IN THE PIPELINE: Envisioning The Digital Living Room
--If you wonder what the digital home of the future might look like, consider David Cowan's house.
This self-proclaimed "nerd" and technology investor has set up four unobtrusive "productivity stations" in his Silicon Valley home where he, his wife and three children access the Internet whenever they like using "thin clients" hooked up to flat screens and keyboards. Over pancakes last week when the children asked how maple syrup was made, they pulled up the answer on Wikipedia at the breakfast room station.
Thin clients, which are simple computers without hard drives, are typically used by businesses. But the Cowans have found they also offer easy home access to the Internet without the expense, clutter, noise, energy appetite or maintenance load that would come with numerous personal computers. They bought the thin clients, which are made by Wyse Technology Inc. and are about the size of a video cassette, on eBay for about $100 each and networked them using a personal computer that is stashed in the study closet.
"You don't hear or see any technology, but it's everywhere," says Cowan, who is a general partner at Bessemer Venture Partners in Menlo Park, Calif. (Bessemer isn't an investor in Wyse.) "I only have to take care of one PC."
Now Wyse Technology is taking a few cues from the Cowan family. The company - which is the world's No. 1 thin-client maker with a 39% share of 2005's 2.3-million-unit market, according to research firm Gartner Inc. - is gearing up for a bold move to bring thin clients to the consumer market, a potentially enormous opportunity measured in billions, not millions, of units. This fall, Wyse is planning to launch new technology that is designed to power the digital home. And later this summer, it plans to announce its strategy for taking the technology to market in partnership with hardware manufacturers, Internet-service providers and online-content companies.
The closely held San Jose, Calif., firm's new technology, called a "system on a chip," is a stripped-down and miniaturized version of its corporate thin-client product with special processors that are optimized for digital media, increasingly the tech-savvy home's No. 1 need. In addition to powering computing stations like those in the Cowan home, the one-inch by two-inch systems can go inside flat-panel televisions and cable set-top boxes, linking home-entertainment hubs to the network and creating "convergence devices." While Wyse expects to focus on entertainment applications for the near term, eventually, the system on a chip will also go inside mobile devices, it says.
"I think it really is an idea whose time has come," says Phil Leigh, president of Inside Digital Media Inc., a Tampa, Fl., market-research firm. "It's clear that the applications for the computer are increasingly becoming digital media, and digital media is something we want to view from 10 feet rather than 2 feet," he says. "The TV will evolve into an electronic hearth. It will become a center for information and entertainment and communication. The key thing to kick that off will be a thin client in an appliance, as opposed to a computer as we see it today."
Wyse Chief Executive John Kish says his new thin-client technology addresses some of the toughest obstacles in the way of the much-anticipated convergence of computing, entertainment and mobile communications. The system on a chip paves the way for simple, low-cost devices that give consumers high-quality digital-media experiences. The cheapest thin clients Wyse sells today cost just over $200, compared to about $500 for a low-end PC. But the new system, composed of a specialized chip set running a tiny operating system, could drive costs down significantly when sold in high volumes, Kish says.
"Cost has been a major barrier to adoption of all technologies in the consumer space, and the digital home in particular has suffered from high price points," says Patrick Barry, director of Yahoo Inc.'s (YHOO) digital home effort. "System-on-a-chip technologies are going to provide major benefits in terms of reaching consumers," both because of their low cost and because they could go inside everything from TVs to clock radios to refrigerators.
Thin clients can't store files or run powerful software like PCs can, but they can perform computing tasks that pull content from a network. Their advantages over PCs besides cost include lower energy and cooling requirements and immunity from the viruses, spyware and hacker programs that plague Windows machines. With its media-optimized processors, the new system will also handle graphics and audio more adroitly than standard PCs, Wyse says.
"At the end of the day, it's a more efficient way of delivering the data and the information," says Ricardo Antuna, Wyse vice president of business line management.
Unlike the thin clients in the Cowan home, devices using the new system won't need a PC to reach the Internet, but will connect directly to cable and telecom company services. From there, they will be able to tap online applications like Web-based email, multiplayer games, video-on-demand services and Internet-calling programs. "The network will turn this device into whatever it wants to become," Kish says, be it a terminal for surfing the Web, a video player, gaming station or telephone.
However, Wyse still faces a key problem: the fact that PCs are well entrenched in the U.S. home as the tool for reaching the Internet. As such, the company intends to push its consumer effort hardest in Asia first, where networks are fast, the middle classes are generating hot demand and PCs aren't widespread in homes. Kish predicts adoption will take off in Asia within a year, followed by Europe and then the U.S.
Indeed, Wyse's first tests of its new system on a chip are underway in China, where in November it released a 32-inch flat-panel TV including the technology, manufactured by BOE Technology Group Co. (000725.SZ). So far, the key buyers of the TVs are in the hospitality industry. Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) is installing the TVs in several new Holiday Inns in Beijing, where it is investing heavily to be ready for the throngs of visitors expected for the Olympics, Wyse says. Guests will be able to use the TVs to get email, order room service and check out at the end of their stays.
The key to penetrating the U.S. consumer market, Wyse believes, will be partnerships with Internet-service providers. As such, it has held talks with companies like Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) about adding thin-client technology to set-top boxes, a move it believes could make cable Internet service more attractive. It also hopes to expand a current partnership with AT&T Inc. (T) through which the two companies are offering a package of access services and thin clients to small-business customers. Cablevision declined to comment, and AT&T didn't respond to requests for comment.
Wyse also aims to work with online-content companies like Google Inc. (GOOG) and Yahoo, both of which are building huge networks where consumers are storing ever-expanding amounts of personal content, such as email, calendars and digital photos, that isn't being kept on PCs. By storing content on Internet-company servers instead, users are able to access their information from anywhere on any device, whether a PC, thin client or PDA.
"As these companies 'morph' themselves into entertainment media companies...they need a device which is almost infinitely configurable," Kish says. While they "know a lot about getting the information to the end of the network," they are restricted by today's hardware, he adds. "That's where we think we have an advantage going forward."
Yahoo and Google declined to comment on any discussions with Wyse. Barry said Yahoo is developing interfaces and services that let users access Yahoo content on all kinds of platforms and that it works with many access providers and device makers as part of that effort.
Likewise, a Google spokeswoman said in an email that: "Our aim is to reach our users in a variety of environments and through a variety of interfaces - wherever our users happen to need or want information that's important to them." As such, Google is supportive of any new innovations that serve users, she said.
未来的数字家庭
如果你想知道未来的数字家庭是什么样子，那就看看大卫?科文(David Cowan)的家吧。
这位自称“呆头呆脑”的技术投资者在他硅谷的家中安装了四个并不显眼的“生产力工作站”，他本人，他太太和三个孩子随时可以通过联有液晶显示器和键盘的“瘦客户机”上网。最近有一次孩子们在吃烤饼的时候问起枫叶糖浆是怎么做出来的，他们马上就通过早餐室的工作站从维基百科(Wikipedia)上找到了答案。
瘦客户机是没有硬盘的简单电脑，主要在企业中使用。但科文一家发现，这种方法能让全家人轻松上网，又可免除同时配备多台电脑所需的那么多开支以及它带来的杂乱、能耗和维护成本。他们在eBay上以每个100美元左右的价格购买了Wyse Technology Inc.的瘦客户机，外形只有一个录像带那么大，然后用塞在书柜中的一台个人电脑把它们连成了网络。
科文说，你听不到，也看不到任何技术。但它却无处不在。我只需照看好这台个人电脑就行了。科文是Bessemer Venture Partners的一位合伙人。
现在，Wyse Technology也从科文一家的做法中受到了一些启发。公司正在采取更积极的措施，将瘦客户机推向潜在需求量达数十亿台的消费者市场。根据研究机构Gartner Inc.的数据，在2005年规模为230万台的瘦客户机市场，Wyse的占有率达到39%，排在第一位。今年秋季，Wyse计划推出面向数字化家庭设计的新技术。夏季晚些时候，公司计划宣布将这项技术推向市场的策略，并同硬件制造商、互联网服务提供商和网络内容公司结成合作伙伴。
这家少数人持股公司的新技术“芯片上的系统”(system on a chip)是企业瘦客户机产品的简化和缩微版，拥有专门针对数字媒体进行了优化的处理器。除了能够支持象科文家里的那种运算工作站之外，这种1英寸宽、2英寸长的系统还能用到平板电视和有线电视机顶盒中，将家庭娱乐中心连接到网络，形成“交汇设备。”尽管Wyse近期的重点是娱乐应用领域，但该公司表示，“芯片系统”也能用到移动装置中。
市场研究机构Inside Digital Media Inc.的总裁菲尔?利(Phil Leigh)说，他认为娱乐应用时代已经到来的说法是对的。显然电脑的应用正越来越转向数字媒体，我们也应该用长远的眼光看待数字媒体。电视将演变成电子家庭。它将成为信息、娱乐和通讯的中心。推动这一切的关键将是电器中的瘦客户机，而非我们现在看到的电脑。
Wyse首席执行长约翰?基什(John Kish)说，公司的瘦客户机新技术解决了计算、娱乐和移动通讯交汇的一些最难以克服的障碍。“芯片系统”为向消费者提供享受优质数字媒体体验的简便、低成本的装置铺平了道路。Wyse目前销售的最便宜的瘦客户机仅为200多美元，而一台低端个人电脑的售价约为500美元。基什说，这种采用特殊芯片组、运行简化版操作系统的新系统在销售量增加的情况下还可更大程度地降低成本。
雅虎公司(Yahoo! Inc.)数字家庭部门的主管帕特里克?巴里(Patrick Barry)说，成本一直是消费者领域采用所有技术的主要障碍，数字家庭尤其面临价格居高不下的困扰。“芯片系统”技术在消费者普及方面将作出重要贡献，原因之一是成本低廉，之二是能够应用到电视、钟控收音机、冰箱等各类产品中。
瘦客户机不能储存文件或是象电脑那样运行大型软件，但能够借助于网络执行计算任务。除了成本之外，同个人电脑相比，它们的优势还包括耗能和冷却要求低、也不受困扰Windows操作系统电脑的病毒、间谍软件和黑客软件的侵袭。Wyse称，凭借经过媒体优化的处理器，新系统也能够比标准个人电脑更流畅地处理图像和音频。
Wyse企业产品管理部门的副总裁理查多?安图纳(Ricardo Antuna)说，总的来说，这是更高效地传输数据和信息的方式。
同科文家的瘦客户机不同，采用新系统的装置不需要通过个人电脑连接到互联网上，而将直接同有线或电信公司的服务相连。这样就可以使用诸如基于网页的电子邮件、多选手游戏、视频点播和互联网呼叫等网上应用程序。基什说，网络可以让这种装置随心所欲，成为网上冲浪的终端、视频播放器、游戏机或是电话。
不过，Wyse仍面临一个关键问题：个人电脑作为上网的工具在美国家庭中的地位实际上已经根深蒂固。因此，公司首先准备大力向亚洲消费者推销，这里的网络速度快，中产阶级的消费需求高，个人电脑还没普遍进入家庭。基什预计，亚洲在一年的时间内将会大量使用该公司的产品，然后是欧洲，再然后才是美国。
的确，Wyse首先在中国推出了新的“芯片系统”，去年11月该公司发布了由京东方科技集团股份有限公司(BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd.)制造的，带有此项技术的32英寸平板电视。迄今为止，这款电视的主要买家都集中在宾馆行业。Wyse称，Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC在北京几个新的假日酒店(Holiday Inns)就安装了这种电视。Intercontinental在这里投入巨资，为2008年奥运会期间涌入的大量游客做准备。客人将能够用这种电视收电子邮件、预定房间服务和在离开时结账。
Wyse认为，进入美国消费者市场的关键将是同互联网服务提供上结成合作伙伴。因此，公司已经同Cablevision Systems Corp.等公司商谈了在机顶盒中加入瘦客户机技术的可能性，它认为此举将使有线互联网服务更具吸引力。公司还希望扩大目前同美国电话电报公司(AT&T Inc.)的合作关系，共同向小企业客户提供接入和瘦客户机的全套服务。Cablevision和AT&T都没有就此发表评论。
Wyse还计划与谷歌(Google Inc.)、雅虎等网上内容公司合作，两家公司都建立了巨大的网络，消费者可以储存不断增长的个人内容，如电子邮件、日程安排和数码照片等等，而这些内容都不必保存在个人电脑上。通过将内容保存在互联网公司的服务器上，用户能够在任何地方通过任何装置──无论是个人电脑、瘦客户机还是PDA──获得他们的信息。
基什称，随著这些公司转变为娱乐媒体企业，它们需要具有几乎无限种配置方案的设备。他说，尽管这些企业非常了解如何将信息发布到网络上，但却受到了目前硬件水平的限制。这也是我们今后占据优势的领域。
雅虎和谷歌对其与Wyse的商谈不予置评。巴里说，雅虎正在开发能让用户在各种平台上接入雅虎内容的接口和服务，并为此同许多接入提供商和设备厂家进行了合作。
同样，谷歌的发言人也在电子邮件中表示，我们的目标是通过各种接口满足各种环境下用户的需求。因此，谷歌支持服务于用户的任何创新举措。
Riva Richmond
