Apologies for that title – you try getting the word “mobiu” into a suitably attention-grabbing headline! Say it quickly and hopefully you’ll understand what I was aiming for.

Joking aside though, it is rare that I get genuinely excited about the prospects of a new product that crosses my desk, but this is certainly the exception to the rule. Sure, 3G modems continue to increase the bandwidth available to the mobile worker and they are getting easier to install and more reliable, but they are simply a means to connect to the Internet: you still need software to work on your documents, somewhere to store those files safely and securely, the ability to share those documents with friends and colleagues…

What if all of that functionality could be combined into one single product? That would certainly be revolutionary.

What if that functionality was available in a single USB device – then that would be a key revolution.

What on earth am I babbling about, I hear you cry.

The Key Revolution (http://www.thekeyrevolution.com/) have developed the Mobiu. Ladies and Gentleman, the future is now!

The Mobiu is a USB key. But it is not simply a form of removable storage (although that is one of its functions): think of a LiveCD, along the lines of Knoppix or Fedora – a CD with a version of Linux on it which, when a PC is booted using that CD, allows you to use the hardware elements of that PC (the RAM, monitor keyboard, mouse, network card, etc) to do any of the tasks that you need to be able to, but without leaving any trace on the hard drive of that PC or the operating system residing on it. The mobiu, while not bootable, can be inserted into a Windows XP-based PC (XP only currently, but Vista is on the roadmap) and allows the user to use the applications held within it to create and edit documents, browse the Internet, secure access documents held on remote storage and collaborate with other mobiu users in secure workrooms.

The mobiu itself is a USB device with 2GB of internal storage (some of which is taken up by the operating system and applications), and takes a SIM card. The SIM is not for use with a cellular network operator, the device requires a PIN to log into it, and this PIN is authenticated against a central database which uses the same authentication method that mobile phones use. Although the next release of the mobiu is potentially going to incorporate 4GB of storage and include a 3G cellular modem (so that the PC into which the mobiu is inserted may not even require its own Internet connection).

When inserted into a PC for the first time, Windows will detect the new hardware automatically and install a new USB hard drive, and may or may not then prompt you to reboot as Windows does when a new hard drive is detected:

Once rebooted, remove and reinsert the mobiu, the operating system on the device will then be loaded automatically, and you will be prompted to enter the PIN number of the device (1234 by default):

Once the PIN is entered correctly, the main dashboard screen will be displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the standard Windows XP desktop:

The interface is divided into 6 main sections:

·         My Files

·         Trusted Users

·         Browser

·         Applications

·         Backup

·         Settings

My Files

The My Files link launches the mobiManager: an area which displays the contents of the local PC to which the mobiu is connected:

From here the contents of the PC can be accessed, manipulated and edited using the Applications on the mobiu (which I’ll look at in a moment).

A Guest Area and Private Area view can also be added to the mobiManager. Both areas use the internal storage on the mobiu itself. As its name suggests, the Guest Area can be used to store files on the mobiu for sharing with others – in the same way as a conventional USB storage device. This area can also be PIN protected. The Private Area is a PIN-protected storage area that can only be accessed once logged into the mobiu via the user PIN.

When viewed within My Computer, the mobiu also appears as a conventional USB storage device:

Also available is the mobiVault. This is the real selling point of the mobiu. The mobiVault is an area of secure online storage that allows the user to backup files over the Internet from their PC or from the storage on the mobiu itself. The Vault won’t appear in the My Files interface until you first click on the Configure Backup button and select the folders that you want to be backed up:

Things get very exciting when you combine the mobiVault with mobiRooms. A mobiRoom is a collaborative workspace which allows you to share certain areas of your mobiVault with other mobiu users. The setup process couldn’t be easier. Simply select the option to Add mobiRoom, enter a name for the room and select an icon:

The workspace will now be listed in the left-hand navigation pane. Click on it it to add it to the main view:

Trusted Users

The Trusted Users view allows the owner of the mobiu to ‘invite’ other users to join their shared workspaces, or mobiRooms:

When a user is added, they will receive a message prompting them to accept the invitation, much in the same way as Outlook meeting requests work.

Once accepted, the shared space will be listed in the navigation pane. Received messages are indicated by the i icon at the bottom of the mobiu dashboard, which flashes red when a message is waiting:

Simply double click a message to view its contents:

Browser

Clicking the Browser link launches an instance of Firefox Portable Edition from the application storage area on the mobiu itself.

Applications

The Applications folder contains the programs held on the mobiu. These include a Word Processor, Spreadsheet application and a Presentation program. All are made by SoftMaker and are Microsoft Office-compatible, although this release doesn’t include support for Office 2007 file formats.

The screenshots below show the interface for the applications.

Word Processor:

Spreadsheet:

Presentation:

Backup

Clicking on the Backup link allows the user to browse the contents of the local PC and select which files and folders are to be backed up to the mobiVault. The length of time it takes the online backup procedure to complete depends on the amount of data to be backed up and the bandwidth available.

Settings

The Settings area allows the user to change the PIN code required to unlock the mobiu, both for the Guest user and the principal user.

The other icons at the bottom of the dasboard are the double-headed arrow and the symbol of the padlock. The arrows indicate the progress of your online backup (green meaning that you’re all backed up). The padlock icon indicates the status of your authentication – green means that you have been successfully authenticated as the correct user for your mobiu, red means that there has been an issue and you should contact customer services.

I for one am very excited about the possibilities of the mobiu – especially with the next release potentially going to include a 3G modem, meaning that the PC you decide to use as the input device to control your mobiu from will not even require a connection to the Internet.

Maybe you’ll be excited too upon reading this (you see, that was that the title was aiming for!). Watch this space for more details.