Things on the nettop and thin clients' market seem to be heating up as we speak, since we're faced with the second announcement of the day regarding an ultra-thin computing system built on Intel's Atom CPU. This time, the system, dubbed TC5, comes from Devon IT and is touted as being the world's first and only thin client with the ability to support dual independent high definition digital displays and render videos on the web or remotely.

What's rather strange here is the fact that the device from Devon IT will be sold as an IBM part number. According to the company, the TC5 will provide a high level of compatibility with most of the server solutions around, including Microsoft Windows Terminal Servers 2000/2003, Citrix XenServer, XenAPP, XenDesktop, Unix/Linux Servers and VMware View.

As mentioned before, the TC5 is built on the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Dual Thread CPU, accompanied by either 1GB or 2GB of memory, as well as the Intel 945GSE chipset with Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and 2GB of flash memory. The device sports two different DVI connectors (DVI-D and DVI-I), and allows users to output a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 pixels via either one or both of them.

Besides these video-out connectors, the TC5 provides wireless b/g/n connectivity via a built-in interface, plus four USB 2.0 ports and one Audio-In MIC jack (3.5mm), one Audio-Out jack (3.5mm) and one headset jack (3.5mm).

“The TC5, operating with Intel's powerful, newly-designed processor, sets the thin client computing industry standard with high-performance Internet and application capabilities that rival the user experiences delivered by traditional desktop PCs,” said Joe Makoid, president of Devon IT. “Devon IT's goals have always been anchored in driving innovation to develop high-performance products that use less energy and reduce IT costs across-the-board. We are excited to work with our industry partners, including Citrix, IBM and VMware, to deliver the enterprise-wide benefits of the TC5 to customers needing high-performance, low-cost IT solutions.”

Once again, there's absolutely no word about the NVIDIA ION in the case of the TC5, which leads us to the two conclusions mentioned in the previous article on this issue (the Habey system), but also makes us think quite seriously about the fact that Intel might be starting a full-out war against the ION, the main purpose here being to demonstrate that the Atom can achieve high-definition support on its own (or with minor hardware tweaks), but certainly no help from the aforementioned platform from the GPU manufacturer.


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