The days of waiting for movies, music, and photos to transfer through USB drives may be over pretty soon. Startup Keyssa's new technology allows you to transfer large files in less than five seconds, with no plugging required.
Keyssa's "kiss connectivity" lets you send information back and forth by tapping one device against another, sort of like Near Field Communication. Keyssa's technology, however, is much faster. Essentially, the technology uses high-frequency radios to send information between devices.
The startup is backed by Tony Fadell, who led Apple's iPod team and then founded of smart home company Nest.
We wrote about Keyssa's "kiss connectivity" back in November, but at this year's Consumer Electronics Showcase we got to experience it.
During a demo, Keyssa's Vice President of Product Mariel van Tatenhove transferred a 1.8GB file - about the size of a standard-definition movie - in just three seconds.
Van Tatenhove simply rested a small hard drive with the Keyssa connector on a laptop, counted to three, and the file was transferred.
The connector's tiny size is just as impressive. Some hardware manufacturers are forced to add some extra thickness to smartphones, tablets, and laptops in order to fit a USB drive. But since Keyssa's technology a fraction of the size of a traditional USB connector, future mobile devices could be razor thin while still providing incredibly fast file transfers.
Keyssa says its first clients are smartphone, tablet, and computer companies, but wouldn't name names. And it might have other uses as well: Bloomberg Businessweek previously reported that the technology will eventually enable users to download music and movies almost instantly from kiosks at places like concert venues and airports.