Merger Creates a Cloud of Storage Devices
Today, LaCie announced a merger with Caleido AG, the creators of the innovative online storage service, Wuala.
Luzius Meisser, Co-Founder of Caleido said, “Wuala is an exciting technology that builds its reliable and secure cloud storage by harnessing idle resources.”
Wuala assembles centralized and distributed storage; the result is a reliable and scalable service. Once files are placed in Wuala, they are securely encrypted before being cut into several redundant fragments disseminated and stored on a cloud of computers.
“Users will gain online storage while trading disk space; that way, they will securely protect their valuable data. They can access it from anywhere and easily share files with selected peers. As privacy tends to be a major issue when talking about digital life and data management, everything is encrypted and a robust rights management system protects files from unauthorized access,” said Dominik Grolimund, Co-creator of Wuala, “We will also bring this technology to enterprises and professional customers, who will soon take advantage of our services with both cloud and data center-based storage.”
LaCie has plans to implement this first real “cloud storage” technology into its ranges of storage devices, offering a powerful and combined solution for storage–local storage on devices for fast access, and secured remote storage on the cloud, for easy sharing and complete data versatility.
“For 20 years, LaCie massively promoted hard drive technologies; today, as a leader on storage market, we will be a first mover in the next leading technologies: flash-based storage, and cloud storage. With this merger, LaCie will morph from a pure hardware manufacturer to a solution provider. These new technologies will be amazing for our customers and will enhance their experience,” Philippe Spruch concluded.
About Wuala
Wuala is an innovative online storage which allows its users to securely store, back up, and access files from anywhere and to share files easily with family, friends, and co-workers. Wuala is based on a revolutionary technology that was researched for the most part at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich). Users start with 1 GB of storage but can get as much as they want, either by trading idle disk space or by buying additional storage. All files are encrypted on the user’s computer and the user chooses who gets access to which folder.
About LaCie
Located in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie is the creative manufacturer of computer peripherals for PC, Apple and Linux users. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology. Established in Paris, France and Portland, Oregon in 1989, LaCie is listed on Euronext under FR0000054314 (LAC).
