Keyssa has come out of stealth mode, announcing it has reinvented the connector, that long-overlooked but essential component in computers and mobile devices.
Keyssa's "Kiss Connectivity" represents a new way to transmit huge amounts of data and video rapidly between devices in close proximity, with virtually no battery drain, according to a company press release.
The way it works is two Kiss Connectivity devices simply "kiss" when they are positioned close together and can exchange data in a few seconds. Keyssa says its connector can operate at transfer rates of up to 6 gigabits per second, meaning that when supporting protocols like USB 3.0, DisplayPort, SATA and PCIe, Kiss Connectivity can download a 1 GB movie in as little as two seconds.
Because the coffee bean-sized connector uses extremely high frequency (EHF) signals to transmit information securely using standard protocols, it avoids the manufacturing and consumer challenges of today's other wired or wireless-network options for connecting devices, according to Keyssa.
The company says its connector has a power consumption that is "orders of magnitude lower" than wireless solutions, so it preserves battery life. It also gives people a much more secure data-transfer environment because Kiss Connectivity is a point-to-point connection, unlike network-based solutions like WiFi or WiGig, the release states.
To date, Keyssa, based in Campbell, Calif., has raised $47 million from strategic investors including Intel Capital, Nantworks, Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center and Alsop Louie Partners. .
Source: Keyssa/Youtube
Keyssa envisions the connectors will enable these use cases: mobile device-to-mobile device to share content in seconds; mobile device-to-mobile device dock to add keyboard, monitors and storage; mobile device-to-dock to quickly and easily sync data, songs and movies; mobile device-to-kiosk to download movies in seconds; and mobile device-to-display to stream 4K video.
Keyssa's chairman is Tony Fadell, co-founder and CEO of Nest. Before Nest, he led the team that created the first 18 generations of the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod and the first three generations of the Apple iPhone.
The company first started out as Waveconnex in 2009, founded when Frank Chang, Ira Deyhimy and Gary McCormack set out to change how data is transferred and directly tackle the challenges of speed and cost. After years of struggling with the liabilities of conventional connectors, McCormack formulated a new way to enable connectivity and combined with Chang's foundational research at UCLA to create a cost-effective method for electronics to connect, according to the company's website.
Since then, Keyssa hired Eric Almgren as CEO, changed the company name to Keyssa, raised additional capital and deployed Kiss Connectivity to key partners across multiple industries. The company says it made more than 100 patent filings during the past five years.
Almgren told Bloomberg Businessweek that the technology will eventually enable users to download movies and music albums almost instantly from kiosks at airports and concert venues.
Partners are building prototypes with early samples of the connectors. The startup expects to ship its first hardware in the first half of 2015, with the first Kiss-embedded gadgets making their way on to shelves in the second half of the year, Gigaom reports.
For more:
- see this Bloomberg Businessweek article
- see this Gigaom article
- see the Business Insider story
- see the company press release and blog
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