Please note - Ndiyo has now officially closed its doors, at least as a legal entity - but we've kept the site alive in case any of the information is useful to others.
Our thanks to all those who helped out and were involved in so many different ways! The Ndiyo legacy lives on in the ultra-thin-client work at its spin-off DisplayLink, at Plugable, at NoPC and elsewhere...
Nivo technology comes in various forms. DisplayLink's chips are now embedded in some Samsung and LG monitors, allowing some interesting uses...
As an alternative to the Flash-based movie above, you can download higher-quality versions using the links below - you may need to right-click on them to save the files to your local disk.
In the 'Ndiyo System' section of the site you can find more information about the Hubster concept.
Our thanks to Seb Wills, who helped develop many of the earliest Hubster ideas.
The displays in use in this video are the 19" Samsung 940UX, which by default comes with Windows drivers only. There is also a 20" version, the 2040UX, and an LG widescreen version - the L206WU . Other DisplayLink-enabled models will follow in the near future, and there are also USB-to-VGA devices on the market which incorporate the same technology and can be used with any monitor.
The details of how and when our Linux drivers will be available have yet to be finalised, but our current plans are along the following lines:
Due to licensing restrictions, we expect to release a binary-only driver initially through our sister company, Cambridge Visual Networks. There will be a free trial version with some limitations, and an unencumbered version for a modest per-machine price. Income from the sale of the driver will help support further Linux development in these areas, and a proportion of revenues will be donated to the Ndiyo project. We're hoping to have a fully Open Source version available in the future.
For more information, please subscribe to the Ndiyo blog or sign up for the mailing list and we'll make sure you know about developments.
DisplayLink's graphics systems, HP's USB hardware and Microsoft's Windows Multipoint Server combine to give the latest incarnation of the Hubster concept.
DisplayLink grew out of the original Ndiyo thin-client work, so it's great to see the company returning to its roots!
For more information, see the DisplayLink site.
Bernie Thompson has been creating Hubster-type systems, and gave a talk about it at the Linux Plumbers Conference 2009.
Just over two years ago, we described and did our first demonstrations of what became known as 'Hubster' - a terminal based on a USB hub. By simply plugging in USB peripherals you can turn a single-user machine into a multi-user machine.
Slowly but surely we're moving towards our goal of making Ndiyo systems the most affordable way to provide IT access!
