(Credit: Amazon)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched a small cube computer that's cheaper than a laptop while also promising to be much more secure.
As SiliconAngle reports, it's called the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client and is clearly based on the design of the Fire TV Cube. Unlike a normal desktop computer, this little cube is meant to access virtual desktops, internal company websites, and streamed apps. Those are all things catered for by AWS's Amazon WorkSpaces, WorkSpaces Web, and AppStream services.
The Thin Client only costs $195 and can be connected to a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and USB peripherals such as a headset, microphone, or camera. A hub is also available if a second monitor connection is required.
This is clearly a device aimed at business users who have remote workers that need to access company software and services. Amazon touts this as a highly-secure solution because the Thin Client doesn't have any local data storage and therefore can't have any rogue apps installed or store any sensitive information that can be stolen. As everything is remote, it should also be very simple to manage each user's access remotely, too.
As for use cases, Jeff Barr, Chief Evangelist for AWS, points to "situations where there’s a long-term need for regular access: call centers, task workers, training centers, and so forth." He also mentions, "other situations, where there’s a transient or short-term need for access: registration systems at large events, call centers stood up on a temporary basis for a special event or an emergency, disaster response, and the like."
Although the Thin Client is cheap and AWS claims this leads to lower costs, there's also the ongoing costs of access to Amazon WorkSpaces and AppStream services to consider. For example, WorkSpaces Web access starts from $7 per user per month, which allows 200 hours of access before per-hour charges kick in.