For several years, Shadow has built its reputation by releasing the Cloud Computingthat is, the possibility of accessing the power of a high-end computer from any computer, smartphone, tablet or any other compatible device.
For this, a simple (good) Internet connection is enough. For a monthly subscription, the Shadow service provides access to an office environment stored on a remote server. Even an old PC relegated to the back of a cupboard due to age can become a competitive beast.
Give old PCs a second life
The Parisian company recently underwent multiple internal, structural and even functional changes, before being acquired by a fund managed by Octave Klaba, the man behind OVHCloud. He followed an extensive reflection on Shadow and the direction to take.
And that starts in particular with a review of the offer. For this “PC in the cloud”, as the company states, a single price is currently offered at 29.99 euros per month. This price gives access to a complete PC, accessible with a single click wherever you are as long as the connection is good. Just launch the Shadow app to see an open desktop on the screen similar to any screen when starting a Windows PC. Even on a Mac or Linux computer. Documents created through Shadow are accessible from any medium supported by the platform.
It is possible to download the usual software (Office or Adobe suite, video or audio editing software, design software, etc.), but also demanding PC games and run them as if they were actually on the computer. The Shadow app also allows you to launch them on a tablet, Android TV Smart TV, or Apple TV, with a Bluetooth-connected mouse, joystick, or keyboard if needed. There’s even a VR version of Shadow to access your documents using a virtual reality headset.
Shadow prides itself on offering pretty fast download speeds for their software and games thanks to the power of their data centers. But everything is transparent at the end of the chain for the user who gains in speed, fluidity and use.
power has a cost
To meet the needs of the most advanced users, Shadow launches the Power offer from this Wednesday for an additional 14.99 euros per month. And for this higher price, users will have access to a remote computer equipped with an Nvidia RTX A4500 graphics card – the professional version of the GeForce RTX 3070 – (or AMD RDNA2 equivalents), 16 GB of RAM, an AMD EPYC 7543P CPU (4 cores and 8 threads) and 1 integrated 1 Gbps fiber optic connection. A high price that amounts to almost 45 euros per month in total, but that provides a powerful virtual computer on any compatible medium, regardless of the PC you use, even old and outdated.
The strong point of cloud computing and thus cloud gaming is being able to run resource-intensive software and games on older devices. As long as you have enough and stable internet speed to launch the home interface. Initially, the Power option is offered to a few subscribers of the basic Shadow offer. Additional slots on the company’s servers will become available in November before opening up on a larger scale.
Source: BFM TV
