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 Solu, based in Finland, is aiming to take on giants of the industry
like Apple and Microsoft, and says the small device has a
revolutionary operating system, an intuitive user interface and a
unique subscription model and is designed specifically for the era
of cloud computing.
The pocket-sized computer can be used as a stand-alone portable
device or connected to a screen and keyboard at which point the
handheld device is used as a controller.
Its unusual design - encased in wood - makes it stand out and
contains a powerful 2.3GHz processor, battery and wi-fi capability.
In size the touchscreen Solu device is closer to a mobile phone than
a traditional PC at around 10cm squared, however its makers say it
packs a technological punch.
"The hardware that's on the devices is high end. I mean we're
talking high resolution screen, we're talking battery, we're talking
a pretty good CPU, GPU. Premium material is made out of wood so the
device price itself if you compare the price of an iPhone is
actually pretty low, but the reason why people are so excited about
this is that it is really the first no hassle sharing social
collaborative computer out there. So in the SOLU environment you no
longer have to install applications, you no longer have to worry
about hard drive space, you don't have to worry about back-ups, it
takes care of everything," said Kristoffer Lawson, Solu's CEO.
According to the company's website, Solu's operating system can
trade local file systems to a large multi-GB cache of the Solu
cloud, thereby removing the need for maintenance, backups and
installations.
All data is encrypted and kept in protected locations to ensure
privacy.
Solu is also designed to work offline. Any changes made offline are
synced as soon as the device goes online.
"The things that are less important or less frequently used it can
start pushing them off the local device and just keep them in the
cloud storage and then it can pull from the cloud again whenever you
need that content and it does this completely transparently, you
don't even think about it." Lawson explained.
Solu's interface is also unusual and looks nothing like any computer
you may have used before. Collaboration spaces are presented as a
series of bubble-like nodes.
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The idea is to say goodbye to the standard personal computer set-up
and base everything on users working together in an internet
connected environment without traditional windows or menu bars.
"Each one of these spaces is a separate environment where the team
collaborates together, we work together and we share in this kind of
space....So it creates out new project there. Now of course it only
has me but then if I want to add new users to that then I can tap
long and then I can maybe…maybe I want to add Mike to that project,
all right."
The product usage is based on a subscription model which offers
unlimited access to apps for a monthly fee.
This means that for the first time ever, developers will get monthly
revenue based on app usage.
It has a USB port which allows it to connect to devices like the
latest MacBook.
Solu has initially launched on Kickstarter at a price of 349 euros.
The company aims to supply the devices direct to consumers from
spring 2016.
"We now have several months to go still and to polish the operating
system to get more of the applications together, get everything
ready for the final deliveries," said Lawson
It has a USB port which allows it to connect to devices like the
latest MacBook.
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