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20
magazine
4
innovations
i
Work from anywhere
more securely
Scientists at IBM Research’s Zurich
laboratory have developed a secure
service that enables corporate
employees to access their entire hard
disk, including operating system,
applications and company data, from
anywhere in as little as two minutes.
The Secure Enterprise Desktop is based
on a USB device called the Zone Trusted
Information Channel or ZTIC, which creates
a direct, secure channel to a back-end
server, bypassing the PC that could be
infected by malicious software.
Plugged into the USB-port of any
6-bit Windows or Linux computer, the
device loads the key software elements
for its user’s desktop from an enterprise
cloud with the help of operating system
streaming technology based on a virtual
machine known as a hypervisor.
Once the streaming hypervisor is
running, classicWindows and Linux
environments are delivered from the
cloud, mirroring the user’s PC, including
applications and files. Any changes made on
the host PC are backed up immediately and
securely.
IBM says that even if the host PC’s
hard drive is infected with malware, the
tight integration between client-side
security hardware and streaming hypervisor
software ensures that any existing
malicious software remains separate and
thus ineffective.
Another benefit of IBM’s system is that
unlike desktop streaming technologies that
use a bootable USB key, IBM’s solution has
no application data stored on it so the loss
of a device poses no risk.
The Secure Enterprise Desktop can
also operate off-line: once the original
connection has been completed, the
entire desktop can be accessed off the disk
properly encrypted under control of the
Secure Enterprise Desktop. Once the user
establishes an internet connection again
the changes will be securely updated to the
cloud.
http://www.flickr.com/
photos/ibm_research_zurich/
sets/72157629317488513/
No more lost receipts
with Planon’s credit-card
sized scanner
Portable scanners (see page 29) make it
easier than ever to scan documents while on
the move, but they are still quite bulky. If all
you are doing is scanning receipts for your
expenses or for proof of purchase purposes,
the credit card-sized Planon SlimScan might
be a better bet.
Small enough to fit in a wallet, this tiny
colour scanner captures digital images of easily
lost items, such as receipts, business cards,
tickets, photos and handwritten notes. It has a
useful preview screen (with zoom), a 600-image
memory and connects toWindows PCs via USB
for quick and easy uploads.
The bundled Receipt Management System
(RMS) software lets you edit and organise
receipts by business trip, client, travel date,
location, week or month and import them to
a PC for viewing and transfer to an expenses
database. A business card capture module does
the same for scanned business cards.
Scans can be converted into editable text
using Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
software and imported into Outlook, Microsoft
Word or Excel spreadsheets.
Planon says the SlimScan makes an ideal
corporate gift, as a company logo can be printed
on the stainless steel cover or displayed on the
LCD screen, and marketing files can be stored in
its memory.
www.planon.com
Bring presentations
to life with Present.me
Present.me is a new cloud-based service that
overcomes the drawbacks of conventional web-
based presentations by enabling organisations
to combine online presentations with fully
synchronised video so that the viewer sees
content (slides, photos, documents) and the
presenter (via webcam or uploaded video) side-
by-side.
CEO Spencer Lambert says that this – and the
ability to view presentations on demand on any
web-connected device – creates a more engaging
experience for the viewer.
“People talk about ‘sending a presentation’, and
then just send slides. But the slides are only half the
story.We need to see and hear the presenter as well,
and at the same time,” he said.
“The stumbling block has always been how to
edit together content and video and put it online in
a simple way. Present.me solves that problem. You
can communicate your idea, knowledge or message
to anyone online, while giving your audience the
ability to consume it in their own time. It’s low cost,
easy and incredibly engaging.”
Present.me isn’t just for formal presentations: it
is also a useful and easy way to update a dispersed
team or to set assignments for students that
doesn’t require a software installation.
There are three standard account options: Free
(three presentations a month, one private, 15
minutes each); Plus, $9 per month (30 presentations,
60 minutes each, unlimited private presentations);
and Pro, $39 per month (unlimited presentations, 60
minutes each). Corporate and educational pricing is
available on request.
www.present.me
Phones for an
ageing workforce
Doro’s Comfort line of home and office phones
has been specially designed to meet the needs of
older workers with failing eyesight and hearing.
The range includes four DECT phones and two
PaBX compatible corded deskphones: all are hearing
aid compatible and have clear amplified sound
(from +24dB amplification to +35dB amplification
on the Doro Comfort 3005 corded phone), larger
than normal keys and high contrast displays.
Speakerphones and answering machines are
available on selected models.
Business Info
tried out the Doro Comfort 1010
cordless DECT phone with hands-free speakerphone
and 50-name phonebook. Despite being designed
for older workers, the phone has an attractive
contemporary design and a more businesslike
appearance than Doro’s Easy range. Sound quality
is very good and the handset is nice to handle,
though people with bad eyesight may have difficulty
reading the screen.
Prices range from £25 for the entry-level Doro
Comfort 1000 DECT phone to £48 for the Doro
Comfort 3005 deskphone with speakerphone and
digital answering machine.
www.doro.com