What do you have on your phone? Contacts, photos, apps, music and messages can be irretrievably lost if your phone is stolen. MEEM today (Nov. 30) unveiled a smart device that automatically backs up your phone's data while charging your phone.
Memory Cable is an alternative to cloud storage , but there's no reason why you can't use both the device and the cloud. In fact, security experts agree that it's good to have more than one backup. Using a Memory Cable, your data is stored on a physical device, rather than by a large service such as iCloud or Google. You can use it as an emergency backup or to easily sync selected items from one phone to another, something that's not possible on most cloud services. Data from both your phone's built-in memory and from a removable memory card (if your phone has one), is stored within the Memory Cable.
Those who want to buy this innovative device will have to wait a bit. MEEM is seeking funding for its Memory Cable on Indiegogo, a crowd-sourcing funding platform, and expects to begin shipping the cable in September 2013.
In the meantime, the company is taking preorders that come with a few perks. The basic 16GB Memory Cable will cost $70. As an Indiegogo backer, you can preorder a black or white one for $50, and for an extra $5, you'll get to choose from additional colors that backers have voted on during the campaign. Shipping is free. Cash-strapped students can preorder for $25 and pay an additional $20 with a student ID in September.
The Memory Cable is compatible with Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone and Symbian, and comes in four data storage sizes — 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. All cables can be password- protected, so if a cable is plugged into another phone, the user must enter the password to activate data backup. Otherwise, the phone will only be charged, but not backed up.