Researchers at IBM,”have developed a way to carry a powerful,personalised virtual computer from one PC to the next”,New Scientist reports.”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 SoulPad system “uses three separate layers of software - a base operating system that automatically configures the host computer’s various components,a layer of encryption to keep sensitive data secure,and a “virtual machine” containing the user’s portable computing environment,for example,their web browsers,word processing or music software.”The ability to walk up to any computer, personalise it, and use it as one‚Äö√Ñ√¥s own has long been a goal of mobile computing research,” write IBM researcher Ram‚–n C‚àö¬∞ceres and colleagues in an award-winning paper outlining the work presented recently at the Usenix 3rd International Conference on Mobile Systems”.The researchers expect “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 ‚Äö√Ñ√¨ making it an even more practical solution,they say”.

Pocket-sized computer ’soul’ developed