Intranet Research Sdn Bhd was established in October 2004. It is a member of the Intranet Group which has operated successfully over the last 20 years. Intranet has 9 sales and service offices throughout Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Intranet Research was awarded MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor) status by the Government of Malaysia in March 2005.

Intranet Research’s focus is on software content development; primarily in developing applications that can be operated from a USB storage device. With the ever increasing capacity of USB drives, we believe that the potential of this technology goes far beyond storage alone. Capitalising on this as yet untapped opportunity, we had embarked on our research and development efforts with the aim to fully utilise the potential of these portable USB drives. The result of these efforts is SmarThumb software applications.

Sypnosis of Product

SmarThumb is a complete suite of portable software that can be downloaded into any USB storage device including USB flash drives, External USB hard drives, USB MP3 players and Flash Memory Cards. SmarThumb marries useful software applications with the convenience and portability of USB drives. These include email, online security, productivity tools, and more.

What is unique is that SmarThumb applications are launched and operated straight from the USB storage device itself. There is no necessity for installation on the PC in use. This answers some problems in computer-usage: confidentiality, hardware acquisition cost (same units can now be shared by more users), and security. SmarThumb portability is also a clear advantage for frequent travellers.

SmarThumb is an easy to use product that would have a large impact on computer users. The handy portability of SmarThumb applications makes it convenient to carry around. Its universal application allows multiple users to share a PC hardware without the problems associated with sharing of hardware, thus helping to reduce the cost of hardware acquisition.

Advantage / Uniqueness

Users would find SmarThumb to be a convenient and efficient way to operate in the knowledge economy. As our applications operate not from a PC hard drive, but directly from the USB storage device, there is no necessity for any installation to be done. This means that sharing of PCs is less problematic vis-a-vis security and confidentiality. The USB storage device’s small size and portability also means that it is very convenient to use - just bring it along and plug into any USB port, at home or abroad.

Whilst the software applications and USB storage devices are not entirely new developments, it is the synergy of software with the portability and convenience of USB storage devices that make SmarThumb truly unique! Essentially, SmarThumb works to make the USB storage device much like a PDA, but at a fraction of the cost - making it affordable to large segments of society. This makes the aim of improving computer literacy and penetration more achievable as the hardware cost can be shared over more users.

We believe that SmarThumb would prove to be a highly useful tool for the executive who travels, the ordinary computer user, students, and even those that do not have their own PC. The applications were written for the layman, with easy to use operations, less than 5 minutes to learn and user-friendly interface.

Innovation

USB flash disk technology is used merely as a storage device. What we have done is to turn this simple technology into a smart solution for computer users. Although others have tried before to incorporate some software into flash drives, essentially as a “freebie” to promote sale of the drives, none have made a concerted effort in developing it as a total solution in itself. Not only is SmarThumb used for USB flash drives, but it is also usable for any USB storage device. Therefore, SmarThumb is a unique product.

Recognising this as a unique opportunity, we developed SmarThumb’s applications from the ground up writing specifically for USB flash technology. This was necessary as software for flash storage devices is about 50% more complex and difficult to write compared with software development for regular computers. Much development and thought has been put into the creation of SmarThumb and now we can customise suites for the user, and even accommodate third-party developers wanting to integrate their products and services into SmarThumb. To date, our Intranet Research team has successfully developed and commissioned a collection of 9 applications.

These innovations will change the way in which an USB device operate - from being merely a portable storage solution into a truly portable productivity solution!