OpenTangent

IBM , Canonical and Simmtronics are realising their joint effort to pump low cost netbooks  into the African market . The netbooks will apparently be sold for around US$190 (just under R1500) and will run a Lotus enriched Ubuntu Netbook Edition  which has been named  IBM Client for Smart Work . What's important to note about this package is that it has the productivity capabilities of a desktop solution that would cost three to four times the price. How do they achieve this? With thin client , cloud architecture  which effectively reduces the need for powerful hardware by placing the majority of the work load on the server. Mark Shuttleworth introduces the product below: An ARM processor could have improved the performance to cost ratio in my opinion but overall i think this is exactly the kind of thing that sparked the netbook evolution. I am currently running Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.04 beta on my EeePC although i use it primarily fo...

" The Cloud " is often confused with the Internet, probably because the Internet is officially portrayed as a cloud in diagrams . A cloud is in fact an application or suite that runs on a server and is served to thin clients , traditionally through a browser but not exclusively. The Internet is a great facilitator to such a deployment. Pretty much all processing and data storage is kept on the server and the user merely taps into it remotely. Obvious advantages of cloud solutions are centralised deployment and maintenance and also the ability to access applications from almost any device that can run a browser . There is also the major advantage of mobility, allowing users the freedom to work from anywhere with a connection. In recent years we have had major strides in mobile technology like netbooks and 3G as well as rapid price reduction for said hardware and services, pushing the mobility envelope even further. The desktop remains a tool for the professional but wit...