Wyse breaks the mould with sleek new CE .Net-based Winterm 3125SE

IT WISE, local distributor for Wyse Technologies, today announced the launch of the powerful new

thin client in SA.

This new product is powered by Windows CE .Net and features Wyse`s custom optimisations of the CE .Net operating system. It delivers increased manageability, security and optional 802.11b wireless networking capabilities. The new 3125SE is 30% faster than previous Windows CE powered devices, has broad peripheral connectivity, and a customer-driven sleek new design. It will be available in early September at an estimated customer price of R5 200.

"The new Winterm 3125SE sets the industry standard for price, performance and functionality, primarily based on the extensive value that Wyse adds to Windows CE .Net through their engineering and as a member of the Microsoft`s Joint Development Program (JDP)," said Nico Malherbe, marketing director at IT WISE.

"Unlike other thin-client vendors, Wyse brings exclusive domain expertise and more than six years of market leadership into the development of our products. The Winterm 3125SE`s redesigned hardware platform, combined with our additions to Windows CE .NET, makes this product a natural choice for the majority of our customers looking to solve evolving IT imperatives. It is an enhancement to the best-selling thin client in history, and will appeal to both existing and new customers."

When it comes to helping CIOs reach their goal of doing more with less, the Winterm 3125SE is the most advanced, most cost-effective Windows powered thin client on the market. To complement the sleek new design of the Winterm 3125SE, which is 20% smaller than the comparable model, the Wyse Winterm firmware provides manageability, security, wireless connectivity and ease-of-use.

Manageability: Wyse`s breakthrough add-on file format delivers an unmatched level of modularity. With it, network administrators upgrade only specific components of the firmware over the network, rather than having to upgrade an entire firmware image. This means that a 1MB component upgrade of a 16MB firmware image just uses 1MB of network bandwidth (rather than the entire 16MB). This improves performance, saves costs, improves reliability and simplifies client management.

Security: With most thin clients, the first authentication "challenge" happens at the server, when a user is asked for a name and password. In this case, the "barbarians are already at the gates," and if they hack the system, they are already on the network. The Winterm 3125SE has a local log-on security option, keeping the bad guys farther away from the server, by requiring users to authenticate at the device level before being challenged at the network.

Wireless connectivity and ease-of-use: Most corporate enterprises and many vertical industries are embracing the 802.1b Wi-Fi standard to deploy wireless local area networks (LANs). The Winterm 3125SE firmware features Wyse-exclusive driver support for an optional wireless USB device, and a unique integrated optional "sidecar" that holds the 802.11b wireless device (images available upon request). For ease-of-use, the Winterm 3125SE uses a custom graphical shell that replaces the generic CE .Net user interface and delivers auto-launch capabilities and a simplified control panel for easy navigation.

Enterprise CIOs need to deploy advanced IT infrastructure and cutting-edge desktop functionality, with limited or shrinking IT budgets. In addition, new challenges such as support for remote and branch facilities, or deploying wireless LANs, are continually arising. Deploying a thin-client environment through the use of Citrix MetaFrame or Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services, in conjunction with the new Winterm 3125SE, helps meet these needs. Windows CE .Net brings new core functionality to the Wyse Winterm 3000 thin-client family, including:

Robust browsing: Through the addition of Internet Explorer 5.5, the Winterm 3125SE delivers a better browsing experience for intranet-based applications, as well as support for DHTML, scripting and support for Citrix NFuse Elite.

Expanded connectivity and protocol support: The 3125SE features three USB, two serial and one parallel port, and comes standard with 32MB Flash memory and 64MB RAM. It supports Microsoft`s RDP 5.1 and Citrix`s ICA 6.X protocols. Microsoft`s RDP 5.1 makes the Winterm 3125SE .NET Server-ready, and provides access to Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services, and New Moon`s Canaveral iQ server software.

Broader smart card support: With the addition of support for PC/SC, the Winterm 3125SE enables customers to deploy industry-standard smart card solutions out-of-the-box, without requiring a proprietary smart card solution to deliver strong two-factor authentication.

"The release of Windows CE .Net definitely raised the performance and functionality bar on all levels for Windows-powered thin clients," said Keith White, senior director of the Embedded and Appliance Platforms Group at Microsoft Corporation. "Products like Wyse`s Winterm 3125SE offer significant benefits to enterprises around lowering TCO, simplified manageability and seamless integration with Windows server infrastructure."

Wyse Technology is the only company delivering an enterprise-class client management tool, bundling every Winterm thin-client model with the Wyse Rapport desktop management software, workgroup edition. Wyse Rapport performs four critical desktop management functions from a single, central location: software distribution, device diagnostics, device configuration and asset management. Rapport enables administrators to replace or update the firmware on a device, track service history, remotely diagnose problems, conduct hands-free device configuration to adjust settings, and track asset information on their network, which includes the number, types, and location of devices, and specific information about each device.