Amazon Web Services today announced Amazon AppStream, a new service that provides developers with the ability to stream resource intensive applications, from the cloud. The company also announced Amazon WorkSpaces, a fully managed desktop computing service in the cloud.
Both services were announced today at AWS re:Invent.
Amazon WorkSpaces allows AWS' customers to provision cloud-based desktops that allow end-users to access the documents, applications and resources they need with the device of their choice. Amazon claims that the AWS Management Console, customers can provision a high-quality desktop experience for at less than half the cost of most traditional virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions.
Amazon is offering a range of Amazon WorkSpace bundles that provide a choice of CPU, memory, storage and applications ? and launch any number of desktops with a few clicks. Amazon WorkSpaces can integrate with a company's existing Active Directory to allow end-users to use their existing enterprise credentials to access their Amazon WorkSpace.
Any application can be installed including Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader and Firefox. Users can access Amazon WorkSpaces from PC and Mac desktops and laptops, including laptops, iPad, Kindle Fire, and Android tablets. The Amazon WorkSpace client will be available for download from the Amazon WorkSpaces desktop client download page, the Amazon Appstore for Android, Google Play and the iTunes App Store.
Amazon WorkSpaces includes technology components licensed from Teradici, and leverages the PCoIP (PC-over-IP) protocol to compress, encrypt and encode the users' desktop computing experience and transmit 'pixels only' across any standard IP network to users' devices. In addition, the WorkSpaces Sync client lets users sync their documents between their Amazon WorkSpace and other computers so that they always have access to their documents. This client will be downloadable at no charge from the Amazon WorkSpaces client download page, and the Amazon App Store for Android, Google Play and the iTunes App Store.
To learn more and sign up for the limited preview of Amazon WorkSpaces, visit http://aws.amazon.com/workspaces/limited-preview/.
Amazon Web Services also today announced Amazon AppStream, a new service that provides developers with the ability to stream resource intensive applications, from the cloud. With Amazon AppStream, content is rendered in the cloud.
Amazon AppStream offers a number of benefits over running content locally, including:
- Removes compute and storage constraints - Developers leverage the compute power of AWS to deliver experiences that wouldn't normally be possible due to GPU, CPU, memory or physical storage constraints of local devices.
- Saves development time - With Amazon AppStream, developers can write all or part of their applications once, make changes on the fly, and render them on many devices, saving the cost of rewriting this code for different platforms.
- Instant-on delivery - Streaming applications eliminate large downloads and lengthy installs, and instead provides an instant-on experience for end-users.
- Simplifies updates - Because Amazon AppStream applications run on Amazon EC2, not on client devices, software updates are simpler, happen quickly, and are handled by the Amazon AppStream service. Many software updates will no longer require customer downloads, saving the developer the need to support legacy versions.
Amazon AppStream includes an SDK that automatically connects streaming applications running in the cloud to customers' devices, simplifying the development process. The SDK also connects developers' applications to the Amazon AppStream STX Protocol, which manages the streaming process. This protocol monitors network conditions and automatically adapts the video stream to provide a low-latency and high-resolution experience. It also minimizes latency during the process of capturing input from customers, such as mouse clicks or touch gestures, and sending it back to the application running in the cloud.
During limited preview, Amazon AppStream will be available in the US-East Region on the new Amazon EC2 G2 instance, allowing developers to leverage an extremely powerful GPU in their applications. In the coming months, additional regions and instance types will be available for Amazon AppStream applications. Amazon AppStream delivers a video stream up to 720p and 30 frames per second, and can run on connections of at least 3Mbps. It supports streaming applications from Windows Server to multiple client platforms, including Windows, iOS, FireOS and Android. To learn more and sign up for the limited preview of Amazon AppStream, visit http://aws.amazon.com/appstream/.