New Generation Technologies Redefine Workstations

Technological advancements in engineering workstation hardware are speeding up faster than bargain-hunting holiday shoppers storming Walmart at dawn Black Friday. Today's Check it Out link delivers you to a landing page covering what Dell is up to and what it has coming soon. We'll look at what's ahead.

When you land at the Precision Workstation page, you'll see tabs like Customer Stories and Workstation Partners. Under the latter, you'll see “Coming Soon.” Click on the monitor, not the words. You'll find goodies there.

First is Dell Canvas. This sounds cool. It's smart workspace technology that should redefine your definition of designing and will definitely change how you interact with your toolset.

What you have here is a 27-in. QHD work area you use with your monitor setup. QHD means quad high definition or 2560x1440 resolution. You use the Dell Canvas at an angle or have it flat on your desktop. The neat part is that you create designs and interact with other computer tools using touch, a digital pen and puck-like devices called totems. Dell partnered with Microsoft on this technology, and Dell Canvas will work with solutions from its mechanical design partners like Autodesk and Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKS, as well as digital media creation products like AVID.

Following Dell Canvas is the Precision 5720, a new all-in-one system designed for graphics-intensive applications like rendering, and then four new Precision mobile workstations. In grossly understated terms, Dell has refreshed its Precision mobile workstation line-up to take advantage of the newest technologies from Intel, NVIDIA, itself and others.

The soon-to-be-available Dell Canvas creates a smart workspace where you interact with design, engineering and creative applications using touch commands, a digital pen and a puck-shaped hand-held device known as a totem. Image courtesy of Dell Inc.

A good example of this is the soon-to-be-available Dell Precision 7720 mobile workstation. You know Dell already has bigly creds when it comes to virtual reality (VR). Its Alienware line and its Precision workstations already support VR headsets from Oculus and HTC. The Dell Precision 7720 is Dell's first VR-ready mobile workstation designed for VR content creation. That means it runs a 7th Generation Intel Core processor and the highest-end NVIDIA Pascal Quadro graphics.

The main Dell Precision page also provides full rundowns on mobile and deskside workstations available now. Use the customize feature to build your fantasy system. What will hit you exploring this page is what's past with engineering workstation technology is only a prologue to what's to come. This is an exciting time for engineering hardware. Hit today's Check it Out link and see for yourself.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, DE