According to a press release today (why can’t they wait until I’ve had some sleep?) SoonR, a browser/html-based remote desktop application, will launch for the UMPC.
I have never heard about SoonR before but it seems to be a consumer oriented product aimed at getting the most out of remote desktop processing over wireless networks. I’ve used Microsoft’s remote desktop protocol a number of times from a UMPC and the results have been good but SoonR seems to take it a step further to make it useable on small screens and over common networking protocols. (No fear of port 80 and 443 being blocked.) From the press release:
The SoonR service links mobile phones and remote computers to applications and data on any Internet connected computer. People can remotely access SoonR Desktop to search and access documents and images, SoonR Organizer for email, scheduling and contacts and SoonR Talk for mobile VoIP. SoonR integrates with Google Desktop Search, Yahoo! Desktop Search, X1, Spotlight, MSN Desktop Search, Outlook Office 2007 and Skype. PC-based data is automatically formatted for any mobile device and without any SoonR software on the handset. SoonR is built on a secure and extensible, open standards based application platform and works across carriers and handset operating systems including Symbian, Microsoft Mobile 5, Blackberry, Palm and others. The basic SoonR service is free.
I’m not sure how this would sit with something like Yahoo Go for UMPCs or Glide but it seems to be one of the few screen-optimised solutions for accessing home data so it could be worth a test. Apparently, it will even remote stream Skype calls from your home PC so if you’re short of a bit of local processing power or blocked from using Skype by your provider, this could be the answer. My only question is, if its browser based, why would you need a UMPC optimised version of it?
SoonR website is here.
