“XenApp and XenDesktop provide the means for users to access their Apps and Desktops from a wide variety of platforms and devices. At Citrix our vision is to create a world where anyone can work and play from anywhere. Mobility is not new to Citrix. There are XenApp clients available today for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, but small form factor devices have had their challenges. Slow, unreliable wireless networks, small screens and awkward user input models have relegated hand held access to small and highly specialized market segments. But that’s all about to change,” Albert Grandville, Citrix Product Manager at Citrix blogs.
“The latest generation of hand held devices with their large, high definition screens and the availability of high-speed wireless networks are changing the game in a big way! A hand held device such as an iphone connected to XenApp via a high-speed 3G network yields a remarkably usable experience,” Grandville reports. “While serious content creation might have to wait for an external keyboard and monitor, consuming content like reviewing a spreadsheet or a patients records and simple tasks like approving an expense report are quite frictionless. And because you’re accessing your content via XenApp and XenDesktop your access is fast and reliable and you never need to worry about your valuable data being compromised if you misplace or loose your phone.”
Grandville reports, “I’ve been fielding quite a few inquiries lately about our strategy and plans for the iPhone. I thought it was time to let everyone know where we are and where we’re going. The guys on our Mac development team in Chalfont, UK have just recently finished porting the core XenApp engine over to the iPhone platform. This was a great deal of work and the guys have done a brilliant job.”
Direct link to video here.
MacDailyNews Note: The music from Citrix’s video is “Higher and Higher” by The Moody Blues (iTunes Store link).
Grandville reports, “As you can see, pretty cool, but we still have quite a bit of work to do. During the next stage of the project we will be crafting a user experience that provides a natural, transparent and effortless user interface in keeping with the high standards set by our friends at Apple.
“It’s tough to say at this stage when we would have something that we could share with you but I promise if you watch this space we will provide regular updates on our progress and schedules as they reveal themselves,” Grandville reports.
Full article here.
[Attribution: CNBC. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James W.” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: Mac users (and Windows sufferers) check out Mocha VNC (US$5.99, free “Lite” version; iTunes App Store link) which allows connection to Mac OS X and Windows machines from your iPhone.
Take that Blackberry!
This is huge.
Citrix is so far behind the times. This type of remote control situation is already well available for the iphone – it is called VNC, its open source and well tested over the last several years, and works perfectly to remote control into a Windows PC or a Windows server, or a Linux desktop or Linux server running the free and open source VNC server software – one source to check is http://www.realvnc.com for some free downloads for desktops and for the iphone, just check the appstore for VNC apps like “VNC Lite”, etc. I use my iphone to remote into my XP desktop at work everyday.
makers of a VNC app for the iphone:
http://www.mochasoft.dk/iphone_vnc.htm
works well to get into Windows XP
Shazam, MDN, good call on the music!
I have been loving Jaadu on my iPhone for awhile.
Very reliable, and fast.
No need for DynDNS.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=286470485&mt=8
Also the most expensive app I have, and worth it
(the Curtis-Mathis of apps…)(old school, that is)
good intro to VNC on iPhone
http://www.derekunderwood.com
For the corporate world, the VNC clients mentioned above are not acceptable, at least in my neck of the woods. The Citrix solution will be a true market maker if they are able to release this. I thnk that this is very good news for those of use in the corporate world.
One thing I did notice was a lack of inputting data. I hope that this was a small omission in the video. Just looking at spreadsheets is not really very beneficial for me.
rickw – Not sure where you mean by “neck of the woods” but maybe it is a place where the Zune has become the most popular portable music device. Citrix is not foolproof, is overbound to Windows, and only hangs on in business due to some ideas that it is “corporate” and carries relatively high licensing fees. The necessity to “remote” into a Windows desktop PC is dated and is already becoming unnecessary with cloud computing and more advanced technologies for remote workers. And, the corporate world most certainly uses VNC if you ask the highest level sysadmins, which is open source, high performance, cross-platform, and can do anything and everything that Citrix can do, plus more, and can be modified or added to with basic C programming skills. The days of a proprietary remote access, like “PC Anywhere” or Citrix (I would put them in the same category) are coming to an end. As more and more users switch to Mac and Linux on the desktop, Citrix will become irrelevant unless they diversify their efforts some. Linux and Unix are already deployed at the server level for every major corporation.
I like how Citrix has borrowed open source virtualization technology and seem to think they invented it. Just goes to show that there is still a lot of tradition at play in the corporate world that allows Windows to remain so prevalent and long-time Windows vendors like Citrix to become so large. I’m glad to be over that Windows world that felt so limiting. Perhaps its time for the computer industry to “right size” and “get real” as 37signals might say.
some screenshots of VNC running on an iPhone and connectnig to Windows Vista, XP, Mac, etc… and yes, it does allow input with a virtual keyboard, input/sending of standard Windows control keys, and even move the Windows mouse around! now I can just stay at home with my iPhone and amaze my co-workers as my computer at work magically starts working on its own
http://www.mochasoft.dk/iphone_vnc_screens.htm
but can VNC on an iPhone remote control a Zune – thats what we really need now
Anyone who really understands what Citrix does would never compare the VNC apps that are out there or PC AnyWhere to Citrix. It’s like comparing a Ford Pinto to a a F1 Race car.