NComputing gets in the chip game

NComputing, the virtualization company run by former eMachines CEO Stephen Dukker, is now in the chip game.

The company said Friday that its $20 Numo chip will allow a variety of uses, from TVs that can access the Web to the creation of new kinds of terminals for businesses that can remotely access Windows or Linux.

NComputing already offers its own line of products that let a single PC or server power multiple computing experiences. The approach has gotten some traction, especially in the cash-strapped education space as well as in emerging markets.

With Numo, device makers can add similar abilities to devices like thin clients, monitors, and televisions, NComputing said.

"We continue to drive innovation into the market to bring the cost of clients closer to zero,"" Dukker said in a press release announcing Numo.. "Our technology has created disruptive economics for the desktop while delivering a rich multimedia experience to education, enterprise, and now consumer users."

NComputing said Numo-based devices will also have the option of running Android locally for added power. Numo itself is a dual-core ARM-based chip with embedded media processors.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Korea's LG showed a prototype network monitor using the Numo chip--actually, 31 such monitors, all running off a single PC as the server. The 31 users were simultaneously computing, using Windows Server and NComputing's VSpace software.

NComputing said it will show Numo-powered devices at the Interop trade show in April and will announce more partners this summer "including industry-leading PC, monitor, and TV manufacturers." Virtual desktop clients from NComputing and others will start being available in the second quarter, it said.

The company also said it plans to support the RemoteFX virtualization technology that Microsoft announced on Thursday.