Personal computers could soon fit entirely on a key ring. Researchers at IBM in New York, US, have developed a way to carry a powerful, personalised virtual computer from one PC to the next, without losing the user鈥檚 work.
The trick is to store the virtual computer on a USB key, or any portable device with substantial storage space, like an MP3 player.
The virtual computer鈥檚 鈥渟oul鈥� 鈥� as the researchers dub it 鈥� can then be uploaded to a new PC simply by plugging the portable device in. This host machine needs no special software or even a network connection to take on an entirely new personality.
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The SoulPad system does not provide an instant switch, however. A user must typically wait a couple of minutes while the software configures the host system for use.
It uses three separate layers of software 鈥� a base operating system that automatically configures the host computer鈥檚 various components, a layer of encryption to keep sensitive data secure, and a 鈥渧irtual machine鈥� containing the user鈥檚 portable computing environment, for example, their web browsers, word processing or music software.
Mobile goal
鈥淭he ability to walk up to any computer, personalise it, and use it as one鈥檚 own has long been a goal of mobile computing research,鈥� write IBM researcher Ram贸n C谩ceres and colleagues in an award-winning paper outlining the work presented recently at the Usenix 3rd International Conference on Mobile Systems.
鈥淲ith this approach, the computer boots from the device and resumes the virtual machine, thus giving the user access to his personal environment, including previously running computations,鈥� the researchers add.
A video clip of SoulPad in action is available, courtesy of the IBM researchers, (14 MB, wmv format).
The IBM team expects other types of device, such as cellphones, to be launched with large storage capacity in the near future which would be able to carry SoulPad 鈥� making it an even more practical solution, they say.
