Leyio Personal Sharing Device – a pimped out, wireless, flash drive

The Leyio Personal Sharing Device, or PSD as they’re calling it, is an interesting proposition. At its heart, it’s just a 16GB flash drive, but it comes with added security and sharing functionality. It utilizes UWB (Ultra-wideband) radio technology, normally used in tracking and radar, to transfer data between itself and other Leyio PSDs.

UWB operates at low energy levels, so it’s less subject to interference, but it’s short range. It enables fast transfers though – Leyio claim a 3MB photo can be exchanged in 0.3 seconds. My A-level maths suggests that that’s a 10MB/s transfer rate. Not too shabby.

It also incorporates a fingerprint scanner, to keep your data secure, and you can plug in a ‘traditional’ flash drive to copy the content off it. It’ll sync with your PC (no mention of Macs) and there’s a part called the ‘shuttle’ that you can detach and plug into other people’s PCs.

You know what this device would be perfect for? Sharing music, films and TV shows in the playground. Kids will like the colours, novelty of the fingerprint reader, and the blazing fast transfer speeds. Leyio is going to have to be careful that it doesn’t end up with a ‘facilitating copyright infringement’ lawsuit on its hands.

The Leyio will be showing up in the UK in late March/early April. Oh, and if you’re wondering how to pronounce it, it’s “Lay-oh”, not “Lay-ee-o” or “Lay-aye-o”. No pricing just yet, but I suspect that the 16GB of storage and extra features will push it up over the £50 mark, if not over the £100 mark.

Leyio

UPDATE: The Leyio has a launch date! And it’s tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice, but woo!

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