DeviceVM
Previously, users could access web search in Splashtop by loading up their web browsers. But Senior Director of Product Management Dave Bottoms says instant-on users are focused on speed and on getting onto the web, so it makes sense to bring web search directly into the Splashtop experience. Basically, when you load up the software, you'll see a web search bar hovering over the other Splashtop applications -- in the United States, that bar will take you to a Yahoo search page, in Russia it will be Yandex, and in China it will be Baidu.
So why Yahoo in the US, where Google has become synonymous with web search? Bottoms says this search partnership is just the beginning of plans to integrate other web features and applications into Splashtop, so Yahoo makes sense as a long-term partner. Also, if you're a Google loyalist, you can change your settings to access the Google search bar in Splashtop.
San Jose, Calif.-based DeviceVM might also find itself competing with Google next year, when the search giant releases Chrome OS , a fast, lightweight operating system aimed at getting users onto the web -- if Chrome OS is everything Google promises, it could make software like Splashtop less necessary. Meanwhile, competitors like Xandros are also announcing new products . But Bottoms says Splashtop has the advantage of already being installed on 10 million computers, due to partnerships with HP, Acer, Lenovo, ASUS, Sony, and LG.
DeviceVM has raised around $36 million from New Enterprise Associates, Storm Ventures, DFJ Dragon, and Merus Capital. It plans to release search integration in Splashtop this fall.
