Amazon’s $195 thin clients are repurposed Fire TV Cubes

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Enlarge / A weblog submit from AWS chief evangelist Jeff Barr reveals the Workspaces Skinny Shopper setup.

Amazon has turned its Hearth TV Dice streaming system into a skinny shopper optimized for Amazon Net Providers (AWS).

Amazon’s Workspaces Skinny Shopper additionally helps Amazon’s Workspaces Net, for accessing digital desktops from a browser, and AppStream.

The pc is a Hearth TV Dice with a brand new software program stack. All of the {hardware}—from the 2GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 16GB of storage, to the Arm processor with 8 cores, together with 4 operating at as much as 2.2 GHz—stay an identical whether or not shopping for the system as an Alexa-powered entertainment-streaming system or skinny shopper laptop. Each the Hearth TV Dice and Workspaces Skinny Shopper run an Android Open Supply Undertaking-based Android fork (for now).

The device has HDMI 2.1 input and output, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, and Bluetooth 5.0 support.
Enlarge / The system has HDMI 2.1 enter and output, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, and Bluetooth 5.0 help.

In a blog post asserting the system Sunday, Amazon mentioned its skinny shopper targets companies with excessive worker turnover, corresponding to name and fee processing facilities, the place AWS prospects say it may be laborious to get well costly, work-issued units. As many as 70 % of laptops despatched from corporations to distant employees are by no means seen by corporations once more, Muneer Mirza, AWS’ end-user compute common supervisor, claimed to The Register.

“Plenty of instances they discover these units stroll out the door when the staff stroll out the door,” AWS Chief Govt Adam Selipsky advised SiliconANGLE.

Amazon mentioned it got here up with the Workspaces Skinny Shopper after talking with AWS enterprise prospects, particularly ones giving out laptops, tablets, and different units to employees working remotely and in locations like contact facilities, customer support operations, and hospitality with “a whole bunch to tens of 1000’s” of employees.

Amazon’s weblog additionally pointed to financial savings advantages in comparison with pricier company-issued laptops or desktops and the safety advantages of worker units that do not retailer knowledge domestically and solely run IT-approved software program.

Altering focus

Amazon’s “new” system comes close to the top of a troublesome yr for Amazon’s client tech division. The Workspaces Skinny Shopper is the primary time Amazon has “tailored a client system into an exterior {hardware} product for AWS prospects,” as per the corporate’s weblog.

However this is not the primary time Amazon has despatched a product seemingly meant for client use to the enterprise aspect. On November 15, Amazon introduced that its Astro home robot, which by no means noticed general consumer availability, would develop into a enterprise safety resolution that encourages subscription-based add-ons, like customized and scheduled robotic patrol routes.

The GPU in Amazon's Workspaces Thin Client and Fire TV Cube runs at up to 800 MHz.
Enlarge / The GPU in Amazon’s Workspaces Skinny Shopper and Hearth TV Dice runs at as much as 800 MHz.

This additionally is not the primary time an Alexa client product has discovered secondary objective. On the finish of final yr, for instance, Amazon up to date the Echo Show 15 sensible show to work like a transportable Fire TV.

Amazon has been diverting assets from its units division over the previous yr. There have additionally been reviews of Amazon pushing for cheaper devices. Final week, Amazon introduced “several hundred” layoffs within the units and providers division as Amazon focuses extra on generative AI. That is after Amazon’s units and providers enterprise already endured 2,000 layoffs early this yr, in addition to layoffs introduced in late 2022.

Amazon’s client tech enterprise has been additional rocked by a $46.7 million judgement in opposition to Amazon over an Alexa patent dispute. This yr additionally sees the departure of division head David Limp.

Hearth TV units and streaming units have usually felt like a relatively extra positive area for Amazon devices, with Amazon in March claiming to have bought over 200 million models globally. Amazon is making an attempt to work its means into the small, but evolving, marketplace for thin clients and digital desktops. By repurposing Hearth TV Cubes, Amazon can restrict its monetary threat.

Amazon Workspaces Skinny Shopper begins at $195. Amazon usually sells the present Hearth TV Dice for $110 to $140.

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