RingCube, a Mountain View start-up has developed a product called MojoPac that lets you carry around your PC contents in a tiny storage device, and then access it on any PC you plug the device into.
MojoPac is still in testing mode, but you can sign up for it here. RingCube said today it has received $4 million from New Enterprise Associates, a Silicon Valley firm. We talked with Kittu Kolluri, a serial entrepreneur who recently joined NEA, and who made the investment in two tranches.
He said MojoPac lets you run on a PC “any application” stored in a removable storage device, such as a USB drive, a micro drive (an iPod, for example) or flash drive. It also would work with networked storage, such as with Google’s GDrive, if we understand GDrive’s plans correctly.
It is the latest attempt to redefine mobile computer. Laptops are state of the art, but they are bulky. Smart phones and PDAs are mobile, but their user interface is challenging or, as Kittu puts it, “terrible.” We’re looking forward to trying this. “The MojoPac lets you encapsulate your application environment, plug it into any computer, and you’ve got your PC,” Kittu said.
Chief Executive Shan Appajodu approached Kittu late last year. They’d worked together at Healtheon, the boom-era company backed by Netscape co-founder Jim Clark. Kittu later scored a hit with Neoteris, building it during the downturn after 2000 and selling the VPN company to Netscreen. Kittu is of chairman of RingCube.
Update: The company isn’t saying much until after its launch at DEMO Monday, which is why we can’t provide more details about how it works. News of the funding was first reported today by VentureWire.
10 Comments
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ano said:
It is always a good idea to thank your sources in blogosphere.
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minh said:
This is like infoether’s “Indi” that launched 4-5 months ago (in beta). http://getindi.com
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Matt Marshall said:
Ano,
Indeed, if you are referring to VentureWire story today, yes, that was my original source, and I cited it earlier this morning on the left-hand column. You know that i cite VentureWire consistenly, and they are a great resource. However, when I talked with Kittu on a previously planned call today, it turned out the VentureWire description RingCube technology was slightly misleading in today\’s piece — and so I initially made the call not to confuse readers by referring them to the article. But upon further consideration of your comment, I have updated with the reference.
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Niti Bhan said:
Quote:
“It is the latest attempt to redefine mobile computer. Laptops are state of the art, but they are bulky. Smart phones and PDAs are mobile, but their user interface is challenging or, as Kittu puts it, “terrible.†We’re looking forward to trying this. “The MojoPac lets you encapsulate your application environment, plug it into any computer, and you‘ve got your PC,†Kittu said.”If you were to take the information above and add to that the fact that in emerging markets of India, China, Brazil and the continent of Africa, mobiles are the mainstay of connectivity and communication, if not commerce, can you not see folks being able to carry their hard drive around with them and using any internet cafe to do business on a manageable scale? Already we have documented evidence of the microentreprenuerial development, along with social and economical, in the resource scarce operating conditions of the developing nations.
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Neville Franks said:
MojoPac looks very interesting and will definitely be of interest to users of my product, Surfulater. But they need to get their act together on their forums, as they are rapidly loosing early good will by a serious lack of presence.
I’ve just tried installing it on a Corsair Flash Voyager USB stick without success as it doesn’t have a serial number.
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Henk said:
RingCube is already in trouble!
After a major glitch in their software (making it impossible to install on some devices) MojoPac just shut down their forums, citing “an overwhelming number of requests from many of you who asked us to revamp our forums.â€
Read how RingCube VP of Business Development, Katya Falakshahi goes into the details of some problems that MojoPac has since they came out with a failing update that introduced a huge glitch in their software and defends their decision to shut down the forums.
http://zion.demon.nl/archives/444-MojoPac-problems-part-deux.html
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Mathew said:
Any feedback on the problems, have Ringcube solved it? WSJ had an article on them- http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB116113166328095945-lMyQjAxMDE2NjExOTExMzkxWj.html
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OffBeatMammal said:
At the moment the free Moka5 (although you do need a Windows licence, so that pushes the costs right up) or solutions from U3, Ceedo or PortableApps.com are pretty much a better bet all round.
MojoPac shows promise, but for the moment fails to delivery anything more than the majority of existing portable solutions for it’s price -
culiviem said:
im need crack mojopac
thank -
prayaya said:
I have find a new Mini-Windows—Prayaya V3.
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11 Trackbacks
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VentureBeat Wire » RingCube raises $4M for consumer PC virtualization product said:
[...] See our story here. VentureBeat Community [...]
3:31 pm
SDWIM - Computer Tech Blog » Blog Archive » MojoPac: PC on a stick (or an iPod) said:
[...] MojoPac was supposed to be under wraps until DEMO next week. But one of the 2,000 beta testers bragged about it, and then an investor blabbed about it, and that’s why we’re able to give you the exclusive lowdown on pricing: $29.99 for the next 30 days and $49.99 after that. It’s still in private beta until Monday. More screenshots and details coming soon. – Noah Robischon [...]
6:26 pm
The Research Report » Blog Archive » Do you MoJoPac? said:
[...] VentureBeat reports on MoJoPac, a new product in beta mode from Mountain View-based start up RingCube. MoJoPac allows users to carry software applications with them on a removable storage device or networked storage, and then run the applications when connected to any PC. [...]
12:22 am
VentureBeat » MojoPac and Moka5: The computers in your pocket said:
[...] First, an update on MojoPac, a Mountain View start-up that has created a way to essentially carry around your computer in your pocket, which we mentioned last week. We couldn’t say everything we wanted, because the company’s product was under wraps until DEMO started. We wrote vaguely about how lets you carry around your PC contents in a tiny storage device, and then access it on any PC you plug the device into. [...]
1:07 pm
Greg Yardley’s Internet Blog » What’s newsworthy about MojoPac? said:
[...] According to VentureBeat, a startup called RingCube has developed a product called MojoPac, which lets you turn a portable storage device into ‘your own Personal Computer.’ As they explain it, With MojoPac, you can go to any Windows XP computer in the world, plug in your MojoPac device, and bring up your MojoPac PC. The experience is exactly as if you are logging into your Personal Computer, complete with your desktop, shortcuts, applications and preferences. [...]
4:48 am
Mojo man Shan Appajodu « Bull Crossing said:
[...] Find here VenturBeat’s scoop on this. Anything is fine as long as Shan doesn’t do a Stevie and claims Mojo as his. [...]
4:48 pm
Gadgetnfo » MojoPac: PC on a stick (or an iPod) said:
[...] MojoPac was supposed to be under wraps until DEMO next week. But one of the 2,000 beta testers bragged about it, and then an investor blabbed about it, and that’s why we’re able to give you the exclusive lowdown on pricing: $29.99 for the next 30 days and $49.99 after that. It’s still in private beta until Monday. More screenshots and details coming soon. – Noah Robischon [...]
2:34 pm
MojoPack: Computer In Your Pocket | PodTech.net: Technology, Business, Media, and News Podcasts said:
[...] MojoPac is a product created by RingCube that Shan co-founded in 2004 in Silicon Valley. The company received $4 million in funding from New Enterprise Associates, a Silicon Valley firm. [...]
7:47 pm
MojoPack: Computer In Your Pocket | IndiaTech: Entrepreneurs, Technology, Venture Capital said:
[...] MojoPac is a product created by RingCube that Shan co-founded in 2004 in Silicon Valley. The company received $4 million in funding from New Enterprise Associates, a Silicon Valley firm. [...]
10:58 pm
VentureBeat Wire » RingCube raises $12M for virtual PC service said:
[...] VentureBeat first wrote about the company here, and later about the MojoPac’s choppy debut. But the company’s chief executive says those problems, related to some original restrictions the company placed on USB drive usage, have been resolved. [...]
7:54 am
VentureBeat » NEA abandons venture capital; won’t be the last firm to do so said:
[...] traditional early technology investments (Kittu Kolluri, for example, though even he is investing $4 million a pop), but its focus is largely elsewhere. Its drift started a few years ago, and comes at a time when [...]