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Posted on 10/09/2010 8:21:18 AM PDT by martin_fierro
App turns iPad into client for multitasking, Flash
by Brooke Crothers
A longtime Silicon Valley company says it can turn Apple's iPad into an X terminal, allowing it to run Linux, do true multitasking, and even run Flash-based apps.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based StarNet Communications announced this week that it can transform the iPad into a an X terminal--generically referred to as a dumb terminal because the data processing is done on the server not the client--for Linux, Unix, mainframe, and supercomputers.
(See "Update" below for notes about the iPad's keyboard and initial browsing impressions.) StarNet says it can enable the iPad to run Flash-based apps and Linux, by turning it into an X terminal.
StarNet lets the iPad run Linux and Flash-based apps by turning it into a X terminal.
iLIVEx, available from the Apple App Store for $14.99, allows iPad users to connect to Unix and Linux desktops and applications hosted on remote Unix and Linux servers. StarNet makes bold speed claims too. "iLIVEx features an ultrathin data transfer protocol allowing for LAN-like performance, even over 3G connections," the company said.
And iLIVEx maintains a stable connection to the iPad, StarNet said. "Connections...run over securely encrypted SSH (Secure Shell) tunnels. Built-in session persistency allows users to reconnect to their remote desktops should the iPad get disconnected, turned off, or the user temporarily switches to another iPad app."
iLIVEx can also be used by non-Linux users, allowing them to run a remote desktop. When purchased, StarNet provides a free Linux desktop account on a StarNet-hosted Linux server. On their remote desktop users get "a number of capabilities not currently available on iPads," the company said.
StarNet claims the following capabilities for iLIVEx clients on an iPad:
* Viewing Flash: by way of Firefox on their remote Linux desktop, iPad users can employ iLIVEx to work with Flash-based Web sites and applications. * True multitasking: iLIVEx users can work on multiple office applications (word processor, e-mail, spreadsheet, and so on) simultaneously and copy and paste data between them. * Persistency: Users can reconnect to their remote Linux/Unix desktop at any time, even after the iPad has disconnected from the network. "No work is lost due to a disconnect," StarNet says. * Desktop Switching: Users can seamlessly switch remote desktops between iPads, Windows, Linux, and Macintosh PCs.
StarNet's first X Server product, MicroX, was launched in 1991. It enabled users of 286- and 386-based Intel systems to access the X Window System from their personal computers, according to a description on the company's Web site.
Update: Paul Swart, VP Sales & Marketing at StarNet, said in an email that iLIVEx is in the first phase of the product launch. And what follows are a few notes after limited use of iLIVEx. To bring up the iPad's keyboard in FireFox, for example, a three-finger tap is necessary. A two-finger tap is the equivalent of a right-mouse click. And scrolling is done in many instances with the scroll bar. Also note that when using a browser the response times can lag when scrolling and can be somewhat imprecise. And sound was not immediately available. "Sound is not supported in X Windows. But we have already made it work in a LIVE session with our Windows, Mac, and Linux clients using a separate sound server. Engineering thinks it is conceivable we can do this on the iPad," Swart said.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20018376-64.html#ixzz11sHcjybc
Steve Jobs is not amused.
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Then why is Apple selling it in their app store?
h/t to SunkenCiv
I’m gonna have to check that out!
I downloaded an iPad app that allows for use of .RDP and VNC to Windows workstations. It’s called ‘Jump’. Usually I will connect to the VPN at work, and .RDP into my office machine. The iPad handles it fairly well, but the touch screen can be a little clumsy at times over the RDP connection.
Technically, the iPad would not be doing the Flash or the mulkti-tasking, but the Linux box it is accessing.
This is nothing new. Logmein.com has been a $29.99 app for the iPhone/iPod Touch (and presumably iPad) and can do similar for accessing Windows and MacOS boxes.
Regarding Flash ... you better have a VERY fast WIFI connection for that to work, and don’t expect it to work acceptably at all under 3G.
Good point.
All the hoo-hah you read about how Flash runs on Android fails to mention this little detail. Sure, it "runs," but you can't flick it around with your finger the way you can everything else on the device. Things that don't require user input (like ads) work just fine in Flash on Android, etc. Flash apps that are expecting mouse input... not so much. And that's pretty much everything ever done with Flash except ads. If Adobe were to equip Flash with new messages like "the user has flicked the screen leftward," then people could write new Flash apps that would work on these devices. But the existing body of Flash apps will still not work. The moral of this is, don't get conned into buying a device because there's a Flash app you need and this device "runs" Flash. Not until you see the app demo'ed, and you're sure you can actually use it... as opposed to watching it sit there doing nothing. |
Apps like Logmein Ignition use a “virtual mouse” that has an arrow cursor that you move around the terminal screen with one finger, and you can right or left click or double click. That works with Flash because virtual mouse messages are being sent to Flash and anything else that needs the mouse message. A little awkward to use though. Of course most versions of Windows do not respond to finger gestures either, so it is not just a Flash issue. Terminal emulators like these compensate for all that.
$14.99... looks like *somebody* we know has already tried it?
Wow, thanks!
| Apps like Logmein Ignition use a “virtual mouse”
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“it can turn Apple’s iPad into an X terminal, allowing it to run Linux, do true multitasking, and even run Flash-based apps.”
The author does not know what the hell he’s talking about.
It does not run Linux or Flash, it creates a remote I/O device, a la screen and [virtual] keyboard, for those. It no more runs those than a monitor & keyboard alone do.
The Linux/Flash programs are running on another computer, remotely accessed. Think “GoToMyPC” for penguins.
This ability has been around for a while now, just like remote access for Windows has been.
And no, Apple does not have a problem with remote terminal apps.
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Simple solution. Add a finger-finder.
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I'm sure that the folks at Adobe are furiously working on this, but right now Flash has no way to deal with touch-based operating systems. It's expecting messages from the OS like "the mouse is over the button" and "the user has clicked the mouse" and "the mouse has moved to coordinate x,y". There is no mouse on phones, or on tablets. Your finger won't work because the device doesn't know where your finger is unless you're pressing on the screen.