NivioCompanion

A Web-based OS is a smart service that gives you the power to make every

computer yours. All you need is an Internet connection and a Web browser, and

you'll find all your files and software just as you had left them. Nivio is one

of the very few players providing users with this relatively new concept and now

they've come up with a thin client PC of their own.

What looked like a box of milk chocolates at first runs on a 200 MHz

processor, 128 MB SD RAM and comes with a stripped down version of Linux. Just

plug in a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and the network cable and your PC is ready.

If by now you're thinking that what on earth can one do with a processor this

slow then here's the answer. The NivioCompanion has been designed to run well,

Nivio. It's meant for people who just want to use basic productivity apps like

Word, Excel, etc. or maybe use a computer to store Digital photographs and music

but buying a complete PC is an expensive option for them and they are not even

going to use the full potential of that PC in any case.

Nivio lets you get your personal Windows XP desktop without actually having

it installed on the machine. All you need is an Internet connection and a Nivio

account. And if you don't have an LCD/Plasma TV with a D-Sub socet, you'll also

require a monitor.

A Nivio account provides users with an operating system packed with the basic

set of applications. You can add more applications from Microsoft or other

third-party software to this operating system from the online store. Some of

these being free to use and for others you have to pay a fixed amount per month.

A 30-day trial for a few applications is also available. Nivio is a prepaid

service therefore you have to buy Nivio credits before you can go shop for these

applications. The device doesn't have a hard disk drive on board but you get 5

GBs of online storage with the account which can be increased later at an added

cost. An advantage of not having a local hard disk is that the device is

virtually crash free. Backup of all the data stored on your Nivio OS is taken

regularly at the datacenter level.

You can attach a USB printer locally or the one on your network can also be

accessed. But of course you can get everything out of this small device and

something which you will not like so much about the product is that it doesn't

provide an option of customizing your desktop with wallpapers and managing your

icons is not available, video streaming is obviously not that smooth, and gaming

is not even possible except some tiny games which can run without the need of a

Graphic card. To run the Nivio service smoothly a minimum 256 Kbps Internet

connection is recommended but a higher speed connection would help improve the

user experience and will reduce latency. Other than the required VGA and

keyboard port the device has three USBs, a compact flash slot, and a Speaker and

Mic socket on it.

Bottomline: A good device and a new concept, but only for users who

require a PC just to run basic productivity apps.