Our friends at Asus recently released their Eee Box (pictured above). It’s an Atom-powered nettop box that is the desktop cousin to the Eee PC netbook. The concept is that internet loving consumers need devices that are differently focused then the traditional bigger, faster, better model that PC manufacturers have provided over the last 15 years. What we need is simple, direct-to-web devices that get us what we need/want efficiently.
The Atom processor has been built specifically for this purpose. This is what the Intel website says,
“If you’re a prolific emailer, avid Web surfer or dedicated VoIP user, you may want a computer focused on getting you online. The Intel® Atom™ processor was specifically designed for simple, compact desktop devices—or nettops—that deliver affordable Internet experiences, making it a great choice for people who primarily want to engage in basic online activities.”
Does this sound familiar to you? If you’re a reader of this blog then you probably know that with the text above, Intel has described Splashtop perfectly. Simple, fast, secure, eco-friendly Splashtop gets you just what you want/need.
It’s exciting that the entire PC industry is developing around the web. That statement sounds simple enough and you might be thinking, “obviously.” But it’s not as obvious as you might think. Not long ago the web browser was a new piece of software, not the centerpiece of the computing experience. The Mac I grew up with didn’t have a modem. Windows 95 was launched without a browser. Now, we have entire processors dedicated to devices whose main focus is to access web applications.
It’s the beginning of an enormous sea change. Think about how devices are now conceived, designed and produced. If you were to design an inexpensive device built for every day usage, what would it do? Access the web. Fast, efficient, secure and eco-friendly. Again a perfect fit for Splashtop.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Well… I would dare saying these nettop boxes will ultimately be embedded into the display devices.
While some may require/prefer a “box” for some unattended processing, for the most part, people need a LCD monitor/TV/etc. to use it - so, it makes perfect sense for these to reach a point where they’ll ultimately be inside the display device - something that Asus is doing as well, in their Eee PC range with their Eee PC “in a monitor” line.
… now… why is it taking so long for them to annouce the introduction of Splashtop on the Eee’s?
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Hey Carlos. You know how these big companies work!
Thanks for reading the blog. I agree with you about the direction of displays and televisions in general. Like everything else there will be convergence.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Is splashtop burned into a ROM chip?
And if so is that where the claims for security come from?
I`ve thought for ages theonly way to beat malware is to go back to the
original computer design of the OS being read only(and fast booting)on a rom.
Where can i get tech info on splashtop…website seems to be a little light on the details.
Thanks
July 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Well, ROM is so “old-fashioned” these days…
Most likely it’s a Flash Memory, which will allow upgrades.
As for security, if you trust your current motherboard Flash bios, then Splashtop won’t be any different.
(Sure there will always be security risks… but just as long as you have a “secure” boot section that will allow you to boot into a recovery mode - again, like some MB Bios do - then we can stop worryin about it ever going astray.)
July 9th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Biggest use I see for this is Media Center computers. That said, what’s missing from splashtop is a media player. Look at XBMC, it’s so perfectly integrated with xbox, and with the short boot-time, it’s amazing. So take it for me, you could OWN Media Center computers with splashtop if done right.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
captcha’s suck btw
July 10th, 2008 at 1:19 am
As browsers evolve, and if splashtop ever ends up integrating Adobe Flash, Air, or MS Silverlight, or whatever future technology comes out; I wouldn’t be surprised to see a fully “browser based Media Player”.
Other than that, although a real media player with certainly benefit from instant on - I don’t think that’s exactly what splashtop is heading too. That’s still something better suited for a “full OS”.
July 10th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
browser media player wasn’t what I was going for. I’m talking about using your computer as a real media center, and then you definatly want to be able to have a real media center. I suggest checking out XBMC that I mentioned.
Imagine this, family sits down to watch a movie. You put the movie into the computer, and you turn it on and wait five seconds. There’s your DVD/media player and you can watch movies right away. Otherwise you have to boot and wait for a couple of minutes, and THEN finally watch the movie.
With photo viewer, you can already give a slideshow to your guests if you have any over. Why not be able to play them the .avi videos from your vacation too? I’ve had several linux-based DVD players that could play xvid/avi already, so I don’t see how this could do anything than open up an awesome market for the use of splashtop in media center computers.
Many many of my friends buy xbox and put XBMC on it ONLY because it’s the best media center solution out there. However, xbox is getting old, and codecs now require more cpu power to decompress, and xbox is getting slow. We’re all looking for the next thing to move on to.
My guess is, that if splashtop does not offer this solution themselves, if it’s flashbased/writable, which it should be if it’s to be upgradable, it will be hacked, and most likely overwritten with an application like XBMC.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I understand you perfectly, and I’m not saying it wouldn’t be useful - and I’m sure someone out there is working on it. I just think it’s a path slightly “offroad” for Splashtop at this moment.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
OK, fair enough, but please be strongly influenced by me feedback
July 15th, 2008 at 9:51 am
MSI’s Wind will come with a similar implementation of embedded Linux…
What is Asus waiting for to include it in their Eee’s? :/
July 31st, 2008 at 12:41 am
As predicted: http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/30/splashtop-instant-on-os-hacked-to-run-other-programs-boot-off-f/
July 31st, 2008 at 8:25 am
Yeah.. bound to happen sooner or later…