure. This integration for thin computing enables the
extension of desktop virtualization capabilities of VMware
Infrastructure to Wyse thin clients with the robust features and
applications experienced on a PC. Working with the VMware Community
Source program, these new software extensions enable Wyse thin clients
to display rich video, making them an ideal solution for working in a
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment.
For more information about these announcements please visit www.wyse.com/about/news/pr/.
"By leveraging the Citrix desktop virtualization platform, Wyse is giving thin computing a mass appeal which it hasn't seen before," said Scott Herren, Group Vice President and General Manager, Virtualization Systems Group, Citrix. "The sophisticated multimedia content that can now be displayed on a thin client will broaden the benefits and appeal of desktop virtualization to both end users and IT."
"VMware's VDI platform and Wyse's zero client computing combine to deliver high-impact multimedia content to customers," said Brian Byun, Vice President of Global Partners and Solutions at VMware. "The integration of Wyse TCX with VMware Infrastructure through our Community Source program enables customers to quickly and easily deploy virtual desktops resulting in greater flexibility and lower operating costs."
"A fundamental shift is taking place in the IT industry," said Tarkan Maner, President and CEO of Wyse Technology. "Alternatives to the traditional desktop PCs are gaining serious credibility and market momentum because of new desktop virtualization technologies from vendors like Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware. Zero client computing takes it a step further by making devices truly act as an appliance for information."
Zero client is also more flexible, because a variety of operating systems and application combinations can be provisioned based on the user's role in the business, rather than the capacity of on-board storage. User experience is improved, because zero clients enable IT to decide which applications run in the datacenter and which run on the device itself. Lastly, with no client storage, the need for device management software is eliminated.
"Wyse is taking the lead and ushering in a new era of thin computing," said Pat Bolton, CTO for GTS End User Services at IBM. "With the introduction of the new zero clients that have no local operating system or applications, yet are capable of delivering a full PC experience to the user, a major hurdle has been crossed. This will accelerate the market adoption of thin clients."
This strategy leverages three converging market trends, including efficient utilization of network bandwidth, delivery of rich multimedia capabilities on thin clients, and reductions to hardware complexity and costs. Wyse's strategy addresses these trends and delivers new business value with products in four key thin computing areas: clients, provisioning, management and enrichment (*see addendum).
"Customers asked us to make the thin clients even thinner, and we've accomplished that -- the first zero clients and provisioning software are available today," said Jeff McNaught, Chief Marketing Officer for Wyse Technology. "Over the coming months, we'll deliver products that enable new and existing customers to reap greater benefits from thin computing than ever before."
An important benefit of zero clients is that they're green, consume less energy, with less to recycle or place in landfills after their typical five to seven year life. Zero client computing is the next logical step in expanding the relevance of thin computing.
About Wyse Technology
Wyse Technology is the global leader in thin computing. Wyse and its partners deliver the hardware, infrastructure software, and services that comprise thin computing, allowing people to access the information they need using the applications they want, but with better security, manageability, and at a much lower total cost of ownership than a PC. Thin computing allows CIOs and senior IT professionals to reduce costs, manage risk, and deliver access to information. Wyse partners closely with industry leaders Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, and others to achieve this objective. Wyse is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices worldwide.
For more information, visit the Wyse website at www.wyse.com/ or call 1-800-GET-WYSE.
* All brands and names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.
* Addendum to Zero Client Computing
Wyse is a pioneer in thin computing and continues to be the market leader worldwide. The company was the first to offer thin clients with standard support for Windows CE 6, Citrix(R) ICA(R) 10, Microsoft RDP 6 and VMware VDI. In 2006, Wyse introduced the first zero client, with no local operating system or applications, yet capable of delivering a full PC experience to the user.
Wyse's new strategy focuses on delivering products and value in the following areas:
Clients - Wyse thin client hardware is the most popular throughout the world, according to published market share reports. Wyse's newest clients include biometric and smart card security support, integrated WiFi to enable mounting nearly anywhere, and enhancements to optimize performance with Citrix Application Delivery infrastructure, Microsoft Terminal Services, and VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure datacenter architectures. In 2007, analyst firm IDC estimates thin clients will account for approximately one in 10 new corporate desktops in the U.S., a steady increase over past years.
Provisioning - the key to zero-client computing, provisioning, is the process of providing an identity to a device, like a mobile carrier provisions a cell phone for your use. WSM(TM), Wyse's provisioning product, is now available and dynamically provisions current zero clients with the correct Windows OS and applications, based on the user's role in the organization, eliminating the need to store (and for IT to maintain and patch) that identity on the client. WSM can provision clients to use Windows XP embedded, Windows 2000 professional, and Windows XP Pro operating systems and applications today, enabling the device to support the most advanced features of Citrix, Microsoft and VMware datacenter architectures. In the near future, Wyse will add provisioning of other thin client operating systems supporting desktop and mobile devices.
Management - for installations not yet using dynamic provisioning, client management is one key to delivering the lower cost of ownership and high ROI that makes thin computing attractive. Wyse Device Manager(TM) is the leading software for the management of thin client devices by units shipped. As more and more companies with entrenched PC strategies are migrating to thin computing, finding ways to ease the integration of management has been a key focus. To simplify this migration for IT, Wyse is expanding its management strategy to include compatibility with Altiris and Microsoft SMS products, and Wyse Device Manager integration with the Citrix Access Management Console, IBM Tivoli, and CA Unicenter. These enhancements result in the broadest management capability in the industry, providing value to IT in easier integration of thin clients and faster time to savings for companies migrating from PCs.
Enrichment - while thin computing has grown significantly since its inception, overall growth of the industry has been hindered by the ability of the overall architecture to deliver increasingly complex content to users, based primarily around multimedia video, sound, and support for multiple displays. Enrichment of the user experience has been a core focus for Wyse, and working with Citrix, Microsoft and VMware, addresses this limitation with the introduction of the Wyse TCX suite, a client and server ingredient that narrows the gap between the PC and thin client experience. The first release enables the natural use of multiple screens, and rich, full screen, full performance multimedia video, across a range of files types, on TCX enabled desktop and mobile devices. Unique in Wyse's approach is that TCX works across all Wyse-based versions of Windows CE, Windows XP embedded, Linux, and Wyse Thin OS, and with the dominant datacenter architectures, Microsoft Terminal Services, Citrix Presentation Server, Citrix Desktop Server, Citrix Access Essentials, and VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).
TCX multimedia has been integrated into VMware Infrastructure, enabling instantaneous and automatic recognition and enhanced functionality of Wyse thin clients attached to VMware's Virtual Desktop Infrastructure installations.
Source: Wyse Technology
CONTACT: Andre Fuochi of Wyse Technology, +1-408-914-0760, afuochi@wyse.com
Web site: www.wyse.com/
