iTwin: $99
Today's tiny USB devices do more than just store files. In fact, iTwin -- the double-ended light saber of thumb drives -- doesn't actually store your files per se. Instead, it uses a secure one-to-one AES 256-bit encrypted connection to enable remote access, editing, back-up and transfering of your files on another computer. Think of it as your own private network, a 'personal cloud' if you will. The device just has a one-time cost, with no service fees or storage limits. And best of all, you don't need to remember a login, mess with tokens, annoyingly email yourself or confusingly have multiple versions of files.
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When you first plug either end of the full iTwin (both halves) into a USB port, it installs its software on your PC -- you can also download the new Mac OS X-compatible version -- and creates a unique set of crypto keys linking the pair together. You nickname the device and enter your email address. (More on that later.) Drag and drop some files, folders or even your entire drive into the green "Local" iTwin folder. Then detach the outer twin. When you plug that half into another online computer, it installs its software there. Then, assuming the first computer is still powered on and connected to the Internet, you'll have direct access to all those files you dragged. On this second computer, they'll appear in the orange "Remote" iTwin folder. You can open them, edit them, move them, whatever. And since the twins are equals, so to speak, you can also share in the other direction. By dragging and dropping files into Computer 2's Local iTwin folder, they'll be seen as Remote back on Computer 1.
One interesting use case: Your team is working on a presentation. As you travel, they finish it and drag it into their Local folder. When you arrive at your meeting, you open the corresponding Remote folder, make a couple of quick tweaks to the original and launch the highly polished presentation. Another use case: You're taking lots of pictures while on vacation. So you move a bunch of image files onto your laptop and transfer them back home, freeing up memory on your camera. If you should ever lose either half, they're replaceable for $50 each. But more importantly, you can remotely disable the missing half using a special code emailed to you when you first registered. To pair (or re-link) the halves, just plug them back together and into an online computer. Despite the drawback of having to leave on the first computer while you're away, the overall benefits make iTwin a collectively strong alternative to cloud services, ordinary flash drives and remote access software.
Credit: iTwin
Tags: Computer Networking, Computer Security, Computer Software, Gadgets
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