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San Jose startup DeviceVM will launch a product on Wednesday to combat a simple problem: your PC takes too long to start up. For those who are impatient to jump on the internet, DeviceVM will offer its Splashtop, a way to browse the internet within 20 seconds of pushing the PC's start button and without fully booting the computer. ASUS, the largest manufacturer of motherboards, will include DeviceVM on its new $360 ASUS P5E3 Deluxemodel and brand the instant-on Linux desktop feature "Express Gate."
Push the computer's on button, and the initial Splashtop screen
(pictured) appears three to five seconds later, offering the option to either fully boot the computer or jump right in to a Mozilla-based web browser or Skype. (In future incarnations of the product, says David Speiser, DeviceVM's VP of marketing, the Splashtop will also allow quick access to photos, MP3s, and a DVD player.) The Splashtop option will boot the network, monitor, USB drive, mouse, keyboard, and audio within 12 to 16 seconds, but will not allow access to the computer's operating system or hard drive, which prevents the user from saving any downloads. On the flip side, says Speiser, without access to the hard drive, the connection is more secure than the normal browsing environment.
The initial release is admittedly for hardcore geeks who want to buy a motherboard and assemble their computer from scratch. In the future, DeviceVM hopes its Splashtop will be incorporated into ready-made PCs. Speiser declined to discuss other ways the Splashtop might be packaged, but the demonstration I received on Friday carried the device on a USB drive. The next incarnation of the product, Speiser promises, will be available before the end of the year.
Update: DeviceVM announced second round financing of $10 million from lead investor DFJ Dragon (an China-centric affiliate of Draper Fisher Jurvetson) along with Presidio STX, WR Hambrecht Ventures, and individual investors.
