Wyse Redefines 'Thin' Client Product Line

SAN JOSE, CALIF. (03/31/2000) - Thin-client pioneer Wyse Technology Inc. next week launches the first of four new product lines that will emerge over the next few months.

Three target enterprise needs, from simple Windows-based terminals to what Wyse calls "solid state PCs" - compact boxes with embedded Windows NT, a custom set of applications and a lot of memory.

The new low-end product, a Windows-based terminal, is the Winterm 3200LE, a box that's less than half the size of a standard PC keyboard. The compact size was achieved by using the Geode Pentium-compatible microprocessor, co-developed by Wyse and National Semiconductor. The Geode packs such things as video processing and sound onto a single chip. It needs just two watts of power.

The 3200LE has a 10/100Base-T Ethernet connection. It's loaded with a version of Windows CE, with TCP/IP, and both Citrix Systems' Independent Computing Architecture and Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol for communicating to a multiuser NT server or to Windows 2000 Server.

It has two USB ports, one of which is reserved for a USB keyboard. It supports 16-bit stereo audio. The 3200LE is available now with an estimated price of $449.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Winterm 8360SE, also dubbed the WinCAT, for Windows Customer-Application Terminal. In addition to the software stack found in the Winterm line, the WinCAT runs the embedded version of NT 4.0 Desktop and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. To accommodate the Microsoft software and a custom set of applications designated by the customer, the WinCAT is packed with 48M bytes to 96M bytes of RAM, and another 64M bytes to 128M bytes of dynamic random-access memory.

Wyse works with a reseller to transform a customer's applications into a set of components that can be loaded on to the WinCAT, says Jeff McNaught, Wyse vice president of marketing.

The WinCAT is available now at an estimated price of $945.

In a few weeks, Wyse will unveil the third enterprise product line, as yet unnamed, positioned between the new Winterm 3200LE and the WinCAT. A standard model will run Windows CE and include Internet Explorer 4.0. A professional model will use embedded NT and carry Internet Explorer 5.0 along with Windows Media Player.

The fourth product, code-named Blazer, will be a line of customizable Internet appliances without a scrap of Microsoft code, McNaught says. The devices will be sold to application service providers or other companies, such as banks, which want to offer branded Internet-based services.

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