Ndiyo News

DisplayLink, HP & Microsoft do Hubster

qsf — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:56:21 +0000

DisplayLink's graphics systems, HP's USB hardware and Microsoft's Windows Multipoint Server combine to give the latest incarnation of the Hubster concept.

DisplayLink grew out of the original Ndiyo thin-client work, so it's great to see the company returning to its roots!

For more information, see the DisplayLink site.

Plug and Play Multiseat

qsf — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:54:05 +0000

Bernie Thompson has been creating Hubster-type systems, and gave a talk about it at the Linux Plumbers Conference 2009.

Open Source Hubster is now in reach

qsf — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:35:41 +0000

Just over two years ago, we described and did our first demonstrations of what became known as 'Hubster' - a terminal based on a USB hub. By simply plugging in USB peripherals you can turn a single-user machine into a multi-user machine.

The key to this was DisplayLink's graphics-over-USB technology, which meant that as well as a USB keyboard and mouse, you could have a USB-connected display. Unfortunately, Ndiyo's limited resources prevented us from exploiting this idea to the degree that we would have liked, and for licensing reasons beyond our control we could only release binary versions of our example software.

In the last couple of months, however, there have been exciting developments following DisplayLink's release of Open Source libraries for products based on its USB chips. The user community has been very active, and Roberto De Ioris has written an X Windows driver based on this which allows desktop sessions to be created on DisplayLink-enabled devices.

Bernie Thompson has written and released some scripts which create these sessions and connect them to USB keyboards and mice.

The whole process is still some way from being very user-friendly, but those able to do a bit of hacking can now create their own Hubster systems. And we hope it won't be long before the Hubster concept is a standard part of Linux distributions.

For more information about the Hubster concept, please see our original description and then take a look, for more technical details, at the libdlo wiki...

New lower pricing for the Ndiyo Starter Kit

qsf — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:29:11 +0000

Slowly but surely we're moving towards our goal of making Ndiyo systems the most affordable way to provide IT access!

As you may know, our sister company Camvine is selling a Starter Kit, which is intended to give people early access to the Ndiyo technology. The kit, which comprises five Nivos, has been available for some time at a price of £1499 + VAT.

We're pleased to announce that the Starter Kit has now dropped to £999 + VAT - a saving of 33% on the original price!

And, for our readers outside the UK, don't forget that the exchange rate is very favourable at present!

Of course, we want the eventual price to be much lower than this, but that depends on people ordering in large quantities. In the meantime, if your organisation is interested in IT for development, or would just like a robust, environmentally-friendly thin client for Ubuntu Linux, please consider whether the Ndiyo Starter Kit might meet your needs!

Ndiyo News Oct 08

qsf — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:09:39 +0000

You will have noticed (and some of you have emailed us to say that you've noticed!) that things had gone rather quiet on the Ndiyo front.

That's a consequence of our policy of only making announcements when we have something tangible to report.

But there have been some interesting developments in the last year on which we'd now like to update you.

The gist

The headline news is that Ndiyo networking clients — Nivos — are now in production and available in small batches as a Starter Kit for customers who want to experiment with Ndiyo networks. We've sold Ndiyo kit in the past, but the availability been very variable. It's now on a much firmer footing.

The background

Basically, we've been trying to achieve two objectives:

Developing a way of funding the manufacture, distribution and support of Ndiyo-type systems
Inventing a mechanism that will make the Ndiyo Project financially sustainable

Manufacture and distribution

The Ndiyo approach to networking involves the use of ultra-thin clients based around the technology created by our spin-off company, DisplayLink, together with predominantly open source software (the Linux operating system plus special drivers) running on a server. The client takes the form of a small box called a Nivo (see pic) which has been through several generations of development, EMC testing etc. and is now ready for market.

The Nivo client meets the requirements of the Ndiyo Project — which is about creating a networking architecture that is affordable, robust, supportable and environmentally sustainable. When manufactured in large volumes, the Nivo will be inexpensive — to the point where a fully-functional five-screen Internet cafÃ© could cost under $1,000. But manufacturing hardware in large volumes requires a lot of up-front funding — and Ndiyo doesn't have that kind of money. (Remember: it's a non-profit organisation.) So we've had to find a way of bootstrapping the manufacturing operation.

Our solution has been to look for commercial applications of our technology which would enable us to manufacture the kit in reasonable volumes. Last year, we founded Camvine — a new company which provides innovative ways of doing digital signage. In essence, Camvine makes it easy for organisations — small and large — to display and manage digital information on a number of networked screens, without having to manage a number of PCs. The company is now into its second funding round, has a growing and enthusiastic team of people and is about to start making waves in the digital signage marketplace.

In the process, it will also be manufacturing Nivos — and making them available for use in Ndiyo-type networking projects — which is why we are now able to announce the more general availability of the Nivo. Getting the price to the point we'd like it to be will depend on getting some really substantial orders, but trial kits are available at prototype prices, and you should feel free to contact us for pricing in larger quantities.

Sustainable funding

Ndiyo was founded with generous initial philanthropic funding which has now been exhausted, so we have to find ways of supporting the next phase of the Project. In the short term, we need the resources to employ at least one person who can develop software and support Ndiyo deployments in the field.

In the longer term, Ndiyo has a significant equity stake in Camvine which we hope will eventually make it financially independent. But that obviously depends on Camvine growing into a large and successful operation.

In the meantime, we need some funding to support those of you who have been clamouring for Ndiyo systems. If you have access to any resources which might allow us to take on somebody in our Cambridge office to support further develop the Ndiyo model, please get in touch!

Ndiyo in The Guardian

qsf — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:18:07 +0000

Andrew Brown, writing in The Guardian, tells the story of Ndiyo.

The article, Just say yes to sharing computing power, appears in the Technology section of the Aug 2 edition.

A slight clarification: The Samsung monitors mentioned in the article do not yet have ethernet connections. Ndiyo's hope is that they will before too long. At present, though, they are connected to the server using USB. More information here.

Hubster - USB thin clients

qsf — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:50:20 +0000

Nivo technology comes in various forms. DisplayLink's chips are now embedded in some Samsung and LG monitors, allowing some interesting uses...

As an alternative to the Flash-based movie above, you can download higher-quality versions using the links below - you may need to right-click on them to save the files to your local disk.

Quicktime - 27 MB - recommended
MPEG-4 - 16 MB
Windows AVI - 14 MB

In the 'Ndiyo System' section of the site you can find more information about the Hubster concept.

Our thanks to Seb Wills, who helped develop many of the earliest Hubster ideas.

Further information

The displays in use in this video are the 19" Samsung 940UX, which by default comes with Windows drivers only. There is also a 20" version, the 2040UX, and an LG widescreen version - the L206WU . Other DisplayLink-enabled models will follow in the near future, and there are also USB-to-VGA devices on the market which incorporate the same technology and can be used with any monitor.

The details of how and when our Linux drivers will be available have yet to be finalised, but our current plans are along the following lines:

Due to licensing restrictions, we expect to release a binary-only driver initially through our sister company, Cambridge Visual Networks. There will be a free trial version with some limitations, and an unencumbered version for a modest per-machine price. Income from the sale of the driver will help support further Linux development in these areas, and a proportion of revenues will be donated to the Ndiyo project. We're hoping to have a fully Open Source version available in the future.

For more information, please subscribe to the Ndiyo blog or sign up for the mailing list and we'll make sure you know about developments.

Ndiyo at GOVIS 2007

qsf — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:51:29 +0000

Quentin Stafford-Fraser gave the opening keynote speech at the GOVIS conference in Wellington, New Zealand, in May 2007.

'Changing the Face of the PC' tells the story of the creation of Ndiyo, DisplayLink, and Cambridge Visual Networks, the technologies and motivations behind them, and some thoughts about the future.

As an alternative to the Flash-based movie above, you can download higher-quality versions using the links below - you may need to right-click on them to save the files to your local disk.

MPEG-4 (H.264) (Highest quality - 160 MB)
Windows Media (Good quality - 96 MB)

The full talk is just over 45 mins long.

This work is the property of GOVIS and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Ndiyo Starter Kit launched

qsf — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:42:28 +0000

The Nivos are coming! Ndiyo announces a Starter Kit based around its current prototype hardware.

Ndiyo and its sister company, Cambridge Visual Networks, are pleased to announce the availability of a Starter Kit.

This is intended to allow organisations considering a substantial roll-out of Ndiyo systems to get early access to the technology and to support and influence its development in the run-up to a more general public release.

For more information please see the 'Availability' page.

Business Weekly covers Ndiyo

qsf — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:07:49 +0000

Ndiyo 'has a lower profile than a number of its AT&T peers and has not raised the VC millions of Virata, Level 5 Networks, Ubisense or Cambridge Broadband, for example, but looks set to make a truly global impact.' The full Business Weekly article can be found here.