Highschoolers to test PC replacement device

The mobile device, developed by Israeli start-up ChipPC, could replace computer classrooms.

10 December 01 14:18, Hadass Geyfman

Grade 9 pupils at the Kibbutz Mizra high school are participating in a test of a miniature mobile device that connects to a central server, as an alternative to the PC. The device, the size of a person's palm, was developed by Haifa-based start-up ChipPC. Among other things, the device could replace computer classrooms.

The testing is being conducted by Omnitech, which provides communications and infrastructure solutions as well as marketing the device, and the Ministry of Education, at the Kibbutz Mizra high school.

In the test, Omnitech connected grade nine class pupils to 90 end units connected through an internal network to a server-based system controlled by management software. The device operates as a thin-client system (a thin, miniature work station that operates through a connection to the server), that is connected to a screen, keyboard and mouse. Smart cards, a modem and security software,among other things, can be installed in the device, .

The test is designed to examine application capabilities for innovative teaching methods, and provide the pupils with technological challenges. The project will also test the server management in a work environment different from its normal PC environment.

Omnitech (1971), a subsidiary of Team Computers and Systems, was listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 1992 and has 200 employees. One of its main businesses is providing complete integrative infrastructure solutions.

Published by Israel's Business Arena on 10 December 2001