Midrange Stuff, OS/400 Edition

With the PC revolution some 20 years old and the Web revolution about 10 years old, you would think that there would be very little interest in user terminals these days. You would be wrong. Terminal vendors continue to evolve their products to make them relevant in a Web-enabled world and to make them useful to companies that deploy host-based OS/400 applications on iSeries and AS/400 servers. And they are making their terminals less expensive, too.

This is just the natural progression that IT technology takes when there is a healthy market and many players are in that market driving innovation. This is one of the reasons why BOSaNOVA, the North American distributor of BOScom products, has launched itself in the iSeries and AS/400 terminal business. The parent company, Better On-line Solutions, which is probably best known for its twinax emulation software for PCs and its IP-based twinax controller, has been hinting for some time that it would expand into a new business area. Back in November, we told you that Israel Gal, the founder and CEO of BOS, was cooking up some new products, and the new line of thin clients and Ethernet terminals that BOSaNOVA launched at the COMMON trade show last week are the fulfillment of these hints.

The BOSaNOVA TBT Ethernet terminal and the two new BOSaNOVA LTC Series thin clients are products that BOSaNOVA, the distribution arm of Better On-line Solutions, has bought on an OEM basis from Italian peripherals maker CompuMaster. (Very few terminal sellers handle the manufacturing of their products anymore, just like other parts of the IT industry that have offloaded manufacturing to other economies, where labor costs are lower.) While many of the Better On-line Solutions products have allowed them to convert to Web interfaces (using its Jadvantage middleware, which was just updated and which we will tell you about next week) or to support existing remote terminals (over its e-Twinax Controller), Better On-line Solutions really has not had a solution to sell to companies that simply want to upgrade their local terminals to Ethernet-based devices or to more sophisticated thin clients.

The BOSaNOVA TBT Ethernet terminal is a text-based terminal (as the acronym in its name suggests) that is designed to replace 5250 twinax dumb terminals. By moving all terminals to Ethernet, companies won't have to support two different types of user cabling at their shops--at least in places where Ethernet cabling can function well. (In some factory environments, the 5250 twinax cabling is still preferred because it is less susceptible to electronic noise than Ethernet.) The TBT Ethernet terminal supports either 101- or 122-key keyboards and includes the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) from Microsoft and the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) from Citrix Systems for linking terminals to network-enabled Microsoft applications. The TBT Ethernet terminal does not include the cost of a monitor or a keyboard, and it has a suggested list price of $479, with the street price potentially dropping by as much 25 percent, according to company sources.

The LTC Series of thin clients is based on the open-source Linux operating system, instead of Microsoft's Windows CE operating system. These are the two main platforms on which companies build thin clients today, but the Linux variant is important for one reason: Microsoft no longer supports Java Virtual Machines in the Windows environment, which leaves the door wide open to Linux-based platforms that nonetheless support RDP and ICA connections to Windows applications.

BOSaNOVA is selling two models of the LTC Series of thin clients. The LTC-300 is based on a 300 MHz Geo processor and has 64 MB of main memory and 32 MB of disk on memory storage for running applications. The LTC-600 is based on a faster 533 MHz Via processor and has 128 MB of main memory and the same 32 MB of disk on memory. (This disk on memory allows for local customization of the client desktop and applications.) The bigger memory in the LTC-600 allows it to run Web browsers and other applications in a more peppy fashion. The SVGA graphics card in the LTC-300 supports 16-bit color in 1024x768 mode, and the graphics card in the LTC-600 supports 24-bit color in 1024x768 mode. Both machines have two serial ports, one parallel printer port, two USB ports, and ports for mouse, keyboard, and Ethernet connections. The terminals also have options for a 122-key keyboard, for smart card readers, for a PCMCIA slot, and for wireless LAN connectivity using the 802.11b and 802.11g protocols. All of the LTC terminals come with the Netscape 4.78 browser, but open-source browsers, like Mozilla and Opera, will also work on the devices. They come with TN5250 and TN3270 terminal emulation, as well as the support for RDP and ICA protocols, to link to Windows network applications. The LTC-300 has a suggested list price of $569; the LTC-600 has a suggested list price of $619. Street prices will likely be a bit lower. For more information, contact BOSaNOVA at 1-866-865-5250 or go to www.bosanova.net.

Also at COMMON last week, Affimative Computer Products rolled out four new models in its YEStation Mini family of thin clients. Starting at a $395 manufacturer's suggested retail price, the thin clients have a very small footprint, only 7.75 x 6 x 1.5 inches, and they run Microsoft Windows CE or the Linux operating system. According to Affirmative, the new terminals are 35 percent smaller, are 20 percent faster, and use 30 percent less power, and they are 29 percent less expensive than competing thin clients.

The YEStation Mini models 2205, 2212, and 2213 run Windows CE, and they are scheduled to be available before April 1. The YEStation Mini model 2614 runs the Linux operating system and is scheduled for introduction later this year, possibly in June. In addition to the small footprint, all four thin clients weigh only 1.5 pounds, which makes it easy to mount them on a wall, on a counter top, or on the side of a computer monitor. All models include an embedded browser, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and the Microsoft Office Viewer client. All models also have 10/100 dual speed Ethernet ports with twisted pair RJ45 connections.

The model 2205 provides ICA and RDP clients for Windows Terminal Services and Citrix server connections, as well as a local Internet Explorer 5.5 browser for Web-enabled applications. The thin client can support a 122-key terminal style keyboard when you install Affirmative's keyboard drivers and map files.

Models 2212 and 2213 add local terminal emulation capability to the thin client by supporting TN5250e, TN3270e, VT100, ADDS, Wyse, Hewlett-Packard, and several other emulation formats. The 2213 also features YESterm IP 5250/3270 terminal emulation with programmable hotspots, a GUI, and 5250/3270 network printing.

The YEStation Mini model 2614 runs Linux on the desktop, but it also provides ICA and RDP connections for accessing Windows applications. Because the 2614 runs on Linux, it includes the Netscape browser, rather than the Internet Explorer browser included with the other units. The 2614 includes YESterm IP5250/3270 display and printer emulation for accessing iSeries and zSeries host systems. Three-year and five-year warranties are offered on each unit and associated keyboards. For more information, contact Affirmative at 1-888-353-5250 or go to www.affirmative.net.

This article has been corrected since its was first published. The BOSaNOVA TBT Ethernet terminal supports either 101- or 122-key keyboards (not 102-key keyboards). The BOScom Web site is www.bosweb.com. Guild Companies regrets the errors. [Corrections made 3/18/03.]