Splashtop

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Splashtop
developer Splashtop Inc.
License (s) GPL  / LGPL
ancestry Linux derivative, MeeGo
Architecture (s) Embedded for x86

Software for Windows and Mac OS
App for Android , iOS , HP webOS

www.splashtop.com

Splashtop is a family of products with Instant-on - the operating system and various remote desktop solutions of the software development company Splashtop Inc .

Founded in 2006 as DeviceVM, the company initially brought out a special Linux distribution that could be integrated into the BIOS of their products by PC motherboard manufacturers as a particularly fast and malware-protected "Virtual Appliance Environment" (VAE) .

In the meantime, however, the company is best known for “Splashtop Remote”, a remote control software for the Windows and Mac OS operating systems , which enables iPhone , iPod touch and iPad , the Kindle Fire or devices with Android or HP webOS as clients .

Splashtop remote technology

The newer line of desktop remote software consists of the following applications:

  • Splashtop Remote Desktop enables you to connect to another computer via a computer, smartphone or tablet, to take control of it and to stream the screen output.
  • Splashtop Remote Browser allows you to open the standard browser on a remote-controlled computer and display it on a smartphone, tablet or another computer.
  • Splashtop Whiteboard turns an iPad or Android tablet into an interactive whiteboard.
  • Splashtop CamCam controls a remote webcam.
  • Splashtop XDisplay allows you to use an iPad as an extended screen to which application windows from another computer can be wirelessly transferred.
  • Splashtop Touchpad allows you to use an iPod Touch or iPhone on another computer as a remote control or wireless keyboard.

Splashtop OS

Concept of the virtual appliance environment

Splashtop was initially intended as an embedded solution for permanent installation in hardware. Users can install one or more additional operating systems, but have an environment for various applications for surfing and telephoning over the Internet available when the system is started without any installation effort. The solution offers further advantages for maintenance and repair, for example for the removal of malware.

The system is ready for use in around five seconds and is therefore also marketed as “instant-on”.

Advantages of the "instant-on" technology are:

  • much faster starting of the operating system;
  • greater willingness to switch off the system in between (energy saving);
  • as permanently implemented system software, it cannot or can hardly be changed and is therefore well protected against attacks;
  • as a full operating system, it allows a hard drive-free computer;
  • very lean solution with low hardware requirements.

Disadvantages include:

  • Drivers cannot be added later, so that the user is limited to a few devices when selecting additional hardware, usually only the offer of the mainboard manufacturer. This is particularly problematic if no internet connection is possible because there are no drivers for later built-in WLAN components.

More recent versions are available from larger computer manufacturers with their own design and brand name, as Insta-boot ( Acer ), ExpressGate ( Asus ), Latitude ON ( Dell ), QuickWeb ( HP ), Quick Start ( Lenovo ), Smart ON ( LG ) and QuickWeb ( Sony ).

Properties and development

Splashtop already had a graphical user interface in the beta version , a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox 3 with support for Adobe Flash Player 10 and IP telephony with Skype . It used Bootsplash , SquashFS , Blackbox (window manager) , SCIM and the Linux kernel 2.6.20. In January 2008 LinDVD, a software DVD player from Corel , photo manager, NTFS support for reading and writing to Windows partitions and Pidgin instant messaging were added. The subsequent version 2.0 improved the handling of UMTS , allowed user-specific adaptations of the desktop and could for the first time also be controlled via touchscreen . The Netbook Lenovo Ideapad S10-3t with Quick Start , the Asus EeePC T91MT with Express Gate and other devices from Acer , LG and HP with QuickWeb were among the first to be shipped with Splashtop 2.0.

Splashtop initially required its own flash memory of at least 512 MB on the mainboard, which is why it was primarily reserved for premium boards such as the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe / WiFi-AP , on which it was first used. A proprietary core software starts with the BIOS and loads an adapted Linux distribution called the Virtual Appliance Environment (VAE). While this VAE is running, the user can start "Virtual Applications" (VA). For the lower price segment, the Linux files can be stored on the hard drive and loaded from there via the BIOS.

In February 2011, the decision was made to switch to the MeeGO platform with Splashtop OS, thereby opening up the possibility of installing applications via the Intel App Store. Shortly afterwards, the system was available as a free download for end users to install on the hard drive. In November, the browser was switched from Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome and the standard search from Google to Bing . However, this version of the Splashtop OS has not been available since spring 2012.

credentials

  1. ↑ Michael Larabel: SplashTop To Splash Onto Notebooks, Desktops. In: Phoronix. October 9, 2007, accessed May 19, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Splashtop Availability. Splashtop, accessed May 19, 2012 .
  3. ↑ a b c Michael Larabel: ASUS Motherboard Ships With Embedded Linux, Web Browser. In: Phoronix . October 6, 2007, accessed May 19, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Splashtop OS Preinstalled. (No longer available online.) Splashtop, archived from the original on May 1, 2012 ; accessed on May 19, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.splashtop.com
  5. ↑ Michael Larabel: SplashTop Running On Prototype ASUS Notebook. In: Phoronix . January 8, 2008, accessed May 19, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Splashtop 2.0 is official and gets touchy. (No longer available online.) In: Splashtop Blog. January 7, 2010; archived from the original on February 29, 2012 ; accessed on May 19, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.splashtop.com
  7. ↑ Avram Piltch: Splashtop 2.0 Hands-On: Customization, New Home Screen, Touch Support. In: Laptopmag.com. January 6, 2010, accessed May 19, 2012 .
  8. ^ Sal Cangeloso: SplashTop's Instant-On Linux Desktop. In: Geek.com . October 9, 2007, accessed May 19, 2012 .
  9. ^ Diagnostic Virtual Appliance. In: freepatentsonline.com. Retrieved May 19, 2012 (English).
  10. ↑ Splashtop press release: Splashtop Releases MeeGo-Based Splashtop OS for OEMs. (No longer available online.) February 15, 2011, archived from the original on May 8, 2012 ; accessed on May 19, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.splashtop.com
  11. ↑ Splashtop OS quick start system available free of charge. In: Heise online . February 25, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Michael Larabel: Splash Top Hooks Up With Bing, Chromium. In: Phoronix. November 30, 2010, accessed May 19, 2012 .

See also

Web links

Information pages